Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 1: Journalist and poet Ayushman Jamwal hosted a lively poetry session at the Oxford Book Store in New Delhi in honour of India’s brave soldiers.
At the event titled ‘Shaurya: Pride of Sacrifice’, poets of different generations, speaking different languages paid homage to India’s armed forces as well as the martyrs who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of service and duty.
The chief guest of the evening was eminent Defence analyst and author, Major General GD Bakshi, who shared poems from his books, ‘Dances With Cranes’ and ‘Freedom is an Eagle: Poems from an Outpost’, highlighting how his military service was the prime inspiration that awoke the writer inside him.
Major General Bakshi also highlighted how the Indian army is the biggest secular force in the nation, and the unity it preached and practiced is inspirational. “One of my mentors in the army when I enlisted was a Muslim soldier. I never saw his faith, just that he was a proud, patriotic and skilled soldier,” he said. “The danger and pressure of fighting side by side forges bonds that transcend all divisions. Soldiers may be born divided, but they are united under the Tricolour when they serve in the military.”
Other poets at the event included Lieutenant Colonel Shyam Sunder Sharma, a Shaurya Chakra recipient who shared poems from his latest collection ‘Adrift’. Nirmala Singh, a military wife and author shared her journey of service with her husband who served in the Indian Air Force. Manoj Krishnan, founder of the Asian Literary Society, enthralled the audience with his poem on courage and sacrifice.
Ayushman Jamwal, who also serves as the curator of the Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust, is the grandson of distinguished Dogri poet and Sahitya Akademi recipient, Group Captain Randhir Singh. He recited his celebrated poem ’May The Valley Hear Me Roar’, dedicated to the jawans who serve in the Kashmir valley, from his latest book ‘Silent Sun’.
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