Tears rolled down the eyes of Bimla Devi who with shivering hands performed the peeping ceremony of putting stars on the shoulders of her proud and gleaming son Pintu Kumar.
The young officer also got emotional when he talked about the hardships his poor family edured in the process of making him an officer of the Indian Army. Pintu belongs to a poor family of farmers of Arrah town of Bhojpur district in Bihar. On Saturday, Pintu fulfilled the dream of his late father Yogendra Singh who always insisted that he should become an officer in the armed forces. In a choked yet determined voice, Pintu narrated the edurance and fortitude of his family in marrying off his three elder sisters. He also described the sufferings of the phase when he was undergoing his education.
Pintu is a bright lad and has graduated in computer science from Bhillai Engineering College. “After the studies ended I got a decent job in a software company. My father however insisted me to join army and serve the nation with pride. On his pursuance I appeared in the entrance examination and cleared it,’’ he said. His father however did not survive to see him become an officer as he died of cancer when Pintu was in his first term of the India Military Academy.
Sentiments like that of Bimla Devi were also echoed by Mohammad Nazir Hussain of Hoogly district in West Bengal, who was overwhelmed to see the gleaming stars on shoulders of his young son Arsalam Kharul Basar.
“I never dreamt that my son would become an officer in the India Army. It is becuase of grace of Allah, who is great”, said Hussain. He owns a dingy shop of making photocopy in his home town.