Remembering heroes

“I still remember,it was a silent night attack and the unit which I was commanding captured 8 Pakistani soldiers of C-company,” says,Patil. Years after the event ,Patil doesn’t forget the fact that it was the reason that made him to organise retired defence personnel into an association which would regularly recall the heroic deeds of people in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The idea that wars shouldn’t be forgotten and war heroes remembered always gave birth to Trishakti Foundation,working for the welfare of retired defence personnel,in 1989. It was only nine years later,when people started associating themselves with the foundation that they started regularly celebrating the Vijay Diwas in the Karad area of Satara district from 1998.

At the current office of the Trishakti foundation located in the basement of one of the housing complexes in the city’s Bund Garden Road,there are pictures of ribbon cutting ceremonies,army men in fatigues erecting tents and blood donation camps hanging on the walls. At the office,Patil receives retired defence personnel asking him to refer them for the job as he adds,“He is Sarkar Shinde. No his exact name is UttamRao Sarkar Shinde,he is donating 1 acre of land to us for setting up a coaching academy for students to join the defence service and administrative exams like IAS,” Adding more about the academy he says that it will be set up at Hadapsar. Unlike all other ex-servicemen organisations,Trishakti foundation,has 40 percent civil members. “That doesn’t distract us. Infact it is not possible for us to work for the cause of retired and serving soldiers without the support of the civilians,” he adds.

21 years after it was formed,the Trishakti Foundation has expanded to a wide range of activities. From arranging summer camps for the youth to even marriages of the children of ex-servicemen it has now a pan-India presence with its office bearers in other parts of country as well. “We have office bearers at the different parts of country like Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh,” he says,adding,“Every year we organise a function on November 1 in Pune which marks the celebration of Infantry Day,which is the day when the Indian army landed in Srinagar to fight the tribal invasion after Independence,.”

The woman’s wing of the Trishakti Foundation has infact been visiting the villages of Maharashtra organising the wives of retired defence personnel into groups of Mahila Bachat Gats which are trained in different trades for self employment. “We have raised over 1,000 such groups in which women are involved in various activities,” says Patil.