Warmongers don't know the price of war: Martyr's widow

Sonpeth (Parbhani): The slow-placed, tranquil Sonpeth taluka of Parbhani district in Marathwada does not hold any special identity, except for the Telbhare residence.

Its matron, Sharda, has lived a lonely life. Sharda’s husband Sepoy Manju Telbhare of the Maratha Light Infantry died during a fierce encounter in Poonch district of J&K on October 17, 1999, during the Kargil operation.

On his 20th death anniversary, the bereaved family recalled the ordeal they faced and also appeal for the peace in Kashmir .

Sharda was a 20-year-old newly-wed when Manju died. “Like every newly-wed woman, I had nurtured many dreams. Destiny, however, had different plans. I got married on July 18, 1999 and he left for duty a week later. It was our last meeting,” recalled Sharda.

Twenty years after the conflict wreaked her life, Sharda shudders whenever there is news of escalated tension between the two countries. “A war inflicts wounds that remain unhealed for a lifetime and creates a permanent void in the lives of the affected families. Those in either side of the border, who lose their loved ones, feel the cost of war. The warmongers don’t have to pay any price,” she said.

Sharda chose not to remarry despite insistence from her two brothers. “Notwithstanding the dreams of any individual, destiny has its own way. I experienced this bitter truth very early in my life. Thereafter, I never mustered the courage to marry again,” she said.

Sharda received a plot of around 2,000 sqft from the government, an ex-gratia amount along with a family pension. “My in-laws sought a share in the ex-gratia and pension. I could not refuse. I took a loan and developed the plot to earn some income from the rent. I am still repaying the loan,” Sharda, who lives with her mother, said. Time has not healed her wounds. “It is such a lonely life. I was a wife only for a few days, but I could never experience motherhood,” she said. She now takes solace in supporting and watching her sister’s son and daughter grow up.

Sharda has a special collection of the medals, personal photographs and different news clippings about her husband. The prized possession is a letter her husband wrote from the war front prior to his death. The letter, dated September 30, 1999, has a sketch of Sharda drawn on the top-left corner by Manju with a message that “she is close to his heart despite the distance that separates them.”

“The gesture showed the pain of separation in his heart and his love for me. I read this letter on his death anniversary every year,” she says.

Manju’s father Marotrao and three brothers live at Thadi Pimpalgaon, a hamlet about 20km from Sonpeth. In his early 80s, Marotrao has vague memories of the past. Most members of the Telbhare family are engaged as workers in fields. Marotrao could buy agricultural land using the compensation received after Manju’s death. One of Manju’s brothers also got a government job.

“Manju was good in studies. He opted to join the army . I allowed it considering our poverty. He left us, but even in his passing, he offered some stability in our lives,” he said.