School friendships are special because you become friends with the whole family. For instance, Amma gets birthday wishes from my school mates and she insists on wishing them on theirs. It’s exactly that way with Anu’s parents. All of us who were her classmates at KV Happy Valley knew Uncle and Aunty.
When Anu told us that Uncle has transitioned to the other shore on March 12… all I could say was “what a life ! and a warrior till his last breath”. There are several memories of mine but Anu has written this note beautifully and I want to just repost it. Do read. Link to the article – Brigadier Man Mohan Sharma (Retd), FRGS; My Father, A Soldier To the End.
Brigadier Man Mohan Sharma (Retd), FRGS; My Father, A Soldier To the End
Daddy was unwell for a just a couple of months and it was only then with great reluctance he took some allopathic medication as he truly believed in being stoic, in nature and in Ayurveda. He was what we called “zinda dil”. In the last four days in the ICU he had befriended and become the beloved of every Doctor and attendant with his kindness and spirit. He would say he was fine, joke, check in on people and recite Shayari. As my sister, Anjali Sharma, brother-in-law Mandeep Vinaik and I took turns taking care of him he resisted.
We knew he was critical. We were staying in the hospital overnight. He never wanted to bother anyone and his BP visibly shot up as he told me not to. “Daddy, if we stay at home, our BP will be high.” Daddy laughed, and retorted, “Let yours stay high one day, and mine, high, another!” He knew everyone’s names and as he passed away, I comforted them…He spoke to the Head Nurse, Sapna, who turned out to be Nepali, fluently in her language. When Priya, the duty nurse asked him how he was, he recited shayari, “Unko dekh ke jo aa jati hai chehre pe raunak, woh sochte hain beemar ka haal thik hai.”
Before he passed away I recited Guru Pooja. Doctor Neha wanted to talk to me and I said we must step away because he is super alert. “Babu ji, can you hear me?” “Yes, my girlfriend, my wife was just here.” He was weak and frail and she burst out laughing saying she should record that. She told me how critical he was but then, I knew that clinically (I’m an Engineer, MBA, who graduated as — Anuradha Gupta, AyurvedicDoctor, Kerala Ayurveda USA in March 2024 just in time to make Dad proud — my second career that he encouraged).
He was sinking and sleepy but bravely said, “Beta, I’ll just rest.” I sang the song he sang to us when we were small and sick, “Tum apna ranjogum, apni pareshani mujhe de do.” I chanted, told him to sleep, kissed him, touched his feet, said I loved him and would return to feed him. He smiled, closed his eyes and was gone soon after, peacefully, in his sleep.
Anjali, who had cared for him with all her heart, and I did his Last Rites, bidding farewell to our brave father as our other sister and my husband headed to the US. The outpouring of love and gratitude for the lives he touched with his love, humility and the thousands he had helped in ways, big and small left us stunned. I was asked to write about him and here is his impressive life story.
🙏🏽♥️Brigadier Man Mohan Sharma (Retd) 🇮🇳 (13th Jan, 1933 — 12th Mar, 2024) was born in a highly educated family of Sialkot (in undivided India, now in Pakistan) during the auspicious festival of Lohri. His ancestors were in the Maratha Army, settled in Panjab and took part in the Brave Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, against the British.
📚Man Mohan Sharma had a distinguished academic career. He was a graduate with honours in English and Urdu literature. He was also an interpreter in Nepali. He served as a Commissioned Officer with the illustrious 5/8 Gorkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles).
⛰️He commanded the Garhawal and Kumaon Scouts. in Uttaranchal. He was also the Center Commandent of 58 GTC. During his army service spanning 30 years, he spent more than two decades in the Himalayan heights and valleys from subzero temperatures of Ladakh to the beautiful valleys of the Eastern Himalayas. He carried out an in-depth study of the mountains; the land and the people; and their extraordinary mythology.
⛰️📚His first book “Through The Valley of Gods” (1976), attracted attention around the Globe and earned him the Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society, London and a President’s Award. He was the 12th Indian Fellow of the Royal Society (in the august company of people like Ramanujan, the famous mathematician also called “the man who knew infinity”). FRGS is the only civil award reflected in the Army list. Brig Sharma was also conferred with the membership of the National Geographical Society, Washington.
