‘Main bol raha hoon’: BSF jawan Purnam Kumar Shaw's first call home melts wife’s heart

KOLKATA: A little after noon, Rajni's phone rang. "Main bol raha hun (It's me)," said a heavy, hoarse voice. Unable to recognise the caller, Rajni tentatively asked, "Aap PK Sir hain (Are you PK Sir)?""I couldn't believe it was him. We don't take our husbands' names. I called him PK Sir to confirm it was indeed him," said the happy wife. It was a brief call and Purnam asked about his parents and spoke to his son Aarav.For the next few hours, an overjoyed Devanti Devi, Purnam's elderly mother, stood with boxes of sweets at the door of their house. "Thora munh meetha kar lijiye (have some sweets)," she urged everyone she met. Purnam and Rajni's eight-year-old son pointed to a kite and spool kept on the top of a cupboard in their bedroom and said, "We flew the kite when papa came during Holi. We will fly it again together. I am waiting for him to come home."Shortly after Purnam's release, Rajni received a call from CM Banerjee. Later, the CM told reporters, "I spoke to Rajni 3-4 times. Our DGP was in constant touch with the BSF DG. We did whatever we could. Day before yesterday I told Rajni that her husband was fine but the modalities of release were taking a little time. I requested for the matter to be taken up in the (DGMO-level) meeting between India and Pakistan, and they did talk about this.His family is happy and so is the entire nation."Rajni said the CM had expressed her wish to meet Purnam when he returned home.Junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar thanked PM Modi for securing Purnam's release while Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari met senior BSF officers in Kolkata to express his gratitude.'Nothing will stop him from serving the country again'"We cannot even imagine what he faced in Pakistan, but nothing will stop him from serving the country again," said 62-year-old Bholanath Shaw, an e-rickshaw driver in Rishra whose youngest son Purnam re-entered India through the Attari-Wagah border on Wednesday after spending 22 days in the custody of Pakistan Rangers. On April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, the BSF jawan had inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan while on operational duty.For over three weeks, Purnam's family members here had swung between hope and despair as the tension between India and Pakistan mounted. Purnam's pregnant wife Rajni even travelled to Ferozepur to seek answers from her husband's seniors in BSF but nothing much materialised. When India launched Operation Sindoor, their hearts sank. "The day attacks on both sides intensified, I started losing hope. The (BSF) Commanding Officer at Kangra assured me of my husband's return but we couldn't be sure. What if the war escalated and continued for a long time? Fear gripped the entire family," recounted RajniFinally on Wednesday morning, Shaw Sadan erupted in joy and tears when the BSF, in a press note, confirmed that Purnam was back home. "Every citizen of this country prayed for my sindoor and I can't thank them enough," said a tearful Rajni, thanking PM Narendra Modi and CM Mamata Banerjee for their help and support.