The story of a hero who never truly left us — Captain Vikram Batra, Param Vir Chakra, remembered by the person who knew him best: his identical twin.
When Captain Vikram Batra ascended the icy mountains of Kargil, he carried a nation's hopes on his shoulders. When he returned wrapped in the Tricolour, he became immortal.
He was twenty-four years old. He led from the front in the battle for Point 4875 and made the supreme sacrifice on 7 July 1999. His signal after capturing Point 5140 — “Yeh Dil Maange More!” — became the rallying cry of the Kargil War, and “Shershaah” became a name every Indian knows.
In this deeply personal memoir, Vishal Batra — Vikram's identical younger twin — shares what no history book ever captured: growing up together in Palampur, the dreams two brothers nurtured side by side, the man behind the uniform, and the unbearable silence left behind when the war took one of them away. Written with Anupma Mehta and published under Penguin's Veer imprint, this is not just a book about battle. It is a story about love, loss, courage, family — and the price of patriotism.
A tribute to every soldier who never came home, every family that continues to wait, and every Indian who still feels a surge of emotion at the name Captain Vikram Batra.
About the authors
Vishal Batra is the identical younger twin brother of Captain Vikram Batra, PVC, and has spent more than two decades keeping his brother's legacy alive. Anupma Mehta is a senior consulting editor at NCAER, New Delhi, with over thirty years in publishing and communications.
Perfect for
Readers of military biography, families sharing India's stories with the next generation, and everyone moved by Shershaah — this is the story from inside the family.