⛰️🎖️📚He was the distinguished author of 45+ books including, “Through the Valley of Gods, Travels in the Central Himalayas”, “Nandan Kanan, The Valley of Flowers”, “Yatra, Pilgrimages in the Himalayas”, “स्वर्ग के द्वार”, Indian Prisoners of War in Pakistan” and “The Tragedy of Tibet”. He is an acknowledged authority in jungle warfare, navigation skills, on the Himalayan Uttrakhand culture, and is a war historian.
*Family History*: 🙏🏽His great grandfather Pandit Mana Ram Moday was part of the 1857 mutiny. He was captured by the British and shot in a place called Puran ki Khui (a well near Sial-Kot) known for the love story of Puran and Luna. The family was debarred from Government service and could henceforth not find jobs with the British government and all the better that was!
🙏🏽His parents were Pandit Dewan Chand and Panditani Durga Devi. His Mother was very devout and his father was a kind, saintly village Principal who did Vedic Hawans daily. Every year the family collected at Puran ki Khui on the day of Pandit Mana Ram Moday’s shooting. It was a celebration of his valor which became a village “Mela” everyone in the village of Bhopalwala joined in.
🙏🏽His Maternal GrandMother was Vaidya VeeranDai whose Ayurvedic practice was banned by the British but she continued practice her bravely as the Vaidya and midwife of the village.
🪷When the partition and independence of India. took place in 1947 he was just 14 years old. Prior to partition his brother was jailed by the British for being a freedom fighter. The family fled to India. He made the trek to India by himself with two little siblings, and was separated from his family for a year in a refugee camp. There, he vowed to stay strong in the face of hunger and disease and took care of his siblings, feeding and guarding them.
🌸However hungry, he and his friends would not beg; he continued studying through whatever material was available and when the government offered one, he learnt the trade of becoming a locksmith and had some meager earnings. After a year, he found an advertisement by his family in the papers who was looking for him and was reunited with them. His family was overjoyed; after nearly two centuries of being barred from Government service he joined the Army to defend the nation.
❤️He married Nirmala Mehta in 1961 who is a BA, BEd, classical and radio singer and now a devout singer at the Jai Krishni temple in Delhi. He is survived by his wife and three daughters, Anjali Sharma, Gita Sharma and Anuradha Gupta and sons-in-law, Mandeep Singh Vinaik and Pankaj Gupta. The apples of his eyes were his five grandkids, Param Singh Vinaik, Chetan Sharma, Ragini Vinaik, Himadri Gupta and Siddharth Gupta, and grand son-in-law, Ragini’s husband, Nikhil Chaudhary.
🌸He was an animal and nature lover, loved music and dancing, read the Bhagavad Gita and did yoga and meditation regularly. He now lived in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi. He had an impeccable dressing style, unending compassion, a chivalrous nature, witty demeanour, reciting Shayari’s; and ability to mingle with everybody- big or small…It was definitely his spirituality that lent him immeasurable poise, possibly his stoic childhood as a refugee survivor.
🌸In his 91 years, he touched the lives of so many with his unfailing enthusiasm, kindness, valor, humility, strength, humor, love and support. He passed away peacefully on 12th March, 2024.
#Soldier #IndianArmy #Gorkha #gorkharegiment #BraveGorkha #GorkhaRifles #Veteran #WarVeteran #IndianBrave #ServeWithHonour #IndianArmedForces
What a life !!! And so many lessons for all of us to learn. Uncle’s life is not just about grit or facing life with courage, it’s an inspiring story of a man who truly “lived”. Yes he was a soldier, and a Brigadier no less… he was also a family man, an open minded new age man and a wonderful grandfather because all his tales were true stories :). He didn’t have to refer to any story book to regale youngsters. That’s how rich his life was.
The last time we all met Uncle was on June 29, 2023 in Nishi’s place. He had come along with Anu to meet with his youngest great-grandson – Jyoti’s son.
How proud Uncle was of the fact that Jyoti and her husband are in the Indian army. It was like one of his grand-daughters was following his footsteps.
Farewell Uncle… till we all get together again. So honoured to have known you and am sure you are “living it up” wherever you are. Jai Hind.
What a beautiful tribute to a brave, intelligent, kind, humorous, and accomplished man. May he rest in peace. He certainly lived through a lot of history.