In one case they had laid an elaborate ambush in Baramullah to target four vehicles. Everything was in place but that ambush failed at point-blank range. It was a miraculous escape for us. I think it failed because of two or three things. One was that the commanders failed to signal the opening of fire. Second, they perhaps did not expect me to be leading that convoy that day, which I was doing with my flag and star.

• They thought it could have been a decoy.

Absolutely. And that delay of a fraction of a second gave me time to take cover behind a truck. You will be surprised there was not one casualty. My Qick Reaction Team returned fire. Luckily, we all survived.

• Tell us about when you got hit?

About 27 infiltrators were coming in from practically the same area where the late Col Vasant was martyred.

• The colonel who was recently killed. He's from your regiment, the 9 Maratha Infantry.

The battalion, yes.

• You commanded the same battalion?

I did command that battalion. The group (of infiltrators) was stopped by a brilliant captain of the Gorkhas. His observation post had seen the group of terrorists coming down. We had much less force, but this officer rushed without informing others because he knew every minute was important. He and his twelve men blocked the entry of those terrorists into a big village. If they had got into the village, they could have hidden their weapons and got away. My brigade command happened to be on the other side. I asked people what was happening and the CO said nothing was happening in our area but a captain was pinning down some terrorists. Anyway, I rushed to the scene with whatever men I could gather and we got 27 terrorists. I was hit. For any soldier to shed blood for his country is a great honour. Maharana Pratap, Rana Sangha -- they were all warriors who had battle scars they were proud of. I feel that the wound is the greatest thing I wear on my chest.

... contd.