Sarhad par ab baj hi chuka hai nagaada shaitan ka/Nakshe par se naam hata do paapi Pakistan ka."

In Vijaypal's Jhunjhunu district-renowned for sending the maximum number of soldiers to the army-tempers and morale are peaking. At Vijaypal's 250-people village which alone accounts for 11 serving, five retired soldiers, the retired men are raring to go. "Take me back in the army and I'll teach those Pakistanis a lesson they will not forget," storms ex-havaldar Mahavir Singh of 17 Grenadiers. Not unlike retd capt Jagrup Singh of Johragaon who says determinedly-"Soldiers never retire. Once a soldier, always a soldier. I will go if the country calls." It was Ramsagar, father of Fatehpur resident Vijaypal (the Jhunjhunu hero's namesake), 24, the 10th Commando Para Unit soldier who died at Kargil this June 10, who best expressed the prevailing mood of chin-up defiance prevailing in the country today. Notwithstanding the grief of his pregnant 20-year-old daughter-in-law Sushma, the desolation of his wife, Ramsagar remains staunchly dry-eyed. "Kyon roey jaoon main? (Why should I keep crying?) After all, could there be a loftier death for my son?" he says as he turns to his sobbing younger son. "Tumhe bhi bahadur banana hai. Bhai ki tarah desh ke liye ladna hai." (You also have to be brave. Serve your country like your brother.)