Two Indians engaged in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa, which is known in history books as the dirty war , were to leave behind their imprint on their mother country s history.Their paths may not have crossed in the course of .
The other was young Pingali Venkayya, a British Indian Army soldier despatched to South Africa to fight in the war. It was in South Africa that the young man was struck by the sense of nationhood the Union Jack inspired among British soldiers. He may have been young, but he recognised the ceremonial importance and binding power of a national flag.