(Jammu & Kashmir, Samba)
Priti Rajput from Samba, Jammu and Kashmir, is the winner of the TPL Season 2 Poetry Competition. Priti speaks about pain, strength, and the love she has for her country. In her winning entry,
“मैं शहीद हो गया माँ…”
She offers the voice of a soldier to address his mother, not in fear but with dignity.
The emotion in the first line of the poem demonstrates this image well:
“माँ, आज तेरा लाल तिरंगे में लिपटा आया”
A powerful image that captures the moment of loss, the soldier returns home not living but wrapped in the tricolor flag of India. She has enriched the poem with the line that—
“वतन की माटी ने मुझे आवाज़ दी”
(The soil of the Motherland has called me) implies that when a soldier is devoted to serving their country, the relationship with their mother has to be sacrificed.
In the poem, soft memories often contrast with the harsh realities of today’s world. The line about a “worried mother.”
(“मेरा बेटा खा रहा होगा या नहीं?”)
just as vividly illustrates what a mother is feeling as does an image of a soldier, experiencing night after night of hunger, on cold ground with gunfire all around him. In perilous times, when fear gripped the soldiers, they frequently recalled the soothing lullabies their mothers had sung to them. This shows us that tenderness between people is still present, even while engaged in the brutalities of war.
The poem’s conclusion transforms feelings of sorrow into pride. The soldier says, “I die for Mother India.”
(“मैं भारत माँ के लिए मरता हूँ.”)
and “I am the one saluting the tricolor flag.”
(“हर तिरंगे की सलामी में… मैं हूँ.”).
He sees his death as not the end of his life but instead a continuation, a way of preserving his memory and allowing him to be free.
By awarding Priti Rajput, TPL honours poetry that is simple, honest, and emotionally true. Her poem reminds us that behind every martyr is a mother—and behind every freedom, a silent sacrifice.