Major Sylvester Rajesh Ratnam

Major Sylvester Ratnam: Heroic Spirit

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. — 2 Timothy 4:7

`Silly’ to his friends, `Rajesh’ to his mother and `defender’ to the nation, Major. Sylvester Rajesh Ratnam laid down his life along Jammu and Kashmir border this day in 2002, fighting the enemy. Today marks the 15th death anniversary of Major Sylvester Ratnam. Twenty-nine-year-old Sylvester, a strapping soldier of the 21 Jat Regiment, was posted at Kiran Sector of Kupwara area in Jammu and Kashmir.

Major Ratnam was an active member of Resurrection youth group and a dear friend to all.

Sylvester, who was commissioned at the OT Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai in 1998, was on a short service commission that would have ended in September 2003. A student of Bangalore’s St Joseph’s Boys High School and a graduate of Christ College, he had worked for Jet Airways before joining the Army.

`I’ll be happy to die for my country. One of these days you’ll find my photo in the papers”, he told his mom Mrs. Hema Ratnam. Earlier, when they went to Delhi, he showed her the soldier’s memorial and said his name would be etched on it one day.

Mrs. Ratnam is an active member at Resurrection Church Vincent De Paul Society.

Rest in Peace, Major