Major Kishore, officer-turned-actor, was a batchmate and buddy of E.K. Niranjan, the lieutenant Colonel who died during an anti-terrorist operation in Pathankot. He remembers his fearless friend
Major Kishore, officer-turned-actor, was a batchmate and buddy of E.K. Niranjan, the lieutenant Colonel who died during an anti-terrorist operation in Pathankot. He remembers his fearless friend
Ever since he heard about the martyrdom of E.K. Niranjan, the Lieutenant Colonel who died during the combing operation at terrorist-hit Pathankot, Major Kishore’s mind has been racing back and forth, a hundred memories flooding it every minute. Stuck in Mumbai with the shooting of a Bollywood film, the officer-turned-actor couldn’t make it to the funeral of his close buddy in Palakkad on Monday and that has only increased his agony.
As a batchmate of ‘Ninja’ — that was the nickname friends gave Niranjan — Kishore used to hang out with him a lot, one of the reasons being that they were both ‘Mallus’. “Also, our wavelengths matched. We were both gentleman cadets at the officer training academy in Chennai, though we were in different companies. There would be punishments, irrespective of whether one did or did not do things. We would always be together, undergoing these punishments,” he reminisces.
Both were commissioned to Engineering Corps and they had occasion to do short-term courses together at various times in different centres. Once, they were together for a six-month training stint in Pune when Kishore broke his hand and had to be admitted to the military hospital in Kirkee. Niranjan had scolded him, saying that he should have been more careful while carrying out the task. “Two days later, there he was, arriving at the hospital with a smile and an injured leg. We were the only inpatients and spent around a month there,” he shares.
He continues, “I was the one who got him cigarettes as he was completely immobile. I would go out to get them and he would keep a watch. We were not supposed to go out and he would alert me if there was any chance of a check. But our plan went bust when there was a surprise check one day.” Kishore adds that he remembers visiting Niranjan and his family once in Bangalore. Both were made Majors around 2006 and Kishore took voluntary retirement three years later as Ninja volunteered to join the elite NSG.
“He was a chain smoker and used to speak Hindi with a thick South Indian accent. And people used to love it. He was very adventurous, brave, confident, used to speak his mind and stand by what he felt was right. Even if he got punished, he would not change his stance. As officers, if we run into any sort of trouble, instead of worrying too much about it, we would simply laugh,” he recalls.
The actor affirms that some of the reports that claim Niranjan died while diffusing a bomb are misleading. “While dealing with IEDS, you don’t know their size or shape or where they are. It is no ordinary grenade. As Officer Commanding, he could have deputed his men to do the job. But he always believed in leading by example and made this supreme sacrifice for the country,” he asserts.
Words fail him as he goes on emotionally, “I spoke to him last in December, but could not take one of his last calls. I wanted to wish him Happy New Year ”
