This incident happened during Kargil War when 1/11 Gorkha Rifles was capturing a peak. Colonel Lalit Rai and his men were surrounded. Many of them didn’t come back and sacrificed their lives on the line of duty.
His unit was surrounded by the enemies(Pakis) for 3 nights. He and his men were out of ammunition, he had just 2 bullets left and he looked at his men, they too were having a bullet or two with them. At this point of time, he got an intel that 40 Pakis have surrounded them and were coming up for them. His men were quite demotivated because of lack of firepower and manpower.
Pakis started ascending for the post they were holding, and they were continuously abusing the Colonel. They themselves were at some distance from the Pakis but they could clearly hear the harsh words. Our men being Nepali didn’t knew any galis (abusive words) because there are hardly any galis in Nepali. But in his academy days Colonel had a Punjabi friend who had taught him some best of his galis. So he was equally giving it back to the Pakis.
Colonel glanced at the boys, they were looking tense, quite demotivated (not afraid of course). So he thought of lighting up the moment a bit and he said “Ye pakistani tumhare commanding officer ko itna ganda ganda gali de rha hai, GAALI DO” (These Pakistani’s are abusing your Commanding Officer, abuse them back).
Now our men were in a tough place, at one side it was an order from a Commanding officer, and on the other how can they use those words in front of a Commanding officer. So they were pushing each other, after some time they pushed forward a soldier, Gyan Bahadur and said that he’s from Dehradun, he must be knowing some galis.
So Gyan Bahadur came forward, stood near a boulder and brandished his Khukri and looked back at his CO. Our Colonel replied “Han gali do” (Yes, abuse them). Somehow he gathered courage and finally said “Pakistani Kutta, upar aega to mundi kaat dega” (Pakistani dog, i’ll behead you if you dare come up). Our Colonel started laughing and said “Gyan Bahadur, they will die for sure but laughing, that you cannot even give a decent gali”.
And when the Indian Army finally reached at the top, Colonel remembers chopping their heads off and their heads were rolling down from that hill they were holding.
Hats off to this officer who at a time like this changed the mood of his men and filled them with courage. Col Lalit Rai was awarded the Vir Chakra on 15th August 1999.
His unit was surrounded by the enemies(Pakis) for 3 nights. He and his men were out of ammunition, he had just 2 bullets left and he looked at his men, they too were having a bullet or two with them. At this point of time, he got an intel that 40 Pakis have surrounded them and were coming up for them. His men were quite demotivated because of lack of firepower and manpower.
Pakis started ascending for the post they were holding, and they were continuously abusing the Colonel. They themselves were at some distance from the Pakis but they could clearly hear the harsh words. Our men being Nepali didn’t knew any galis (abusive words) because there are hardly any galis in Nepali. But in his academy days Colonel had a Punjabi friend who had taught him some best of his galis. So he was equally giving it back to the Pakis.
Colonel glanced at the boys, they were looking tense, quite demotivated (not afraid of course). So he thought of lighting up the moment a bit and he said “Ye pakistani tumhare commanding officer ko itna ganda ganda gali de rha hai, GAALI DO” (These Pakistani’s are abusing your Commanding Officer, abuse them back).
Now our men were in a tough place, at one side it was an order from a Commanding officer, and on the other how can they use those words in front of a Commanding officer. So they were pushing each other, after some time they pushed forward a soldier, Gyan Bahadur and said that he’s from Dehradun, he must be knowing some galis.
So Gyan Bahadur came forward, stood near a boulder and brandished his Khukri and looked back at his CO. Our Colonel replied “Han gali do” (Yes, abuse them). Somehow he gathered courage and finally said “Pakistani Kutta, upar aega to mundi kaat dega” (Pakistani dog, i’ll behead you if you dare come up). Our Colonel started laughing and said “Gyan Bahadur, they will die for sure but laughing, that you cannot even give a decent gali”.
And when the Indian Army finally reached at the top, Colonel remembers chopping their heads off and their heads were rolling down from that hill they were holding.
Hats off to this officer who at a time like this changed the mood of his men and filled them with courage. Col Lalit Rai was awarded the Vir Chakra on 15th August 1999.
