Alka Rai was just 11 when she bid adieu to her father, Colonel M.N. Rai, for the last time. On January 30, 2015, she saluted his mortal remains with a full-throated Gorkha war cry, “Tiger 9GR, ho ki hoina (The tiger of 9 Gorkha Rifles, was he or was he not)?” The reply was equally emotional, and emphatic. “Ho, ho, ho (Yes, he was). Alka may have hoped that her father would respond. But that was not to be. While the whole nation was shaken by the video, it also inspired so many people.
Rai, an officer of the 2/9 Gorkha Rifles, was commanding the 42 Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir when he was killed in a gunfight with militants on January 27, 2015. Just the previous day, when the nation celebrated the 66th Republic Day, he was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal, in recognition for his exemplary service in commanding anti-terror operations.
Rai is survived by his wife, Priyanka, and three children—daughters Alka and Richa, and son, Aditya. Alka is now 18 and is ready to wear the olive green. “I asked myself a lot of questions and realised that this is what I want to become. It is in my blood,” she said. Her stint in the National Cadet Corps gives her direct entry into the Service Selection Board. At the moment, she is doing her bachelor’s in Delhi University. She will soon be completing a ‘C’ certificate from the NCC.
The eldest of the three children, Alka did not know the meaning of martyrdom until she saw her father’s tricolour-draped body. She has since realised that life will never be simple and that there will always be some complications.
“The military has inspired my father and I simply want to follow in his footsteps. When you live in the military, you live with respect and you die with respect. No other profession gives you such honour. That is why I am always attracted to the military,” said Alka. She has heard so many stories of her father’s valour and also about how he used to treat his troops.
Rai hailed from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. The youngest of three brothers, he was commissioned into the Army in September 1997. His eldest brother, Lieutenant Colonel D.N. Rai, too, belongs to the Gorkha Regiment, while his elder brother, Y.N. Rai, is with the CRPF.
Richa and Alka in NCC uniform | Pawan Kumar
As an officer, Rai was known to take the initiative in what the Army considers one of its finest traditions, the officer corps leading from the front. When intelligence reports came in about a group of terrorists holed up in a home in the Tral sector in Jammu and Kashmir, Rai rushed there with a quick reaction team.
When members of the family emerged from the house claiming that the militants would surrender, he paused for a moment, which cost him his life. Storming out of the house, the militants unleashed automatic gunfire in all directions. Rai was hit on the head and died later in hospital. He was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his “cold courage, leadership and supreme sacrifice”.
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After her husband’s death, Priyanka wanted to join the Army, but she could not do so as she had to raise her three children. The family is now settled in Lucknow, and Priyanka said she had everything in life, except her husband.
“It is the Army fraternity that stood by me when we were going through the trauma. I don’t think I would have got the same kind of support from any other organisation. The Army has always been an extended family to me,” Priyanka said.
Alka said her father was a man of his word, who would go to any lengths to help people. Overcoming the grief caused by the loss of her father was difficult, but her mother helped her survive the difficult phase in life. She is confident that her mother is mentally prepared to see her in Army fatigues.
“My mother used to say that the day Colonel Rai attained martyrdom, Priyanka Rai also died,” Alka said. “Being the mother of Alka, Richa and Aditya is the only thing left in her heart. The purpose of her life now is to see me in olive green.” Although Alka is upset that there is no combat role for women, she thinks there is a lot she can do in the Army.
Alka’s younger sister Richa, who studies in class X, is also determined to don the uniform. “With the best of my abilities, I would serve in the Army. I am motivated by my father’s valour,” said Richa. She aims to join the National Defence Academy, which is now open for women. “I want to join the infantry to see real combat. Though it is yet to be opened for women, I am hopeful that things may change in the near future.”