``It was splinters,'' he recalls. ``They flew all around me, some of them piercing my arms. This is what is left of them now,'' he says, showing his bandaged stumps. There is no regret in his voice, just pride when he talks about the operations he was involved in. However, when he thinks about the future there is uncertainty and when one mentions the present, there is pain.

``The doctors say my hands are healing,'' Angani says. ``The wound is drying nicely. The only problem is at night. The pain is killing and I can't sleep till the nurse gives me the injection. I hope my nightmares at night will end soon.'' He grimaces with pain as he moves his bandaged arm to scratch his nose. His friend helps him and then pops a few cherries in his mouth. Angani smiles.

On every bed of the surgical wards at the Base Hospital lies a soldier who fought bravely at the icy heights of Kargil and Drass. Their advance was abruptly cut short when they lost an arm or a leg had to be amputated.

Rifleman Phool Chand of the Raj Rif joined the Army a year back. A week ago, he stepped on a mine. He has lost one foot. ``There are areas where we are walking through mine-fields. I stepped on one and lost one leg. There are others who have lost both,'' says Chand.

Recently married, this 20-year-old soldier from Rajasthan hasn't told his wife about his injury yet. ``They will worry,'' he say. ``I don't want them to see my suffering. Once I'm better, I'll go home, sit them down and tell them about what happened.''

Though this batch of soldiers is on the road to recovery, the hospital is expecting more. ``These men have to go through life like this,'' says a senior Army officer. ``It is so much more difficult for them and their families. There is very little anybody can do for them.''

Durug Singh of the Raj Rif has not yet seen his new-born daughter. ``She was born this March,'' he says. ``I am waiting to hold her in my hands.'' His journey back home to Ajmer will take a while. Singh has to wait till his amputated leg heals.

On the intervening night of June 12-13, Singh was hit by shrapnel. While one of his legs was amputated, the other is still pierced with holes. According to the doctors, recovery will be slow and painful.

According to the men here, at the Srinagar hospital there are so many who have lost so much. All of them have spent time at the Srinagar hospital and each one of them says that there are worse cases. ``We are the lucky ones'' they say, adding that the real heroes are those who have died.

Rifleman Mohammad Asad's left arm has been amputated, operator Ramesh Chand has both his feet in plaster and Havaldar Nardev Singh has a fractured foot. The list goes on. For these heroes of Kargil, fighting the intruders was the easy part. Coping with life minus a limb is the challenge now.