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Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
hi! This BLOG is a collection of short stories authored by me. I'm new to writing and take it as a means to explore the ungiven. I hope you enjoy the stories and look forward to your comments, queries and/or criticisms. Enjoy! :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Anonymous Echoes

Incandescent bulbs were a luxury from where he came. He climbed the steps of McDonalds. After a long time did he step into a restaurant. He didn't know what to order or what to eat. He put his hand in his right pocket searching for his cell phone, scrolled the contacts list and located Amarbir Singh. "Oye! I'm at the saket j-block Macdonald's. You?....Achcha okay. come asap. If possible fly your bike over the traffic- like seriously. hah. lol. I dont think I'll fit in this place. Chal see you soon. Bye." He knew it in his heart, only the last sentence of the conversation with his friend Amar was true or rather serious, practical- if you may. And it was just a matter of time for it to be proven....

He sat at the table closest to the cashier. The A/C was something he wasn't used to. He couldn't help but overhear people talking. On the right,a girl talking about a break-up with her ex-boyfriend because she wanted to get intimate and he wanted a proper relationship. On his left, 2 boys talking about the suicide attempt of a girl residing in Triveni hostel of AIIMS because she was caught cheating and the principal humiliated her tremendously; she couldn't bear it and wanted to give up her life for that. Next to them, two girls talking about the crazy elders accusing their parents for not giving them enough freedom to go out after twelve in the night, "cummon ya! this is just ridiculous. We're in class 11 now ya. We should be given the freedom to take our own decisions. 12 O'clock is nothing ya. All parties start at that time. But who will tell this to my mom. Chalo, we have to live like this only. Bonded labour. ", one girl said to the other as the other nodded in agreement. He really thought that he wouldn't ever fit in such a world. Two words that he had never ever even hinted himself about. He had to give in today. "Its impossible", he muttered to himself.

As he was thinking about this, a hand came and gave him a slight push on his right shoulder. " Lieutenant colonel Dilsher Dhillon. Welcome. Tussi toh vaisehi ho. Ji bilkul same-to-same. Welcome to our part of the country sirjee. Its southern to your part but its still north. Ha-ha-ha", said Amarbir Singh as he kept his bike helmet on the table. "Amarbir! Nice to meet you. After a long time, we've met. Remember our days in school. We use to roam on your bike. Just ride and ride", Dilsher chuckled simultaneously trying to overcome the "its impossible" situation.
"So- you wanna eat here only??... Chal thoda peg-sheg lagate hain. Thats the haemoglobin my body craves for.", said Amarbir.
"Sure. Whatever you say. I dont remember anything here. Everything has changed. I can tell you what is exactly where in Srinagar, Anathnag and Drass valley. But Delhi- Haha. Only if I could reach a cyber cafe....". And they talked as they entered, Attitude, a restro-pub in the heart of that shopping complex. Old monk was the choice for both of them. They sipped and talked. They were both avid drinkers and knew their limits. They also had the capacity and realised that they could spend days in this kind of a place. But- what the hell, who cares about over drinking -its two grown up childhood friends after all!!

After about 45 mins of Amarbir talking about how badly he was grinded in his sales job and about how he couldn't find a girl yet to marry. And about how he is bored of watching porn and wanted to get realistic and -well, old monk was starting to show up- about quitting drinking and non-veg after tonight. He asked Dilsher, " I've heard a lot of rumours about you. But i dont know what to believe. Its sort of skeptical- your character. Did you seriously rape that girl? I mean i'm just asking. I just think its time to clarify things. I need to know who i'm sitting with. I need to be acquainted with you." Dilsher, the 48 year old colonel was in deep need to clarify things. He could feel the weight on his mind and he knew that if he didnt talk tonight, he'd lose control and that it might change his life completely. Also, talking to his friend had many advantages. The first being, Amar was currently a drunk Punjabi- thats like saying a human being with no storage of memory throughout the night. Thereby making him dumping ground of the most confidential things possible. Also, Amar was very understanding and since there was nobody left in Dilsher's family, so Dilsher couldn't refuse Amar's offer. " Yes Amar! I realise it too. I'll start from the very beginning. Okay? Ab sun".
Amarbir obliged and Dilsher started- "As you know when we were kids, I wasn't given as much freedom as you were. Ma-papa, both died in a car accident and I came to Delhi to live with Dev chacha. And then we had lots of fun. What was it- class 1 to class 9 I think, nahin?". Amar nodded, " Yessir. That was it, my friend, the golden years." Dilsher continued, " And then, after 10th I was sent to Army school. And from there, UPSC exam clear karke, I was asked to fill my choices. You know- as everyone is asked. Army, navy, airforce, infantry, artillery etc. I did my dues. When the result was announced, I was among the top 15 of the 1,10,000 odd people who wrote the UPSC exam. My first choice was army and I got it.

