Soldier, Son And A Friend

When I met Sandeep Unnikrishnan in 2005, I did not know that one day he will be awarded, the Ashok Chakra(posthumously) for 26/11/08 Taj Attack. Unni was my husband's childhood friend so when they met, the memories of their amusing boyhood gushed out accompanied by roaring laughter. A soft-spoken, thorough gentleman, he had a hearty laugh over the romantic escapades and colourfull "cuss" lexicon of his buddies. I removed myself from the scene so the guest could also speak freely. I was no deterrent to my 'Mister R' and he readily filled up the blanks adding a healthy dash of obnoxious humour to the conversation. Unni had to catch the bus to the airport but while he schmoozed with this hallowed creature THE 'coursemate' he missed the bus. Everyone around got into action. The bus station was ordered to delay the move while the young Captain sprinted towards the bus, caught it and reached his destination. After he left, my husband kept singing his praise using adjectives like a "thorough gentleman", "yaaron ka yaar" (a friend for all seasons) blah! Blah! Blah! Like he did for most other buddies of his.

It was a short and yet a very interesting meeting. I was a mother to a two-year-old daughter then. Time passed, we moved to various places. I had my second daughter in December 2007. On 26 November 2008, we were celebrating my daughter's fifth birthday. We heard the 'Taj Hotel' in Mumbai had been attacked but the commotion at home made me oblivious to what was happening. The last of our guests were leaving, my as well as, my friend Shamiara's father in law had been watching the goings-on in Mumbai.

However, fatigue and joy got the better of us and we slept with our two bundles of joy. The morning after on 27 November 2008, we were taking our parents to Shillong when we got the news "Unni has been hit". He was one of the officers leading the NSG Team in Taj. We were told by his colleagues that when they asked if they should come and help him. He knew the danger but still told his counterparts " Stay where you are. Everything is under control." The news hit us. The memories of the gentle, young officer kept coming back to haunt and I often wished I had never met him. Young people die every day but the ones you have met and known stay and gnaw at the mind. I often shared this story with people and then one day I talked about it to my students. A chapter on Mumbai 26/11 had been added by CBSE in class eight textbooks.

Yesterday, eleven years after his death I met Unni's parents.

I felt I met him again as aunty and uncle talked about their only child.

Uncle is stoic, as men in our society are but aunty spoke ceaselessly about her son. We laughed and uncle sneered when she said that unlike his father, Sandeep was a very patient boy. She had come from a shopping trip and was reliving her shopping moments with her son, she told us, Sandeep wold tell her to take as much time as she wanted while he not only waited for her but also helped her choose and shop for her sarees.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she narrated little facts from her son's life. She said that she had given up wearing beautiful sarees when she lost her son but her daughter reminded her how Sandeep loved to see her all dressed up. She also made her aware of the fact of how unhappy it would make Sandeep see her suffer. She recalled that he would tell her to change into another saree even if they got late. She says it's for his sake that she dresses up and, did she look good! She looked resplendent in a green cotton saree, light lipstick, and a kind face. She gave us a card too that she said they printed every year on Sandeep's birthday on March 15.