'They Fought To The Last Man, Last Bullet, Last Breath'

Their brave action halted the 3,000 Chinese troops from taking over Ladakh. Many died with their weapons still in their hands, facing bullets on their front.

It was a difficult night. Bitterly cold. SpO2 dipping between 87-91. Head heavy. Nausea. No appetite. The temperature was -2 and we, three old friends travelling together, had spent the night at 14,500 feet listening to songs from Yash Chopra films on Youtube to get through the night.

Soon after checking into the hotel that evening, Sharief Bhai, our sprightly driver who had been on the road with us for 5 days, had told us how to operate the oxygen cylinder should we require a few puffs in the thin mountain air.

The oxygen that the body absorbs at that height is substantially lower compared to sea level. I had travelled from Mumbai to Ladakh a week earlier which had already been an experience of a lifetime, but, thankfully, we did not need gulps of oxygen.

Outside, the moon shimmered on the calm and picture-perfect Pangong Tso Lake that stretches from Ladakh into China. The transparent glass on the ceiling of our cottage gave us another view of the sky, the beautiful crescent moon with its accompaniment of stars shining out of a clear night.

It had been a long drive to Pangong Tso that day, a stretch of the journey made on under construction roads. In two places, rapid streams flowed over the road, drenching the shoes and trouser bottoms of the bikers ahead of us.

The night was spent awake clutching a hot water bottle thoughtfully given to guests by staff who had come all the way from Darjeeling to work in this remote part of India.

The cold night did finally end, and morning brought a blaze of glorious sunshine.

The crisp mountain air warmed by sunlight, and the calm lake stretching out in front of us, shimmering in hues of blue quickly made us forget the cold, breathlessness and physical discomfort of the previous night.

Nature was humbling us yet again -- just as it had throughout our 11 days in Ladakh.

After a quick bite of toast, butter, poha and tea at the well-organised, well-run hotel in one of the best locations, we set out for a sobering journey ahead -- a pilgrimage to

Standing where the bravest fought

Standing at the entrance of the Rezang La memorial, we were among the handful of morning visitors unlike the crowds we had encountered at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass a few days earlier.

Soldiers on duty took down details of our identity and phone numbers in a visitor's register. The soldier who took us around the museum pointed out at the Rezang La mountain pass. It was behind us in the near distance and looking at it, I tried to grasp the enormity of what the soldiers must have endured that November night. 

I had found spending one night at 14,500 feet inside a decent cottage so difficult to get by -- struggling to breathe in the cold, thin air. Here, the soldiers had fought a ferocious battle at an even greater altitude in bone-chilling weather, worse than I had encountered.

I had read several accounts of the battle. Rediff contributors Tarun Vijay and Claude Arpi have written must-read pieces on their own visits in the past which I had read several times -- and I had the privilege of interviewing one of the last survivors of 13 Kumaon's D Company Brigadier R V Jatar who was post commander of Mugger Hill, 2.5 miles from Rezang La on the night of the battle.

As the soldier pointed to the surrounding mountain features, I thought of Brigadier Jatar who had come to Rezang La as chief guest at the age 88 to be part of the revamped memorial in 2021.

I continue to be in admiration of his resolve despite age and frail health to honour the brave fellow soldiers of his regiment who did not return home from these mountains.

Rezang La is a quiet, dignified memorial at the edges of our border with China. It marks the site where 114 out of 124 soldiers of the 13th battalion of the Kumaon Regiment's Charlie Company were killed in action in one of the Indian Army's epic last stands.

These young men belonging to the plains of Haryana and Rajasthan had fought wave upon wave of Chinese attacks at 16,500 feet in minus 15 degree temperatures to defend Rezang La, a mountain pass in the Chushul Valley during the 1962 War.

The 16-hour battle on November 18 prevented the Chinese from capturing Chushul. If Chushul had fallen, the Chinese could have entered Ladakh.

Every year since then, November 18 is remembered as Rezang La Day. The nursing attendant who died administering treatment. Led by the legendary Major Shaitan Singh, posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the men fought till their last breath.

They died with their weapon still in their hands, facing bullets on their chests, abdomen, head and arms.

"Nursing Assistant Dahiya was found dead treating a wounded fellow soldier, attempting to ease his pain until their very last breath together," said the soldier pointing to a picture of the brave Sepoy Dahiya.

The small group of visitors being led by the soldier followed him with pin-drop silence. It was difficult to say anything at all. The courage that night at Rezang La was beyond words - and we were all right there among the mountains where they had fought and died.

I had heard about the valour of these men for years and had always wanted to visit this memorial, among the farthest outposts on the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

Finally, I was here. It meant a lot.

I was overwhelmed to be standing on that ground. I felt almost inconsequential in their giant presence.

Curtesy : rediff.com