Martyrs’ moms pillars of strength for their families

LUCKNOW: If there is a woman behind every successful man, there is a strong woman behind every soldier. Often identified by the men in their lives—women seldom get the due for the role they play in the lives of their husbands, brothers or children.

However, when the going gets tough, it is they who hold the family like glue.

To celebrate womanhood, TOI meets three such women who are pillars of their homes. They are the mothers of bravehearts who sacrificed their lives for the nation to never come back.

While they silently bear the pain of their loss as mothers, one look at them also tells you that it takes a special kind of strength to send a piece of your heart away, knowing what is at stake.

Mohini Pandey | Mother of Capt Manoj Pandey: When the fall of 1998 witnessed heart-wrenching bloodshed in Jammu & Kashmir, hopes and dreams of several families were shattered. Spending sleepless nights, Mohini Pandey, mother of Late Capt Manoj Pandey, still held unflinching hope that her son would return to celebrate his birthday on March 6, 1999.

Providing the family with emotional support, she drew courage from the several letters she exchanged with her son––something she still does, 20 years after his death.

“I am proud of him. When we received the news of his death, I lost my sense of being for some time. But, for the sake of my other three children, I pulled myself together. Usually, it is a parent’s duty to enlighten the moral path for their children, but here, it was the other way round where Manoj not only turned out to be a good son but also a responsible brother with the example he set,” says Mohini. Now, she hopes to see her granddaughter in uniform soon.

Deepa Sharma | Mother of Maj Ritesh Sharma: On many evenings, Deepa Sharma looks back at the time when the Kargil war broke out. Despite being on leave, her son had insisted on going for duty. She had two options: to either hold him back or to encourage him to fight for his motherland. She chose the latter, knowing that this could be her last conversation with Maj Ritesh Sharma.

Twenty years later, her tears have not dried but she is proud of her decision. Maj Sharma was killed in action in the Kargil war but not before fighting till his last breath.

“A woman is the powerhouse of strength for the family. She cannot afford to break down, no matter what the loss is,” she says. With no other children, Deepa and her husband see Ritesh in other children around them. Active in social service, they leave no stone unturned in making lives of others better.

Mridula Rai | Mother of Lt Navneet Rai: Immediately after her son was killed in action, Mridula Rai found a certain sense of relief in her teaching job which she joined soon after the incident. “I see my son in every child,” she says, referring to Navneet, who was martyred during Operation Rakshak in 2001 in a counter-insurgency operation in Jammu & Kashmir.

She often sits back to admire her house which was Navneet’s creation.

“This house was his dream, but one terrorist can shatter an entire house,” she says. While her son made the most supreme sacrifice for his motherland, it turned to be his mother’s most painful too.

However, the retired teacher sought solace in teaching the same values to her students that she taught her son. “It was because of my discipline that Navneet eased into the Army life so well,” she says with pride.