A Commercial That Speaks to the Heart

This video is a beautiful tribute to our soldiers – well worth watching, especially on Valentine’s Day. Do not be surprised that it comes from Malabar Gold, a jewellery chain in Kerala. The animation is exceptional, the script apt. It depicts how a senior army officer might counsel a young officer in such a situation. It celebrates the bonding and camaraderie among officers of the Indian Army. In truth, it is a real motivational video.

A Memory from 2002

Watching this television commercial, I was transported back to my Commanding Officer days in 2002. Our Regiment was deployed in the Rajasthan sector for operations since January. After I took over command in June, I noticed that most young officers – especially the newly married ones – had not been home to see their wives. Leave for everyone in the army at that time was severely curtailed, sanctioned only in extreme emergencies.

A Fortuitous Journey

After assuming command, I needed to travel to Devlali, our permanent peacetime location, to complete documentation procedures. Higher headquarters granted me permission to move out of the sector for a week. I seized this opportunity – perhaps wilfully misinterpreting the orders – and took two young Captains with me as my staff officers: the Adjutant and the Quartermaster. Their presence would facilitate the various documentation tasks.

We three booked train tickets from Jodhpur. Captain Subhash was bound for Devlali, where his wife was stationed. Captain Mitra’s destination was Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which fell en route; his wife was living with her parents there. I was headed for Devlali, as Marina had by then migrated to Canada.

The Plan Unfolds

Our train was scheduled to stop at Ahmedabad at daybreak. Subhash called Mrs Mitra with careful instructions: prepare breakfast for the Commanding Officer and himself, and bring it along. He added an advisory note – the Commanding Officer was a connoisseur of good food, so it got to be good.

Half an hour before the train was to pull into Ahmedabad station, Mitra woke us with a cup of hot tea and the brightest smile he could muster. That was when the devil in me began working overtime.

I instructed Mitra to step off the train – not onto the platform side, but the opposite. Subhash was to meet Mrs Mitra on the platform and break the sad news: her husband’s leave had been cancelled by the Commanding Officer at the eleventh hour due to unforeseen operational requirements. I would then walk in to meet Mrs Mitra for the first time.

The Moment of Truth

The train came to a halt. Everything proceeded as planned. Mrs Mitra waited on the platform next to our coach with her father, both smiling, eager to meet her husband who had been away for six months.

The moment Subhash broke the sad news, I walked in. I watched as dark clouds of sadness layered over her smiling face. Her expression shifted from radiant to dull, as if an arc light had suddenly fused. Her father comforted her with gentle reasoning: her husband was on important national duty and would be with her shortly.

I apologised sincerely for cancelling Mitra’s leave and assured her he would be sent home in two months. Mrs Mitra barely heard me. She stared with a dazed, blank expression.

Subhash reached for the breakfast hamper. “He hasn’t come, but we can have the breakfast. Haven’t you brought it for us?“

The train whistle blew. We thanked them, climbed aboard, and stood in the doorway, waving goodbye.

Epilogue

Wishing all couples a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Falling in love is like looking at the stars. If you pick one among the billions and stare at it long enough, all the others will melt away.

For the soldier, love is measured in stolen moments, postponed reunions, and the quiet understanding that duty and devotion are not opposites – they are two sides of the same coin.