The unsung heroes: Meet the Indian Army veteran extending aid to families of Army's non-combat casualties

India is the motherland of the brave, from historical warriors such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rani Lakshmibai, who fought for freedom, to heroes like Captian Vikram Batra, PVC, and Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC, who sacrificed themselves to keep that freedom.

The Indian Armed Forces - Army, Navy, and Air Force - employ around 1.4 million active personnel, with the Indian Army being the largest standing army in the world. From early morning PTs to overnight duties, these soldiers seldom rest in their endeavours. Amongst these are a few who, even after retirement, work relentlessly for the betterment of their brethren. Such is the story of Colonel Vembu Shankar, SC.

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Col Shankar is a multifaceted personality - a Shaurya Chakra awardee Army veteran, magician, quizmaster, linguist, philographist, and the proud initiator of the one-man philanthropic endeavour: Project Sambandh. "Project Sambandh aims to connect with the next of kin or the families of those armed forces personnel who have died while in service because of non-operational circumstances. It is for those who are referred to as physical casualties. The project makes sure that the delivery of the entitlements, grants, and schemes happens."

Indian Army veteran Col Vembu Shankar SC/ Sourced Photo

Col Shankar explained his endeavour. While commanding a unit in the northeast of India, he realised that the army loses 1,500 soldiers every year because of non-operational reasons like accidents, medical reasons, etc which are different from battle casualties- deaths occurring in operations. When asked what the inspiration was he said, " These 1500 physical casualties leave behind 1500 families who need to face the challenges which could be emotional and financial ones because they get less pension, aged parents, children's education lagging. Although the army puts in a lot of effort they still have challenges."

"And so I embarked on a personal mission where I could go and meet these next of kin, that is, the widows, children, and parents, and ensure that let's see what the challenges are. So I thought I could do this in a thousand days while travelling around India, for which I opted for premature retirement after 20 years of service," he continued.

A one-man initiative means a lot of challenges to handle alone. Addressing this, Col Shankar said, "Every day is a challenge. The first and foremost challenge is to connect with them. Identification is a challenge. Establishing rapport is a challenge because suddenly you're calling them after 10 years; you don't know, and they don't know who you are. And there are so many scams that happen over the telephone. So they're always afraid." But when one aims to help 1500 families alone, the institutionalisation of the entire process proves to be the biggest challenge, according to Col Shankar.

Col Shankar was awarded Shaurya Chakra in 2003/ Sourced Photo

Around 25,000 next of kin till now have benefited from Project Sambandh.

"I've evolved so much in the last six years since I've embarked on this project, than what I would have gained in 44 years of my existence in this world," he says, reflecting on his journey till now. "

He shared an anecdote, "In Sunderbani, Jammu and Kashmir, I reached out to one lady who said that she's got little time and she's got about 10 minutes to spare. And she said, Okay, I can meet you at a tea stall. She came along with her daughter, who was maybe 14 years old. Since it was Sunderbani, I started speaking to them in Hindi and asked them if they had filled up the form so that they could claim the scholarships, to which they replied in the negative. I then asked the girl what class she was in, and she answered in proper English that she was in 9th grade and she wanted to be a cardiologist. Imagine a 9th-grade kid in Sundarbani without a father having such confidence that she can achieve anything. But you also need a little bit of support, which I provided, and sure enough, she proved us right. In the 10th grade, she got 484 out of 500, in the 12th grade, we moved her to Jammu, and she got 492 out of 500. And she took the NEET exam. So we had to support her with the coaching for NEET. And today she's a second-year MBBS student in Jammu." Such cases are his motivation to carry forward Project Sambandh.

Apart from being a successful philanthropist, Col Shankar also received a Shaurya Chakra, the third highest gallantry award, at the age of 23, for displaying bravery in fighting terrorists in J&K, eliminating 11 militants without a single casualty on our side under his leadership. He created the first English-Hindi-Dzonkgha dictionary ever. Being a philographist, he has over 8,000 autographs of people ranging from Presidents of India like APJ Abdul Kalam and Shankar Dayal Sharma to sportspeople like Sachin Tendulkar and Pele, cinema stars, Nobel laureates, politicians, poets, and a lot more.

A good friend of MS Dhoni, he shared some pearls of wisdom for our readers. "Anything you do, you need to practice well. In the army, we have an adage that says that the more you sweat in peace, the less you will bleed in war. You need to be prepared and do research on whatever you are doing. The second thing I have learned from my friend MS Dhoni, who's been a successful Indian cricket team captain, is that he believes in the principle of control, the controllable. Many times, as young adults, we get frustrated because we don't get to meet our aspirations when things don't go our way, and we blame the environment for the failure. This is something that I learned from my tenure in Bhutan, which believes in something called gross national happiness; the final goal of life is all about happiness. Don't worry about the past, because it's as uncontrollable as the future. The present is controllable."

Colonel Vembu Shankar is the embodiment of the lines:

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". They say one life isn't enough, but for Col Shankar, it isn't true. He is a true inspiration for people who struggle with pursuing their interests due to paucity of time or resources.