In the chain of motivational lectures at IIT Kanpur for the First Year Students, it was Mrs Meghna Girish, proudly known as “Mother of Martyr Maj Akshay Girish Kumar, who sacrificed his life for the nation on 29 Nov 2016 and survived by his father, mother, wife and a daughter.

Col Ashok Mor, the Officer In charge NCC at IIT Kanpur introduced the guest speaker and gave an introduction about Mrs Meghna Girish.

In her address to the students Mrs Meghna Girish gave lot of examples from Maj Akshays life to inspire the young minds of IIT Kanpur. Mrs Girish said “This period of time 22 yrs ago Kargil War was on. Akshay was 13 yrs old. In spite of having relatives from all professions, Akshay always wanted to dawn the uniform like his father and grandfather.

The moment Akshay came from school he would switch on the TV and get updates on the Kargil War as the media was covering it in a big way. This incident in his life really inspired and strengthened his childhood ambition to join Army. He joined the Engineer Regiment a technology warrior in his own way. He happens to serve in lot of operational areas like Nagaland, Kupwara, Tangdhar. served at 19000 ft and along the China border in nine his years’ service.

I will narrate three stories about him in his life. When Akshay and his twin sister were in 4th standard, he had the elate seance of wright and wrong. A teacher in the class scolded a girl for having a short skirts, with the remark that “as the girls grow up their hemlines gets shorter”.. Akshay got up and told his teacher and said “aap galat bol rahe hain aap ko aasee baat nai karnee chaheye’, though he was holdup but said what he felt wright.

The second story goes about his youth days. His friends would plan a visit to a pub or so-called happening place for drinks etc. He would not drink so that he could drive his friends back home safely.

The third his ability to motivate his men in the face of enemy or terrorists. An environment at 19000 ft when you and your men are just alone and working for the nation at the china border and making bunkers. When his team finished the task six months in advance he said today he would cook for them and he made Biryani for them. All his company soldiers really liked him as he always showed concern about the small small things related to them.

When he called upon for leading his Quick Reaction Team against the Jaish-e -Mohamad attach in Nagrota Cantonment He did not take a step back and ensured that all the terrorist was killed, no hostages are taken and his men return safe as much as possible.

In the pain and in sorrow, we look at Akshay as a guiding light. For him three things mattered most. Your own dreams and aspirations must be pursued with all the effort and sincerity. Never loose focus where you want to go and how you would reach that goal.

People in your life matter far more that your EGO or your ambition. . Be happy be cheerful take people along. Help those might be struggling.

And yes, the last one, Country comes First always and every time. Never forget to give back to your country and whatever you can.

In our initial days of grief when he left us we thought on what we should do. We thought that Akshay would have wanted to do or would now want us to do. He would want a legacy of service to continue. The good for the youth and society must carry on. As we have had about 18 people in the close family from the defence forces our strength was in motivating the youth towards defence forces. We thought we could give back some thing to the society. With this in aim we started the MAJOR AKSHAY GIRISH MEMORIAL TRUST and we are trying to reconnect with Akshay and his dreams. Lot od students have benefited by this and have joining the Defence Forces.

She asked the students to challenge themselves to appear in SSB even if they did not want to join the defence forces. She finished with a poem by Akshay… The Biggest Battle is Within.