DAY 31
I woke up at around 1730hrs. It
was cloudy outside but no snowfall. The V-sat line was out so I decided to go
to the next post and speak to my love on satellite phone. Oh Naina,,, I love
her so much & miss her like anything. Missing her reminds me how lucky I'm that I've someone to miss. All I want is to hear her voice at least once a day but I am not
lucky everyday and like me there are around a dozen men with me who too wait
for their turn just to hear the voice of their loved ones. Even on the luckiest
day I have to try her number at least a hundred times just to hear her once but
these few minutes serve as a tonic and helps me to sail through the long,
lonely & monotonous day.
This
was one of those luckiest days when I was able to hear my love after walking
about three kilometers in 35 feet of snow at an altitude of about 18000 feet above sea level in -50 degree Celsius. You see absence doesn't always make heart grow fonder,,, sometimes it makes you go mad too..!!
Naina told me that she was proud of me for what I was doing & I was on cloud nine. She told me she was missing me & that she loved me a lot & she was counting days. I wanted to tell her that I too want to come to her, to see her, to hug her, right then & there but somehow I controlled myself, it’s still a long time to go back and I have to be strong. We called it a good night and I came back to my post.
Naina told me that she was proud of me for what I was doing & I was on cloud nine. She told me she was missing me & that she loved me a lot & she was counting days. I wanted to tell her that I too want to come to her, to see her, to hug her, right then & there but somehow I controlled myself, it’s still a long time to go back and I have to be strong. We called it a good night and I came back to my post.
When
I came back, the line was still out, so I decided to fix it myself with the
help of my boys. By 2015hrs, we had fixed the line but the knife which I used
for fixing it was missing. I couldn’t afford to miss it. At this point, I could
relate myself with Chuck(Tom Hanks) of “Cast away” movie. The knife was like “Mr Wilson” to
me, my only companion in this isolated post. It was gifted to me by my love (owing to the peculiar love that I have for
all kind of weapons). I had a strange connection with my knife, it gave me a
feeling that my love was with me.
I
got really upset & frantically I started searching for the knife. I told
everybody to leave. The sky was clear now & it was a full moon night.
Whenever the weather is clear and moon is there, this place shines like silver,
all covered with snow. But today,even with full moon, the luck wasn't on my side, I couldn’t see the
knife anywhere. I searched for it inside the snow with my bare hands, still
couldn’t find it.
After
about half an hour one NCO with 12 boys came to me saying that they will
help me to find the knife. I told him to go back & that I will find it
myself but he disobeyed my order saying that "Saab aapka chaku nhi, hamara bhi hai, Hum dhoond k hi rahenge". I wondered how they knew what it meant to me and instead of being angry on him for disobeying me, I felt so good about it. People say that we are a family here, the typical army values and now I can actually relate to it. We started searching together & by God’s grace
we found it and I was the happiest person in the world & so was my team.
Life
at different points teaches us different lessons. Bravery is not all about fighting enemies but also not to give up whatever the circumstances be.
Not only I realized how much I love Naina but also how strong we all are bonded here at the post, where everything freezes but warmth of love keeps everyone alive.
Not only I realized how much I love Naina but also how strong we all are bonded here at the post, where everything freezes but warmth of love keeps everyone alive.
At 2200hrs, I came back to my
FRP & called Naina & told her everything and ofcourse how much I love
her…!!!
