BEYOND BORDERS

The Battlefield looked no less ghastly as before as it does now! The 7 th Regiment of
the Indian Army was ducking into a field of tar pits waiting for the right moment to
strike and keep the Taliban at bay. Waiting and waiting as if theres no tomorrow,
their big guns might rust and may become one with the sand. Their platoon
commander, Rajesh Jain was ducking down near the barricade which both
metaphorically and literally divided the good from the evil. With dead silence all
over the place, like a snake peeping out of its hole to lay sight on its prey, came out
a loud bang from the enemy camp!
With guns blazing and war cries heard all over, Rajesh ordered his troops to fire and
move. Before long, they were ambushed very badly and had to retreat. Citing their
enemys withdrawal, the blood-thirsty Taliban gave pursuit. Having lost some of his
best men, the retaliation which Rajesh offered was never even dreamt by the
ruthless Taliban.
The very next day, his troops were ordered by the base to capture Area 51 off the
edges of the Ladakh Border and no prisoners were to be taken in. As his men
infiltrated and shot everything they can see mercilessly. The intensity of
ruthlessness shifted gears as even the pet goats and the local help of the terrorists
were not sparred. The corpses fell by heavy numbers, all of them had to be buried
in a big pit together as each of them could be worshiped as an icon, which may lead
to increasing Jihadists preparing to give their lives of their religion. Sooner than
later, silence covered up the blood soaked cabins of Area 51. Rajesh ordered his
troops to check for any other survivors. He himself checked the cabin in the edge of
the woods, only to find a boy hiding behind a thin curtain and trembling with fear.
The Brave Commander realized that his troops wouldnt spare this young domestic
help. Sticking to his moral values, he gave him his watch, some wrinkled notes of
currency and the Crystal Buddha, as he need it more than he did and told him to run
like he has never run. As the sun set over the horizon and Rajesh was filled with a
warm feeling around his heart.
With the Area captured and with the surrender of the newly proclaimed Prisoners of
War, Rajesh Jain and his troops returned to their roots. With Prisoners sent to the
capital city for trial and justice, the 7th Regiment can take rest.. For Now!
His mother welcomed her heroic son, not with open arms, but with a brass plate in
her hand with Saffron Water to wade off any bad spirits. A few weeks later, his
Commander in Chief called him with both good and bad news. The good news was
that he was nominated for the Param Veer Chakra Award and the bad news was that
the 32nd Regiment was ambushed in a mission and Jains troops were to go as relief.
Duty comes first for an army man. With tears in her eyes, and a kiss to the
forehead, she bid farewell to her brave son, who in turn said goodbye to one
mother, to offer his life and soul to another one, his country!
With the helicopters whirling and his regiment sharing a one last smile before they
land to their mission, a rocket launcher from the darkest corners opened fire! Before
eyes could even blink, the Helicopter started losing altitude. Rajesh ordered his
troops to evacuate immediately and open their parachutes. Without thinking, all the
members shoved their leader out of the door with the single parachute they could
find amongst that chaos, as they all knew that not all of them will survive. Rajesh
opened his parachute within the knick of the moment, only to have the helicopter to
blast into smithereens.
Finally, landing safely, but into enemy territory, he takes the map from his pocket,
he gets surrounded with Men aiming guns to this temple. As the Taliban Leader
smiles sickly at the captured tiger, the forest herself, couldnt help but feel sorry for
her heroic son, by keeping up a creepy and eerie silence for the reminder of the
breezy night. For the first few weeks, Rajeshs face was shoved in to a tub of ice
filled water with the breezy October cold filling the atmosphere with chilly moments.
But that did not freeze his devotion towards his motherland. A childhood memory of
his father who was sent with a scarf by his grandmother to cover himself during the
battle to escape cold and cheap chills hit him as his face was shoved mercilessly in
to tub. The ironic part was, the scarf never made it home, as Rajeshs late father
Colonel Subash Jain himself returned in an ice casket as a lifeless corpse.
He was force fed meat, as consumption of meat is against his culture and views.
Even as the dry and stale meat touched his dry and weathered lips, he never gave
in! Even for a moment. At last they had to change their strategy and refused him
food on the whole. Little did they know, life was always rough for the captured
soldier, as he had only water to both fill his hunger and thirst for a little while during
the emergency phase of the Indian Government, when all the amenities offered to
the families of the martyrs has been halted for the time being. Nonetheless, this
type of mental and physical torture had never been endured by any other human
being. Little did the Taliban realize, that Rajesh Jain was no ordinary human being,
The 6 foot well-built Commander Jain was not very recognizable at that very
moment! Once the best candidate that was physically fit from his region, looked
worse than a hobo from the streets of Lahore! At last, he gave in and cried for some
water. Adding insult to injury, one of the Jihadis urinated in front of him and ordered
him to drink that. Even in that thirst, Rajesh maintained his valor and dignity and
turned his face the other side.
But there was a silver lining amongst those dark clouds, a kind helper sneaked
some food and water to the helpless prisoner. Though he didnt reveal his name and
always had a scarf to hide his face, Rajesh looked at him with the same love and
affection towards his mother.
A few weeks later, the Indian army surrounded the areas near the neighborhood
where Rajesh was held captive. Sensing attack, the Taliban started moving their
base immediately. The leaders of the ruthless outlaws discussed what to do with
their captive, and finally agreed to execute him and send it as a threat! They
ordered Ali, the helpful boy to clean him and bring him to them.
The boy swiftly cleaned him, tied a cloth to his eyes, and led him outside. Rajesh
asked him whether they were going to execute him, or going to shift him. But the
reply didnt come from Ali. When the cloth was removed, Rajesh experienced
daylight after a very long time. He asked Ali, what was going on, Ali replied that
there is an Indian Army base not far from here, he gave him a package and advised
him to open it only if hes safe. He then drew a pistol and shot himself! The
Commander had no choice but to run as the gunshot had warned the Jihadists at
bay and they have already organized a search party to capture the escaped
Commander.
After following a leads, the Jihadists gave up pursuit as they were assured of his
death as he entered the forests where the vicious Nawab Khan, the dreaded
stripped man-eater of a cat, known for over 50 causalities per year. Little did they
realize, that Rajesh had already evaded the Tiger! After days of heat exhaustion and
hunger, Rajesh finally reached the base and shouting Dont Shoot before collapsing
at the gate. A few days later, he opened his eyes at the Army Hospital. Revealing
his identity, the whole ward stood up to salute the Commander for his heroic
adventures, including those injured and those whose arms have been mutilated.
The hospital was not a very ghastly scene, as even the severely wounded and
crippled shared a laugh or two as they knew they didnt have to fight any pointless
battles anymore. The bloodshed and anxiety they suffered had recoiling trauma
which is sufficient enough to shake the very foundations of a society and enough to
cause a much bigger earthquake of similar magnitude.
On opening the package that Ali gave, he found some wrinkled currency, his broken
watch, a map, some bandages and a certain artifact which moved him to tears. He
found his crystal Buddha which his mother gave to him, as the last remaining
possession of his father. With the sun setting in the horizon and tears drowning the
Crystal Buddha, Rajesh Jain mourned the
Death of the boy, a new found, yet lost brother.