President Draupadi Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra on Captain Anshuman Singh, who died in Siachen in July last year.
Singh's wife, Smriti, and his mother, Manju Singh, accepted the second-highest gallantry award, from the President on Friday.
Reminscing her time with Captain Anshuman Singh, Smriti said that they met on the first day of college, and it was "love at first sight".
She said that Captain Singh got selected at Armed Forces Medical College a month after they met. "We met in an engineering college, but he got selected in a medical college, so super-intelligent guy," she said.
She further said that they were in a long-distance relationship for eight years, following which they got married. But, after around two months of marriage, he got posted at Siachen.She said that they had a "long conversation about life" on July 18 and Captain Singh died on July 19.
"He's a hero. We can manage a little of our lives, because he has managed a lot. He has given up all his life, all his family, just to save three other families and his army family," she added.
Recalling their love story, Smriti Singh said, “We met on the first day of our college. I would not be dramatic, but it was love at first sight. After a month, he got selected into Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met in an engineering college, and he got selected into a medical college, super intelligent guy. After just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years and then we thought we should get married now so we did.”The couple got married in February 2023 after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.
Recollecting their conversations, Smriti added, “Unfortunately, within two months of marriage, he got posted to Siachen. On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life will be in the next 50 years — we are going to build a house, we are going to have kids, what not. On 19th morning, I get up, I get a call that he is no more."In July 2023, a short circuit led to a fire accident in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3am. As the dump caught fire, Captain Singh helped rescue fellow army personnel stuck inside a fibre-glass hut. The blaze further spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter. Captain Singh, in an attempt to retrieve life-saving medicines from the shelter, suffered severe burns and passed away.Explaining trauma that stuck her family, Smriti explained that “For the first 7-8 hours, we could not accept that anything of that sort has happened. Till date, I am not coping up. Just trying to figure out thinking maybe it is not true. But now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, I realise it is true. But it’s okay, he is a hero. We can manage a little of our lives because he has managed a lot. He gave up his life and family so that the other three army families could be saved.”
