When the Kargil war broke out in 1999, Kanta Devi's desperate pleas to her son Grenadier Udhaymaan Singh to return home were met with disappointment until he told her, "Dushman ki goli peeth pe nai, chhati pe khaani hai (I would rather take enemy bullets in the chest than the back)."
"I could not say anything after that and it was the last time I heard from him," Kanta Devi told PTI as she broke down into tears.
Singh, a native of Jammu, was commissioned into 18 Grenadiers at the age of 18. During the Kargil war, 18 Grenadiers were tasked with recapturing the Tiger Hill with two other battalions.
The battalion launched an attack and came under intense fire from the enemy after reaching the hill top. Singh died in the gun battle and was awarded a Sena Medal posthumously.
Kanta Devi, who was visiting the Lamochen View Point here to attend an event to commemorate the 24th Kargil Vijay Diwas, said she has preserved her son's bullet-riddled wallet.
"It has bloodstains on it and contains some crumpled currency notes. When I die, I want it to be consigned to the flames with me. There is no bigger pain for a mother than to see her son die. He was supposed to be the one to light my funeral pyre," said an inconsolable Kanta Devi.
"But his words and dedication towards the nation make me proud," she said.
During his year-long service, whenever Singh visited home, his family would distribute sweets in their neighbourhood.
"Somehow, I always felt that I needed to celebrate his return. A mother's heart just knows. When he went back the last time, I knew he wasn't coming back," Kanta Devi said.
The Indian Army had launched a fierce counterassault, Operation Vijay, to push back Pakistani forces that had stealthily occupied important heights in Ladakh in 1999.
The Kargil War saw Indian soldiers fight in the most challenging terrain under harsh weather conditions leading to the defeat of the enemy in Drass, Kargil and Batalik sectors.
Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on July 26 every year to mark India's victory over Pakistan.
