An epitome of a bond between two soldiers   Premium

A retired soldier monitors a live video feed of a statue of his deceased son, a tribute to his military service.

For 67-year-old Havildar Vempalli Manga Raju, monitoring a screen in a corner of his home has become an essential part of his retirement routine. The screen streams a live video feed of a life-sized statue of his beloved son, Naik Kali Krishna Prasad, who tragically passed away in July 2023 after a sudden illness while on a short leave.

Krishna Prasad enrolled in the Corps of Military Police (CMP) of the Indian Army as a soldier in 2009. By 2023, he rose to become Naik and was posted at Akhnoor in Jammu & Kashmir. Born in Tenga valley of Arunachal Pradesh in 1984, Krishna Prasad had served in the Indian Army for 14 years. He left behind his wife Pallavi, and children Chandra Raja Mouni and Chandrakala.

“My two sons might have drawn inspiration from my life and my village, in which every household still encourages its men to join the defence services. They never had to consult me on whether to enrol in the Indian Army or not. But both of them did,” said Mr. Manga Raju. 

Krishna Prasad’s brother, Satish, is now a Havildar serving in the Indian Army’s Madras Engineer Group (MEG), the same regiment their father served in for 17 years.

“All of a sudden, my retirement life came to a standstill with the death of my younger son in 2023,” said Manga Raju. The grief plunged him into depression, and the trauma haunted him daily.

“My father was not able to deal with the loss of my brother. So, our family decided to install a life sized statue of my brother in our paddy field, where my father could see him,” said Krishna Prasad’s sister, Bindu. The family spent ₹13 lakh on the statue, which was installed in January. The statue depicts Krishna Prasad fully decorated in his Indian Army uniform, complete with a hat and other military adornments.

However, this statue presented a new emotional challenge for Mr. Manga Raju. “At first, I used to visit my farm field to see my son’s statue regularly. But over time, I stopped visiting it because each visit was a painful reminder that he is no longer with us,” he said, tearfully.