Operation “Recognition”

Jeev swerved just in time to see a bullet whiz past his face and shatter the glass painting on the wall.His heart was now thumping heavily.His guts eluded him just for a second but he regained composure quickly enough to move to the corner of the room.His ears were reverbrating with the shrill gun shots that were sending hollowing vibrations through his chest.He turned around to make sure the occupants of the room where the public were taking refuge were safe.He was a commando in the operation to flush out terrorists who had stormed into the hotel that was the pride of the people.

He saw a kid clinging on to his mother,hiding his face in her bosom.He could not help thinking of his mother at this juncture.She had pleaded with him,begging and warning him alternatively against joining the army.She had already lost her husband in a war and wanted her son to land up in a secure government job.He was the sole breadwinner now for his mother and his two kid sisters.He knew she must be now pressing the old radio deep into her ears,( for they could not afford a television)listening pensively to the updates regarding the gravity of the situation.

He moved as swift as a swan, as silent as a cat, down the steps leading to the floor beneath.He pressed down his boots firmly to the ground, the right foot twisted acutely at thirty degrees,and starting retaliating, focussing on the directions from which the gun shots could be heard.The firing was getting intense now.After sometime,Jeev heard a grunt.Perhaps, he had his man with a shot,but the terrorists would not cave in easily.Jeev could now spot a man scamper across in the other direction,but by the time Jeev fired,the man had sped away across the ceddar to the lower floors.As he was tracing his steps backward, he bumped on his colleague and they were now pretty much sure that they had captured this floor.

Leaving the other commando to guard the wing,Jeev moved to the lower sections,where his other warriors were holding forte.As he marched downwards, his father’s last moments flashed accross his mind.He was a brave man,to whom serving the country as an army man was more a matter of pride than means of earning a livelyhood. He was a sepoy and the doting father fed Jeev on tales of bravery.Jeev’s Dad was his ultimate hero.He was fatally injured during one of the combing operations across the border.He lay helpless during his last days at the army hospital,with his wife by his side, Jeev, a mere teenager then and the two toddlers looking quizzically at all the bandages wrapped across their Dad’s body.

“Jeev,five steps to your right, and then start firing again,guard room “Pleasant” were all the inmates have been lodged.Good luck.Jai Hind”, the words of a fellow commando interrupted his thoughts.Jeev quickly moved into his position, and started engaging the terrorists.The battle continued longer this time.Jeev was physically worn out and could hardly restrain himself from swooning.”Jeev, step aside, we will take care, you come back after a short while, you have fought brave and hard enough”.Jeev stepped into the room where the inmates had gathered.Their faces were frozen with fear.Just then, a kid offered water in his sipper to Jeev.”Have uncle”, he said with his outstretched arms.Jeev managed a smile.

He rested with his back to the wall,sipping water and recollecting those last few days with his Dad.”Jeev, why don’t you join the army,along the lines of your Dad?” asked Balram uncle who was Dad’s best buddy in the regiment.His Mom gave a glum look and said ” No ji, I would not let that happen.Look at his Dad,he spent his entire life fighting for the country,yet what do we get in return ? Does the grocer push off the bills when I say that my husband serves the nation and unfortunately I have barely enough to meet other expenses this month ? I don’t want to risk the life and future of my son and my family again one more time.” Jeev gathered his voice and said ” I would realise whatever Dad dreamt of achieving”.His Dad’s eyes gleamed with hope for one last time that day.

But nowadays,Jeev was feeling the pinch.Even in the army camps,Jeev was fed up of watching all the channels dish out one program after the other on celebrity movie stars, millionaire sports persons and corrupt politicians.”Do you know that Miss Pretty Junta loves toast for breakfast ?” Jeev’s men had gone for days without food as sometimes the stock could not be brought in time to the hilly regions were they were posted.”Do you know that Mr.Saw Rook Corn has run out of space to park his new Mercedes ?” The troops guarding the border had to traverse miles of difficult terrain on foot,yet no one was bothered about it.”Hair Bhojan’s ankle sprain leaves Indian team in trouble”. Little did people know that the very day, ten jawans died thwarting infiltration.Had they not laid their lives down,entire India would have been in trouble.

