Batalik

I thought it might be a good idea to talk about the borders which our Brave hearts are protecting.

 
Let me share some more information about Batalik Sector.
Batalik is a part of Indian Administered Kashmir which has been the epi-centre of all Indo-Pakistani wars. This place is situated in Ladakh (Leh) and geographically speaking, its coordinates are 34° 39' 25" North, 76° 20' 30" East
 

Going back to 1999, during the Kargil Conflict, the first intrusions of war, were infact detected in Batalik Sector but there was no media coverage since there weren’t any proper roads either. The Pakistani regulars & insurgents were sitting on the top and firing from all kinds of weapons, artillery, mortar & even small arms. Even a little piece of stone thrown from that altitude would hit with the speed of a bullet. It took almost a month and 400 lives to evict the intruders.
 

 In Batalik, you can't breathe normally. There isn’t enough oxygen and the layer of air is really thin. The lungs scream and blood vessels cry for oxygen. At 15000-ft, you are not normal. You cannot be. The human body is attuned to a certain altitude. And that's where our brave men are - Fighting the enemy, facing the bullets, dying alone in the snow. Falling to death from the high ridges. No one hears their voices. It's such a lonely death; All it takes is a tiny piece of metal to die
 

These bravehearts are none other than our own infantrymen - The finest in the world. Not many soldiers have ever fought at these heights. At 15000ft, you can't even move with ease.
 

In some areas of Batalik, there are no tracks. Climb. Clamber. Crawl. Every soldier carries almost a week's ration, ammunition, a 5.56mm assault rifle or a mortar or a rocket launcher - over 20 kgs in total, on the back as he pulls himself up on this rugged, cruel terrain.
 

You know how it feels to be up there in the cold, cold mountains, carrying a heavy backpack with a gnawing fear that you may not see your loved ones again? You know what fear is? That is the fear. Not being there. Death is not what matters. What matter is that you will not matter anymore.
 

And yet the bravehearts go up the hills, like the charge of the light brigade, never asking questions, never expecting an answer. .Imagine the life up there - where the wind can sear your windpipe, chill your brains, make your eyes weep with pain and lungs cry out in sheer exhaustion. This is what we call raw courage and determination: the commitment towards our mother-nation. There isn’t much time to sleep, to eat or to even attend the nature’s call. There is death and the courage to face it. There is fear – raw, unalloyed and unrelenting and the strong determination to fight for the nation, to die for the nation. All we know that there is a duty, a pledge and a promise made to the country. This is our tryst with destiny People sleep peacefully at night only because the bravehearts are awake.