Two days after the TV footage first appeared, the buzz in the local DAV college spread. A faculty member was overheard telling another: ``You saw that boy on TV, the one who was leading the army on 5140, he was here with us, he graduated from the college in 1995.'' ``He is my friend,'' I quickly barged into their conversation, ``he has written a letter to my wife, my brother-in-law and he are the closest of friends. We were class mates, we were together at the Panjab University English department too. In 1996. Then he left for the IMA...,'' I blurted out hastily to prove that of the three, it was I who knew him the most. I even called him by his nickname -- Luv. His twin brother, Kush, minutes younger to him, too was my classmate.

I was plain proud, he had been recommended for the MVC -- they would at least give him the Veer Chakra (VC). I was also a bit worried though, secretly checking the news agency queues every night before leaving office. Checking the names of those killed in action ... just in case.

Then on Thursday, it happened again, he appeared on TV. "Kargil Hero: Captain Vikram Batra -- died in the Drass Sector on July 7," the TV report said. They showed footings of the bunker in which Vikram appeared, how he shouted back at the enemy, swearing to give them "a tough time". He repeated his signal to his partner, who led the other offensive: "Yeh dil maange more ... the boys were so charged up, they were wanting the more bunkers to capture but the battle was over." It was the same wrong English. We didn't laugh this time ... we wept. There were no TV cameras watching us, so we could cry. We were proud, yes, but the grief was greater. Luv, who would've been 25 in two months' time, was dead.

A letter, he had written on July 1, followed the news of his death. "Tonight I am moving for my task, as orders, have just come from Div HQ, so don't know when I'll move down again...."

We are waiting for the body to come down. Phone calls have poured into the office today: people who didn't know him have called to say how sad it is. He will probably get his MVC now; we will soon learn to talk of him in the past tense without tears in our eyes. But we will always miss him.

Born on September 9, 1974, Capt Vikram Batra was the elder of identical twin brothers. He had his early schooling in the Palampur DAV School and Kendriya Vidyalaya and graduated from DAV College, Chandigarh. He was commissioned into the Army in June, 1997 and posted to Sopore in J&K.

Vikram is the second soldier from Palampur to lay down his life; the first being Lt Saurabh Kalia of 4 Jat Regiment.

`Yeh Dil Maange More'
June 20, midnight: Lt Vikram Batra of 13 J&K Rifles and his men begin their assault on Point 5140. The infiltrators taunt him: "Sher Shah, you have come up but you will not go back alive. Batra retorted: "An hour's time will show who stays on top. Batra and his company occupy the peak by 3.35 a.m. and send a message back to base camp: "Yeh dil maange more." But the enemy was either dead or fleeing; no more were left. None of the Indian assault team receive so much as a bruise in the fierce uphill battle fought at an altitude of 17,200 feet.

The victory contributes to recapture of points 5100 and 470, junction and the Three Pimples, ultimately leading to the fall of Tiger Hill. Batra receives a field promotion to captain and Army commanders recommend him for the Mahavir Chakra. He even gets a phone call from Chief of Army Staff General V. P. Malik who appreciates his role in paving the way for the capture of Tiger Hills.

June 30: Batra calls his parents in Palampur -- Girdhari Lal Batra (principal of Government Senior Secondary School at Paraur near Palampur) and Kamal Kanta -- to tell them about his contribution in Operation Vijay. He will never call again.

July 8: Captain Batra volunteers to lead his men against intruders holding Point 4875. It's 2:30 a.m.; he has killed eight enemy soldiers and turns to duck into the bunker when a Pakistani shell strikes him down.