Litearti21: Heroes of Battle of Longewala remembered on 2nd day (View Pics)
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, December 12, 2021:On the second day of the Litearti21 organized by Chandigarh Literary Society, at the UT Guest House, opened with a one-minute silence to the recent tragedy that took the lives of senior officers including Chief of Defence Services Gen Bipin Rawat.
The session on the Battle of Longewala: Remembering our Heroes gave goosebumps as Hardeep Chandpuri son of late Brig Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri, related the stories of his father who not only lived life on his own term, but always walked the talk, that inculcated values of honesty, courage, and outright dedication to one’s duty.
Surinder Kaur wife of late Brig Chandpuri along with her other son Amardeep Singh Chandpuri and son-in-law Aditya joined the morning session along with numerous coursemates and army officers.
The author of the book, Gurjot Singh Kaler, shared his own long association with the family and that the lessons he picked up from Brig Chandpuri, who was imbued with a great sense of humor.
Col DS Cheema moderating the session mentioned the famous quote of Guru Gobind Singh, “Deh Shiva Varmohe eh, shubh karman se kab ho na taron”, and asked Kaler how come being in the police he thought of writing about an army officer, to which Gurjot Kaler very aptly remarked, “A soldier is a soldier irrespective of the uniform one wears, and in any case, the Punjab Police’s motto itself is based on Guru Gobind Singh’s Shabad.
Gurjot Kaler mentioned how Brig Chandpuri not only refused many political offers but also even the offer from the Canadian Army to join their forces during his stint in Gaza as part of UN forces.
The best prayer and service to God is to serve his creation was the motto of Brig Chandpuri who believed in serving the needy, and downtrodden instead of going to Gurudwaras, said Hardeep.
The Poetic Rendezvous saw theatre personality Nisha Luthra treading softly on the poetic brilliance of expression with Prof Archana R. Singh, Jupinderjit Singh and Lily Swarn on the panel.
In the session on ‘Soldier2.0: Planning Ahead’, Col Sunil Prem, who set up his own IT company, in conversation with Col. Avinash Sharma, was critical of senior army officers looking for jobs in the corporate world should approach and talk to the owner or CEO of the business instead of being quizzed by the young breed of HR people who may not have the wherewithals to judge an officer’s worth and leadership abilities, which requires a big attitudinal change and advance preparation on the part of the retiring army officers, brought out in his book “Soldier 2.0”.
His advice to anyone seeking success in one’s career is to continue to learn and become more knowledgeable and useful to the organization one works for every day.