Many times it takes a battle to form a bond. But it was not just on the snowy heights of Keran Sector in 1999 during the Kargil conflict that Captain Jintu Gogoi formed a formidable one with a young Second Lieutenant Rajesh Bhanot, now a Colonel.
The professional relationship between the two—both were from the Garhwal Rifles—began three years back in 1996 before metamorphosising into a personal one. So strong was the extraordinary bond between the two brave fighters that even after three decades, the families maintain the close relationship despite one of the two friends having fallen to the enemy’s bullets at Kargil. And destiny too had an interesting role to play.
In the summer of 1999, both Gogoi and Bhanot were company commanders. At the peak of the Kargil battle, Gogoi was entrusted with the mission to capture Kalapathar (Jubar Heights) while Bhanot was to take over the Twin Bumps.
On June 30, displaying unparalleled courage, Captain Gogoi captured Kalapathar but laid down his life in the process for which act of valour he was posthumously honoured with the Vir Chakra.
As soon as Captain Bhanot achieved his objective by planting the Indian Tricolour at the Twin Bumps, he got the news that a daughter had been born to him. Promptly, he named her Shangruti after the ridgeline on which the Twin Bumps rested.
In 2004, Bhanot played a leading role in the Army’s effort to institute the ‘Captain Jintu Gogoi Memorial Football Tournament’ in Dibrugarh, Assam, a tournament that has become much bigger over the years. His four-year-old daughter Shangruti accompanying him to many a football match.
Lieutenant Shangruti receives the family of Captain Jintu Gogoi during the final of the football tournament
In 2024, a newly commissioned lady officer was posted to Assam. And this officer found herself guided by the hands of destiny to the same football tournament that her father was instrumental in setting up.
This lady officer is Lieutenant Shangruti, daughter of a proud Colonel Bhanot, embodying the continuity of a shared legacy of the Gogoi-Bhanot relationship as she stood alongside the Gogoi family at the 20th edition of the Captain Jintu Gogoi Memorial Football Tournament.
Says Lt Col Amit Shukla, Army PRO, on Shangruti: “She is not just the daughter of a war hero; she is now a custodian of a legacy, a testament to the enduring power of shared values and unshakable bonds.”
