Re-telling the stories of Naam, Namak Aur Nishan

 

 

 

THE phone beeps and the opening lines of the WhatsApp message read - ‘Gatha of Naam, Namak Aur Nishan’. A similar message is received each day by hundreds of people including Armed Forces aspirants, youths, defence personnel, instructors, elders, etc that unveil the stories of the unsung heroes - ‘Indian soldiers’. A true patriot, Satish Marathe, intended to make a small contribution to the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.

 

He, thus, conceptualised the idea of compiling stories of valour and bravery of Indian soldiers and circulate the same in his circle. Sharing how he embarked on this mission, Marathe says, “Our armed forces existed even before independence. They gallantly fought in World War I, and II and have been serving the country relentlessly since then. But their stories remained buried in the pages of history and only a few could see light of the day. As we are celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of our independence, I contemplated chronicling the bravery of our jawans.” Marathe planned a series of 366 posts starting from August 15, 2021, and circulated a story each day of the valour and gallantry of our soldiers on his WhatsApp groups. The series will culminate with its last post on August 15. “We wanted to enlighten our present generation about our soldiers’ heroism. In our first post, we narrated, in brief, the contribution of Indian soldiers in World War I.

 

Continuing from World War I and II till the relentless border tussles with our neighbours, we are sharing stories that were untold and unheard. Thus, we embarked on th amazing journey of story-telling,” Marathe added. Commenting on the response he received for these posts, Marathe said, “We were overjoyed with the reactions. People responded positively and even circulated these messages in their groups and social media handles. The chain that started with just a few people now cascades into multiple groups. The Joint Secretary of Ladakh-Jammu-Kashmir Study Centre, Nagpur Chapter, Marathe is a voracious reader and an ardent writer. He believes in the process of accumulating and sharing knowledge. A B.Com graduate, Marathe served in Sales Tax Department for 33 years.

 

He retired as Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax from Amravati in December 2009. With deep inclination towards words, Marathe started jotting down articles in 2014 for various newspapers. Fond of writing letters, he so far has written over 200 letters for both English and Marathi newspapers. Tapping the likings of today’s generation, he also shared videos on Youtube on topics concerning armed forces, foreign policies, and glorious Indian tradition. The idea of sharing stories is a result of his immense sense of duty towards the Nation. “Though our soldiers are always at the forefront to serve and sacrifice their lives for our country, they never received the due limelight and attention they deserve. People know little about their real fights and supreme sacrifices. This series proved to be an apt medium to tell people about valour of our armed forces,” reveals Marathe. “I cannot change the perspective of people trying to malign image of our armed forces. But I can surely educate and enlighten youth with courageous stories of our jawans,” concludes the ardent writer and social educator.