Father climbs 16,000-ft peak for son’s last wish

“I had kept his last letter with me for inspiration. He had written it moments before he led the last assault that night. And he knew he was not coming back,” Colonel Thapar said, trying hard not to let his voice waver.

“By the time you get this letter, I’ll be observing you all from the sky enjoying the hospitality of apsaras,” hewrote.

Reading the first line of the letter from their son Vijayant from Drass heights, Colonel Thapar’s heart sank. Little did the parents know that when they were reading this letter, their son had already killed several enemy soldiers, destroyed their position, but fallen to an enemy bullet. Soon, they received his body.

“If you can, please come and see where the Indian Army fought for your tomorrow,” the letter read. And that was the time that Thapar senior made up his mind. Vijayant’s mother, Tripta, was supportive and so was the Army. The whole of July and August were, however, spent in religious rites and receiving a flow of letters, people and visitors all coming to pay homage to the “young son of India”.

“That, too, gave me strength. The nation was behind me. A young girl even wrote a letter in blood. And mainly because it was the wish of a soldier son to a soldier father,” says the Colonel, who recently bid farewell to arms.

Young Vijayant of 2 Rajputana Rifles had passed out of theIndian Military Academy (IMA) last December and after two months in counter-insurgency operations in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir was drafted for the recovery of crucial peaks in the Drass sector occupied by the Pakistani army.

“Three of them died that night. Major Padmapani Acharya, young Captain Neikezhakuo Kenguruse and my son. Acharya and my son died within an hour of each other. I just had to see that pilgrimage spot,” he adds.

Even if it meant climbing those inhospitable peaks. Thapar senior reached Drass on September 6 and then began the acclimatisation period.

The Colonel spent time in the tent where his son and his buddies lived before climbing Tololing peak and advancing further. The Commanding Officer (CO) of the unit, Colonel Ravindranath, showed him pictures of young Vijayant with his friends. Always smiling and cheerful.

Colonel Thapar lit an agarbati. And not just at the base. He reached the top where his son had climbed through a hail of bullets 70 days earlier, leading hismen from the front, destroying the source of enemy fire and ultimately falling for the nation. Thapar senior closed his eyes and said a silent prayer there too.