Ananda's reply

Ananda writes back from Chandigarh. First she praises her friend, "You really have an eye for detail", then adds the thought at the heart of the unit:

"Some people might see a war memorial as just a monument, a statue, an edifice (a large, impressive building) to celebrate our heroes. In my view, it is also an expression of deep gratitude for the supreme sacrifice made by our brave soldiers."

She adds a duty: "It is our duty to visit such places from time to time to honour our valiant (brave) soldiers. Their sacrifices let us walk freely in our country without fear." She's even thinking of joining the Armed Forces herself!

Then a memory: in Chandigarh's Bougainvillea Garden (Sector 3), she saw people offering flowers and prayers at the War Memorial. It reminded her of Makhanlal Chaturvedi's poem *Pushp ki Abhilasha* ('The Flower's Wish'): a flower that doesn't want to be in a garland, on an emperor, or offered to the gods, but to be thrown on the path where brave soldiers walk to give their lives for the motherland.

She names another braveheart: Captain Anuj Nayyar, MVC, of the 17 Jat regiment, awarded the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for the 1999 Kargil War. His mother, Meena Nayyar, wrote a memoir (an account of her own life) called *Tiger of Drass*.

Ananda quotes her: "Writing about the smallest things about your child who is not with you really used to shake me, but I came to terms with it by telling myself that if I didn't write about him, no one would know about Anuj's sacrifice." (That's the same reason the memorial carves names!)

Ananda and her friends found a mobile app, 'National War Memorial and Museum', which answers questions in 21 languages. She plans to make a collage of people who inspire her.

She ends with something small: she prefers letters to email, partly for the stamps. She's learnt that collecting stamps is called philately! Soumya's envelope had a stamp celebrating India's independence, "a theme related to your letter".