Remembering the Hero of Badgam Major Som Nath Sharma, PVC (P)
The process of clearing my desks and drawers, having been repeatedly rescheduled more because of laziness than anything else, threw up a surprise for me. A small crib book with handwritten notes from what seems to be from an era long bygone brought back some great memories of a small research work that I had undertaken many years ago. The subject of that research was Major Somnath Sharma, PVC--the first recipient of the highest gallantry award of the nation. Computers had already come in but the notes had been taken in hand because of a variety of encounters that had happened with some great men at unlikely places and at odd hours. Some disruptions like a nomination for a long professional course, followed by the usual rut, somehow kept my mind occupied while those notes kept holding the fort inside a folder. The sudden reappearance of those sheets of paper, small chits a crib book suddenly brought back the memories of those interactions and the story that I had been workin...