Today is Kargil Vijay Diwas which is a matter of pride for all the Indians. Two years back, CitySpidey had a talk with a Kargil War hero Col SC Tyagi. He talked about the Kargil War in details.
Here is the story which was published on July 26, 2019:
Col SC Tyagi, a resident of Paradise Apartments Sector 9, who himself is a Kargil War hero, has penned down his experiences of the indomitable valour of Indian Army doing what many would have thought it as unimaginable. The book 'The Kargil Victory: Battles from Peak to Peak' will soon be released by Gen Bipin Rawat, the chief of Army Staff.
Father of Pallavi and Shailvi, and husband of Poonam Tyagi, Col Tyagi is now a resident of Sector 9 in Dwarka. CitySpidey had a chat with him on his new book and his experiences in the battlefield during Kargil War.
His astounding story started when he, as a young boy, got selected in India's one of the most prestigious intitutes IIT Kanpur in 1971. But, affected by the war with Pakistan which happened in the same year, he decide to serve the Indian Army. He cracked the NDA exam and was selected in Indian Army.
Satish Chandra Tyagi, who later became Colonel Commandant, has also set up one of the unique Counter Terrorism School in Jammu and Kashmir close to Pulwama. He has already written a book on Kargil, 'The Fourth Estate: A Force Multiplier for the Army,' and has served in Sri Lanka against LTTE and now he is serving for the society as social worker in Dwarka and Uttar Pradesh.
Mission Kargil
Col Tyagi said, “I was hand picked by the Indian Army to set up a Counter Terrorism Institute in Kashmir. After the start of Kargil war I saw that my trained soldiers were going to the battlefield and therefore I decided to go to raise their morale and support them in the battlefield. Despite being suggested not to go, I decided to go. Every day in the battlefield, I used to go from post to post and in the night I used to write my own experiences and based on my interaction with the soldiers during the battle and even thereafter, the book has been written to inspire the younger generation of today who have since grown up.”
After the war Tyagi demanded an extension of one year to spend his time in the field to stay put there to contribute towards his mission of serving the nation upfront.
'The Kargil Victory: Battles from Peak to Peak'
Col SC Tyagi has authored the Himalayan showdown and brought it alive in the book and has narrated heroic actions of the soldiers in a manner that makes you feel you are actually in the battlefield along with him and fighting the war. The book is a page turner and reads like a war novel but is based on actual stories picked up by him in his interactions.
Col Tyagi shared, “I have spent my days and nights during the war in the battlefield. Once I insisted to stay in a tent at night and suddenly the flash flood came and swept away all my belongings. There was heavy bombardment outside but I managed to find shelter in a makeshift bunker tucked into the mountain.”
Most Touching Moments
Col Tyagi said, “I would rather call it inspiring moment, it was when a Grenadier battalion, on one of the peaks, was surrounded by Pakistanis and no one dared to replace the gunner on the machine gun, the first person to volunteer was the battalion Maulvi who was not even trained. He held against the Pakistani firing till the last.”
In another instance, a Sikh soldier, on Tiger Hill assault, was critically wounded and was breathing his last, when his Commanding Officer reached and put his hand on his forehead, the soldier who was not conscious suddenly woke up and said, “Sir, hun tussi aa gaye, ab mennu kuch nahin hona (sic).”
In one attack by our soldiers, they got stranded in snow and were exposed to Pakistanis sitting on top of the mountain, who started rolling down the boulders and firing at them. These soldiers from the NAGA Regiment created Igloos like the Eskimos and stayed put there for next ten days. They were supplied khichdi as food during the night.
Serving the society
After the retirement, Col Tyagi has inclined towards the social service and has started his mission as one man army. He has been training youths from Delhi to Meerut in making their career. Tyagi organises camps in the rural and underprivileged section of the society and trains youths free.
What he has learnt in the Army, he wants to give it to the youths to serve the society and the nation. “I have given training to almost hundreds of youths of poor section and many of them are now well settled. I want to carry on with my passion all through my life to serve the nation in that manner,” he concluded.
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