Letters from Kargil: The Kargil War Through Our Soldiers’ Eyes

by Diksha Dwivedi

With feet deep in snow and alert with their guns, our soldiers are responding to each threat from the enemy with twice the intensity and vigour, but my heart is somewhere else.’ In May 1999, India was invaded by Pakistan in Kargil in the Ladakh region in a surprise attack. Diksha Dwivedi’s father was one of the martyrs of that war. In this beautiful, extremely moving book, she tells the story of the Kargil war through the letters and diaries of her father and other soldiers who fought there. Intimate and emotional, Letters from Kargil is the most human and personal portrait of the war ever written.

Genres: Nonfiction, War, India, History

168 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2017

Reviews

[Nidhi Kaushik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being from the defence background and having heard and seen a few actions, this book wasn't an easy read for me. This book took me to an emotional, painful roller coaster ride. Tears were every now and then rolling down my cheeks. Don't know whether to feel the pain of our martyrs and their families or to hold my emotions, saying- Please! Don't worry about casualties, it's a professional hazard which is beyond anyone's control.

[Reet Chopra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, moving and heart-wrenching. This is the first time I've read about our soldiers, who did soo much for us and we know so little about them! Respect, gratitude and salute to our Indian heroes!
It is one thing to hear stories from people and totally another to read the first person account through the eyes of the soldiers from ground zero in the warzone. Moved to tears several times, this will remain close to my heart.

Some of my favourite passages from the book include:

"..But going to battle was a terrible and frightening experience. To motivate men to give their best, even their lives, while you fight your own inner fears. To put up a brave front in front of the men while inwardly you are yourself not sure.."

"..When there was victory- the cavalier claimed it outright, the gunner boasted of his caliber, the signal men and engineers published their worth, but the INFANTRY MAN stood silently with victory under his feet.."

"..It takes years for contradictions to smooth out, for you to feel the right emotions and act the right way. And that's when a sense of pride slowly starts to overpower the feeling of loss. That's when you read the letter again, the letter that reminds you of the man who gave his tomorrow for your today, happily.."

[Nidhi Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t been a fan of non-fiction, but when it comes to Indian Defence Forces then it is a must-read. I remember receiving this book on last Sunday early morning and it took me 12 hours to finish it. There were two reasons to complete it so quickly, reason 1 being it was about the Kargil War (1999) and reason 2- I was too emotional learning about each soldier. The author has done a commendable job by bringing the letters from soldiers’ posted in Kargil. The daughter of Major Chandra Bhushan Dwivedi pulled up a brave face and has penned down the war situation for the world to remember it forever. Reading about the violations and infiltration by Pakistan would make you hate the enemy more. The Pakistan Army invaded us in the winters, but the Infantry is always ready to fight all the odds. The life of soldier is tough, and the letters would show how the families stand by these soldiers and pull up brave faces fighting emotions. It is because to these soldiers that Kargil district and Siachen Glacier is part of India. I shed a tear reading Lieutenant Amit Bhardwaj’s journal, where he wrote about his Diwali away from home. The journal of 22 year-old Lieutenant Saurabh Kalia broke me inside, learning about the mortar firing, sniper rifles and report of intrusion by Pakistani army. “The Pakistani soldiers didn’t let the Indian soldiers approach the place where these two brave soldiers lay dead.” It will wrench your hearts when you read how the Pakistanis treated our soldiers, our martyred soldiers. The vital parts were missing from Lt. Kalia and his troops, eyeballs were dug out, genitals were chopped off, and they bore several cigarette burns. They put the world to shame, violating the Geneva Convention (1929). (Geneva Convention was set of rules describing how soldiers must be treated if detained by enemy, and prisoner of war should be treated with honour and dignity.) Captain Vikram Batra’s letters to his brother was filled with positivity, talking about the war success and his challenges. There were soldiers who cut short their leaves and marched into the war. I shed a tear reading Major Chandra Bhushan Dwivedi’s letter to his wife Bhawna bidding a silent goodbye, giving her hope in his letters to “write back soon”. Captain Neibu Kenguruse writing about his girlfriend to his parents in his last letter would make you curse wars. The scene where Captain Anuj Nayyar left his engagement ring with his commanding officer, Colonel Umesh Singh Bawa would make your soul weak. That year, Operation Vijay was successful which is why today we breathe safe. It is rightly said by the author that the Kargil War was last time, letters were written from the borders. Now, the technology has taken over and letters died a slow death. The most painful part would be reading these letters- bidding goodbye to the dead.

“527 killed, 1363 wounded”

“There were letters, tears and above all, guilt. A lot of guilt”

Salute to the forces, serving us! Jai Hind, Jai Hind ki Sena!

