The Waving Flag !

(Inspired by a true story)

The lifeless body lay motionless on the ground. Most of the head was gone and what remained was covered with blood or dirt. The whole body was charred. The surrounding Earth smelled of blood and the marauders were already circling the skies eying their booty. Its feast day for them, thanks to the land mines. Balbir Singh knelt beside the body to find some identification. The half-baked name plate revealed the first two letters of the man's name "KU". He had earned 3 stars(though only one was where it was supposed to be). A captain. Balbir ordered attention. The soldiers saluted the brave captain. The dug a grave and buried him. Balbir placed the three stars on top of the grave. He knew, the man will be forgotten like any other war hero. Very soon.

The 6th Rajputana Rifles or what was left of it was assigned to take the hill. the plan was to run it down in the next twelve hours. Time was running out. Time to move on. Condolences to KU can wait. The skies were getting dark and the temperature was dropping. If they had to take the hill by day break, they have to hike a mile per hour. Any wasted second would be a dropped chance of winning the war. Balbir took the front. Rohit and Sandeep followed him. Murugan and Ranadeb took the rear. They moved in silence through the darkness for the next couple of hours without stopping. But by then, they stomach was empty and their kidneys full. Balbir announced a 30 minute break. He and Murugan opened the bread packets and started buttering them. Ranadeb boiled water to make tea while Sandeep and Rohit had gone to take a leak. A small

campfire was lit and the group sat in a circle around it. In war, a 7-course menu was not an option. They ate their food, in silence. It was the clouds who broke the silence with drizzles at first, and then with rain.

Knowing that the rain was a much more dangerous enemy, the soldiers decided to take shelter. Murugan and Sandeep found some boulders to hid behind in the leeward side. Rohit and Ranadeb hid behind the huge trunks of trees. Balbir decided to enjoy the rain. Little did he know that he will be in direct line of the sniper who was hiding behind the rain.

Behind the rock, Murugan reached out for his Shirt pocket and pulled out a photograph. It was a black and white photograph of an young lady. Tears started forming in the corner of his eyes. Sandeep immediately realized that Murugan was sobbing for his dead daughter, who had been dead two years now. "She was in class XII and she wanted to become a engineer", said Muragan smiling at the photograph. "She would have become one had that man not entered her life". Sandeep couldn't tell if it were tears of rain that was running down Murugan's cheek. "One day he and his friends visited my house, killed my wife and raped my little girl". Murugan was crying like a child now, Sandeep could tell. "My girl bled to death in a stinking hospital bed. Love for that stinking pig got here to hell". There was a pause. "She loved rain ! She would have made a good engineer !". the words were not his. "Since then, I have been waiting for the day to reach them". Little

did he know if it was today.

"I think AK-47's are the meanest weapons in out artillery. Man ! 640 rounds per minute. It can kill a whole village in a minute. Amazing power !", exclaimed Ranadeb, proud of his gun. "Yeah ! But a true assassin loves the sniper. Silent Kill !", Rohit smiled at Ranadeb, who responded with a huge grin. Little did Rohit know, he would fall for a sniper in less than 10 minutes.

It was Murugan who came running when they heard Balbir slump. When Murugan reached him, Balbir was already slipping into unconsciousness. Blood was oozing out from his heart. He has been shot. Murugan froze and that took his life. His head blasted into a explosion. His brain splattered everywhere. He died in silence. By then the other three knew they were being targeted and fired 100's of rounds into the darkness. The sniper got Rohit before breathing his last. 3 down and 2 left. Ranadeb and Sandeep decided to move forward. Staying here would definitely mean death. They covered the bodies with leaves and grass to save it from predators. Sandeep grabbed Murugan's body and pulled out the photograph. It will go with him from now on. Ranadeb and Sandeep searched the darkness for the invisible sniper, found him, cut his head and put it in their bags. A coin was flipped to find who would carry it. Ranadeb won.

The rest of their journey was uneventful. They were fortunate for that. The day was breaking, the Sun was threatening to come out any moment and the peak was just a mile away. The last 5 hours have been tiring on Sandeep and Ranadeb. 3 dead friends, rain, invisible snipers, roar of cannons down in the valley and continuous trekking with their huge backbags. But now the target was in sight.

Ranadeb pulled out a coin from his pocket. A 1 Rupee coin. Sandeep smiled and him and pulled out another 1 Rupee from his. "The first to reach the summit gets both", grinned Ranadeb. "If no bullets finds us", replied Sandeep. "What do you think, I will look like when I hoist the flag??". "Like a bear hugging a pole". Sandeep showed his 32. Ranadeb followed suit.

The Indian flag was hoisted in Kargil on July 4, 1999. Over 400 Indian soldiers lost their lives to protect our freedom.

(Dedicated to all those brave-hearts for their courage and sacrifice)