He was narrating his hilarious experiences before us, recall teachers
Kaushik Mishra (32), whose mortal body left the Earth for ever in an air crash near Gwalior recently, is the most lovable boy of Belpahar in Jharsuguda district. He spent his childhood and student life here and passed HSC and +2 Science from the Belpahar English Medium School with better ranks. later he joined the NDA and the IMA. After successful completion, he joined the Indian Air Force as a Squadron leader.
“But we never believed that he would meet an untimely end,” said his father Ashok Mishra, a retired employee of the TRl, Belpahar. “I wanted my son to reach the peak and that didn’t happen as the early death shattered all our hopes,” Mishra speaks with tears in eyes.
“My son told me that he would fly over the sky of Belpahar and see me from the roof top of my house. Not only mine, but his dream also remained unfulfilled,” he laments.
“But I am proud of him as he died while on duty for the sake of the motherland. His very dream from the childhood was to fly high and he also achieved his goal. But my wife Bijaylaxmi, a high school teacher never wanted him to join the Defence service. Her fear proved true finally,” Mishra added.
“We are sad no doubt, but we are not repenting,” he boasts further. The locals and the school he studied in also remember Kaushik with fond memories. “When he was coming to Belpahar from his work place, he was visiting the school as a matter of practice and was narrating his hilarious experience before us,” his school teachers recall. “Flying high is not a big thing. What is important for us in Defence is to serve and save the motherland,” teachers quote him saying.
“Kaushik was visiting us whenever he was coming here. Really, he is a boy who knows how to respect the seniors. We can never forget such a brilliant boy,” says Ajay Mohanty, a retired employee of TRl and a councillor of the Belpahar NAC.
After getting the tragic news his family members rushed to New Delhi and completed his funeral with full national honour there. “Though, we could not get the last glimpse of Kaushik, yet we can’t forget his lovable face, his contribution and sacrifice for the nation,”says Siddhartha Samal, one of his school mates.
It needs mention that during Kargil operation in 1999, Pramod Kumar Patnaik of Belpahar also sacrificed his life for the same cause in the Dras sector. Not only are the family members of this martyr but also the people of Belpahar yet to forget this hero.