As a young boy, inspired by his father, Colonel Rajeev Bharwan was passionate about joining the Army. He couldn’t wait to grow up and don the uniform… And then, at 20, when he did, he knew— ‘Uniform ka nasha hi alag hai…’

When he joined the Army, the Kargil War was fading away… His first month as an Army Officer, in the zone where the war was being fought, he stayed with the jawans in the barracks, in the same extreme situations they did. This was an incomparable experience, where he learnt so many important life lessons… And soon, he got to serve the country himself—by being a part of the unit deployed to counter insurgents and terrorists.

In his 2 decades of serving in the Army, Rajeev has seen it all—from leading operations for 36 hours in the forests of Assam to countering terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir and losing more than a dozen friends in service of the nation! And then, after 2 decades of service, when he stepped out – he didn’t consider it as ‘retirement’ – he began running his own training academy, building an ‘army’ of his own, training everyone from teenagers to elders!

In this episode, on Kargil War Divas, join us as we delve into the journey of this ‘Soldier Unplugged’.

We spoke about:
Joining the Army as the Kargil War faded away
Surviving in extreme conditions
His inspiration behind joining the Indian Army
Friendships in the Army
Days at the academy
21 years in the Army
Most challenging missions
Losing friends in the army
Life after the army
#humansofbombay #entrepreneur #podcast


TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Precap
00:37 Introduction
01:02 Joining the Army as the Kargil war faded away
03:30 Independent command near Pakistani post for the first time
04:35 Everyday life and challenges in the Army
05:52 Surviving in extreme conditions
06:20 Challenges during missions
07:40 Extreme conditions at war
07:59 How he decided to join the Army
09:20 Experience at the Academy
09:48 Parents’ reaction
11:00 Life after Kargil War
13:20 Most challenging mission
19:11 Losing friends in the Army
22:01 Fear of losing life
22:45 Life after Army
24:18 How he felt after stepping out from the Army
26:05 Show and tell segment
30:15 Life lessons for the youth

The Humans of Bombay Show, hosted by our CEO and Founder Karishma Mehta, is a Humans of Bombay original where we celebrate reallife heroes. From the single mother who had a baby out of wedlock to a female officer who served the army for 11 years, we want to bring out the extraordinary stories of seemingly ordinary people.
India is a melting pot of stories, and with the Humans of Bombay Show, we want to bring these beautiful stories to you and give you a peek into the unique minds of people who have excelled in their fields.
The track 'Kahaaniyaan' has been Created & Sung by Harshil Karia.

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Links:
Humans of Bombay
Instagram:   / officialhumansofbombay  
YT Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@humansofbomb...
LinkedIn:   / mycompany  

Colonel Rajeev Bharwan
YouTube:    / @soldierunplugged9791  
Instagram:   / col_bharwan_  
LinkedIn:   / rajeevbharwan  

Karishma Mehta
Instagram:   / karimehta05  
LinkedIn:   / karishmamehtab22151174  

About Humans of Bombay –
Humans of Bombay is a movement that started 9 years ago. We believe that every person has a story to tell and we want to help them tell these stories. In these years we’ve published stories across genres – stories of love, hope, faith, and courage. And through our storytelling, we’ve built an engaged community of over 5M!

Our idea is simple – to strike a chord with our community and catalog the beat of humanity, one story at a time.