NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 A Tale of Valour: Major Somnath Sharma and the Battle of Badgam — Let us do these activities before we read

The Republic Day Parade is the ceremony in which the country shows itself to itself. It is held on Kartavya Path in New Delhi on 26 January, the day the Constitution came into force in 1950, and the President — who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces — takes the salute.

Two things are worth noticing when you talk about it. First, it is not only a military display: the marching contingents share the route with school children, folk dancers and State tableaux, so the parade shows the country's diversity as well as its defence. Second, it is a public ceremony — anyone may watch it — which is the point of a republic, where the armed forces answer to the people.

The parade follows a fixed order, and each part of it does a different job.

• The President's arrival and the National Salute, with the national flag unfurled and the National Anthem played, followed by a 21-gun salute.
• The gallantry awards — the Param Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra and other decorations — presented by the President.
• The marching contingents of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and paramilitary forces, and the mounted President's Bodyguard.
• The tableaux from the States, Union Territories and central ministries, each on a theme.
• Performances by school children, folk dancers and the motorcycle display team.
• The fly-past by Indian Air Force aircraft, which closes the parade.

Two families of gallantry awards are announced and presented around Republic Day.

Children also receive the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, which has a bravery category — the very award given to Rohan in the news broadcast you will hear in this unit.

Discuss the qualities in two groups — those a soldier needs in order to fight, and those a soldier needs in order to be trusted — because the story you are about to read turns on the second kind.

• Physical courage — the ability to act while afraid, not the absence of fear.
• Discipline — doing the ordinary duty exactly, every day, so that the extraordinary one is possible.
• Presence of mind — Major Somnath Sharma saw that the first attack was only a distraction, and that judgement mattered as much as his bravery.
• Loyalty to one's men — “I know my men better than anyone else, and if they are going into action, they are not going in without me.”
• Truthfulness — his last signal reported the situation exactly as it was before stating what he would do.
• Selflessness and restraint — a soldier holds enormous power and must use it only as duty requires.

A good message here is short, specific and honest. Avoid slogans; write to a person, not to a uniform.

• Say thank you for something particular — the winter posting, the distance from home, the fact that they miss the festivals we celebrate.
• Mention their family, because that is the part of a soldier's life we most easily forget.
• Say what you will do — study, keep the neighbourhood clean, help someone — so that the message is a promise and not only a compliment.