The Lunchbox actress was invited by her father’s parent unit, 64 Assault Engineer Regiment for the installation of his bronze bust in Heritage Hall, to honour his contribution and sacrifice for the country. Maj Singh was martyred on January 23, 1994 after being kidnapped by terrorists in Kashmir, and was awarded the Shaurya Chakra posthumously for his act of valour at refusing to yield to the demands of the militant outfit.
“It was the Raising Day of my father’s unit in Patiala, and they wanted to install a bronze statue, his bust, in Heritage Hall,” said Nimrat, adding, “We as a family are so grateful to the Army for this special gesture for my father’s memory. I have come back to some very nostalgic and warm memories of my time spent in my father’s unit in Patiala as a child. Patiala was the last city where we stayed together as a family before my father was martyred.”
Nimrat’s father served two tenures in Patiala, one when she was an infant and the other when she was between 9 and 11 years of age. Incidentally, the family lived in the same house on both the tenures. “While coming back to this significant occasion of my father’s bust installation was emotional, I also met people from his unit who held me in their arms as an infant and had met me again when we returned to Patiala when I was 9,” she said.
Nimrat also has fond memories of her school, the iconic Yadavindra Public School, YPS Patiala. In her two-day stay in the city, she took time to visit her school with her sister, Rubina. “I have returned to my school in Patiala after 28 years. I met the principal and saw the classrooms where I used to sit, and it all came back like a flood of memories. My first trek in life was from YPS, Patiala. The school has invited me back for their sports day when it completes 75 years next year. I am hoping to be able to make it then,” she said.
While the city has changed in concrete since she last stayed here, Nimrat says in her mind it was like going back as a child. “I felt like the little girl I was at 11, running through the cantonment roads with friends, riding the school bus, and the warmth of a complete family with my father, mother and sister,” she wrapped up.