Karkare Karambir Diwas

Two months back his sweetheart had a haemorrhage and passed away … She didn’t die though. All the organs that could be used were donated. So one person now lives amongst many !! Now he must be at peace and the two of them, Hemant and Kavita Karkare can complete the dinner that was interrupted on 26th Nov, 2008 and stayed interrupted for six years.

When her son called up to say “my wife and sons are dead, what do I do?”… His mother replied, continue to help others, save those that can be saved. It’s very important that we name kids with a lot of forethought, because they do live upto that name, Karambir Kang, did his “karm” on Nov 26, 2008 even as his wife and sons died in the fire on the 6th floor of the Taj hotel. And who said, a hotel’s manager would have to be like a soldier on a battlefront ? But you got to live upto your name and subconsciously that’s just what Karambir did.

I have never written about 26/11 but every detail of that day are images that would never fade away. We were also going through a very personal situation at that time with dad in the hospital after a massive brain haemorrhage …. Ironically he passed away on Dec 11 midnight, so technically on Dec 12th and that would have been Hemant Karkare’s 54th birthday if he had lived through the 26/11 terrorist attack.

We have so many days named after every political leader in our country, but no day named after a policeman or a regular citizen who does something extraordinary … Why can’t we name 26/11 after two people who did their duty without complaints and are heroes ? We are in dire need of heroes and we won’t find them only amongst our political “netas” or the popular celebrities. Why not name 26/11 as the Karkare Karambir Diwas ? Celebrate the police force that is a butt of jokes, give them their due recognition for fighting a daily battle, while being ill-equipped :(:(. Celebrate an ordinary citizen in Karambir, so every ordinary citizen does his job extraordinarily everyday.

I haven’t forgotten the other heroes, especially the army braveheart Sandeep Unnikrishnan. The only reason for not including his name while naming the day is because we will have to have a name for everyday of the year – the armed forces have heroes everyday, who defend our country, again thanklessly. Try standing in the peaks of Kargil for an hour and you will know what I mean. Try saving flood victims and be pelted with stones and still continue doing your work and you will know what I mean …. And yeah Mr. Achyuthananthan, Sandeep doesn’t need your respect, he has the respect of every dog and the ordinary citizens of this country.

I hope we will name this day as Karkare Karambir Diwas and ensure every Indian is dedicated to his work as Hemant and Karambir, that will be the first step towards becoming a heroic nation.

Jaihind.