In five decades since India’s Independence, the Indian soldier has repeatedly made the supreme sacrifice. India owes an immeasurable debt to the untold thousands of soldiers who have died uncelebrated in her service. The 21 recipients of the Param Vir Chakra are the few acknowledged symbols of the unknown soldiers and their many exceptional acts of courage and sacrifice. A willful act of self-sacrifice performed as an act of duty can only come from tremendous training in character.
The author Shyam Kumari of Sri Aurobindo Ashram deserves to be complimented on this laudable project she has undertaken to write the acts of bravery of some of these heroes in two volumes in English and the present one translated to Hindi in single volume. There are a number of books written on these brave heroes, but Shyam Kumari has written their acts in a very simple language after having interviewed their near and dear ones to get the true incidents. These stories should motivate all of us especially the youth of the nation to do the same in every action of our daily lives.
Hamare Param Veer Chakra Vijeta
Shyam Kumari was born in Muzaffarnagar, U.P., in 1934. There she studied in the Vedic Putri Pathshala and S. D. Degree College up to her B.A. In 1965, she passed her M.A. from Lucknow University. She has read widely in Hindi and English literature, as well as religious and spiritual books.
Since her childhood she yearned to find God. In 1969, the Divine Mother accepted her in Sri Aurobindo Ashram and appointed her a teacher in the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education.
Hundreds of her poems, lyrics, stories, plays, literary and social essays, both in English and Hindi, have appeared in national and international journals. She has also written and published more than 70 books, some running into several reprints. Many of her books have been translated into Hindi, Oriya, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati. She has written path-breaking rhymes and story books for children. In 1998 she launched a Hindi quarterly magazine, Swarna Hansa which she, single-handedly, wrote, edited and published for 20 years.
In 1998, she established Vraja Trust, a public charitable trust, and is at present its managing trustee. In 2001, she started Sri Aravinda Sanskrit Vidyalaya, in Pondicherry, India, to impart free Sanskrit education to children and adults alike and she is its chairperson. In 2005, she launched the “Let Each School Adopt a Hero” scheme. In 2006, she launched the “Let Us Honour Our Soldiers” and “Let each child become a Hero Warrior” schemes.
