Never Give Up

Engaged in a crossfire with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh’s besieged Sukma late last month, commando Prakash Chand of the CRPF’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) knew exactly what not to do when a bullet hit his right leg.

The words of seniors echoed in his ears: “One man’s fault can cause the entire company to vanish.” If he lost his morale and stopped firing, Chand knew, it would distract his fellow commandos. It’s a luxury soldiers in the heat of battle can ill afford.

So, the head constable kept going.

“I could not let my fellow commandos get distracted as attention is what keeps you alive in the battlefield,” *31-year-old Chand of 208 CoBRA* told ThePrint two weeks after the 23 February encounter.

An operation, an ambush

It all began with an early morning search and destroy operation by three CoBRA companies, based at a camp in Palodi, following a tip-off about the presence of Naxalites in a village named Veerum.

As the companies approached the village around 11am, they found themselves ambushed. According to the CRPF, “around 200 Naxalites… bombarded the area with underbarrel grenade launchers and improvised mortars/directional mines”.

“We retaliated, and the cross-firing continued for half an hour,” Chand said, adding, “It was around 11.30am that the bullet hit me…”

In an official statement, the CRPF described how Chand, carrying a mortar, “kept on firing even after getting injured to support troops for the counter-ambush drill”.

Following the teams’ success in “breaking the ambush”, the CRPF said, Chand was administered first aid. Subsequently, the operations commander decided on a “tactical retreat” to the camp on account of the “intense pain” in Chand’s leg.

After the decision was made, Chand said, “I forgot the pain and started retreating. The whole team surrounded me and walked with me till we were out of sight of the Naxalites.”

“I kept walking. I could not stop as it would mean the company also stopping for me. The danger was imminent till we reached the camp,” he said.

*The CoBRA dream*

Chand, still recovering from the injury at a hospital in Raipur, had long thought about the day he would bear scars from battling Naxalites.

In his earlier stint with the CRPF’s 22 battalion, Chand said, he would watch CoBRA commandos practise every evening and feel inspired.

“I was in awe of them. I loved the discipline and the uniform. The way they performed their duty seemed glamorous to me. It inspired many of us and that is when I decided to become a CoBRA commando,” Chand said.

His “exemplary courage” in the field on February 23 has been hailed by the CRPF, receiving wide media coverage and going viral on social media. Even so, no one in Chand’s family, except his brother, knows about his injury because he’d rather not “trouble the family with this minor detail”.

Did he think about his family when the bullet hit him? “I did not have the luxury of thinking about them (he has two young children). When we are in the field, we cannot think of anything other than our target and teammates,” he said.

“Just like in the Army, we depend on each other for our lives. Any mistake on my part could have cost the lives of many of my friends,” he added.

 

मैंने जिंदगी को बदलते हुए देखा है।।

मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...
मैंने जिंदगी को कभी हसते हुए तो कभी रोते हुए देखा है... 

मैंने मौसमों को आते हुए और जाते हुए देखा है...
पतझड़ में पत्तो को पेड़ों से जुदा होते हुए देखा है...
फिर उन्ही बेजान पेड़ों को बारिश को देखकर मुस्कुराते हुए देखा है...
हरियाली की चादर ओढ़कर शरमाते हुए देखा है...
तेज हवाओ के साथ बहते हुए; झूमते हुए नाचते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है ...

मैंने भरे तालाबो को कब्रिस्तान बनते हुए देखा है...
बूंद बूंद पानी के लिए जानवरों को तरसते देखा है ...
बेजान हुए जंगल में दर बदर भटकते देखा है ...
सूखे नालो को नदियों में तब्दील होते हुए देखा है...
समय को बदलते देखा है; कहीं ठहरते हुए तो कंही चलते हुए देखा है ...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

मैंने अमावस की काली रातों में बिखरे सन्नाटे को देखा है...
उसी काली रात में टूटते तारों को, चमकते जुगनुओ को देखा है...
चाँद को बादलों के साथ आंख मिचोली खेलते हुए देखा है...
उसी अँधेरे से सहमे हुए भेजी को चाँद की चांदनी में नहाते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है....

