Wednesday, January 26 2005 16:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Soldiers, the guardians of the nation, were today (Jan 26, 2005) paid special tribute by the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces President A P J Abdul Kalam in the form of a poem, which was rendered at the Republic Day parade.

Just before the parade started on the Rajpath, strains of the poem, titled 'My Dear Soldiers', rang out from the loudspeakers with artistes of All India Radio (AIR) lending their voice to the lines penned by the President.

"Oh Defenders of borders,
You are great sons of my land,
When we are all asleep
You still hold on to our deed," the poem, rendered in Hindi, went.

The poem, originally written by Kalam in Tamil, has been translated into Hindi and English and put into the classical tunes 'Rag Darbari' and 'Rag Yaman' by AIR artistes.

"Prime of your youth given to the nation
We pray for you brave men!"

Kalam had written the poem as a message to soldiers a few months ago when a group of children from Maharashtra, on their way to Wagah border in Punjab, had called on him in New Delhi.

It had also been played when the President recently visited the forward areas of Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.