War had changed her life, at every phase of life when she was just about to stand up and walk straight war would change it all. First it was her Father who was sacrificed in the name of war, then her brother and then her husband. Now it was just her and her 2 little kids. It couldn't have been more worse for Zainab as she was walking to the market to buy some provision. She had left her two kids playing on their own in her old beat down house.
It was starting to get dark as she walked to the market. The whole village was sorta disturbed after the banished ones arrived. All of them knew that war was coming and would get back to their houses before it got dark and would stay out of sight to save their own lives. That dreadful day Zainab dint have any provisions left in her house to feed her kids and herself and wanted to buy something to make some dinner for themselves. She wanted to just rush to the market and buy the stuff and get back as soon as possible.
But as she was just nearing the market disaster struck, she heard similar noises of some bees whizzing past after banging noises and then a huge blast.. It was war again, she could hear bullets flying past her as an instinct she just ran into the nearest shop for cover without being aware of her surroundings. All Zainab could see were the cover of the shop as she ran blindly towards it she dint see the militant who was running towards her and almost bumped into him. He was one of the banished ones who came into their village and took everything. No one ever questioned them as they knew what would happen if they did.
As far as Zainab was concerned she wanted nothing more than the safety of herself and her kids. She was the only one the kids had and all she wanted was to`get back home in one piece to her kids. These were her thoughts as she regained her composure from the bump in she rose to see the Jawans eyes as he was running to get the militant. And then did she realize he was taking aim past her towards the militant who was about to throw a grenade towards them.
All this happened in a fraction of a second, as she ran into the market for cover she heard a gun shot whiz behind her and a second later as she ran through the rear door of the shop BIG LOUD blast hurled her forward as she hit the ground with a big thud and all kinds of shreds fell over her carcass. She thought she was dead as all she could see was bright light and could hear nothing but a buzzing sound that deafened her ears.
Then came the pain which was worse than being dead, she had bruises all over the place from the fall and some burns from the blast. The pain was so much so that she could not move her body an inch and felt like each and every bone in the body was broken to a million pieces. As she managed to turn over and looked into the sky she saw black smoke rising and it felt like she was entering one hell from another.
All she could think of were her kids who would be waiting for her mother to come back to them and would be scared and orphaned if she dint. She was struggling to keep herself awake but the eye lids got heavy on her. The only words that came out of her mouth were,
"Forgive me. God please forgive me."
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Vantage Point (PART 2) : THE MILITANT
Jihad that was the name we were taught and bred with. We would die for it and martyr our lives for jihad. That was what we were taught and forced to do otherwise they would kill our children and our family. He had to do this otherwise they would kill his family. These were the thoughts running wildly in Ajmal's mind as he was pointing his rickety old AK 47.
He was a farmer living a silent peaceful with his family. He could still remember the dreadful day when they came and took him away and threatened to murder his family if he dint agree to go with them. It was 5 yrs since that happened. Now he was a killing machine with no remorse or mercy. He was bound by no laws of any country the only law he knew was to kill the person he was pointing his gun towards.
Ajmal and 4 others had set out towards this village a month ago on foot with minimal food and shelter. They were supposed to set up shelter in a village that was at a strategic point. Once they set up a base he had to call command centre and more of his martyr brothers would join them there for the war of Independence. It was a dreadful and gruelling journey to the village off the 5 only 3 could make it to the village. Two of his martyr brothers were sacrificed to the treacherous mountains of the Himalayas.
But they had somehow managed to reach the village and contact their command centre when they saw the indian army men walking towards the village. Ajmal was the first to spot them and he alerted the rest of them. Ajmal was thinking it was not supposed to work this way. How did they manage to know that they were here. But nevertheless he knew what had to be done. Their survival depended on the death of 5 army jawans then so be it. So they took point at 3 places and opened fire. With the old guns they had half of the bullets went awry but one bullet from ajmal's gun killed a jawan. But the training of the Jawans and their fire power was much superior to theirs and he helplessly watched the other 2 martyrs getting killed.
He was a farmer living a silent peaceful with his family. He could still remember the dreadful day when they came and took him away and threatened to murder his family if he dint agree to go with them. It was 5 yrs since that happened. Now he was a killing machine with no remorse or mercy. He was bound by no laws of any country the only law he knew was to kill the person he was pointing his gun towards.
