His story is a profile in courage. After being hit by shrapnel that entered from his shoulder and escaped via his neck, he continued to climb on the Kalubar range that his unit had set out to capture. While his companion went up to fetch help, he was captured by the enemy.

They took him prisoner. His numb arm was tied behind his back tightly. But under heavy shelling, as they took their positions and scampered for cover, Rai saw his chance and managed to escape. By then, he had bled for nearly 12 hours.

``That was the time when I thought of committing suicide. There were shells flying all around me and I was hoping, one would hit me and I would die,'' he said. The only option, he thought, was to drag himself to the postswhich they were attempting to capture. ``If the peaks had been captured, I would be saved, otherwise the enemy would in any case kill me,'' he said. And as fate would have it, the peak had been captured. It was only the next day that he was heli-lifted to the Leh hospital. By that time, he had bled for nearly 30 hours. ``My hat, parka and bag was full of blood,'' he said.

But even after all this, his spirit is not broken. ``The doctors tell me that my arm will be OK in three-four months, but I want to get better sooner and get back to action,'' said Rai. Far away from his homeland in Nepal, his nationalism brooks no question. Considering that his family owes allegiance to different countries, Rai's patriotism and feeling for India is unquestionable and unique. Rai's father is a corporal in the British army. His brother is in the Malaysian army while another brother is in Hong Kong. ``We are aliens in Nepal because we are hardly there for two months in a year,'' said Rai. But had he not survived, he wouldnot be given the same treatment as other Indian soldiers. He says if he hadn't survived he would have been buried in the lonely stretches of Leh. Nearly 11 slain Nepali soldiers, who have fought as bravely as any other, were unfortunately buried in Leh itself. One reason is the daunting distance -- most of their native villages are three days away from Kathmandu. The second reason is the furore that had arisen when the first body landed in Pokhara district of Nepal early in May.

The tradition of including Nepalis began with the British, when the king promised to contribute to the Indian Army. After partition, two units went to Britain. When the 11 Grenadiers was formed in 1948 it had as many as 95 per cent Gurkhas from Nepal, but now the percentage has fallen to 65 per cent.

Like most of his counterparts, Rai's credentials are immaculate: In his 13-year-old career in the Army, he has taken part in major operations in all parts of the country, including the North East, Kashmir and Siachen, and abroad inSri Lanka. In fact, Rai's unit was coming down from Siachen to go to Pune when they were asked to proceed to Batalik.