Mission Siachen

Siachen: The Frozen Hell

Location: Eastern Karakoram Range in the Himalayas.
Altitude:6000 meters
Temperature: Around –50*C
"For a soldier, this is where hell freezes over, a 46-mile river of slow-moving ice surrounded by stupendous towers of snow. Temperatures swoon to 50 below, and sudden blizzards can bury field artillery in minutes. Men sleep in ice caves or igloos and breathe air so spare of oxygen that it sends their hearts into a mad gallop. Fainting spells and pounding headaches are frequent. They are prepared to battle on the roof of the world forever." While we prosper and grow in the safety and comforts of cities, there are some men who brave the worst conditions on the planet to keep our land safe. Guarding our land even at the cost of their life, there is a little appreciation they ever receive for the great task that they do for our Nation. Gross apathy and disregard from the masses is all they get from the country of a billion people they guard.

The Plan: Postcards to say we care

We the Volunteers of Sankalp® have planned to tell them that we care and send them a token of our love and appreciation by sending them some handmade postcards. We plan to prepare as many postcards as we can (planning one postcard for each soldier there) and send it to them so that they receive the message right in time for the Republic Day 2008. From what we understand, there are about 4000 soldiers posted at Siachen. Our target is to have a personal message for each one of them. We chose to send postcards for multiple reasons. From security point of view, a postcard would be the safest way to communicate. Secondly, we want the people who really feel for the soldiers to make the postcard by their own hands using their own creativity. This will make sure that there is no room for artificial emotions. Postcard is also something that they can keep individually. We can have each one of them receiving a special personalized message.

"I don't know if this is war. But it's definitely hell."

Join In - Express your appreciation

Please take this opportunity to show the soldiers in Siachen that we care for them and we value the great service they are doing. Please take postcards from us express your feelings on them. You may also wish to take this ahead to your friends and other acquaintances. To bring you closer to Siachen, we are including some information resources inside. Please go through them and join in!