Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead: Travelogue of Australia and New Zealand
[This is the third blog post in this series of Travelogue on Australia and New Zealand]
“I have a fascination for caves!” I told Lulu, my parrot, who gave me a condescending stare.
“The world has moved on, but you still belong to the Stone Age. You were going to tell me something about enlightenment.” Lulu was as demanding as an Army General.
“Not enlightenment. I said ‘throwing light.’ We went to Waitomo caves. There are glow-worms in those caves; you can see them on the ceilings of the caves. They look like celestial lights.”
“Glowworms? You mean ‘Firefly?’”
“Nope! Glowworms. Not Fireflies. They emit light. It is pitch dark in the caves and the glowworms emit tiny bright light spots. It’s beautiful. We were taken to the caves by a guide.”
“Snaps?”
“You are not allowed to take any pictures. The Waitomo Glowworm Caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau and an English surveyor Fred Mace. Today the guides at Waitomo are descendants of Maori Chief Tane Tinorau. Our guide told us that some couples get married there too!”
“In the darkness?”
“Yes, in the darkness!”
“Do they sing songs?”
“I don’t know. Our guide volunteered and sang a Maori song. It was about a girl seeing her husband go to war, and fearing that he will not return.”
“Reminds me of Marathi song ‘पहा टाकले पुसुनी डोळे’”
“Right! The same sentiments. This theme of sacrifice of warriors stays with you when you visit War Memorials in Australia. From New Zealand I went to Sydney. I went out for a morning walk. Saw a park and entered a beautiful building there.”
“Did you enter a memorial?”
“Yes! What I saw there moved me to tears! There was this sculpture in front of me, actually at the center of the main hall. Look at this picture….”
“Man! What a sculpture. It conveys what the Australians feel about their soldiers.”
“It is called ‘Sacrifice.’ A soldier is lying dead on his shield with his hands on his sword. He is lifted by three ladies – they represent his mother, sister and wife. He reminded me of the Cross. Didn’t he die for others?”
“Hmmm…..”
“I was in Sydney and looking at this sculpture on April 24. The next day was ANZAC day when they honour and remember their war veterans. Many old military men came there displaying their medals. There was a ceremony and a parade.”
“When did Australia and New Zealand fight war? They fought the world wars together.”
“Right. This memorial was constructed after the First World War. We then went to Canberra where the war memorial is exceptionally well designed. It would take an interested person more than a day to see the War memorial at Canberra, the Capital city.”
“Wow! I know there are some sculptures in the garden there. One shows a man carrying a wounded soldier on his donkey.” Lulu said.
“That sculpture is known as ‘Man with his donkey.’ The man is John Simpson Kirkpatrick. He joined Australian Army Medical Corps. He landed in Gallipoli, befriended a donkey and used it to carry wounded soldiers to ambulance from battle front. His exceptional work was noticed by all. Even the Indian contingent there called him ‘Bahadur.’ He and his donkey were killed on May 19, 1915.”
“I am speechless…..”
“When I went inside Canberra War Memorial, I saw a huge wall. Names of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives were inscribed in it, and there was a place for putting a flower against any name, people were doing it!”
“That’s very well thought out. What’s in the central hall?”
“Four figures in mosaic on the walls, one each representing Army, Navy, Air force, and a lady representing the medical service.”
I continued, “Interestingly there is a head of an old man shown at the bottom of the Air Force man’s mosaic. I asked the guide there as to what it represented. She said it means that what was really killed in war was wisdom, religion, good values etc. and this was depicted by the fallen head of an old man.”
“Not a very convincing answer, but she has a point.”
“And there are two PCs where you can find out about your relatives in the war!”
“Wow! Wow!! That’s really very thoughtful.” Lulu said as he perched on my shoulder. “They have not just honoured their soldiers, but kept memories of their sacrifice alive. And interestingly they fought war for others, unlike you Indians.”
“How true!” I said.
“Tell me where is Kargil War Memorial in Mumbai?” Lulu, my parrot, asked.
“I will google this and tell you” I said. “I see only Afghan War Memorial.”
“Shame on you!” Lulu shouted in my ear.
War memorials leave a lump in my throat. The most poignant artefacts and remnants of war, I saw in Berlin. Reconstruction and reuniting a divided nation, takes years!
http://www.kaviarasu.com/category/berlin/
A very nice tribute to the soldiers, Vivek kaka.
Wish we had a war memorial too. How many have laid down their lives…..
Shame on our politicians who have no regards for those who make the supreme sacrifice of their lives, literally on a daily basis.
Have you seen the British war memorial at Khadki, Pune? It is still maintained by the Brit. In fact Prince Charles on his last visit did visit the memorial to pay his tributes.
Touched. Just great.Thanks a lot.
True, any one of your type would go in to tears.I also felt like that.
An Irish poem-Some one's darling was translated in Gujarati by Zaver Chand Meghani-Koi No Ladakvayo…On your return I will share. It seems to be the most fitting poem to be placed at the bottom of that Sculpture…Great Sir. Himanshu M.Bhatt Surat
Very moving Vivek. You have done real justice to the topic with your words. True! Shame on us Indians who do nothing for our war widows and our martyrs.
This is the first time I am reading this blog series … found the whole piece absorbing. This one on war memorial is touching.
Patwardhan Sahib, Very innovative way of recording a travelogue. The interactive narrative with Lulu, makes it perhaps easy to bring out the subtleties in the story. As usual impressed!
Muralidharan, Bangalore
Patwardhan Sahib, Very innovative way of recording a travelogue. The interactive narrative with Lulu, makes it perhaps easy to bring out the subtleties in the story. As usual impressed!
Muralidharan, Bangalore
Deepak Pokhriyal's comment is reproduced below with his consent:
Thank you for a wonderful piece. There is a factual correction though; the Indian armed forces has fought more wars for others than any other country. My father’s regiment itself, the glorious Kumaon, has been fighting wars since its raising as the ‘Hyderabad contingent’ during WWI . If I recall my military history, the first was the battle of Megiddo(Turkey) during the First world war. Since then the Burma campaign, Malay war, Iran, Battle of Singapore… the list is endless. Other units of the Army, and indeed the Air Force and the Navy have also been fighting international wars.
That apart, there is always an indescribable feeling of yearning when visiting memorials, cemeteries and other remembrances. One instantly remembers all that is noble in the profession of arms; the passion with which we believed in the values of country, code and camaraderie.
Many years ago, I visited the Kohima cemetery. It has the words of John Edmonds (made famous and now called the Kohima epithet)…. When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today’. These words resonate with me every time I remember those pristine rows of graves (I was surprised to know that even till date, the Government of UK contributes to its upkeep). I only wish that we as a nation were less apathetic to our men (and women) in uniform.
Anyhow, that’s a topic for some other discussion.
Regards
Deepak
Beautifully described Sir. Vivid and touching indeed.
My father had been to Japan and there is a similar museum they have maintained to capture the horrors of Heroshima and Nagasaki. When the tour guide describes things within the museum, it becomes difficult for the guide and the tourists to hold back their tears…
I presume you may have experienced something similar…
In Pune they have cemetery of British soldiers but in our own country people question the sacrifices of soldiers and have the audacity to comment that armed forces are just doing their jobs. Other countries honour their men in uniform for wars fought years ago while our soldiers fight everyday at border…. Thankless country we are.