HALF WRITTEN LETTER FROM A SOLDIER!

“SUMAN—I LOVE YOU DEAR.” –A HALF WRITTEN LAST LETTER!

“Sir, the boy is a mental wreck! He must be immediately pulled out” Major Yavesh pleaded with his Commanding Officer (CO).

“I can not do this. There is no replacement from his regiment.” Was the quick response of Colonel VK Ahluwalia?

“Please, sir, the boy has been there since 10 September 1986. It is now 20 February 1987. It is more than six months. You know it, sir; no one can survive here for more than 90 days. Also, the formation HQs orders are also to relieve everyone after 90 days. Get him down, please.” Yavesh was begging.

“Listen, Yavesh, I can not help it. He is an Arty (ARTILLERY) OP (Observation Post) officer. He can not be pulled out without a proper relief. I spoke to his CO (Commanding Officer). He says that it was difficult for him to provide the relief.” Colonel VK Ahluwalia explained.

“How ridiculous, sir? The officer has deserted his post and he has come down to me at SIALA complex. He is crying like a baby. He was to get married in November 1986. But Operation TRIDENT was in the offing and he was held up. He was promised that he would be sent on leave in January 1987. But nothing happened. His second date of marriage was 12 February—it has gone, too. His fiancée has written a threatening letter. Please pull him out on humanitarian grounds” Major Yavesh vehemently argued for Captain SONI.

“I do understand this. But I can not have the risk of having a forward most post of SIACHEN GLACIER devoid of an arty OP. I am sorry send him back to his place.” Col Ahluwalia was crisp.

“Sir, he just refuses to go back. All my motivational talks have failed. I, too, feel he was somehow on the wrong end of a stick due to his differences with his CO” Major Yavesh retorted.

“Yavesh, do you want to plead his case because he was an EX-NDA guy like you. What is your service gap? 15 years? Do your job as told. Tell him to stop behaving like a sissy. Ask him to be a man. And stop this crap.” The CO commanded.

This was shut up call for Major Yavesh. He did a loud thinking and then blabbered out, “Yes, sir. Point conceded. But may be, you could speak to COMMANDER on this. He is not in the mental state to stay any longer on this glacier.”

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In the coldest winters of 86-87, Major Yavesh Rana, along with his Company was located at SIALA complex of SIACHEN glacier in the GREAT HYMALYAS. This glacier is the second largest glacier in the world. It is 106 km long and some 5-6 kms wide at its waist. Siachen means “THE VALLEY OF ROSES”. This lies in the NORTHERN KASHMIR on the borders of INDIA, CHINA, AFGHANISTAN, and even Pakistan, though obliquely.

SIALA COMPLEX is the NORTHERN most point on SIACHEN, touching INDRA COL on the Chinese border. It is here, the famous WAKHAN CORRIDOR joins India with Afghanistan and CHINA. At the snout of the GLACIER is the base camp, where the HEADQUARTERS of the military unit, looking after SIACHEN area, is located. The Base camp height is 12000 feet. NUBRA River starts at the snout of the glacier on the base camp. It later drains into INDUS River in POK. The foot journey from the BASE CAMP is over the most treacherous and hazardous terrain, with chunks of whiteness all around you. There is no trace of soil and vegetation all through your trek. It takes almost 5-6 days; if weather is clear, to reach SIALA from the BASE CAMP.

The normal temperature at SIALA is always around minus 30-35 degrees. It is on a height of 20,000 feet. The area is heavily fractured, full of crevasses and ICE MASTS and ‘ice-over-hangs’. The weather here is unpredictable. It snows here for days on. Blizzards are very common with wind speed touching some 200 miles per hour, tearing everything apart that stands in its way.
It is very difficult to stay here. You can not shave, you can not bathe. You do not eat, despite the richest food being made available. You can not go for Nature’s CALL with ease. Rarified air makes you exhausted over 500 meters. People feel breathless very often. You hardly get to sleep. In the initial years, the men stayed under the Parachute shelters, which used to get buried 10-15 feet below snow every day. Ration supply was through the air drop on sunny days on a drop zone (DZ) some 2-3 kms away. It used to take 3-4 hours, one-way to traverse this distance. Every time you went to the DZ, you will lose one or two men to the vagaries of the terrain. Despite all the precautions, men would go down in the crevasse, never to come out alive.
The causalities here were more because of weather and terrain than enemy action. Mail used to come through helicopter sorties. Some one had calculated that one CHAPATI that a man ate on the glacier,in those days, cost the exchequer around Rs 80. The daily cost of maintaining soldiers there, in 1987, was around 2-3 Crores. It might be at least 15 times more, these days, say around 10000 to 12000 Crores every year. And they say you need only 28000 Crores for the entire GOLDEN QUARDLATERAL PROJECT!

Generally, people go mad staying here. Many lose their vital limbs. Many never come back. Many remain frozen in the deep crevasses for the GEOLOGISTS and ARCHAEOLOGISTS of the future to write thesis for their DOCTRATE DEGREES as to how men could venture into such inaccessible areas in the beginning of the second millennium? I reckon in the year 3009 AD or so, many people would claim greatness for unfolding of the mysteries of this human madness. But that is 1000 years into the future. Today, if the stay is beyond 90 days, it sure does turn one into a psychic case.

Major Yavesh had known this. He had come here in November 1986, some two months later than Captain Soni. He was himself expecting to be pulled out because he had stayed for almost 120 days. An Ex-NDA officer, with 16 years commissioned service to his credit in 1987, YAVESH was a known ‘toughie’ in his outfit. His men referred to him as ‘HITLER’; his colleagues called him a ‘Bully’. But he, too, was seemingly cracking mentally. Widely read man, he well understood the meaning of the need for obeying military orders, once given. No cribs, no dissidence. No emotional outbursts; right or wrong, just carry out the orders.

