India's only Olympics silver medallist, Major Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, today paid a private visit to Lucknow to dedicate his medal. To another hero, and dear friend Major Amiya Kumar Tripathi, who died fighting terrorists in the Kupwara sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Tripathi died on May 25, when Rathore was training for the Olympics, and both the families had kept the news hidden till now to not disturb him. ‘‘I perhaps would have never competed then. I kept wondering why Amiya never called to congratulate me after I won the medal on August 17.I never knew he had died much before. Everybody hid it from me.Ultimately, a friend told me about his death a few days back,’’ Major Rathore told The Indian Express today. Rathore and Tripathi, who belonged to the Sikh Regiment, had joined the National Defence Academy together as 17-year-olds back in 1987. ‘‘There we became friends, then joined the Indian Military Academy together and passed out in the same batch,’’ Rathore said. While they joined different regiments of the Army, they were always in touch. ‘‘I had even come to Lucknow four to five times to meet his family, and his parents used to come over to our house in Jaipur,’’ Rathore added. He said he kept asking his family about Tripathi, who died at the age of 35, after winning the medal. ‘‘But they kept telling me that he was in J-K and could not be contacted. I then called up his residence several times, but even his family did not tell me anything, saying they too had not heard from him but that he was fine. Neither of the families had the courage to break the tragic news to me,’’ Rathore said. Even when he came to Lucknow for a grand felicitation ceremony, the day after returning to India on August 21, he wasn’t told anything. A few days ago, a close friend finally told him the truth. Rathore immediately sent his wife Gayatri to meet Tripathi’s family, and rushed to Lucknow today after finishing some important engagements. Ram Sakal Tripathi, Amiya’s father, hugged Rathore at the door, and broke down: ‘‘Where were you all this while?.We never told you.” ‘‘He was a gem of a person. A very brave soldier, he could do anything for a true friend. I will always rue that I could not be alongside him when he died a hero’s death and his body came home,’’ Rathore said. ‘‘My best buddy. This medal goes to him. His loss is irreparable.’’