Ajmal and 4 others had set out towards this village a month ago on foot with minimal food and shelter. They were supposed to set up shelter in a village that was at a strategic point. Once they set up a base he had to call command centre and more of his martyr brothers would join them there for the war of Independence. It was a dreadful and gruelling journey to the village off the 5 only 3 could make it to the village. Two of his martyr brothers were sacrificed to the treacherous mountains of the Himalayas.
But they had somehow managed to reach the village and contact their command centre when they saw the indian army men walking towards the village. Ajmal was the first to spot them and he alerted the rest of them. Ajmal was thinking it was not supposed to work this way. How did they manage to know that they were here. But nevertheless he knew what had to be done. Their survival depended on the death of 5 army jawans then so be it. So they took point at 3 places and opened fire. With the old guns they had half of the bullets went awry but one bullet from ajmal's gun killed a jawan. But the training of the Jawans and their fire power was much superior to theirs and he helplessly watched the other 2 martyrs getting killed.
Ajmal had to run it was all over nothing could be done now, he was the only survivor at least till now. If he dint leave then he would also have to take his last breathe. So he made a run for it, initially after a 100 metre sprint he thought he was alone but then when he turned to confirm he could see the silhouette of an army officer chanrging towards him with vengeance and speed. He was so captivated with the officer that he almost bumped into this on coming lady who was frightened by the bullets that were flying all around the place. He had to stop that officer, he reached down his fur coat and took out a hand grenade removed the pin and was about to throw it.....
Bannggggg....
He dint know what hit him, it was a flash of light for a fraction of a second, the grenade went astray into the nearby market. That was followed by intense pain and a feeling of failure. Not because he failed his mission, but the failure of letting down his family. His family would be ravaged and murdered now, because he dint succeed. He had let them down, he had failed his promise, he could do nothing. All he saw was the officer who had shot him down looking down upon on his dying body. Taking his last breathe all he could only blurt out was,
"Forgive me. God please forgive me."
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Vantage Point (PART 1) : THE CAPTAIN
War is something that just causes destruction and violence. War changes lives forever, things never come back to normal after war. Well the war against terrorism is no different. Precious human life is lost in the name of jihad, liberalisation and basically to prove a point. These were the last words that ran in captain krishnan's mind as he shot down a militant.
The militant was hurling a grenade at him when he shot him square on the shoulder, the grenade slipped from his hand and went into a nearby market stall and blew up with a huge bang. Captain krishnan was rattled a bit but he immediately regained his composure and ran over to see his opponent and could see the fear in his eyes and could relate to the fear in his own eyes when he was posted to the drass sector.
Captain Vijay krishnan hailed from a small village near madurai coming from a family of farmers all he wanted to be was join the army from childhood. All his dreams and hard work paid when he got into the National Defence Academy. It was his first day on the job, earlier on that D day he got orders saying they had intelligence of Militants infiltrating in a village in Drass sector. He had to take a small outfit and scout the place to get to know the positions of the Militants. Little did he know that a simple combing operation would end up being a disaster earlier that morning.
It was a cold afternoon when Captain Krishnan and 5 other jawans took out off on the jeep towards the village. It was a easily a 3 hour trip thanks to the snow infested roads and slippery roads. They parked the jeep a distance from the village and hiked to the village where disaster was awaiting them. It was a short hike to the village, all the men were exhausted by the time they reached the village. At the beginning the village seemed to be totally empty and there was an air of silence throughout the place which was eerie and sent a chill down Captain krishnan's spine. He had a gut feeling something was wrong and that came true to his horror when a shot rang out of nowhere as blood sprayed all over his face from the jawan walking in front of him. The shot came from one of the windows in the village and they had no sign of warning.
The other jawans and krishnan took cover near by as more shots rang out and bullets hurled out everywhere. Captain Krishnan was facing his first real life threatening situation and he had to get is act right to get the people who just killed on of his men who was under his command. There were 3 positions from where bullets were being fired in the village and decided they would split up in groups of 2's and get the 3 targets separately. Within no time the 2 of the targets were eliminated with utmost expertise. The 3rd target he saw trying to make an escape into the village, so the Captain took off after him shouting orders on his way to maintain a perimeter and watchout for more militants.