[Swateek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am short of words! This is one of the finest way of writing about the war.. I hope the only war we saw as Indians in our lifetime.

The descriptions in the letters are bone chilling, grips you, the heart lets out a sigh and eyes let tears flow. I did cry while reading the final letters of soldiers who went on to capture Tiger Hill.

We owe them so much, and we know so little about them. Never forget! Never forget Sourabh Kalia, and never forget anyone you ever knew who fell as a martyr. We owe them respect, and freedom to them.

[Sayli Hatle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being Indian and a patriotic I grew up reading the stories of freedom struggle and the wars our forces fought to preserve the freedom. And being a 90's kid and the student of political science and history it's very much natural for me to read this book.
Frankly speaking, while reading I cried because of the personal touch to the book thee father-daughter relation mainly. Being a daughter I can understand her feelings. For a soldier, their family is the real backbone for them.
I have read enough books and stories about the Kargil War but this book stands different from all the other books. She has given simple accounts of the Kargil War with each and every detail of the War explaining military details and geography of that region where the actual war was fought. It also depicts how much harsh conditions they face, they live in, how much risk they took smiling to protect their motherland. She also has mentioned some political events revolving around the Indo-Pak relations and the history need to know in order to understand why they fought Kargil War.
But we always read the one side of the story we never make efforts to read the other side of the story. The book Letters from Kargil is the effort made by the author for us to know the other side of the story.
Till now we only get to know the technical and administrative details, the political importance of the war from others point of view but the actual person The Soldier who performs the selfless duties for us is also equally important we must know them and we must understand them.
The most catching part of the book is obviously the letters soldiers used to write during the wartime to their families and to each other. And also the notings from their personal diaries.
This is the epic effort made by the author bringing the letters in one book to understand the war through the soldier's eyes. Their emotions, love, sacrifice, care, risk, extraordinary courage, fearlessness, selfless service, family sacrifices can be seen in all these letters but none of them regrets. Their camaraderie, their passion, their devotion, their patriotism, their faith is speechless I must say and it also can be seen in these letters.
They carry forwarded the traditions of sacrifices and valor we got from our ancestors. And they still. Words will fall short in describing them. This book is really an emotional one for me. Every story of a soldier amazes me.
"They are ordinary men with extraordinary courage. "- Diksha Dwivedi. Is very much true.
But what next, we can't be one of them but we can be responsible and respectful towards them and their families for being one of them.
Apart from this, the author has written the book in a very flawless manner anyone can read it and no specialization is needed. This book will be an inspiration to the next generation. Very simple to read and understand.
The book Letters from Kargil is something really different I never read before. Thank you for putting this book into reality.

[Vinay Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review at A Bookworm's Musing

This is book that tells the tale of the Kargil war from the perspective of the soldies who defended the country so bravely. And with that said, it reflects a myriad of emotions felt by both those soldiers and their kin. It's written simply, and does what it seeks to do... tug at the heartstrings of the reader. If I have to rate it, I'd say it's about 3.5 stars, reaching towards a 4.

[Ranjith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is collection of the letters written by the soldiers who fought the Kargil war to their family members. Heart touching and brave accounts of the soldiers who fought the war and won daring the weather, terrain. It tells us how fortunate we are for having people like these who give their everything to protect us from enemies day in and day out.

read it on Jaggurnaut app.

[Rakhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If unique is a word, this is what it means. If being different is a quality, the book is brimful of it. Of late, no other books have depicted the Kargil war with this level of authenticity to the readers. Diksha Dwivedi, daughter of Major C.B.Dwivedi, who was one among the the hundreds of martyrs in the Kargil war. For Indians living in this era, the word war is synonymous to Kargil. There are numerous battles on the borders afterwards and time and again a lot of soldiers have sacrificed their lives for their homeland but Kargil war is rememered as the real war because of the number of lives sacrificed and the level of challenge posed in the border. No one can explain this to the readers but the soldiers themselves.

Diksha, through her book Letters from Kargil, tell the readers about the war through the soldiers' eyes. Through the letter that the soldiers sent their loved ones. The book portrays the difficulty of the seemingly impossible task in hand when the Operation Vijay was announced. Right from the first attack to the announcement of Operation Vijay to the victory, each an every happenings are systematically depicted with the help of the letters from the soldiers. Author has done a stupendous job in collecting the letters from the families of the martyrs.

