There are many heroes and this is a story of one of them. As time changes, so our community has changed and has evolved from warrior caste to a predominantly farming community. Some members began to seek new lives abroad and one of the many families that emigrated to Kenya was of Karshanbhai Jiwa Sisodia and his wife Rudiben, who left their village of Modhawada to settle in Nairobi.

Their son, Nagajan, spent the early part of his life in Nairobi, but went back home to India for his further education. He attended the Raj Kumar College in Rajkot.

Inspiration

It was during this period that Nagajan became more aware of our community's tradition and history and learnt about the many brave heroes within oue own community including from his own village, Nathabhai Modhawadia, who had fought against the unjust rulers of his time.

Inspired by all this, Nagajan dedicated himself to serve the people in a good cause and in Indian armed Forces he saw a career in which he could serve not only the community but also the nation. Thus on finishing college, Nagajan applied to join the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune, Maharashtra.

The NDA is a college where recruits wishing to join any of the three defence services are given basic all round military training, after which if they pass and are selected they join the service they choose for more specialised and more intensive training.

After three and half years at the NDA, Nagajan passed and went onto the Army Military Academy at Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh for the second part of his training, but this time restricted to army training. But this intensive training was not enough to Nagajan and he went for even further advanced training at Belgaum, from where he passed with top marks and was posted as a 2nd Lieutenant to the world famous Gurkha Regiment. Within a short period he was proving to be a very good officer and what would definitely have been a great career was cut short.

The war

In December 1971, Pakistan started the 3rd Indo-Pak war within 23 years. The Gurkha Regiment was deployed to strategic Chamb sector of the western front in Kashmir, where enemy had concentrated a large force in an attempt to break through and cut off Jammu and Kashmir. The terrain in this sector was very hilly and forestry and it was very difficult to accurately pinpoint the location of the enemy forces.

Thus it was necessary to send scouts to locate the enemy forces and Nagajan accepted this dangerous mission. Nagajan knew the importance of this vital information and so without any hesitation he carried out countless missions and brought back vital information every time.

The brave hero

It was from one of these missions that Nagajan was returning on the night of the 11th / 12th December back to base, some Pakistani soldiers caught sight of him. They opened fire with their guns; Nagajan had no chance; the bullets ripped through him, immediately drenching his uniform in blood.

Thinking they killed Nagajan, the Pakistani soldiers stop firing. But Nagajan was still alive, though barely. The Maher blood and spirit and the love for India kept him alive. Nagajan somehow made it back to base with the information he had collected and seeing his mission accomplished. Nagajan collapsed and died.

The Gurkha Regiment loved and admired Nagajan and upon hearing of his death, they swore to avenge his death. A vow they fulfilled with great honour and in the Nagajan spirit driving the enemy back and helping India to win the war.

At the age of 21, Nagajan had given his life for the defence of India.

There is no higher honor than giving your life for the nation and there is no one that is honored more, and deservedly so, then the person who gave his life for our great nation. In giving his life, Nagajan became not only the proud son of his parents but also the proud son of Maher community and the country.

In everlasting memory of late 2nd Lieutenant Nagajan Sisodia - 314 Gurkha Regiment who gallantly laid down his life for the motherland in Indo-Pak War on 13th December 1971 in Chamb sector, Jammu Kashmir, India.