As he sprinted after the other militant he caught the gaze of a young woman, she was young but yet had a mature air around her. She could have been a mother of one or may be two kids. He passed her as she came out of a market stall. The sight of the Militant and the Captain after him scared her to death and she raced back inside into the stall she came out from. All this happened in a fraction of a second and while this was happening the militant turned and he had a grenade in his hand without the pin and he was just about to hurl it at Captain Krishnan and he acted accordingly and fired at him. The Bullet pierced the Militant on his shoulders and the grenade went right into the market as Captain Krishnan ducked for cover and the grenade exploded with a huge bang. As the dust cleared Captain Krishnan got up and walked to the militant as he was taking his last breath. The shot was lethal and had hit the shoulder right near the heart and he died almost instantly.
But the death of the Militant dint ease away the pain in his heart as he turned and saw the market stall into which the lady had run into. It was the same stall into which the grenade had landed. It was reduced to rubble and all he could see was rubble and dust all over the place. He cursed himself for what he had done, he could not save an innocent life. He despised himself and shouted in despair.
"Forgive me. God please forgive me."
The militant was hurling a grenade at him when he shot him square on the shoulder, the grenade slipped from his hand and went into a nearby market stall and blew up with a huge bang. Captain krishnan was rattled a bit but he immediately regained his composure and ran over to see his opponent and could see the fear in his eyes and could relate to the fear in his own eyes when he was posted to the drass sector.
Captain Vijay krishnan hailed from a small village near madurai coming from a family of farmers all he wanted to be was join the army from childhood. All his dreams and hard work paid when he got into the National Defence Academy. It was his first day on the job, earlier on that D day he got orders saying they had intelligence of Militants infiltrating in a village in Drass sector. He had to take a small outfit and scout the place to get to know the positions of the Militants. Little did he know that a simple combing operation would end up being a disaster earlier that morning.
It was a cold afternoon when Captain Krishnan and 5 other jawans took out off on the jeep towards the village. It was a easily a 3 hour trip thanks to the snow infested roads and slippery roads. They parked the jeep a distance from the village and hiked to the village where disaster was awaiting them. It was a short hike to the village, all the men were exhausted by the time they reached the village. At the beginning the village seemed to be totally empty and there was an air of silence throughout the place which was eerie and sent a chill down Captain krishnan's spine. He had a gut feeling something was wrong and that came true to his horror when a shot rang out of nowhere as blood sprayed all over his face from the jawan walking in front of him. The shot came from one of the windows in the village and they had no sign of warning.
The other jawans and krishnan took cover near by as more shots rang out and bullets hurled out everywhere. Captain Krishnan was facing his first real life threatening situation and he had to get is act right to get the people who just killed on of his men who was under his command. There were 3 positions from where bullets were being fired in the village and decided they would split up in groups of 2's and get the 3 targets separately. Within no time the 2 of the targets were eliminated with utmost expertise. The 3rd target he saw trying to make an escape into the village, so the Captain took off after him shouting orders on his way to maintain a perimeter and watchout for more militants.
As he sprinted after the other militant he caught the gaze of a young woman, she was young but yet had a mature air around her. She could have been a mother of one or may be two kids. He passed her as she came out of a market stall. The sight of the Militant and the Captain after him scared her to death and she raced back inside into the stall she came out from. All this happened in a fraction of a second and while this was happening the militant turned and he had a grenade in his hand without the pin and he was just about to hurl it at Captain Krishnan and he acted accordingly and fired at him. The Bullet pierced the Militant on his shoulders and the grenade went right into the market as Captain Krishnan ducked for cover and the grenade exploded with a huge bang. As the dust cleared Captain Krishnan got up and walked to the militant as he was taking his last breath. The shot was lethal and had hit the shoulder right near the heart and he died almost instantly.
But the death of the Militant dint ease away the pain in his heart as he turned and saw the market stall into which the lady had run into. It was the same stall into which the grenade had landed. It was reduced to rubble and all he could see was rubble and dust all over the place. He cursed himself for what he had done, he could not save an innocent life. He despised himself and shouted in despair.
"Forgive me. God please forgive me."
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