Amit Joshi

Biography

Captain Amit Joshi hailed from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and was born on 25 February 1977, the son of the late Shri Praveen Joshi and Smt Vinita Joshi. Along with his brother Kapil, he was raised by his grandfather Shri C. L. Joshi, who was his guiding spirit. He completed his schooling up to Class X at St. Edwards High School, where he had the distinction of becoming School Captain, and then went on to Bhavan Vidyalaya in Chandigarh for Class XII, where he again rose to become School Captain. After school he pursued engineering at Wardha College of Engineering in Maharashtra. An avid cricketer, he played the game at various levels during his student days. Like many young people of Himachal Pradesh, Amit Joshi nursed the ambition of joining the Army from an early age. He followed that passion and was selected for the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and was commissioned in February 2002 into the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the arm responsible for the design, development, inspection, refit and recovery of the Army's weapon systems and equipment. After being commissioned, Capt Amit Joshi was attached to 7/11 Gorkha Rifles for field experience. In September 2002, the battalion was deployed on the Siachen Glacier, braving hostile weather, rarefied atmosphere and unprovoked firing from across the border. At such extreme altitudes, avalanches, crevasses, blizzards, frostbite and high-altitude illnesses claimed lives with grim regularity. On 7 September 2002, Capt Amit Joshi was at the forward Chaman Post, supervising operational activities, when he faced severe weather conditions and lost his life in the line of duty at the age of just 25. A cricket tournament is held in his memory each year at St. Edwards School, Shimla.