Born after his martyrdom, 19yrold ‘meets’ her father, a Kargil War hero
Aparajita was still in her mother’s womb when her father, Major Padmapani Acharya, fell to the enemy’s bullets on June 28, 1999 while leading a platoon of the 2nd Rajputana Rifles to recapture Tololing from Pakistan during the Kargil War.
Nineteen years after he attained martyrdom and was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military honour, Aparajita has come up with a book on the war hero whom she had never seen.
The coffee table book, ‘Hero of Drass: Our Babloo’, was released by Major General N Srinivas Rao, General Officer Commanding, Telangana Sub Area, on June 29.
“I never met my father but after completing the book, I felt I have met him. He is my hero,” said the 19-year old law student from Hyderabad.
Aparajita was born three months after Major Acharya was killed, barely a week after he had turned 30. “I grew up watching his portrait and the gallery comprising his uniform, medals and the Maha Vir Chakra citation in the drawing room. People used to tell me about his bravery, his martyrdom and the award he had won. Those were all big words for me. But it never struck me to bring out a book on him, though the first article I wrote in my school magazine was about my father,” she recalled.
Last December, Aparajita and her relatives were in Surat to attend a reunion of families of soldiers who took part in the Kargil War. “I happened to interact with many families. Each person has a story to tell and a journey to share. It then struck me how such stories could inspire the next generation,” she said.
Aparajita began collecting material available on her father — from taking out photographs from his childhood to speaking to his colleagues who could share information about him, his hobbies like playing instrumental music and reading Bhagavad Gita.
“The biggest source of information were his letters, which he used to write to my grandparents, my mother, his sister and friends. Luckily, they had preserved most of these letters. There was so much depth in them – they were philosophical, had comments on the political situation, and updates on the battlefield. He had a lot of flair for words,” Aparajita said.
“In the process of writing this book, I have bonded with him more than I had in the last 19 years.”
Aparajita, too, now dreams of wearing the uniform.
“My grandfather, Wing Commander (retd) Jagannath Acharya, who passed away last year, was in the air force and he inspired both his sons to join the army. Now, I am drawing my inspiration from my father. I am not sure which wing of the military I would go into, but I am very clear about my goal.”
Aparajita’s family says she resembles her father in every manner – the appearance, the writing style, the philosophical talk. “When my mother, Charulatha, was carrying me, my father wrote to her to read Bhagavad Gita every day to overcome all the tensions. Maybe, I learnt it in my mother’s womb,” she said.
HYDERABAD: