PARAMVEER- OUR HEROES IN BATTLE IS A BOOK WRITTEN BY MAJOR GENERAL IAN CARDOZO, IN ENGLISH. MANY FAMOUS MILITARY PERSONNEL, LIKE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, AFTER RETIRING FROM ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICES HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THE ACCOUNT OF WARS THEY FOUGHT, BATTLE FIELDS, THE MILITARY STRATEGIES ETC. THEY ARE REALLY THE MASTERPIECES OF THE LITERATURE. IN INDIA, VERY FEW HAVE TRIED THEIR HANDS ON PEN, AFTER GUITTING THE SWORDS AND MAJOR GENERAL IAN CARDOZO IS ONE OF THEM. ‘PARAMVEER CHAKRA’ IS THE HIGHEST HONOUR, THE HIGHEST AWARD IN THE ORDER OF MILITARY AWARDS GIVEN BY THE GOVT. OF INDIA, FOR THE ACT OF VALOUR, AND PATRIOTISM. THE BOOK GIVES ACCOUNT OF 21 "PARAMVEER` MEDAL RECIPIENTS WHICH WERE AWARDED FOR THE WARS WAGED ON THE SOIL OF INDIA NAMELY, JAMMU-KASHMIR WAR 1947-48, INDIA CHINA WAR 1962, INDIA PAKISTAN WARS, 1965, 1971 AND RECENT KARGIL WAR 1999 AND ALSO UNITED NATION`S PEACE KEEPING EXPEDITION AND SIACHEN WAR, EACH RECIPIENT`S STORY UNFOLDS A BREATH TAKING EXPERIENCE OF THE COURAGE, BRAVERY AND VALOUR . THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SIGHT, THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY THE INCUMBENTS, THE DETERMINATION TO FIGHT AGAINST ALL ODDS AND SUCCEED IS SO GRIPPING THAT YOUR HEAD BOWS IN GRATITUDE FOR THEIR BRAVERY. MANY RECIPIENTS LAID THEIR LIVES TO SAVE THIS COUNTRY. FOR OUR TODAY THEY HAVE SPENT THEIR YESTERDAY. FOR GETTING THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FAMILY BACKGROUND, BUILDING OT THE CHARACTER OF EACH RECIPIENT, THE WRITER HAS TAKEN LOTS OF EFFORTS. HE CONTACTED ARUN BATRA`S (THE THEN YOUNGEST RECIPIENT WHO LAID HIS LIFE) FATHER. THE STORY NARRATED BY THE FATHER IS MOST TOUCHING AND ABSORBING. THE DESIGNER OF THIS MEDAL IS A LADY. NAMELY MRS. KHANOLKAR, WHO WAS NOT INDIAN BY BIRTH. THIS BOOK IS QUITE INFORMATIVE, THERE IS A LETTER WRITTEN TO PANDIT NEHRU BY SARDAR PATEL, READING THIS YOU GET TO KNOW SARDAR PATEL’S FORESIGHT AND ACUMEN, INSIGHT. THIS BOOK IS HEARTWARMING, IT ENRICHES YOUR MIND. NOW IT IS AVAILABLE AS A TRANSLATION IN MARATHI.
आपल्या मातृभूमीच्या रक्षणासाठी पेटून उठलेल्या हिंमतवान भारतीय सैनिकांच्या
या कथा आहेत. त्यांना त्यांच्या वरिष्ठांकडूनही तसेच प्रोत्साहन मिळाले.
युद्ध ही जरी राष्ट्राने हाती घेतलेल्या राजनीतीची पुढील पायरी असली तरी, रणधुमाळीत तोलले जाते ते सैनिकांचे नशीब!
भारतीय सैनिक, ज्यांच्या गळी ‘स्वत:आधी सेवा’ हे तत्त्व पूर्णपणे उतरलेले असते, युद्धातील सर्व आव्हाने अंगावर घेतात,
प्रतिकूल परिस्थितीमधून मार्ग शोधतात आणि अशक्यप्राय वाटणारे यश हसतमुखाने
खेचून आणतात.
फार थोड्यांचे शौर्य पदकाने सन्मानित होते. बाकीच्यांची दखल घेतली जाणे गरजेचे आहे.
हे सर्व योद्धे, जे असे निर्भीड होते,
ते कशामुळे झाले? त्यांना कोणी घडविले?
भारतीय सैनिकांचे कर्तृत्व, त्यांची ध्येयधारणा, त्यांनी भारतीय सैन्याची आणि आपल्या देशाची केलेली सेवा वाचकांपर्यंत पोहोचवायचे काम या पुस्तकाने केले आहे.
ज्या भारतभूमीसाठी या जवानांनी आपले रक्त सांडले, त्या भारताचे सर्वार्थाने रक्षण करणे हे प्रत्येक भारतीयाचे परम कर्तव्य आहे.
या शूर योद्ध्यांना तीच खरी श्रद्धांजली आहे.