Story Of A Soldier

They were proud to protect us, proud to lay their lives for us,

They were proud; it was their life lost instead of ours,

They were proud to defend the tricolour, to defend the wheel, to defend the nation,

For it was their duty and their honour to fight in place of us,

They fought and fought, over decades, with the enemy,

But I wonder if the enemy was from outside or the inside,

From time to time, they fought and returned home wrapped in tricolour,

They were strong, strong enough to stand the chilling weather of Siachen and Dokhlam,

Strong enough to hold their will against all the odds,

I used to wonder, what was it, that made them so strong with such unwavering will,

And then I knew, it was their love for the country, their pride as a soldier, their role as a hero,

They took pride in defending the nation, its people,

For they were the soldiers of the nation, of the people,

And above all,

They were Indian...

Born as an Indian, lived as an Indian, fought as an Indian, and died as an Indian...