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 freedomThe Indian Armed ForcesmdashArmy Navy and Air Forcemdashemploy around 14 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 SCCol Shankar is a multifaceted personalitymdasha Shaurya Chakra awardee Army veteran magician quizmaster linguist philographist and the proud initiator of the oneman philanthropic endeavour Project Sambandh ldquoProject 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 nonoperational 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 happensrdquoIndian Army veteran Col Vembu Shankar SC Sourced PhotoCol Shankar explained his endeavour While commanding a unit in the northeast of India he realised that the army loses 1500 soldiers every year because of nonoperational reasons like accidents medical reasons etc which are different from battle casualties deaths occurring in operations When asked what the inspiration was he said ldquo 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 childrens education lagging Although the army puts in a lot of effort they still have challengesrdquoldquoAnd 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 lets 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 servicerdquo he continuedA oneman initiative means a lot of challenges to handle alone Addressing this Col Shankar said ldquoEvery 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 youre calling them after 10 years you dont know and they dont know who you are And there are so many scams that happen over the telephone So theyre always afraidrdquo But when one aims to help 1500 families alone the institutionalisation of the entire process proves to be the biggest challenge according to Col ShankarCol Shankar was awarded Shaurya Chakra in 2003 Sourced PhotoAround 25000 next of kin till now have benefited from Project SambandhldquoIve evolved so much in the last six years since Ive embarked on this project than what I would have gained in 44 years of my existence in this worldrdquo he says reflecting on his journey till now rdquoHe shared an anecdote ldquoIn Sunderbani Jammu and Kashmir I reached out to one lady who said that shes got little time and shes 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 9thgrade 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 shes a secondyear MBBS student in Jammurdquo Such cases are his motivation to carry forward Project SambandhApart 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 JampK eliminating 11 militants without a single casualty on our side under his leadership He created the first EnglishHindiDzonkgha dictionary ever Being a philographist he has over 8000 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 moreA good friend of MS Dhoni he shared some pearls of wisdom for our readers ldquoAnything 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 whos 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 dont get to meet our aspirations when things dont 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 Dont worry about the past because its as uncontrollable as the future The present is controllablerdquoColonel Vembu Shankar is the embodiment of the linesldquoIf you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty secondsrsquo worth of distance run Yours is the Earth and everything thatrsquos in it Andmdashwhich is moremdashyoursquoll be a Man my sonrdquofrom Rudyard Kiplingrsquos poem ldquoIfrdquo They say one life isnt enough but for Col Shankar it isnt true He is a true inspiration for people who struggle with pursuing their interests due to paucity of time or resources