But the incident that pained Jeev most was the summoning up of an actor to hoist the flag for the Independence Day celebrations at the Corporation School in his native village. Jeev was fast rising in the ranks ,and his mom was the wife of a brave sepoy who had laid his life down for the country,yet both were not even invited personally for the function.This lack of recognition even in his own neighbourhood pained him a great deal.”For whom are we fighting ? Why do we go through such ardous hours of battle? What next after this Operation ? Who would take care of my family in case of a mishap?” were a few questions running through his mind.Just then, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.It was a fellow fighter.”Jeev, the combat is heating up and we need you now for the battle”.He was quickly up on his feet.

Jeev was right outside the room now.He was fighting like how the son of a valliant warrior should.The stars on his majestic shoulders shone even brighter now.His arm was aching,his feet had grown numb,his fingers were sore ,but he just would not give up.It was a tense battle that went on for hours.The brave men fought on,without a break.All the other floors had been conquered and finally, Jeev and his comrades had succeeded in their liberation attempts.Jeev kissed in delight the “rudraksh” that his mom had put around his neck.

Jeev stepped out of the battle place to the outside world after nearly two days, the frustration due to lack of recognition still burning inside him.Just then, a young girl child reached out with a white rose in her hand.”Well done ,Uncle” she said.Jeev accepted it to thunderous applause.A few youngsters airlifted him on their shoulders.Jeev looked around and was pleasantly surprised to see his fellow comrades subjected to similar treatment.He was brought back to ground after great celebrations.Young women came up to him with autograph books,requesting him to sign and take photos.An old granny,gently walked up to Jeev and wiped the drops of sweat and blood dripping from his face with the “pallu” end of her cotton saree.Jeev could feel those wrinkles on her palm as she gently patted his cheek.Jeev’s eyes were moist with tears.Finally, the warriors were beginning to get the adulation that had eluded them for so long.

Jeev struggled past the crowd ,only to be interrupted by a milieu of cameramen and enthusuastic reporters.Flashlights were focussed on the heroes who had won the nation’s hearts.Jeev and his men blushed at their first tryst with the cameras.”Sir,…..” Jeev was being bombarded with questions and congratulatory messages,but he moved through the crowd towards a middle aged man, wearing khadi,sporting dark square framed glasses, waiting patiently in the hot sun,wiping the sweat on his brow with a handkerchief, holding the mike with the words “ALL INDIA RADIO” etched on it.Jeev gently went up to him,lowered his visage to be in the mike’s vicinity and with teary eyes and choking voice, mumbled ” Maa, I know you will be listening to this.I hope I have lived my Dad’s dream and done you proud.Jai Hind”

(The entire nation has woken up.When will you politicians wake up from your slumber and grant the brave armymen their rightful pension dues ? When you grant full privileges and protection to the ministers, even years after their tenure at office,why can’t you do the same to recognise the sacrifice of armymen who stay awake to guard us when we sleep?Are not gun totting men, who keep vigil at your Italian power maker’s door step entitled to have a bowl of rice to feed their family?
Written in support of the army men’s rightful protest towards the failure of this government to listen to their plea for a pension review.
Jai Hind).

Seasons of Change:Kaalangal Maralam-2

Arjun woke up early the next day..He was pretty nervous about going to his new workplace..After hastily gulping down a few idlys ,he rushed to his bus stop to cling on to a bus that would take him to Pillar.Luckily, he got another Share Auto as soon as he reached Pillar.There he was , crouching uncomfortably,sandwiched between fellow office goers, hoping that the ordeal would end soon.As he neared the Industrial Estate in Guindy, he glanced at his watch in despair.The connecting shuttle would start from the back streets of the railway station in another five minutes.

The stretch leading to the subway was mushrooming with people.Guys in their teens arranged themselves in a linear formation,squatting on top of the parapet walls, giving a running commentary on girls passing by.Unmindful people were glancing impatiently towards the road,waiting for their buses.The cobbler was busy showing off his dexterity and expertise at mending shoes.Arjun inched past them all into the dingy subway.

Arjun was galloping down the steps, two at a time.The hawkers were right on his face this time, trying to sell stickers,fruits, kerchiefs, pirated CD,s etc. He edged them out, finally emerging out of the subway, only to run into another bustling crowd near the lead up to the staircase at the railway station.After hustling past the train commuters, and the poor beggars who had made the staircase their own home, he was just in time to spot the shuttle gearing up to leave.

