DRASS, JULY 21: For Major Neelolpal Dasgupta of 18 Grenadiers, the adage that all is fair in love and war couldn't have been more ironical. After having waded through a sea of bullets in Tololing and captured the crucial hump, the young Major earned his Commander's respect but lost his love.Dasgupta, after proving his mettle in the battlefield, was granted special leave to go back home and get engaged. He had kept his bride-to-be's photo close to his heart all along. Even though half the troops in his company were either killed or injured, he pressed on with the attack and emerged victorious.But Dasgupta wasn't half as lucky in love. ``The girl I was supposed to get engaged to had heard that 18 Grenadiers were in active battle in Tololing and Tiger Hill and turned down the marriage proposal,'' says the dejected Major, now back in Drass.His friends try to console him, saying it was the girl's loss. She had rebuffed a war hero. Dasgupta smiles feebly. He still hasn't stopped carrying her photographthough his friends try to hide it from him.Captain Ved Pal Yadav of 1 Naga has been luckier. It was almost touch and go for him. In December last year he met this girl from Gurgaon in Delhi and fell in love. This February they got engaged.``Our marriage was then scheduled for June 24, but in May we were inducted in Drass. The girl and both our families were disappointed. We didn't even distribute the invitation cards. But my Company Commander, Col Patil, spoke to General-Officer-Commanding (GOC) Major General Mahendra Puri and got special leave for me,'' says the Captain.Before leaving for Delhi, the young officer participated in the action to recover Peaks 5140, 5100 and Bimbat on the Line of Control (LoC).Captain Yadav returned to Drass one week earlier. Almost blushing, he tells his fellow officers about the wedding. His seniors needle him and juniors flock around when he talks about his wife, Neeru, and their brief honeymoon.Others hope to be as lucky. And one of them is Captain VishalThapa of 16 Grenadiers. `Shola', as he is called, met his girlfriend through All India Radio's (AIR) Forces Request.He receives calls from his girlfriend in Pune at his post above 16,000 feet, courtesy the Army of course. There are times when they have talked for hours, just minutes after he returned after shooting a few Pakistani soldiers. What keeps Thapa going is the fact that his girlfriend says she will wait for him till he comes back. The pretty Pune girl even managed to send her photograph across to Thapa.The scene is different for a friend and senior Major Ajit Singh. The girl his parents want him to marry had made it clear that there is no commitment. She will consider if and when he comes back alive. Same is the case with Captain Arun Singh in this war zone. Though engaged, his wedding date has been put off indefinitely.``This of course has had one positive effect. All the anger and frustration came out on the Pakistani soldiers who fled seeing young angry Army men advancing,'' jokeda Commanding Officer of one of the units.Some names have been changed to protect identity
