The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Man from Mumbai on a noble mission

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Monday, Sep 29, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Man from Mumbai on a noble mission

Hiralal Yadav travels across the country to share the grief of families whenever a soldier is martyred

Hiralal Yadav

HYDERABAD: Martyrdom for the motherland spurs his emotions and the sacrifices of Indian soldiers move him. He travels the length and breadth of the country to share the grief of families whenever a soldier is martyred.

He also interacts with youngsters to make them look beyond the world of glamour and find their idols among the brave soldiers.

That has been the mission of Hiralal Yadav of Mumbai for years. He collects impressions of soldiers posted on borders through their diaries and letters written by them with the collection also having some last letters--jottings of personnel who laid down their lives in battle.

Moving letters

Two such letters happen to be those of Param Vir Chakra awardees from the Kargil war. Captain Vikram Batra’s last letter to parents was written days before he laid down his life in the line of duty. It says, “Don’t know when I will be moving down again, so whenever I’ll get a chance, I will call you up. So do pray for the success of my next op. Nothing more newly, so I pen down…”

Another poignant last letter is by another Param Vir Chakra awardee Manoj Pandey. “I am here because of my responsibility towards my men. It is a noble reason to live and die for, it gives me satisfaction…about reports of casualties, just don’t take it too seriously, it’s part of our job,” wrote the brave soldier to his brother.

Mr.Yadav in his 40s has been to the homes of several martyrs of the Kargil war and is particularly moved with his interaction with the parents of Captain Saurabh Kalia. “The elderly couple who lost their son received 40,000 letters and more than 1.25 emails from across the country and this support is what sustains them,” he says.

Message for youth

During the Kargil war, he embarked for the war zone from Mumbai on a bicycle without a seat. The ‘Mission Rihai’ had him traversing for 200 days through Nagpur, Chennai, Bihar and Wagah border. He also claims to have met families of at least 75 per cent of the POWs held in Pakistani prisons. “The plight of women waiting for their husbands moves me. Why doesn’t the government do something to bring them back,” he says.

“Today’s youth need to grow out of their fascination for the glamorous world of movies and sports. They should look beyond and see soldiers as idols,” he says, not hesitating to take digs at society and the government for ignoring the armed forces personnel.

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