AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 6 – eConnect Reviews CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 219 of 237 her head off, put it on a plate and present it to her husband as a memento. The servant did what he was told, covered Hadi Rani’s head with a cloth and presented it to her husband. If this is not courage, what is? Devastated but nevertheless proud, the commander tied the memento around his neck by its hair. He fought bravely, making the Aurangzeb forces flee, and after his victory, he got to his knees and cut his neck, having lost the desire to live. Then there was the story of Maldeo, the ruler of Mewar, tricking Hamir Singh I into marrying his widowed daughter Songari without letting Hamir Singh know that his daughter was a widow. A deceitful act in those times. Full of courage of conviction, Songari confesses all about it to Hamir Singh and helped him stage a coup against her father. Hamir Singh I eventually established the Sisodiya dynasty. It is widely believed that the practice of jauhar (sathi) was prevalent during C E 16, to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by foreign invaders, when facing certain defeat during a war, but recorded evidence shows that it was first staged by Rani Bhai, widow of Raja Dahir, even during C E 8 itself, to escape capture by Mohammed Bin Qasim. The story of the brave woman Mai Bhago took centre stage then. Her exploits in the battle of Muktsar was highlighted. Mai Bhago’s acts of bravery eventually elevated her as the body guard of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10 th Sikh Guru. In the end, Smt Vishaka Hari narrated the courage and steadfastness of a few Sikh women in Lahore who refused budge and give into the invaders even when their children were beheaded and adorned as garlands over them. All told, it was a solemn moment of introspection for the veteran attendees for being blissfully unaware of our own saga of bravery and courage of Indian women down the ages. Smt Vishaka’s session was interspersed with topical and mellifluous songs in different languages. Starting with Jago Ma (Bengali), she proceeded to include Janani Janma Bhoomi (Kannada), Parukulle nalla nadu (Tamil - Bharathiyar), Bharatha samudhayam vazhgave (Tamil - Bharathiyar), Jayathi jayathi bharatha matha ( Sanskrit) and Vaishnava Janatho (Gujarati), effortlessly show casing her flair in music and felicity with languages. Throughout the session, Smt Vishaka Hari never missed a chance to shower praises for the sacrifices made by the Armed Forces personnel and their families in the defence of “Mathrubhoomi”, our motherland. Even at the very beginning, she equated soldiers to