Now, this is the funny thing. I was scheduled to go to Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 3 days. Two day before my departure, I got a phone call saying I was supposed to reach army administrative office in Delhi cantonment by 4 in the evening. The voice specifically said, "Its not an option. Its an order. Ask for Field Marshall BEDI when you get here. 1600 hours tops. " And I didnt know if it was a prank or what. But then I thought, I'll check for myself.

So i reached there at about 3ish and asked for Mr. Bedi. I told the person at the reception my name. He imidiately cross-checked it in front of a printed paper and sent me in. Mr Bedi, a lean man. Stout in build. He had a nice, ironed green uniform and a sprawling office. Various medals and photographs were all over the room. Like everywhere... "Cadet Dhillon, please have a seat. Thank you for coming on such a short notice. Okay- so let me get to the point. You have excellent scores in your theory. Your, aptitude is magnificent. Now- what i'm going to say to you is confidential, please refrain form discussing our conversation". I was confused, but i agreed, " In all honesty- I shall do the same, sir".
"Good to know that. Okay, I Field Marshall Bedi, am also the director general of MI ". I suddenly got goosebumps. MI- if you dont know, amar, is MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. It is the intelligence wing of the Indian National Army. It contains a very few amount of people, the identities of whom are highly confidential. The work they do is of a lot of importance to the country. They have their sources. Also, sometimes the MI agents are expected to infiltrate other countries in fake identities. If they breach laws there- the government does not back them. They have no immunity. Their identities are changed. Spies, if you wanna call them.....
"And as the acting chief of MI, I am responsible for personally overseeing the recruitment of people in intelligence division. We need people whose brains are dynamic, who can think radically. People who can troubleshoot instantaneously. Looking at your scores, I think you are very apt for this job and so before you go to IMA, consider this as a new window. I shall give you 24 hours to decide. Two days later, either you'll be training for the army or the MI, its in your hands." He walked up to his window. His back at me. After a pause, rather long one, he said, " you can go now."

And i got up, adjusted the chair back to its position and walked straight out of the door". Excuse me. Restroom?", I asked. I followed the directions, went and splashed litres of water on my face. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly all this had happened. I went back home. And decided- MI shall be it. Next day nine O'clock I went to his office. I told him I will accept his offer. He smiled and said, " today evening at 5- your van will come. Be ready. And take minimal things. Your family members shall be told that you're in the army. Okay? Clear?".
" Yes sir. Although my parents expired and my chacha is supporting me only as a formality. I dont think, my family should be a problem." I said. " You answer me only what I ask you. Be crisp and precise. Learn it as soon as possible else you'll find it really difficult in our field. Now you may leave. Remember 5 today". I packed and time ran faster than Ussian Bolt. The van came and took me to- lets say, it was in the hills. I am still a part of MI and so still under oath. I can't disclose all such stuff. Its not that , I dont trust you Amar but you understand naa. However, the training was very difficult. They made us do things that you can't imagine.

Then I was assigned to various places. I was a part of the ELINT operations that were conducted with CIA and STOL in Himalayas to check on China's nuclear testing capabilities. I was also a part of operation Meghdoot when we were tipped off that even pakistan army had ordered Arctic- survival gear for its army members and so we quickly captured Siachen and saved another war. Operation Cactus, Kanishka bombings, Amalgamation of sikkim, Operation leech, Operation chanakya were some things that I worked on. Read on the internet about them, but just remember the inside story never comes out.....The assignment that changed my life was yet to come. In May 1999, we were tipped off about Pakistani infiltrators at Peak 5179, more popularly known as Kargil. The infantry and artillery divisions were on its way but side by side covert operations were also going on to combat Pakistani militancy. I was a part of operation Smiling Buddha.
We had three goals. first, to setup OP across MSR. OP stands for Observation Post and MSR stands for Main supply route. We were also expected to destroy the Pakistani Scud missiles. And last to be able to get the details about Pakistan's Kahuta nuclear plant. I was leading a team of 6 agents. Our company had 3 such teams. My call sign was bravotwozero.
Amar interrupted, "Yaar, ek aur old monk. Purani dosti ke naam"......
"Waiter, two large monk, ice seperate, soda and water. Jaldi" As they sipped on, Dilsher continued, "We were dropped off by Chinook CT5 helicopters at Rajouri, that is just off the border towards India. POK, that is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is about 7 kilometres from there. Its practically the last Indian village. It was 2 in the night. I set my compass, used the usual measures to mark the drop off point and moved towards Pakistan. We were properly armed. More like military men although we had more more sophisticated weapons like LAW rockets. We established 7 OPs. Till about 5 in the morning, our first objective was over. We were supposed to get back in 17 hours. At about 8 in the morning, a shepherd was roaming about with his sheep for grazing. He spotted us. We were drinking water and waiting for the checkpost to be empty. The gunner was at the post constantly there. He hadn't moved. We were expecting him to go for a break or something so that we could make our move.
The shepherd smiled at us and went away. A fellow of mine, lets call him alpha-1 suggested that we were compromised. But we stayed where we were. The shepherd didn't recognize us. He thought we were Pakistanis and kept shut. Finally, the gunner left the gun at the check-post and we all smiled together because now we could secretly cross towards Kahuta. Just this one hurdle and we're bang on target. Unfortunately, to our surprise, the gunner was walking towards us. He was looking down and smiling to himself. We were behind a bush and the gunner probably wanted to take a leak. Before reaching us, he looked at his zip and reached out to open it until and then he looked up towards us. He became suspicious and so removed his Beretta 9 mm from his pocket and was still approaching towards us. We obviously would be compromised, if we couldn't divert him. It was impossible to fight a 9mm with a knife from a distance of roughly 10 metres. So- the only way we could survive is by shooting and that gunshot would make a noise, that would put us in danger. He approached a little closer. About 15 mts. Firmly held his beretta. Re-loaded it. Checked his bullets. I'm not sure, but I think he saw alpha-2's shoes and he fired a gunshot. It missed alpha2 but now we knew we were in for some danger. We open fired at him and soon there was complete pandemonium. Standard operating procedures, SOPs suggest that if we're compromised we go back to the drop off point and inform the nearest post on the radio so that we could be picked up and so we aimed at heading back. However we were actually going towards West Pakistan. We didnt realise it then. We thought were moving towards Kashmir. Soon we were surrounded by the Pakistani army. All of us shot and fought for about 20-30 mins, I dont exactly know. And then we were caught. We were sent to Pakistani camps for interrogation. And that is when you heard the rumours.

