Kargil – In the Wake of the War

a poem by Aparna Ramnath

Leaving behind loved ones,
All that is near and dear,
They scale Great Heights
Where no one can hear.

No warmth to bide,
No home to hide,
No cause to sigh
Nor tears to cry.

No thought of food,
No heart to soothe,
No sorrow to feel
Not a wink to steal.

Where the dawn brings hope
And the night is a test,
One outdoes the other
Doing better than the best.

Of the nine eighty million,
We are but a tiny dot,
While having faced all
They have done a mighty lot.

Our strength be with them,
So be our timely prayers,
For all those selfless souls,
Fighting so bravely to die.

High up on the mountains,
On the snowy ice bed,
That white is made still purer
By the blood they shed.

Through times of grief and times so long,
Whatever may come and whatever be gone,
We are proud of those Great Heroes
That this land has borne.