Especially patience, because the heights of Kargil won't be recovered in any midnight charge of the light brigade.

The mood is grim. The mountains favour the defender. But the country needs quick recovery of the heights and there is therefore tremendous pressure on the officers and jawans to climb on, taking on the elements and the fire from a very well entrenched enemy.

Their orders are cryptic, yet clear. Something like this: Begin climbing by 1900 hours, reach the summit by 2300 hours and secure the peak by 0600 hours the next morning. There is still very poor intelligence on the number of Pakistani soldiers on top of the mountains and their arsenal. So for the men, whose courage helps keep thecold out, it's a climb into uncertainty.This is a desperate battle and often the troops have to set aside conventional tactical prudence in the course of these uphill firefights. The officers, as indicated by the casualties, always lead from the front. Even commanding officers of units sit at altitudes of 17,000 feet and above, monitoring the bid to recover the heights.

Says a jawan: ``It takes us nine to ten hours to climb a sheer rock face, that too in direct enemy fire. We have the option to carry either food or ammunition, so we carry ammunition. The high-calorie Siachen food packets have now begun to arrive. Most of us at high altitude posts eat just once a day. Some poori-alu had been sent but the pooris froze at 17,000 feet.'' He had not taken off his boots for the past 10 days. ``It is so cold (minus seven degree celsius). I even wear my shoes inside the sleeping bag,'' he says, stoically. Chilblains is a threat always lurking around the corner.In rooms heated by bukharis, officers sit in front ofmulti-coloured maps and take decisions on dismantling and moving heavy guns. ``The barrel of the gun alone weighs more than 250 kg and mules are in short supply. So soldiers are hauling the guns up the mountains,'' said an officer.

And then there's the chilling reality of death. As he bade farewell to the coffins of 23-year-old Lt Saurav Kalia and the five jawans who had been tortured and killed, the young Captain had tears in his eyes. ``This is not war. This is more than war,'' he said angrily. ``Even in war there aren't such senseless killings.''

Throughout this adversity, however, what shines through is a spirit that refuses to break despite the odds. The infantry soldiers who sit on guard do so in temperatures of 30 degrees below freezing, with winds at 60 knots; their cover is provided by small boulders. The enemy, on the other hand, is well entrenched in cement bunkers. yet no task, however impossible it may seem, is refused.

Imagine the challenge here, says an officer, when the defenders aresitting atop the heights, armed with firepower most suited to this terrain and night-vision equipment. Our men, carrying heavy loads, climb in the sniper alleys by night. Many are not yet fully acclimatised; they've been pulled out of the plains and sent directly to an altitude of 17,000 feet. Proper clothing, mountain rations and specialised equipment can wait; the soldiers are told they haven't exactly come on a picnic.