So- after the war was over, India returned Pakistani soldiers. However, Pakistan didnt. They told the government that we had murdered Pakistani civillians or raped them and other such allegations. These rumours spread. All defense people know that they are rumours. However, among the normal public- skepticism prevails. They think we were actually in such a rage that we did such actions. No! Its completely baseless. We're there to protect our country, not to ruin their's. I was in the jail for 4 years in Pakistan. For the first two years I was in a black cell. With a small window at the base for light. It was horrific. The kind of food they gave. The way the Pakistan prisoners treated us. They used to beat iron nails into our fingers and laugh. They used to put us on an inclined plank with our head down and legs up and then keep a cloth on our noes. On the cloth, they poured ice cold water. It is the worst torture. It feels as if a hammer is constantly hitting the inside of your head. They did it for hours. They didnt care if we would give them information or not. They wanted to harm us. It was terrible and drastic.

Pakistan relieved some of us in 2003 due to enforcement of the 4th Geneva convention. Indian agencies had setup a rehabilitation camp in the Drass valley. We were there for two years. They rejuvinated us and made us fit for being humans again. We followed strict rules and regulations. It was then that we came to know that India actually "Won" the war. And we wondered in awe. We thought how can we win something like this? Some 60 of us were there in the camp. And only 9 from MI whom i'd never met before. All anonymous faces.
Now, i'm posted here- in Delhi Cantt as an instructor of MI. Cant say more, confidentiality-you know.
So- that was about me. The changed life of me. I just cant stop thinking about the rehabilitation camp, about the Pakistan prison, about the moment when my ammo got over when the Pakistani troop captured me, about out tip-off about Kargil war, about my training of MI and mostly about my decision to join MI and not the Indian Army".

Amarbir was listening to him carefully. He gulped down his last sip and said, " Paaji, ek aur monk banti hai"
"Waiter! Ek aur bottle lao".
The waiter said it was 11:30 and that they were closing. Nothing else was availaible.

In disappointment, Amarbir asked for the cheque and volunteered to pay-off. Dilsher was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didnt realise where he was. He surely was feeling lighter. Infact he appreciated Amar's patience to listen to him right till the end. Life, he thought, was destined to take him to a better place. Suddenly, the impossibility of being a Delhi-ite was reducing. The cultural backdrop started echoing. He started enjoying the whole idea of being here and not being elsewhere.

"Amar, yaar- aaj toh feel aa gayi!.", he said as Amar signed the credit card receipt. As they walked down the steps of Attitude, they promised to meet again sooner to discuss various facets of life.
" Yaar, agli baar ladkiyaan discuss karenge.", said Amar trying to sound sober. He miserably failed.
"You'll manage by bike? I got a driver. Army ki gadi hai. I can drop you.", said dilsher.
" Naah- old habits die hard. I'll manage. I'm not drunk......No,no,no,no- I'm definately not drunk...." said Amar.
And they parted ways.

Today, two years later.Amar went back to fighting with his boss for promotion or an increase in salary. He met a girl in his office. They dated for a while and then without much ado got married. Dilsher was invited. They live in green park extension in a huge villa.

Whereas dilsher is still trying to fit in Delhi. He is still trying to find a way to overcome 'Pakistan'. He is still trying to find a reason to live. He is unsuccessfully justifying his right to exist. And it happens everyday.....

P.S.:- Please spend a minute in silence for all those who sacrifice their lives for our nation everyday since the birth of the Indian National Army. Its the least we can do to commemorate our reason for existence. Dont sympathize. Just respect. Plain simple respect.

P.P.S.- The above article is a work of fiction and any co-incidence to any person living or dead is purely co-incidental.