Bravery

 His fist grappling something for 3 hours now, he knew he was almost there.

“Just a little bit more, c’mon, give me strength… Oh, god!”

Silence prevailed, and he could hear his thoughts echoing in his own mind, with a velocity faster than anything he had ever anticipated, crashing into the sides of his mind. It made no effort to stop, this random movement, like some free vibrations of a pendulum going on and on…

“Got to focus myself, cant lose sight of my goal now.”

Absolute exhaustion was taking its toll on his body, and he knew that he had to do it quickly. His fatigue was taking over, slowly and steadily, like a dark cloud, enveloping a bright blue summer sky.

He pulled himself up, and up and up, feeling the adrenaline rush through his torn body, his mind wandering over two questions, two dead ends.

“Will I be able to make it? What will happen after I make it?”

He stopped for a second, took a deep breath, taking in the cold air and then he put his right index finger into his abdomen, feeling for the 3 cm metal body that had pierced through. He bore two seconds of agony and pain, and then he found it. The pain felt so real, so much for him to bear, he couldn’t believe the fact that a single bullet from an AK-47 could cause so much pain. His finger continued his movement and stopped at something. A black rectangular piece of plastic with something white etched on it. Rajvir Tanwar was living his final moments, making the last few movements of his life.

His finger descended an inch below and found 6-7 silvery metal spheres, ordinary enough, but yet they were as good as gold for him. His finger finally came to a rest on a sphere right in the middle and this suddenly brought about a glow of pride on his face.

“Major Rajvir Tanwar is hereby awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his outstanding leadership and fearlessness during the scene of battle in the Kargil War.”

He walked up the stairs, 6’ 1”, broad shoulders, a masculine look, his face clean shaven, and his eyes screaming with a look of ferocity. At 29, he was the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra in years.

He stood tall as the President of India honoured him with the highest military award the country had. He accepted the scroll from the President, shook hands and was about to leave when he head a voice say to him, “You have been honoured with something very precious. Do live up to its name.”

“I will, till my last breath.”

And here he was, performing the last act of his life for his country. But what he did not know was that someone was watching him with a pair of keen eyes.

“I see movement on Dagha Hill. 69E 28N, at a height of 4210 metres, a grey dot, steadily moving north. Do you copy, Eagle?”

“Yes. Over and out, Bravo.”

Lt. Zaheed Mirza walked about the room with a brisk pace, his eyes still alert at 2:45 AM and his mind thoroughly focused on one aim, one mission.

“Send a ZK-404 helicopter right now. Time till its arrival at Dagha Hill?

“5 minutes.”

“5 minutes to your end, Major Rajvir!”

“I am a Rajput, I will not bow down to circumstances and petty obstacles that come in my way. And what is the life of an Indian compared to the pride of my mother, India?”

His grip on it tightened. Sweat pouring down his face, his body answering to the ever-increasing pain, but his mind still and firm.

“I WILL DO THIS!”

He stole a glance at his watch, a precious gift from his wife, with blood stained all over it, reminding him of a butcher’s knife.

“Been up here for so long Divya, I will not give up now. I will not break the promise I made to you.”

And then, like a thunderbolt out of the blue, his hand finally found the edge of the peak. And it seemed to him as if all the pain had come to an end, his face carrying a weary expression was blown away by a storm of happiness. He limped to a point and then stamped it shouting, “JAI HIND!”

A minute later, it had blood stains of Major Rajvir Tanwar on it, and in the background, a helicopter was flying away into the distant sky.

The Indian flag was honoured to have been marked with the blood of the most courageous soldier the Indian motherland has ever given birth to…

“So children, did u like the lesson?”

There was silence for a second, and then Major Rajvir’s efforts were appreciated by a standing ovation and a thunderous roar of clapping that rang through the class.

Reviews

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dekha... rajputs are great... lol... love ya...angel...