This Bengaluru Musician Traveled Over 1 Lakh KM Collecting Soil From Martyrs' Homes

Umesh Gopinath Jadhav, a musician from Bengaluru, has completed his road journey of 1.15 lakh kilometres and met families of 144 martyrs across the country.

The 40-year-old pharma professor and musician left his job and decided to meet the families of martyrs and collect the soil from outside their homes after he learnt about the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019. He began his crowd-funded journey on April 9, 2019, leaving behind his two sons and wife.

"Even without wearing the uniform, one can still do a lot for the country. This is what I realised when I travelled across India and interacted with the martyrs' families and citizens," Jadhav said, according to The New Indian Express.

Collecting Soil From Homes Of All Martyrs

The Bengaluru native not just met the families of the 40 CRPF Pulwama martyrs, but also family members of those who died in the first and second World Wars, Uri attack, Kargil war, Pathankot attack, Galwan clash, Operation Rakshak and the recent Coonoor helicopter crash in which Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died.

Jadhav was at Jaipur airport on February 14 when he got to know of the Pulwama attack. He was returning to his hometown after performing at a private event. "I was shocked. Then I decided to collect the soil from the homes of all the martyrs. Already one memorial has been built with the soil of Pulwama martyrs, now the soil collected from the homes of the other martyrs will also be handed over to the defence forces to make another memorial in Delhi," he said.

He recollects having started his journey by meeting family members of CRPF jawan H Guru in Karnataka's Mandya. He said it was impossible to meet all the martyrs' families, so he tried to meet at least two from each state. But in Nasik, four different families came to meet him, and all had combined the soil from their respective homes in one pot instead of four. "This one was very emotional. No martyr family refused to meet me, and many hosted me at their homes too," he said.

He collected soil from the homes of the two Field Marshals General KM Cariappa and General Sam Manekshaw, 26/11 martyr Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan from the elite 51 Special Action Group. Jadhav and his friends now plan to make a documentary from his interactions with the martyrs' families and present it to the Defence Ministry.

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