Major Vivek Gupta was born on 2 January 1970 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, into a family with a proud military tradition. His father, Lieutenant Colonel B. R. S. Gupta of the Army Ordnance Corps, inspired him from an early age through stories of military service, honour, and patriotism. Determined to serve the nation, Vivek joined the National Defence Academy and later graduated from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, from where he was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles on 13 June 1992.
During his early military career, he served with distinction in Udaipur and later in the Kupwara sector of Jammu & Kashmir, where he participated in numerous counter-insurgency operations. As Adjutant of his battalion, he displayed exceptional courage, including eliminating a Pakistani terrorist in hand-to-hand combat, for which he received the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Commendation Card. He also served as an instructor at the Infantry School, Mhow, and married Captain (Dr.) Rajshree Bisht of the Army Medical Corps in 1997.
When the Kargil War began in 1999, 2 Rajputana Rifles was inducted into the Drass Sector and assigned the critical task of capturing Tololing Top. On the night of 12–13 June 1999, Major Vivek Gupta commanded the leading Charlie Company during the assault. As the company advanced uphill under relentless enemy artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire, the leading section suffered casualties and the attack stalled. Realising that delay would lead to further losses, Major Gupta immediately fired a rocket launcher at an enemy bunker and charged the position despite being hit by enemy bullets. He engaged the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand combat, killed three enemy soldiers, and inspired his company to overrun the position. During the subsequent fighting he sustained additional gunshot wounds and attained Veergati after ensuring the success of the assault.
The capture of Tololing became one of the first major victories of Operation Vijay and marked a turning point in the Kargil War. For displaying exceptional courage, inspirational leadership, and supreme sacrifice, Major Vivek Gupta was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. His legacy continues to inspire officers and soldiers of the Indian Army, and his famous words before the assault—"I am going for Tololing and will move ahead after that. If I come back, shoot me."—remain a symbol of absolute commitment to duty.