In Firing Line and Barefoot, 10-Year-Old Boy Helped Soldiers – Now Army Will Fund His Education | India News
Chandigarh: In a remote village near the India-Pakistan border, a barefoot boy with a steel heart did something few adults could imagine. Ten-year-old Shavan Singh, a fourth-grade student from Punjab’s Tara Wali village, became an unlikely ally of the Indian Army during Operation Sindoor. When the guns roared and the skies thundered with missiles, Shavan carried milk, tea, lassi and water to the soldiers braving cross-border fire. No one had asked him. He just did it.
Now, the Indian Army has decided to honour his courage with something that will last longer than a medal. The Army’s Golden Arrow Division has announced it will bear all expenses of Shavan’s schooling.
On Saturday, at a special ceremony held at Ferozepur Cantonment, Western Command chief Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar personally felicitated the boy whose determination and courage has already become a legend in his borderland community.
The day it all began was May 7. Indian forces had launched missile strikes under Operation Sindoor targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Within hours, Pakistani retaliation had begun. Firing intensified along the LoC, and border outposts were under attack. Villagers huddled indoors. But Shavan walked out with a kettle.
He made his way toward the soldiers with ice, milk, water and even freshly made tea. The sound of bullets did not slow him. The tension in the air did not break his will. Soldiers posted at the forward positions remember him not with sympathy, but with admiration. His quiet presence brought them comfort. More than refreshments, his small hands carried solidarity.
Shavan says he wants to become a soldier one day. His father says he was not told what to do. He just picked up what was needed and walked to the border. That is how he is. The soldiers at the post had started calling him their little brother.
The Army now calls him a hero, not for carrying refreshments, but for carrying the spirit of service without asking for anything in return. For walking through fear, not away from it.
Tara Wali sits just two kilometers from the international border. The people there are used to hearing gunshots. But rarely do they see a child step into that world like a man with a mission.
While recognising Shavan, the Indian Army also shared his story as an example of what it means to serve the country without a uniform, without a command and without expecting applause. They called him one of the country’s unsung heroes.
Operation Sindoor was launched after the deadly terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. In retaliation, India had struck terror launchpads in Bahawalpur (Jaish-e-Mohammed) and Muridke (Lashkar-e-Taiba) across the border. As tensions spiked, Ferozepur and surrounding villages braced for the worst. In that backdrop, a boy walked into the frame and left an imprint.
Shavan Singh did not carry a rifle. He carried tea and love.
