Captain Gautam Sarma

Capt Gautam Sarma was born on 2^nd Jan 1982 to Smt Mamoni Sarma & Shri Profulla Sarma.  Having spent his childhood among art loving and simple people, Capt Gautam grew up to be an admirer of literature and nature. During his childhood he would often visit his maternal uncle who had nicknamed him as “Borphukan”, meaning Commander/Senapati, little knowing that his little nephew would one day actually join the ‘Thal Sena’ and become the pride of the family. His initial school education was erratic in the beginning owing to his father’s transferable job, but it got stabilized when the family moved to Shillong in 1991.

He developed into a sensitive person with a keen sense of understanding about various facets of life. He would write about love, life, experience and issues related to the common man. His first poem “Yesterday” was published in the local leading newspaper, “The Shillong Times”, when he was pursuing studies in St. Thomas High School. Thereafter, he completed his schooling from St. Edmund’s College, Shillong and got selected to join the prestigious NDA. He was a forward thinker and believed in making the world a better place. He would write letters to his family and speak of the less privileged mass of the human population and expressed a desire to contribute to their better living. Very early in his school/college days, he was associated as a volunteer at an NGO in Shillong then known as ‘Asha’, where he would teach mentally challenged children. He found that work very satisfying work and would come back home with smiles and many inspiring stories.

After commissioning as a lieutenant, his first posting was in Poonch in J & K where he served there until early 2007. Very soon his unit 8 JAK LI, was tasked to serve in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan. Over the months of preparation of travel and logistics, he would talk about how the significance of his UN Mission and its role towards establishing peace. During his tenure with the UN Mission, Capt Gautam Sarma received the “Commanding Officer’s Commendation Card” his devotion to duty, leadership and courageous actions.

Ustad Sector Operation: 03 June 2007

Capt Gautam Sarma got posted to J & K  after his return from the UN Mission in Sudan in 2007. During June 2007, Capt Gautam was serving at  Abad Guthur in the USTAD Sector of J & K. The terrain was very treacherous with hostile weather conditions. As the troops had to maintain a very high state of alert at all times, Capt Gautam Sarma would lead patrol teams regularly as part of the operational task. He was leading one such patrol party of 11 soldiers on 3 rd of Jun 2007 in the area of responsibility of his unit.

The ‘Area Domination Patrol’ led by Capt Gautam had to traverse through the treacherous terrain with jagged hills, deep ravines and narrow paths. Besides that a heavy spell of rains had made the matters worse for the troops. After reaching the fag end of the given task as Capt Gautam reached a plateau and was looking over to call his soldiers, he sipped and fell into a 105 meters deep gorge. After a four hour operation, he was rescued and was air lifted to be taken to the hospital. But Capt Gautam Sarma succumbed to his injuries on the way and was martyred. Capt Gautam Sarma was a gallant soldier and a fine officer, who made the supreme sacrifice at the age of 25 years, following the highest traditions of the Indian Army. He is survived by his father Shri Profulla Sarma, mother Smt Mamoni Sarma and sister Kavita Sarma.