On 29 June 1999, Indian Army soldiers scaled the near-vertical rockface of Three Pimples in Drass, Ladakh, unfurling the tricolour at over 10,800 feet above sea level — a victory that cracked open the momentum leading to Pakistan's eventual eviction from the Kargil sector. The assault, led by Colonel M.B. Ravindranath of 2 Rajputana Rifles, stands as one of the lesser-celebrated but strategically decisive engagements of the 1999 Kargil War.

The Peak and Its Strategic Weight

Three Pimples derives its name from three eruption-like rocky formations that jut out from its summit. Towering above the Srinagar–Leh Highway, the peak offered Pakistani intruders a commanding vantage point over Indian supply lines into Ladakh. Its capture, alongside the adjacent Black Rock, directly enabled subsequent Indian assaults on Tiger Hill and other dominant ridgelines.

The approach was unforgiving. Up to roughly the midpoint, the terrain offered barely a toehold. Beyond that, the rockface turned nearly vertical — soldiers were required to haul themselves upward with weapons and rucksacks, fully exposed to enemy fire from flanking peaks. The odds, by any conventional military calculus, were daunting.

Colonel Ravindranath's Leadership Under Fire

Colonel M.B. Ravindranath, then 40 years old, led the assault personally — climbing at the front of his men through darkness, using stealth and surprise to offset the terrain disadvantage. His plan relied on the cover of night and sheer determination rather than numerical superiority.

The night of 28 June proved especially brutal. A company of 2 Raj Rif came under heavy enemy attack and lost both its officer commanding and second-in-command. Colonel Ravindranath stepped in personally, assumed command of the company mid-assault, and drove the attack to its conclusion — securing both Black Rock and Three Pimples. Many soldiers were martyred; several others were grievously wounded. The battalion subsequently received a special citation for its conduct.

For his actions across the battles of Tololing, Point 4590, and Three Pimples, Colonel Ravindranath was awarded the Vir Chakra on 15 August 1999.

The Broader Kargil Context

The Kargil conflict began in May 1999 when Pakistani forces crossed the Line of Control (LoC), occupying high-altitude positions across Drass, Kargil, Batalik, and Mushkoh. Their strategic objective was to sever the Srinagar–Leh highway, effectively isolating Ladakh and forcing India into a disadvantageous negotiation. The intruders fortified peaks overlooking supply lines and dug into ridges dominating key valleys.

While Tiger Hill and Tololing dominate popular memory of the war, victories at peaks like Three Pimples were the building blocks that made those later triumphs possible. This is the pattern of the Kargil campaign — a chain of hard-won heights, each one unlocking the next.

A Hero Remembered

Colonel Ravindranath retired from the Indian Army in 2001 and settled in Bengaluru, where he pursued corporate ventures. On 8 April 2018, at the age of 59, he died of a cardiac arrest while jogging at a neighbourhood park. He was 25 years removed from the war he helped win.

As India marks another anniversary of the Battle of Three Pimples, his story — and those of the unnamed soldiers who fell on that rockface — serves as a reminder that the Kargil War was not decided by a handful of famous engagements alone, but by dozens of acts of courage that history has yet to fully record.