For Diksha, as a kin of the deceased, it would have been opening the wound while goind through the letters but she has done an excellent job at that, keeping the emotions aside. The book is short but will never let the readers feel that it is not priceworthy due to the size but on the other hand the value of the book is beyond the size or word count. It is practically impossible for the laymen to imagine the level of difficulty faced by the soldiers at the border. " Twenty for hours without food and water and I have started urinating blood." Can you imagine such a situation in a fiction book. Will you believe if it is humanly possible? No, because our soldiers, our heroes are slefless superheroes and there cannot be a better tribute to them

Salute to the great souls who embraced the eternal sleep to let us sleep peacefully and hats off to Diksha for her effort

This review is in return of a free book from the publisher

[Isha Choudhury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely beautiful read, it tells you the unspoken. All this while we have only known about the Kargil war through the eyes of the journalists, researchers, authors. But this book gives you an account of the mindset of the soldiers at war, who sacrificed everything they had for our country! Who died for us, for our future. They proved us triumphant against pakistan! I loved the book starting to end, this book has a personalised touch of the author because she brings up her father in certain parts, a story of a determined family who lost their man at an early age! It’s so heartbreaking that it wins your heart.

Review up on Instagram too : https://instagram.com/p/BZv-z03n89H/

[Saumya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's almost impossible to write a review for a book which made me cry till the very end, not because of the literary genius of the author, or the plot of the book itself; simply because it was the truth penned down in the simplest of words.

In short, it had an impact.

Letters from Kargil brought forward the several unsung heroes of the bloodiest war in Indian history. This was a first hand account of the war, told in the words of the soldiers themselves, the soldiers who did not return. The soldiers who died valiantly protecting the nation, who immersed themselves in the task at hand, who put the motherland before their lovers, families, children and themselves.

It is an account so chilling yet so inspirational. Don't get me wrong, I have immense respect for our armed forces. But all of us sometimes forget that they are human too, that they have families waiting for them to return, that they experience pain and suffering just like us, but choose to rise above it in the toughest of situations.

It is an account of our heroes, of people who happily sacrificed their future for our secure present.

It is an account of soldiers who rose up to the challenge, who did not back down, who did not give up, who looked the enemy in the eye and told themselves, "not today".

It is an account of soldiers who fought till their last breath, who trudged on despite fatal injuries, who took a bullet in their head just so I could breathe an easier and relaxed breath today.

It is an account of selfless acts of bravery, of valor, of strength and of discipline.

It is an account I recommend everyone to read to remind ourselves how our freedom cost 527 lives, how we are yet to give our existence a meaning, and how we, as a nation, have so much to prove and dedicate to these heroes.

[Koduvayur Harikrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never was a more tender book about the effects of war written. Most accounts of war are by researchers, who no doubt do a thorough job or reporting on the ill effects of war, but this book stands out, as it comes straight from the heart of a young girl who was just about eight years old when her soldier father was martyred. In the opening chapter, Diksha Dwivedi lays bare her heart, and steals ours in the process. Throughout the book, the language is one of honesty, and courage in the face of extreme personal and collective pain. But the one thing that shines through is the pride in the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers, heart-wrenching as it must surely have been for those who will forever miss their loved ones. The collection of actual letters from various soldiers - many of whom did not return home - drives home the reality of a soldier's life: that the soldier has to carry on, knowing death is stalking them, invisible yet palpable, at every corner. Every soldier seems to have been more preoccupied with protecting the sentiments of those they might never see again, rather than the possibility of imminent death. This requires the kind of courage and determination which ordinary mortals can hardly fathom. In her short book, Diksha Dwivedi drives home this aspect of a soldier's psyche with her simple, yet powerful writing style. As she points out, we all sleep soundly in our beds because someone else is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. This book should not just be read - it should be in every home, prominently displayed, to repeatedly remind each and every one of us about the soldiers who guard our borders. That is the least we can do for these bravehearts - keep their memories alive.

[Mahathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iam not a fan of non fiction. I try to avoid reading them unless they are interesting. The Blurb caught my attention. Narrating a war story with letters is a fresh concept and difficult one to convince readers. I appreciate the author for her thought of the concept, her purpose in writing the book and for her effort to meet many soldiers and collate their letters and their emotions.

I heard and read in newspaper about kargil war but i never knew the details about how difficult the opetation Vijay was, how many soldiers died and how many families were impacted until I read this book. Some letters are heart wrentching to read. I can understand what their families have gone through after losing their family member. The courage and the sacrifice of each soldier is evident from their letters. Since this is not an ebook I took snaps of a few words which moved me a lot.



The words of Lt.Praveen Tomar are inspiring and they make us realize how soldiers enter the battlefield and take hell lot of risks with their life hoping for a good result.


The narration is good and the book is organized well with letters and also the information on war strategies. The book successfully captured the emotions of soldiers during the war and also their family members feelings.



