There is something about case studies that I understand now much better than I did in school or college. Back then, whenever teachers gave case study assignments, it felt like torture. It really did. It felt like one more burden put on students for no reason. But real life changes the meaning of many things. Once you step into the real world, you begin to understand why case studies matter. They show you how people act, how situations change, and how timing can decide everything. They also quietly tell you how you yourself should react when life puts pressure on you.

If I talk about myself, I have been writing diary entries for many years. But I always had this thought in my mind that sharing writing is not a very good thing. I do not know why I thought that way for so long, but I did. And maybe that thought kept me behind. Sometimes I feel that what I am trying to do now, I should have started 5 years ago. If I had done that, maybe I would have got that thing which every writer wants a little — appreciation. That is missing in my life. And I know the reason for it. I did not take action when I should have.

Sometimes strange thoughts come to my mind too. I think maybe there is some multiverse where another Raja Ranjan did not make the mistakes I made. Maybe in some other universe he was not lazy, he did not hide, he started early, he shared his writing, and maybe he became what I am still trying to become. It is possible to think like that, but I also know that this is just another way of covering up the truth. Maybe I am only using these out-of-the-box thoughts to hide my own laziness and my own habit of not coming forward openly.

I am writing this in my diary because I want to remember one thing properly: early action matters. If you act on time, you move ahead of others. And this thing — action — whether in the life of a person or the life of a country, can only be taken by the one who is actually part of the race.

This thought became stronger in me when I read about Operation Meghdoot. Since it began on 13 April 1984, I got curious about it, and the more I read, the more I felt that this was one of those examples where acting first changed everything. India acted before Pakistan did, and because of that, today it holds control over a place as strategic as Siachen. That stayed with me.

Now that I have already mentioned Operation Meghdoot, I want to write a little about its history and context too, mostly so that I remember it well later. What I am writing here is in my own words, but obviously it comes from things I have read. I think honesty matters. I often write in my diary about things which, if I read them again later, will revise my memory too. And if other people ever read these pages, at least they will understand not only what I was thinking, but also what I was trying to learn.

What I understood from Operation Meghdoot is this: in that whole struggle, the real issue was the heights.

Siachen is not important just because it is snow and ice and suffering. It is important because of the Saltoro Heights. That is the real military point. It is like a high wall of stone above the region. And once I understood that, the whole thing started making more sense to me. Below those heights are valleys and important routes. Through the Nubra side, routes go toward Leh-Ladakh, and from the Shyok side too there are routes important for military movement. So the country that controls those heights can watch those routes, threaten those routes, and in a bad situation even block them. That is why this place mattered so much. And that is why whoever controls the heights controls much more than just ice.

When we pay tribute to soldiers on 15 August or 26 January, we often speak emotionally about sacrifice, dedication, hardship, and all that. I had read Akhil Katyal’s poem on soldiers in Siachen earlier, and that itself had made me feel how much suffering those soldiers go through in that kind of cold. But while writing this now, I feel I understand something more than emotion. I understand importance. I understand why that suffering is tied to something so strategic.

If Pakistan had taken control of Siachen and the heights around it, then maintaining stability in Ladakh would have become much more difficult for India. And Pakistan also wanted control. From what I understood, Pakistan was thinking of moving when the weather became more suitable, around May 1984, because the conditions before that were still too harsh. But India understood the situation earlier and acted before Pakistan could. And that is exactly the lesson that hit me.

The one who reacts first can change the whole story.

That is why this operation feels so important to me. Not just because it was brave, but because it was timely. And timely action is a form of strength that I feel is missing in my own life.

What makes the story even more powerful is the conditions in which it happened. Temperatures were around minus 50 degrees Celsius. Oxygen was much lower at those heights. Snowstorms could come again and again. In 1984, we also did not have the kind of helicopter comfort people may imagine today for very high-altitude movement. Even then, despite all these things, India managed to secure such a strategic place. That is why this story feels motivational to me.

But not in a cheap motivational way.

It motivates me because it reminds me of what I do not do enough in my own life. It reminds me that being proactive is still missing in me. It reminds me that excuses are a hurdle, and that if someone has the will, maybe they really can cross that hurdle. That is the part I want to keep with me from this story.

Sometimes I imagine the moment when the weather finally improved and Pakistan started moving toward Siachen, only to realise that India had already reached there first. In my mind it almost feels like India saying: welcome, but from this side, this is India’s Siachen.

Peace.

Thank you,

Raja Ranjan