1965 Indo-Pak War Exhibition - An account of tragedies and winnings

"War is not meaningless, it is just unnecessary"

War has been going on since the dawn of time. Wether it is humans fighting each other for their survival or the universe battling itself for its own existence, war has been going on and it will go on. To go on a much lesser level than the Cosmos, one of the one of the many wars fought by the Republic of India after its independence was the 1965 India-Pakistan War over the State of Kashmir.

It is believed that is this tragedy's wheels were set in motion during the time of April when Pakistani troops decided to infiltrate Kashmir and launch a full scale insurgency battle so that the state of Kashmir is torn apart from India. India retaliated with full force to this by sending its forces to Kashmir to send off the Pakistani insurgency troops. It was soon converted into a full scale war which reported thousands of deaths and the biggest tank battle since World War 2! One can only imagine the sheer number of the pile of tanks, money, and human lives lost in this tragedy.

September 2015 marks the Golden Jubilee of this war and an Exhibition "Shauryanjali" was set up on India Gate to honour the of the might of the armed forces, and many valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives to save their mother land. This Exhibition is one account of the tragedies and winnings of a country and from personal experience I believe that they did a great job of communicating with the masses. There was a wide array of the Tanks, and Air Crafts on display which were used in the war. People were mesmerized by the collection and the sheer aura of all the heavy guns and artillery. All Of three armed forces had their fair share of time for showing their own cards up their sleeves but there were mainly two events which were an absolute hit. First, they had set up a stage for a wide range of performances to be shown. There were many more performances by Army, Air Force and even school children. Secondly, the Indian Army had recreated an indoor battlefield just beside the exhibition which became an instant hit and everyone was more than excited to see the realistic set up.

All in all, it was a great experience for me and surely for anyone who ever visited it. This Exhibition has been enlightening, fruitful and very much fun. Even though it was supposed to be for five days but because of the large public response, it was extended two more days. So a request to all the Delhiiets, today is the last day and hence the last chance for you all to see the glimpse of our valiant soldiers who were martyrs in one of the biggest war of India. Please do attend it, the entry is free, yet the experience is priceless. 

















Author's Note : I do not take credit for these pictures, The Armed Forces, and the original photographers of these photos do. But I do take credit for the quote above.

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - The Quintessence of Life

Have you ever thought of travelling the world? Of finding yourself? Have you ever travelled and felt the breeze of the earth calling to you, and take you away to wonderland? Ever thought of travelling to see the majestic, magical, intriguing wonders of Life? To enjoy the dust flying around, to see a flower blossom. To travel, not for a bunch of photos for social media or to show off in front of your friends, but to travel because sometimes getting lost on the roads let's you find a way to your soul.

Walter Mitty is an average, 9 to 5 office worker with a monotonous daily schedule with little time for himself. He manages the negatives for the magazine called LIFE. Ironically, he has no life. He is the kind of guy who cannot even fill the "Been There, Done That" section of a dating profile. He goes to office everyday, processes negatives and that's it. The only escape from reality is his imagination about what he would do if a catastrophe strikes, if he had the guts that is. Unfortunately, as it only happens in his head, he is the only one amazed by it. He imagines everything from saving a dog from a burning building to flirting with his crush after scaling The Himalayas. One day, as he is going to LIFE he finds a surprise waiting for him there. The magazine is going online and they need to cut down on the employees. Everyone knows that because of digitalization no one requires processing negatives anymore, putting his job in jeopardy.

Even after the shocking news he goes to the basement where all the negatives are processed and gets to work. That's the day his life became a negative to a colourful photograph. He receives the last reel of negatives from one of the most renowned photographers for LIFE, Sean O'Connell. He sends some beautiful pictures and a wallet for Walter because it's his birthday. Among the reels is photograph no. 25, apparently the most life defining picture Sean has ever taken. The board receives a telegram, and the contents of it say that photograph no. 25 is "The Quintessence of Life" and should be put on as the cover photo of the last issue. Everyone is asking about 25 but as it turns out, it is not with the other reels of negatives. Which spells big trouble for the magazine, especially Walter.

In an attempt to get the most important photo for the magazine he embarks on a journey to find the rarely seen Sean O'Connell in the hope he still has the photo with him. He processes the remaining photos to find some clues and unfortunately most of them does not make any sense to him. But he gets one picture, the name of the ship which Sean travelled in, a ship of Greenland. During the journey, a lot of unexpected happens. From a nine to five worker he becomes an adventurer. His imagination and reality merge into one and he finally does the things he was visualizing about. He finds what he is capable of, and finds his life during the journey.

So, will he meet Sean O'Connell? Even if he meets him, does Sean still has "The Quintessence Of Life"? What are the hardships Walter faces on the way? What all is he willing to do, for one tiny little negative? Will he ever get to see the most lively photo clicked by the amazing photographers? Everything will be answered if the movie is given the time to be watched and understood carefully.