The title and the cover are very apt. If you like books which tell real life stories and if you want to know about kargil war, you should definitely read it. If you want to read a simple novel and love only fiction/ thriller, this might not be for you.

My Rating: 4.5/5

P.S. I have received this book from the publisher for review and this is my honest opinion on the book.

[Randhir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diksha Dwivedi lost her hero of a father in the Kargil War. Writing the book has been a catharsis for her. The book tells the story of the War through a series of letters written by officers facing the superhuman task of evicting the enemy from super high altitude mountain fastness, where he had enough time to dig in with weapons and wherewithal to face and beat back our soldiers as they struggled up sheer rock faces. The poignancy of the narrative at times become overwhelming as these young lives, full of heart and courage, struggle up fully knowing they may not live through their ordeal. Their perfect willingness to lead troops on near suicidal attacks makes one wonder if our, at times, ungrateful country deserves such heroism. Some of the letters bring out the fighting in horrifying detail but what stands out is the determination of these heroes, knowing fully well that when they die they will leave devastation in their wake. I remain close to the conflict as I remember how my son was desperate to be with his men, even not willing to meet his parents. He also wrote a last letter which never got posted thank God. Our heroes have been given a fine tribute by Diksha. More power to her pen. I suggest she enlarges the next edition of the book by including letters from the jawans. One will be surprised how full of love and sentiment they are. An infantry battalion moves on its comradeship and esprite de corps. Love of country is always there but never an over riding motive

[Vishal Jha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was altogether a different experience for me, to know about the conditions in which the Kargil war was fought, and though being underprepared our soldiers defended our land just on their dedication to their duty and loyality to their land...

This Book is a tribute by a Daughter to her Father
and a lot of other soldiers to whom all of us must be thankful for it is their and their family's sacrifice that we stay at peace here...

The Book holds diary entries and Letters from Soldiers Fighting the Kargil war, to their families and reading this made me realise that these men were just like all of us, but they had extraordinary courage...

I Read this somewhere a few days back that A Soldier is the last person who would like a war to happen, we in our ignorance often demand an all out war to take place...But believe me my dear friends War has no friends( it will only cause havoc)...

This is a must read book for all, To Know about the Sacrifices that our Soldiers made to keep Us safe...

[Radha Taori]

🇮🇳Kargil Diwas celebrated every year on 26 July, truly marks a great historic event in India.

🇮🇳This story is written by Diksha Dwivedi who lost her father Chadra Bhushan Dwivedi in the Kargil war when she was 8 years old. Her loss left her with deep pain, but more than that pride, that her Dad had died fighting for the country.

🇮🇳A very heart touching book, it closely takes us to the lives and feelings of the soldiers who fought so bravely in the Kargil war. The soldiers always put on a brave face and wrote in every of their letters to their families and loved ones that everything was beautiful and 'normal' about the place they were at. It's sometimes frustrating for the soldiers to be away from their dear ones but they have to.

🇮🇳 Always worrying about others these soldiers happily gave up their lives for their nation.

🇮🇳 "I'll either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it," such was the motivation and dedication that these superheroes had!

🇮🇳 "Nation > Everything else."
A tribute to these great jawaans!🥺

[Shravan Sahny · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Letters from Kargil’ is a tremendous effort on the part of the author. This book gives a fresh perspective and tells the story of a war being fought, through the personal letters written by young Army Officers to their loved ones.

It has been a while since the world witnessed Kargil, but this book gives you a glimpse of what goes on in the life and mind of a Soldier every single day, to ensure that there isn’t another Kargil. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in that Indian Summer of 1999, but a mandatory-read for all the others who think they aren’t!

It was a privilege to be privy to some of the final-goodbye letters written by the young Officers to their loved ones. The grace, and strength with which these young Officers said their final goodbyes would indeed take a lot of courage.

And maybe it does take someone as brave as Diksha to even think of such a unique way of looking at the war. I wish her all the best!

[Madhura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dying while fighting for your country or taking every step with caution to live for your loved ones is every soldier’s dilemma." These are the true feelings of a soldier that eventually holds pride for his uniform and dedication for his country. But the feelings of a soldiers' family can be expressed only in Silence; yes a silence that holds fear, pride, love, pain, loss, success, gain everything. The book is not a large book but its well enough to protect the war zone and the men in war. Kargil '99 is memorable in many ways like - first war I could understand, a war that projected the pride of infantry and gunners, (I think) last war that holds soldiers' letters et cetera. Grab the book to enjoy the pride of a Soldier and the strength of a Soldier's Family.

