Soumya's letter

Whatever you're doing right now (reading, playing, sleeping safely at night), you can do it in peace partly because somewhere, soldiers are keeping watch. Unit 5, 'Bravehearts', opens with two letters between two friends. Homage means something said or done to show public respect for someone, and that's what this unit is about.

Soumya, from Jayanagar, Bengaluru, writes to her friend Ananda about a school trip to New Delhi.

She starts with her questions: after India won independence from the British, the country had to fight several wars to protect its borders, its territorial integrity (its land staying whole) and its people. "Who were these brave Indian people? What were their names? Where did they come from? Does anyone remember them?"

The place that answered her: the National War Memorial. Her clues for Ananda:

• building started in April 2018 and finished in February 2019
• it was planned and then opened by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in February 2019
• it covers 40 acres near the famous India Gate

Her teacher explained why it matters: since 1947 India has fought many wars, and "the freedom and security we enjoy today is because of the many brave men and women who have served in the Indian Armed Forces". War always takes its toll, so such memorials exist "so that we should never forget the cost of freedom".

The special detail: "Each brick of the memorial is called a tablet, and it bears the names of soldiers who fought for India and gave their lives in different wars from 1947 till today."

The wars named:

• the India-China conflict of 1962
• the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971
• the Kargil War of 1999

And the count: 29,000 tablets with more than 26,000 names of fallen soldiers. That answers Soumya's first question: the names weren't lost; each is cut into the wall, one soldier to a tablet.