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He always dreamt of joining the Armed forces, say Major Gosavi’s teachers from Pune, Pandharpur

"He was passionate about joining the Army since his school days. I remember him as boy good at his studies but also a naughty lad," said one of his teachers.

Nagrota, Nagrota attack, Major Kunal Gosavi, Nagrota attack officers, Officers nagrota attack File photo: Security personnel take positions during a gun battle with militants at Army camp at Nagrota near Jammu.

Teachers of Major Kunal Gosavi, from Kavathekar High School in Pandharpur and Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) in Pune, remember him as a student who was very enthusiastic in extra-curricular activities and passionate about joining the Armed forces. Major Kunal had completed his schooling till standard 10 from Pandharpur Education Society’s Kavathekar High School. His teacher Chandrashekhar Kulkarni, who taught him in standard 9 and 10, said, “I vividly remember him because of an issue he kept pursuing. He used to ask, why the school did not have a National Cadet Corps (NCC) unit. He was passionate about joining the Army since his school days. I remember him as boy good at his studies but also a naughty lad.”

Kulkarni added, “We used to see news of deaths of soldiers. But never felt more than a momentary sadness. But now having lost a dear student, it feels as if I have lost a family member.”

Major Gosavi Kunal Mannadir and Major Akshay Girish Kumar were among the two officers killed in the Nagrota militant attack in Jammu two days back.

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In 2001, Major Kunal came to Pune and completed his HSC and degree in commerce from the very prestigious BMCC in 2005 before joining the Army in 2006. Leela Mali, who was his teacher and unit in-charge for the five years of Senior Division NCC said, “The entire batch of NCC cadets we had from 2001 to 2005 was passionate about joining the Army and many of them did. Kunal was a prominent face among them. He was a caring boy who loved being in the NCC – I have no words to describe the feeling after we heard the news. Our
thoughts are with the family.”

Recalling certain incidents related to Major Kunal, BMCC Principal Chandrakant Rawal said, “Even after he joined the Army he continued his association with the college. He visited college every year to interact with the NCC cadets and motivate them to join Armed forces. He last visited in 2015 when he was posted with Assam Rifles.”

Festive offer

Rawal added that the college was planning hold a condolence meet after his last rites are performed on Thursday. Harsh Hingmire, Kunal’s friend, conjured up some memories of his adventurous nature, when he said, “We were in the eight standard and we had a science class visit at a village 15 kilometres from Pandharpur. We missed our bus. It was Kunal who decided that we will reach there by cycle. And we went there without telling our parents. Whatever he did, it was with passion.”

First uploaded on: 01-12-2016 at 16:41 IST
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