"When you are older, the only thing that will matter is that you had courage and honour" were the words of Major Anuj Sood who was killed on Sunday during an encounter with terrorists in Kashmir.
The 30-year-old wrote this in a recent social media post to describe the "life of a soldier".
"When you are older, you will realise the only thing that matters... that you had courage and honour. Lose those things and you won't die any quicker, but you will be less than the dirt on your boots. you will still be dust, but you will have wasted your short time in the light #lifeofasoldier".
Sood recently got married. He is the son of Brigadier (retd) Chandrakant Sood.
He was among the five security personnel killed in an encounter with terrorists at a village in Rajwar forests of north Kashmir.
Besides Sood, the deceased security personnel include Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Naik Rajesh and Lance Naik Dinesh, all from the Brigade of GUARDS regiment, and at present part of the 21 Rashtriya Rifles, deployed to counter terrorism in the hinterland.