Shaheed Maj. Padmapani Acharya, Maha Vir Chakra
In April 2007 I met Mr S S Gandhi at his residence in Vasant Kunj in New Delhi. Mr S S Gandhi is the authour of book “Portraits of Valour”. This book has information on all gallantry awards of pre and post independence India with details of all individuals who have been honoured with gallantry awards post independence. During the meeting I came to know that Mr Vijay Anand had picked up material from this book for his TV serial “Param Vir Chakra” that was aired on Doordarshan in 1980s.Armed with this bible of my “Gods in Uniform” I started my search for my first God. Shaheed Major Padmapani Acharya was honoured with the Mahavir Chakra after Operation Vijay in Kargil in 1999. He was a resident of Hyderabad. Having known his fathers’s and wife’s name now I had to search for their phone nos. I looked out for these names in the BSNL directory and finally I found them. That was June 2007.We met Shaheed Major Acharya’s wife, daughter, father and mother for the first time at their residence in