Page 236 - Sanidhya 2025

communities in remote areas, fostering mutual respect and
understanding. Carrying the Legacy Forward:

A CRPF campus is a melting pot of cultures, and yet, in all With this article, I present an ode to CRPF, to all the CRPF
this diversity, there is a sense of unity; people go to personnel I have interacted with, to their families, and to
Temples, Churches, Mosques, and Gurudwaras irrespective the friends I have made along the way. This is my way of
of their faith. I remember the pujas we held in our temples acknowledging the profound impact the CRPF family has
on various CRPF campuses for all festivals. I remember had on me, instilling strength, service, morality, confidence,
visiting our CRPF Churches on Christmas, eating sevaiya and patriotism. CRPF has taught me to be at ease with
from our CRPF Mosques on Eid, and doing sewa in our uncertainty and to be open to new experiences. It has
CRPF Gurudwaras. The respect we have for one another taught me that while it’s good to see the light at the end of
and the sense of community and belonging that we the tunnel, there’s something even more valuable in
experience everywhere we go to in the CRPF family is truly learning to walk in the dark.
magical.
As part of the CRPF family, I have not just learned but have
In one incident, we had a CRPF bus taking all students lived the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the
from the campus to their respective schools. Unlike my world is one family. When someone asks me where I am
elder brother, Shashvat, who has always been more from, there is no one state, city, or town I can point to. My
punctual and disciplined from the very beginning, I always roots are from Garhwal, Uttarakhand, yet I have spent my
had trouble waking up early in the morning. One fine day, I life traveling from one
missed my school bus. I expected to either miss school corner of our country to
that day or book a cab to school. That is when my father another in all directions
told me to walk all the way to my school. I was 14 years and to almost every
old; my school was around 8 km away. I wasn’t good with state of India. The only
routes, had no phone, and wasn’t carrying any money. answer I can give is that
Well, I walked to school that day, arriving at least an hour I belong to all of these
late, with my teachers and classmates raising their brows places, I belong to all of
as I showed up at an odd hour, burdened with a heavy India, and all of India
backpack and a shirt soaked through with sweat. That day, belongs to me; all of
I learned that the hardest paths often teach us the most India is my home.
about ourselves. What I learned that day was not that I
should always catch the bus on time; it was something far
deeper than that. It was that I, and I alone, am responsible
for my actions. That it is okay to miss your bus, but then
you should be willing to put in the extra effort to walk to
school. It taught me that even if the path forward is
uncertain, it shouldn’t deter you from moving forward; it is
in uncertainty that we truly relish our journey.

Like I said earlier, living in one place in ordinary civilian life
would have been good too, but it was only when a sprinkle
of uncertainty was added to the mix that my childhood
became magical; where we went from city to city, state to
state throughout India, meeting great people, making new
friends, learning to let go of our past and embracing our
future without knowing what the future held in store for us.
Each new place brought not only new memories but a
deeper understanding of India’s diversity and my place
within it.