Independence Day

Defenders-Sons of the soil

Physically present in one of the highest post in highest battlefield of the world his mind was roaming the streets of the cantt where he spent his childhood. He was playing with his friends, pretending to be soldiers, defending the motherland. That’s the thing about life in cantts; the first virtue you learn is the immense love for the country which is further increased by brought up by a military father. From the blurred window of his memory he clearly saw the moment when his father, while going on a mission told him to take care of his mother and behave well. He never knew those would be the last words of his father. He remembered seeing his father’s coffin draped in the national flag with armed men carrying it. He was pulled back to the reality by the wave of pain in his arm, which was by then soaked in the blood which had dried overtime.

He was a Captain officer of NLI. It was his third month of deployment in Siachen. Things were going normally- regular rounds of firing from both sides of the border. But from past 4 days situation caught up the fire. All his fellowmen were martyred in the outburst of fire 3 days back and he also got injured while trying to save his troops. His food supplies have ended and due to poor weather there was no possibility of food or troops being transferred there.

In these three days he got to live a life he always dreamed of. A life of courage, spirit , challenges , will power and the passion to die for the motherland, after all these were the reasons he joined army for. Whenever he got in touch with his CO he asked him how his morale was, to which he replied with all the strength left in his body “SKY HIGH SIR”.

He read letters of his fiancé. She was a daughter of an army officer too and she tried to compose herself at his see off and did not say a word but her teary eyes reflected the fear of loss. She must be preparing for their wedding but the nature has something else in store for them.

The radio caught up some signals and he heard national songs being played at the other end. It was a transmission of defence day. People were there to commemorate the sacrifices of the defenders but most of the people despite of listening to the war heroes were more interested in watching the performances of the singers. He felt agonized, he was there dying for the people who didn’t even care about the sacrifices the men in uniform have made. The wireless again got connected with the headquarters and the CO asked “How is the morale Jawaan? “ He repeated his question but Captain Inshal was busy in reflecting upon his life. On the fourth repetition, with blurred eyes he replied with a faint voice of a dying man, “Don’t know sir”.

Two hours later when the troops arrived he was found dead in his barrack with a gun still in his hand. 

Words

"Words"..."words" matter, matter a lot ..they hurt the most... and these are the "words" which give you a hand when you are fallen apart. Then there are some "words" you want to save forever. Sometimes its like you need to have those "words" because the moment they are said you spontaneously know the worth of those "words". Moments pass and you want to install those "words" in your mind until your mind dies out completely. "Words" have their own manner to show you how they sway you actually. My dad used to say to me " betaa log hansty huy chehru ko duaa dete hain .. roty huwun ko to koi bhi nai pochta"(people only praise smiling faces. no one cares about the whimpering ones). Whenever he used to say that half verse , i just nodded my head always as i didn't know the prominence of those words. Today when i came back from my driving class and he was trying to teach me something and then from nowhere his voice echoed in my ears saying the same words .I listened to him usually but today i HEARD those "words". What was the spell-work of those moments which kept me gazing at him for five minutes and it infatuated as a caste rewound my eyes instantly and my past was there saying me Hi ! and all those ticks where this World and its creatures had proved this hemistich, pinched in my head. Yes, past four years revolved in my head. Why did that happen to me ? The very next moment i had my answer. That time I realized that I lost my precious tears in these four years for no reason and all in vain because there was no fault of anyone I had understood that it's the regime of this sphere. No one cares when you cry and really believe me they certainly will not care and if someone is showing you off that they actually care. That concern will also be over after when you become habitual to that sobbing! and you know what, you will become tired of yourself crying all the time. Lets be very clear, crying over things, crying over people you lose, crying over failures of life, being a weeping baby every time won't benefit you in any way ! People come in your life, spend time with you and they leave or some of them stay. This is regulation of this era and being selfish is a human's nature. And being a human being you can't change the whole world's perspective. To be alive is really hard and tough. Yes it is and it is for everyone. Everyone is fighting his or her own battle within him or herself. To win yours you have to smile.. because sometimes you have to forget some "words" in order to keep the prestige of some other "words".

"Me Doob Raha hon..."

"Me Doob Raha hon..."

Khwab hain soony soony, Khyalon py dhond hai chai ho,

Ik nzr bhatak rahi h, ik nzr uljh rahi ho,

Ik ehsas esa keh, koi sath ho mery,

Ik khof esa keh, koi pallu choot raha ho,

Muddaton baad jesy, koi apna rooth raha ho,

Ik anjana sa dar h mjko, 

ik na-ashna si khushi chany wali ho,

Me lakh kron minnat uski, 

mery upr jiska saya ho..

Me bhagon to jakarron, .

me rukon to sakta taari ho..

Mera zahir, mra batin cheekh raha ho,

Me doob raha hon, me doob raha hon…

#Mian