There are some emotions
that cannot be expressed in words! We can just feel them as pangs in the heart
and experience the sweet pain of a sensitive prick. Today, I would note down
about an episode where I felt such an unexplained pain.
On 15th
August, this year, during the Independence Day celebrations in our locality, the
organizers had invited retired Major Anuj Aggarwal. Aunt Padma and I reached
the venue on time and took our seats. At the stipulated time, Major Aggarwal
arrived. The man came in his army uniform, flaunting his badges of valor and
victory. He walked with the help of a metallic crutch and the organizers
escorted him up to the dais.
Looking at the perplexed
expression on my face, the man sitting next to me whispered, “Major Anuj
Aggarwal had fought during the Kargil War! During one of his missions, he was
hit by a bullet on his right leg! However, he kept on fighting until the combat
continued. At last, due to excessive bleeding he fainted. The fellow soldiers
brought him to the hospital and the doctors were able to save his life, but he
lost his right leg. After his retirement, he works as a motivational speaker
and runs an NGO for children.”
The flag hoisting
ceremony was followed by a chorus singing session of our national anthem. After
that, the hostess invited Major Aggarwal to say a few words. The tall, slim and
stout Major Aggarwal got up from his seat, took out a small plastic water
bottle and placed it on the table. He then took the microphone and began to speak.
“Good morning everyone.
Today on this auspicious occasion, I will not deliver a speech. Instead, I will
tell you a story. It is a real story, something that I faced. It is something
that I cannot forget, ever, and I keep relating this story to many. The
incidence happened during Kargil War!”
All of the spectators
sat up with renewed attention on hearing the topic. I focused my concentration
to listen to an interesting discourse from a person who had actually fought in
the battlefront.
“I was posted in a
remote location along with my regiment” continued Major Aggarwal, “I will not
reveal the exact name of the place, for security reasons. However, that is
insignificant in the current context. One morning, we received news about heavy
shelling from the other side of the border, on one of the neighboring villages.
The high-command instructed our regiment to prepare reinforcements and
retaliate. We were also asked to evacuate as many civilians from the village,
as possible.”
The Major paused a bit,
took a quick look at the faces of the spectators and then started again, “A
violent confrontation took place and our troops retaliated with a strong
response! The combat took place for an entire day, and many of our soldiers valiantly
evacuated the residents of the village, which included men, women and children!
Finally, the confrontation ceased, and our regiment moved in to secure the
place.”
I wondered what the
Major was trying to relate, while he kept speaking, “The entire village was in a
devastated state. The air was filled with the pungent spell of gunpowder and
dust. There were many casualties, who were being rushed to the nearby medical
camp. The news media had already arrived to cover the story, but were
restricted to a perimeter until the army secured the entire area. Presently, I saw
a shattered building, which used to be a school. The burnt down signboard still
flaunted its name in green color. My heart was beating fast and quietly, I walked
inside and took a look around.”
Major Aggarwal had a
serious expression while he continued, “As I looked through the pile of
destruction, I found something at a corner…” he paused and picked up the
plastic water bottle and said, “I found this! A water bottle. I didn’t know to
whom it belonged. There was no name on it. There were only some bloodstains on
its sides! I held the water bottle in my hand and sat down on the floor. I didn’t
know why, but tears rolled down from my eyes!”
I felt a sudden prick of
pain in my heart when I heard the words of Major Aggarwal. He kept on saying, “After
a while I came out from the school building, with the bottle in my hand. As I stepped
out, a journalist from a leading newspaper came and asked me… Sir, what is the necessity of this war? Why
do we fight and why such huge loss of life is being incurred?”
“I didn’t reply… I handed
over the water bottle to her!” said Major Aggarwal, “The lady held the plastic
bottle in her hands, looked at the bloodstains and began to weep. I said to her…
We don’t want war. Nobody wants war. I strongly believe that a soldier on the
opposite side of the border, too, feels the same! However, we are all fighting
our own demons! We are fighting the demon, we humans create, and give rise to
borders! Do you know to which child this water bottle belongs? Do you know
whose bloodstains are those? Do you know whether the little innocent owner of
this water bottle is still alive or not? No! … The answer is NO! And that is
why we fight… We the soldiers who protect the nation, whichever country that
might be, we fight so that no such bloodstained water bottle remains abandoned,
and every child smilingly goes to school.”
Major Aggarwal held the
water bottle high in the air and said, “That war is over now! However, we
human-beings would perhaps never learn from the losses we suffer! Look at this
water bottle. The innocence in its design, the little sipper on its top would
paint the face of an innocent boy or girl drinking from it playfully. That
image has haunted me for days and years! It will haunt you too. It will haunt
every soldier here and across the border, but we have to do our duty! Only when
the entire human race understands the futility of war, will peace prevail. Till
then, I will continue to display this water bottle to as many people as
possible as a symbol of the uselessness of rivalry and warfare!”
The pain that I felt
within my heart, didn’t have any properly outlined boundary. Was it weeping for
the owner of the bottle? Was it crying for the bloodstains? Was it lamenting
the futility of enmity? I didn’t have an answer.
Major Aggarwal finished,
“Today, on Independence Day, may this water bottle be a messenger of peace and
harmony so that children across borders can live a life of harmony!”
Tonight, as I note down
the above incidence, a few droplets of tears rolled down my cheeks from my eyes.
I wanted to capture this emotion within the pages of my diary. Perhaps I might
never meet Major Aggarwal again. However, the image of the water bottle will
remain engraved in my heart, forever!
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