Reportage: Archana Masih. Photograph: Seema Pant. Design: Dominic Xavier, Rajesh Karkera

Captain Vikram Batra never lived here, but this is his home.

His parents moved here after his death. They know it is a home Vikram would have liked.

A board at the top of the lane points towards the house. Eight of his framed pictures adorn the walls inside; at the centre of the room hangs a framed citation that makes the hair stand on end.

The Param Vir Chakra -- India's highest award for gallantry in battle.

In a wooden frame lined with gold, the three words in red are powerful and dwarf everything and everyone.

A picture of Mr Batra receiving the award from the President hangs on the same wall. The award offered some consolation for Vikram's sacrifice, feels his father. It was reassuring to know that the country appreciated his son's exemplary valour.

When the officers handed the flag that had wrapped Captain's Batra's body and his cap to Mrs Batra, she packed them neatly in a transparent plastic sheet so that it did not get soiled.

She kept it on a table in front of his picture.

Every morning when she bows her head to god, she takes a look at Vikram too.

Today a statue of her son adorns the town centre.

Across Vikram is the statue of another soldier -- Major Somnath Sharma, India's first Param Vir Chakra winner, who also hailed from Palampur.

'I will fight to the last man and the last round,' Major Sharma said before he laid down his life evicting Pakistani raiders from Srinagar airport in 1947.

He couldn't have found a worthier successor than Captain Vikram Batra to share his space with.