मैंने जंगल को कटते हुए उजड़ते हुए देखा है...
जहाँ देखना मुश्किल हो वहां रास्ता बनते हुए देखा है...
और जिस रास्तो पर चलना मुश्किल हो वहां गाडियों को दौड़ते हुए देखा है...
पगडंडियों को पक्की सड़को में बदलते हुए देखा है...
उन्ही सड़को को कटते हुए, बिगड़ते हुए; दोबारा बनते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

बसे बसाये गाँव को उजड़ते हुए; रोते हुए बिलखते हुए देखा है...
उसी गाँव को गिरकर, लड़खड़ाकर, सँभलते हुए देखा है....
मैंने उसी गाँव पर मुसीबतों के काले बादलों को मंडराते हुए देखा है...
उन्ही काले बादलों को गाँव की आँखों से बरसते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को गिरकर उठते हुए देखा है..
तिनका तिनका समेटकर घोसलों को बनते हुए देखा है...
बाजारों को सजते हुए देखा है, संवरते हुए देखा है....
गाँव को वापस बसते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

बंजर चट्टानों को कड़ी धूप में तड़पते हुए देखा है ...
कलियों को फूलों में और फूलों को काँटों में बदलते हुए देखा है...
जंगल को बे बसी में जलते हुए सुलगते हुए देखा है...
उन्ही बंजर चट्टानों को हसते मुस्कुराते हुए देखा है...
दुल्हन की तरह हरे दुपट्टे में सजकर इतराते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

बदलते मौसम की तरह इंसानों को बदलते हुए देखा है...
मैंने रिश्तो को बनते हुए बिगड़ते हुए देखा है ...
सूरज की रौशनी में चमकते हुए देखा है...
चाँद की चांदनी में धमकते हुए देखा है..
पुराने दोस्तों को दूर जाते हुए और नए लोगो को करीब आते हुए देखा है...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

मैंने सूरज की पहली किरणों को घोर अँधेरे के साथ लड़ते हुए देखा है...
शाम ढलते ढलते उसी सूरज को थककर पहाड़ो में छिपते हुए देखा है...
फिर दोबारा सूरज को उजलते हुए देखा है...
आसमान का रंग बदलते हुए देखा है...
लोगो की किस्मत बदलते हुए देखा है, उनका ढंग बदलते हुए देखा है ...
मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...

मैंने भेजी को बदलते हुए देखा है...
मैंने जिंदगी को कभी हसते हुए तो कभी रोते हुए देखा है... 

शुभम गुप्ता
(सहा. कमा.)
208 कोबरा वाहिनी
केंद्रीय रिज़र्व पुलिस बल

LOVE A MAN IN UNIFORM

She said she LOVE me !!!

I asked her,

Do u know ?

WHAT IT TAKES TO LOVE A MAN IN UNIFORM?

• You like men in uniform you say??
• Well, do you like the sleepless nights?
• The constantly waking up to see if he wrote or called?
• The periods of days/weeks/months you don't see or talk to him?
• Loving from a distance?
• Putting all your care in a box?
• Sending kisses through the phone?
• Virtual hugs?
• Praying and pleading the blood of Jesus over his life and mind?
• Being alone at night?
• Crying as you're getting on a plane only to be separated once again?
• Homecomings?
• Deployments?

And overall the threat of receiving a phone call just to inform you that during an operation "The Brave Soldier " lost his life...

If you can't answer any of these you, my friend have no clue what it is to love a MAN IN UNIFORM!

She who waits also serves!

And she says,
• I would love to be awakened every night.
• I am ready to wait my whole life for even a splash of you and to listen to a word from you.
• My love wouldn't be affected by any distance.
• The envelope of my heart would be there to keep all the love.
• I would make you feel that you are being kissed and in my arms through the phone.
• A person in love can never be alone, your feels would always be with me.
• Yes, I would cry a lot but you will take a beautiful nap when you will realize the taste of my lips
  on yours.
• Always keep that shirt wet by my tears with you, that will make you remember of our last hug.
• I would be waiting for you with my open arms whenever you will come to the home.
• Deployments would have become a part of our life.

 She knows exactly how to love a man in uniform.