Wednesday, August 18, 2010

forgotten heroes

her hands in his hands and their eyes meeting each other. he softly touched her mehendi and kissed them. the new bride turned into pink and blushed, but tears were usually doing their job, as, it is time for Ramachandra, the new groom to say bye to his bride and rejoin his duties. after all, unlike others, for him, his country is first and life next. while we are at personal and professional lives, for people like ramachandra, its country first and everything next! its time for kargil war and he was recalled! the newly wed couple had to part their ways off just for the time being. he assured her that she will be with him soon.

her thoughts smothered him while traveling back and the moment he landed and donned his uniform, he is a different person. he wrote letters to his family that though he is posted in kargil, he is not fighting war, he is safe and his friends are shedding their blood. as usual, the postman delivered another letter, where ramachandra mentioned about his diet, the war scene and how his friends are losing their lives. he assured them that he is safe and is not fighting any war. he told them that he would take leave for some days and visit them and also take his bride back as soon as the war is finished.

ramachandra's mother read that letter repeatedly and ended the day with usual talk about the war scene. soon after the sunrise and usual coffee, the couple and the bride sat together to watch TV. hardly they imagined that their world would crash down in few hours. they couldnot believe their eyes, when they saw ramachandra's photo being flashed and how the whole country is praising him for his brave act in the war and how he saved his country by sacrificing his life. before they realised the fact that he is no more, everything is done. Ramachandra fought in the kargil war and lost his life while saving our nation and ofcourse us. it is a moment of independence for all of us but certainly not for those war heroes.

now after 11 years of his sacrifice, his family is still moving around the government offices to get their small piece of land allotted to 'jawans who died in kargil war'. the family is still uncertain about their lives and says, now they are fed up and hate everyone. ramachandra's mother is still proud of his son's sacrifice yet very much unhappy with the justice they got at the cost of her son's life. ramachandra's father did shed a tear, folded his hands and thanked the so-called corrupt government for their unruly behavior and forgetfulness.

this independence day, in my talk-show with ramachandra's parents and a couple of ex-servicemen, i realised what kind of justice are they getting in the name of Independence. how true, a cricketer and a tennis star is allotted crores of rupees and plush buildings just for a sixer and a rank...but what about those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for us? all they asked for- is- small piece of land in a semi urban area as promised by the government. and our sahebs do not have that much time too!



4 comments:

Arpit said...

Nice Post. :|

Rajasekhar Kandalam said...

I think the only way how our sahebs understand the gravity of the situation and the depth of the sacrifice is to drop them off at the border alone during war time.

A very touching and unfortunately true story.

Keep it up.

Arpita said...

what to write? its well known fact that govt of india is not at all efficient.

CHAKRA said...

ya, swati what you said is true and i agree 100 % with you. We are working in a company and it is like a cage , going in the morning and coming back in the night.
So most of the news are in dark. But what you said will be understand by the govt. people who really face the same situation.