Jodha’s brother-in-law says one of the most challenging things for the family was that this operation, unlike those in places like Jammu, was on live television and his wife Renu, waiting at home, could watch the blow-by-blow coverage. “Before storming the Taj, he called Renu and bid her a final goodbye,” Umendra Singh says. “Then, when a bullet bounced off his chest, he asked for a cellphone and spoke to his three-year-old son. The child understood little, but he had one thing to say: Please come back, Papa.”