Months before being rushed to Drass to fight the infiltrators, Vijyant had met the five-year-old Ruksana in Kupwara and had started talking to her and giving her a monthly pocket money of Rs 50. In his letter, he asked his family to continue giving the amount to Ruksana so that she could meet her education costs.

While Col Thapar kept on sending her money for the past 10 years, he met Ruksana for the first time a few weeks ago when she finally came to Delhi. “She stayed with us for a day and it was a very emotional meeting.”

“She has grown up and we have been giving the money to honour Vijyant’s last wish. Now she has a bank account and we make sure she has adequate money for her education,” Col Thapar, who gave the girl Rs 10,000 when she came to Delhi, says.

The retired officer who will make the final visit to the spot in Drass that he calls “a soldier’s pilgrimage” misses his son but has “convinced” his mind that Vijyant is out on a long posting and will be back.

“I never think that Vijyant is not in this world. For me, he is still in Drass and can’t come back home because of the operations. When the operations end, he will be back and we will meet him,” Col Thapar says.