He jutted out his ID card, and the half convinced driver reluctantly let him in.Alas, when he got in,there was no empty seat available, and he was pretty uncomfortable at the sight of 15 other colleagues curiously staring at the new entrant.He smiled at a few, and gave empty glares at the others.His eyes were moving all the time, to see if he could spot at least one familiar face.As he did this, he spotted some one glancing out of the window from the corner of his eye.He fixed his glances on her now. She turned her sights, only to see him looking at her intently.Both of them exchanged sheepish smiles before the driver asked Arjun to come and sit near him as there was some space available.Grudgingly, he moved to the front.

He did not have much work till afternoon on the first day as his Team Lead was held up in a meeting in another location and would be back only by the afternoon.He was sitting in the conference room, only to be curiously surveyed by fellow colleagues in a manner similar to how a predator sizes up its prey.He pulled out his GRE book to start his preparations.By the afternoon, word of mouth passed on that his Lead had been on the look out for him.He had not met her before, and he hopped from one cabin to another, asking for directions to her place.While doing this, Arjun was mentally charting out the sort of person whom he was expecting to meet.Perhaps a middle aged woman, spectacled, disinterested in a conversation and more bothered about extracting work,stern and intimidating.But when he met his Lead, he was taken aback…

She was a sprightly person in her mid twenties.At first glance, Arjun got the impression that she would be full of life and encouraging.This comforted him a lot.She then took him to a conference room to brief him about the project.After all the formal talks, she asked him about his background.When Arjun mentioned that he was a pucca “Chennai vaasi”, she was slightly surprised as she had thought that he was a North Indian.When Arjun swore that he knew “local Tamil” and gave out the name of his college, a thousand watt smile enveloped her visage..” hey you are my junior, I too am from the same college”.Both the alumni were basking in joy that they had found a colleague from the same college !

Arjun got to know that since the project was in its inception phase, only his lead, himself and another colleague would initially be a part of the team.He could not meet the other mate as he was on leave.He got into the shuttle in the evening, but to his disappointment , the girl with whom he exchanged glances in the morning was nowhere to be found.

A week had passed , and Arjun was doing a pretty decent job of juggling between his work and his GRE preparations.His Lead turned out to be very patient and supportive.He could not have asked for a better colleague at the beginning of his career.One day, he was held up due to work and missed his regular shuttle.After bidding good bye to his Lead who was hurrying home in her car to get back to her Husband and their kid who was waiting for her,he packed his bags to leave for the weekend. Weary eyed, he reached the Velachery bus stop at around nine in the night.As he kept looking around, he found the “Shuttle” girl (with whom he had exchanged glances a week back) some distance from him,waiting for her bus.She was standing right beneath the huge lights that illuminate the place.Sporting a yellow shirt and black formal pants, two big round dangling ear rings that matched her attire , penciled eyebrows and sultry eyes, a cute pony tail that kept jumping up and down whilst she was talking on her mobile nodding aggressively,neatly trimmed nails polished in red,a silver bracelet to adorn her slender wrist,she was quite a sight that day !

Arjun still did not know her name,and so the next morning, he arrived early and took a seat in the back rows of the shuttle, hoping that she would take the same shuttle that day and join him.But as luck would have it, the others arrived, and started filling up the seats one by one.At last, she arrived,but ended up occupying a seat far from Arjun. Arjun would not give up easily that day, and was determined to know her name at least. He quickly thought of a plan B. He observed that she was fourth from the person who started filling up the trip sheet and when he could lay his hands on them,he started looking for the fourth entry in that sheet, gave a chuckle to himself,when he found the name “KALPANA”..

Seasons of Change : Kaalangal Maaralam

With his left thumb pressed against the bus window,Arjun pushed it open to throw a glance towards the bustling road. He was returning after one of the most significant days of his career. He had just been alloted a project in one of the locations near Velachery after his training.A million questions were running through his mind.The biggest worry was whether he would have sufficient time to prepare for a private exam which was due next month.Would he be able to settle down in a team quickly ? How accomodative would his Project Lead be? Would he be able to cope up with the pressure,yet at the same time pursue his interests for a secure future ? He would discover answers for all these questions and many more in the days to come.For the moment,he was only too happy to go back home ,give his mom a tight hug and break the good news.Taking a deep breath, he pushed his back firmly against the seat, pressed his study book gently on his face to guard against the trickle of light that was bothering his impending sleep, and closed his eyelids for a short nap..