Rating : 3.3/5

[Atharva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think none of the tales you can read or hear more inspiring and full of valor than a soldier's story. A sense of pride that soldier gives to you is awe-inspiring. 'Letters from Kargil' is one such book that has never written before in which the words are straight from the battlefield. Each and every letter in the book is in itself a source of determination, dedication and love for the country as well as for the family. This book and I take pride to say this, a brave girl of a brave soldier has written with immense dedication to transpire the life of a soldier and the families in readers mind. We stand strong with our soldiers.

[Njkinny (Njkinny's Blog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Letters from Kargil by Diksha Dwivedi is a collection of letters that take the readers inside the soldiers’ minds as they fought in the Kargil War for their country. Deeply emotional, and inspiring, this book is a tribute to the Soldiers who fought bravely in the Kargil War despite all odds and won!

I cried buckets of tears as I read this book, and what better day than today, “The Kargil Vijay Diwas” to review it. However, this book is not just for today but for every day and should be read by every Indian.

This book is a true tribute to soldiers who are willing to die for their country without a second’s doubt in mind. Must read!

[Nikhil Salkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an age of tweets and double ticks, this book comes with the warmth of actual handwritten letters, something we have left long behind. And then it hits you. The numbers and dates get faces and you move with the letters from the mountain tops to the bedrooms. Towards the end, there is a piece of the author's own heart, hope you readers appreciate it!

I have my bookmarks on some of the letters I like to revisit. Makes me value the time and people I have around me just a little more, every single time.

[Abhilasha Bhattacharyya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giving this book 5 stars because it is such a beautiful memoir of the tragic war. It was presented in a very beautiful manner.
This book is a collection of the letters written by our brave soldiers to their friends and families while fighting in that tragic war. Moreover the author has given a full overview of the Kargil war in an appreciating manner. A must read for every Indian citizens. Totally loved this book. It is a very short book but the author was able to touch my heart with her perfect words within these few pages.

[Tulika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book needs to be read purely for the sentiment it is written with. Most civilians don't think of the Kargil War with the gravity or the pride that it deserves. Letters from Kargil tells stories of Indian soldiers who lost their lives defending the country.
The book made me want to google each one of them to know more of their lives and the war.

I would have loved it had the book given a clearer timeline of the events.

[Amol Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written book. It beautifully brings out the immense sacrifices made by the families of martyrs. The Army is just not a profession. It is a way of life. And that way of life is embraced by the families too with all the ups and downs. This book is a must read for all citizens of the country to truly understand what it takes to be an army officer and the immense sacrifices made by the family.

[Pallavi Kamat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a good glimpse into the lives of those who were in the forefront in the Kargil War. While names of Captain Batra & Captain Kalia were known to me due to the media, it was inspirational to read about many others as well.

Letters written by these individuals to their families show their courage & bravery and also their dedication to the nation first. At heart, of course, all these men cared for & worried about their families and wanted to be with them at the first chance.

[Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why should we not know of the men and women who sacrificed themselves so that we could live and not just live, but live peacefully? This book offers a glimpse in the personal lives and the thoughts of these extra-ordinary brave-hearts who fought and unfortunately died for their country. A must read for anyone who wants to know about the Indian soldiers who keep us safe, acting just like the walls of our homes, our India.

[Ravinder Salaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book itself is a unique collection of some of the moments that our soldier felt during the kargil war. The book will fill you with the feeling of patoritism , and i recommend this book to all , specially defense aspirants , who like me always wanted to know more about indian army. Feeling happy and elated to share my thoughts .

[Tejas Deshpande · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most amazing book. It holds you in itself so tight that you can’t keep the book aside for a single second. Touches the deepest of your heart and gives you goosebumps on every word as if you yourself sitting in the war zone and experiencing the war. It has mixed feeling in its every word. Which cannot me expressed you can just experience it.

[Sankalp Kak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is one of a kind giving us a peek inside what went on during Kargil through the eyes of a soldier. It also reiterates the strength of not just our soldiers but their families and their resilience. It is due to brave men who sacrificed their lives for our tomorrow that we enjoy this freedom today. My salute to all of them, and thanks to the author for writing this book.

[Sourav Jha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of letters by the bravest which shows the softest side of the soldiers standing and fighting in one of the harshest environment against an enemy disguised as mujahids but being a soldier pf pak army.... Only one complaint the book seemed to be very short for such a topic... I wished that it should have continued a bit longer...!!! Loved it..

[Ravish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very emotional, bone chilling accounts of kargil war through letters from various martyrs and a smooth narrative by author during the letter sharing. The original transcripts of letters with very real emotions can move you immediately. Salute to India's Heroes! Thanks to Deeksha for penning this all for us. Much appreciated!