Tiger Of Tiger Hill Poem by Shankaran Kutty

(“The Kargil war is an undeniable proud moment of Indian history. But this act I describe here is a fictitious one. there were many like the hero of this poem, who made that victory possible.”)

He was a young and sprightly and bonny little lad
He was the best, my brigade ever had
He scaled the Kargil peaks till a single act
Left him dying, now lying on my lap.

He was so young, just twenty two
With a mother and brother and a widowed sister too
“You should come sir”, he would say with a sigh
“Cool mountain rivers and fields of rye “

He was so sweet and talked a lot
He spoke of the fights, with his brother had fought
And how his sister with her eyes so bright
Would plead with them, to stop the fight

His father was a martyr, an officer brave
His mother, for whose love, he daily does crave
Her roti and dal he says he yearns a lot
He wanted to go home, to have them hot

Every time I met him, I saw his eyes gleam
Very soon he was, the darling of the team
For games and work he would always lead
He was there for all, in times of need

The peaceful days in Himalayan cold
Were to end quite soon for the jawans, bold
The enemy barged in on our peaks tall
From Drass to Tiger Hill they captured them all

For a soldier, there is no greater adrenal rush
Than his vilest enemies in a war, crush
As the air filled with gun shot noise
Above it all, we heard a human noise

“Let us take them on” did scream he
On the lad’s face, I spotted his glee
Never on his face did I see any fright
As for the assault we waited for night

And then in the night when all was still
We scaled the rocky face of Tiger Hill
On the jagged rocks with no sure hold
Made all the worse by the freezing cold

As the howling winds brought our hearts to stop
Inch by inch we clawed to the top
The enemy we knew in wait did lie
But not one of us was scared to die

The brave young lad did lead our way
It was real war, not simulation play
Steeled by the desire to reclaim our own
We swiftly reached the peak by dawn

The enemy soldiers were taken by surprise
The lad took two before they could even rise
On that barren peak with no place to hide
We were far less in numbers, but driven by pride

He danced around like a boxer in a ring
A song I thought, I heard him sing
He fought his way through, though the end was near
For him death was glory, not something to fear

One by one our brethren fell
The enemy ranks just seemed to swell
Wounded and unarmed I stood alarmed
With his bayonet in hand, a soldier at me he charged

'Bharat Mata ki Jai”, I did loudly scream
To die for his motherland, is a soldier’s dream
As I waited for my death, no fear did I show
When from where he came, I will never know

As the bayonet plunged, the lad was in front of me
'Vande Mataram”, softly stuttered did he
I pulled out his gun and blew the enemy’s head
As we fell, and down the slope we sped

We landed on a ridge on the mountain slope
To win the battle we had lost all hope
'Why did you do this? ” I wanted to ask
“We needed you more, to finish our task”

“Sir, to my mother back home will you tell my story
By dying for my country, I have attained greatest glory
That in the tough field of battle, I did not flinch
Never took a step back, only forward by each inch

Tell her, her son never did cry
That for my country, till my end did try
These tears that flow are not from pain
It is because my efforts, are being in vain”

Then I heard the distant sound
Our fighter planes, our place had found
As they swooped in for the kill
In no time we had freed Tiger Hill.

As I watched the tricolour flutter proud
'Vande Mataram”, I cried out loud
I picked up the lad and held him to my breast
“Arise..son, you simply are the best

Look up and see, the battle is won
Arise my son, our work is done “
But he never heard a word I said
On my lap he lay, blissfully dead.

Many a summer has since gone by
As a soldier, I climbed many rungs so high
But when I think of the lad my heart stands still
I bow to the Tiger of Tiger Hill.