Shershaah: Going Beyond The Movie

Throughout the movie, I just couldn’t stop crying! Every single scene was so emotional and heart-warming, that I am genuinely at a loss for words right now. Being a soldier is such a demanding job, and so many people keep making sacrifices their entire lives just to ensure that people like you and I can live secure and comfortable lives. And what do we give them in return? In the midst of our lives that we consider so ‘busy’, we don’t even think enough to take out a minute to thank these brave life-savers that risk their own lives for us even though they don’t even know us. All that they know is that we are all Indian, and they are passionate about defending our country, no matter what may come their way. The extent to which they would go in order to protect our nation is unimaginable; it is so selfless and altruistic that it is very difficult to believe that such people exist. And not only do they just exist, they make efforts every single second to ensure our wellbeing and our happiness. This Republic Day, let us please take out a few minutes from our so-called ‘busy lives’ to express our gratitude.

We are truly very lucky to be living in a country where our soldiers care so much about us and are willing to pay any cost, all to safeguard us. It is all thanks to them that we are even alive right now. If it weren’t for them, we could have died in a bomb blast, been forced to evacuate to another country or even worse, seen our loved ones being brutally massacred in front of our eyes- all against our will; with us feeling totally helpless and lost. Thousands of soldiers are willing to let their own lives go in the process of protecting ours. Have we ever thought about how selfless and noble that is? These people are not just mortal humans, they are immortal epitomes of bravery and valiance who shall never be forgotten. Their sacrifices are inexplicably invaluable, and their names will always reside in our hearts. They deserve to be saluted and honoured for infinity - the kind of sacrifices that they make to keep us safe are unparalleled, and we shall forever be indebted to them for those. Even these people are humans just like us, they have a family back home to return to, a home to go back to, and dreams and desires like we do; yet they are willing to risk all of that for the protection of our country. Is that anywhere near fair? Definitely not, yet that’s not how they look at it. They do it all because they’re passionate patriots who believe in our nation, they believe in making it a safer place to live in.

Movies like “Shershaah” play a huge role in making common people like us more aware of the Indian Army’s huge sacrifices for India. Films like Shershaah, Kesari, Uri, Raazi, and many more play a profusely vital role in helping us understand the extent to which our soldiers go to just to keep us safe. Understanding their journey and their lives is important for us; it is our duty, not just as citizens of the country, but as humans, to value and appreciate that. If it weren’t for such creative representations, many of us would have never known how hard the life of a soldier is. Balancing between their family, their home, and the nation’s security is so hard to do, yet these people spend their whole lives trying to do that. In ‘Shershaah’, Captain Vikram Batra’s role was flawlessly played by Actor Sidharth Malhotra. He completely got into character and it seemed like the role fit him perfectly well, as if it was made for him and only him. No one else could have been such a perfect and passionate fit for this role. His energy throughout the film was so apt that even if someone were to tell me he’s a soldier and not an actor, I would undoubtedly believe them!

I felt so guilty that I was this late to watching ‘Shershaah’, it is such a heart-warming story. If you still haven’t watched it yet, I strongly recommend that you take out two hours of your day to watch this film.

Adding to that, I want to pay a big salute to those army families that support these soldiers in following their passion and duty of protecting the nation. It is not easy for anyone to live with the fear that the man they saw growing up is going to fight a war and may never return home. It is not easy for those wives to see their husbands going off to fight huge wars, when they very well know, somewhere deep within, that their partner may never return. In Vikram and Dimple’s case, they were both youngsters deeply in love, eagerly waiting to get married. Before fighting the war, Vikram had phoned Dimple and told her to prepare her wedding dress and Vikram’s wedding suit. Did Dimple know at that time that she wasn’t going to see the love of her life again? Did Vikram’s siblings know that they were never going to see Vikram again? It would have been so heart-rending for Vikram’s parents to hear that their beloved son was never returning home again. Imagine yourself in their situation, would it not shatter your heart into a million pieces? And this is just one family. Hundreds of such casualties happen so often, so often that the numbers aren’t easy to process. The song ‘Teri Khair Mangdi’ probably describes the soldiers’ families situation accurately.

Why, then, can we not dedicate at least a minute to these brave soldiers who died protecting our nation? They sacrificed their lives for our nation, and in a world where they could have been in any well -paying profession – giving them perks to enjoy a comfortable life, they chose to be soldiers even after knowing the huge amount of risk involved. That is commendable patriotism and dedication, and it deserves all the respect and honor in the world! Today is the 26th of January, the 73rd Republic Day, and just six months from now, on the same date, (thirteen years ago) the Indian Army successfully carried out Operation Vijay and hoisted the Indian flag on the mountain top of Northern Kargil. Ever since, 26th July has been celebrated as the Kargil Vijay Diwas, to honor the Indian Soldiers. Vikram Batra’s words right before going off to fight the war were “Ya toh tiranga lehra ke aaunga ya toh tirange mein lipta chala aaunga. Lekin waapis zarur aaunga.” And as the line suggests, he did return, yet he returned wrapped in the flag, and lost his precious life in the process of protecting us. For him, nothing was more precious than his duty of defending the nation, and he followed his duty until he breathed his last. Did his family expect him to come home a martyr? Or were they eagerly waiting for their victorious son to come and share the jubilance of his triumph, hugging them and bringing joy and pride home? His fiancé would have been waiting to flaunt his success with pride and was eagerly looking forward to starting the new chapter of her life with her valiant and patriotic husband, who came back from the war victorious and smiling, his heart swelling with pride. Instead, their dreams and hopes came crashing down. It would have felt as if the ground beneath them disappeared and life swallowed their loved one for eternity never ever meeting again, never getting to say goodbye. Would they ever find closure??

As citizens of the country, it is our duty to express our gratitude to these brave soldiers. In fact, instead of treating it as our duty, the need for appreciating and remembering them must come from the very bottom of our hearts. It has to be first felt and understood.

Let us now ensure that they- our brave soldiers are given their due. Let us never forget what these brave men have done, and continue to do to protect us - people they have never even met in their lives.

They deserve to be remembered and honoured forever....