While most of us are celebrating father’s day peacefully with our dads by our side, let us take a minute to remember the fathers who can’t be with their families because they’re busy guarding the borders and serving the nation.
Posted in the beautiful valley of Leh, Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha would be celebrating his first father’s day virtually with his 21-day-old newborn today. Unfortunately, he was one of the 20 Bravehearts who laid down their lives for the nation on June 15th.
Sepoy Ojha never got a chance to meet his newborn, he’ll never see her take her first steps, record her first words or see her off on the first day of school. For him, just like any other Indian soldier the nation always came first.
Days before this year’s father’s day, Colonel Santosh Babu’s four-year-old son saluted him for the last time as he came home wrapped in a tiranga. This toddler will never get to celebrate anything with his dad again.
As someone who was raised in a family that embraced the olive green for over three generations, I can tell you that there are a lot of fathers and mothers who have to spend occasions like father’s day, birthdays or even festivals away from their families to ensure that we stay protected and celebrate it to the fullest.
In joyous times of celebrations like these, the least we can do is take a moment to acknowledge our soldiers’ sacrifices and thank them for safeguarding the borders as they put the nation first. The least we can do is think about the families who have lost their loved ones in combat and pay our tributes to them.
This father’s day, let us all hope that every dad gets to spend this day with their kids, even the ones who are currently guarding the borders. Let’s remember all the fathers who were martyred in combat and came home bearing the weight of the tricolour on their chest.