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“Captain Lal, please examine Captain SONI and send him with escort to Mortar Position”, Major Yavesh directed his medical officer, after he had failed to seek expatriation of Captain SONI to the BASE CAMP.

“I will examine him alright but I do not think he will go, sir.” Captain Lal had given his opinion.

“Ok. We will try and convince him together. Call him to your tent (a parachute shelter).” Yavesh sounded logical.

It was around 1400 hundred hours. The weather was very bad. It was snowing. The visibility was not even two feet. A strong wind, around 150 MPH, was blowing. The orderly, who had gone to fetch Captain SONI, lost his way and never returned. It must be said the distance was only 10-15 meters.
When even after an hour, there was no news from Captain SONI, both Major Yavesh and Captain Lal, set out to meet him in his shelter. The whole area was covered with snow. No shelter could be seen. Even their own shelter was under 10-12 feet of snow. The drill followed was that one must keep shaking the tent so as to dust off the snow; otherwise one would get buried under its mounting weight.
After 40-45 minutes in the open, both of them saw Subedar Ash Nandan Singh trying to locate them. He told the duo that Captain SONI was in his tent and he was crying. It seemed the orderly had told him that he had to go back. Major Yavesh decided to meet him and give a pep talk. Both of them went to JCO’s tent. This is how the conversation went:

Yavesh: Soni, come on man, you are a tough guy; do not cry like a baby.

Soni: Sir, I want to go home. It is too much I haven’t been home for last 18 months. I was promised by my CO that I would be sent in February.

Yavesh: I know. But these things happen. You see he can not find a relief because of the preparation for some operation TRIDENT. (They hadn’t known, then, that it had been called off)

Soni: No sir, I can not stay any longer. I have a HUNCH THAT I WOULD DIE HERE ONLY.

Yavesh: Do not be negative. You are an Ex-NDA guy; you should not behave like a coward.

Soni: Please send me home. I will die here otherwise. (He started crying loudly and took out a letter from his fiancée, called SUMAN, and threw at Major Yavesh).

Soni: Please read this. She says that I have let her down. Her parents want to break the engagement because LIFE IN ARMY IS UNCERTAIN. I DO NOT WANT TO SERVE IN THIS ARMY. WHAT FOR, SIR, IF I LOSE MY LADY LOVE? (HE STARTED SLAPPING HIS FACE with both hands. Captain LAL and SUBEDAR ASH NANDAN Singh caught him to prevent him from doing this.) Major Yavesh glanced at Suman’s Letter. It was full of pleas to come back at the earliest. She had exhorted him to leave this profession if he can not even get leave to get married. It was a real touchy letter and Yavesh did not know what to do.

“What do you want me to do, Captain Soni, I tried my best”, asked Major Yavesh.

“Sir, let me desert; let me run away.” Captain Soni had said instantly.

“Come on kid, you can not make it even to the base camp alone. It is 110 Kms treacherous journey over 5-6 days. The weather is also bad. ” Yavesh advised.

“Send me in the ‘Mail Helicopter’ to Base camp. Thereafter I will make it to AHMEDABAD (in GUJRAT) on my own”, Captain Soni made a suggestion.

“Ok. We will see it tomorrow.” Yavesh decided to cut short. He told the JCO to keep the officer in his tent for some times. But Subedar Ash Nandan Singh informed that Capt SONI had been stinking since morning as he had been answering to nature’s call in his pants only. Yavesh asked Captain Ram Lal to get him cleaned up and park him in his own tent. Having said so, Major Yavesh moved out.

By now it was 5 PM. Weather was as bad as it was in the afternoon. But the winds had reduced its intensity. Around 45 minutes later, Captain LAL too joined him in his tent. Both of them discussed the case. Captain Ram Lal’s conclusion was that Captain SONI was under a deep trauma. If he was not evacuated he might do something funny. At about 7 pm Sky was clear wind had stopped blowing. A bright moon had lit up the sky. It was a beautiful scene. Subedar Ash Nandan came for the evening report. He apprised Major YAVESH that Captain SONI had been continuously crying in his tent. At times, he was yelling like a mad person. Suddenly, Major Yavesh shot a question, “Is the sky Clear?” Lal and Ash Nanadan almost said in a Chorus, “Oh, EK DUM (TOTALLY)”

“Right, I have never disobeyed orders in life but if the chopper comes tomorrow morning, this guy goes without relief” Major Yavesh was now emotional.

“Sir, why do you want to risk your career for him?” Captain Lal had advised.

“Doc, sometimes career has to go when human compassion overpowers you. I have made up my mind, he will be made to desert”, Yavesh let out a philosophical answer.

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It was 6 A.M. in the morning on 21 February 1987.

It was otherwise a clear blue sky except a small patch of clouds over the TIGER HILL—a hill made of hard ice mast. Yavesh hoped that the patch of cloud over the TIGER HILL would not spoil his plans for the day, because it was always from this direction that clouds come with snow fall. He was hoping to execute his plans with the help of weather gods. This was the time for the daily report to be given to his HQ. The signal operator had already brought the radio set for the company commander to give the OK report to his CO.

“How’s the weather, Tiger?” the CO roared on the other side.

“Fine, ‘one five’, but for this patch on the TIGER HILL?” Yavesh replied.

“OK, I hope it remains clear till 8-9 A.M so that I could push in a chopper with your mail and some fruits. How long it has been since you got the fresh vegetables?” CO inquired.

“Thanks sir. You are very kind. It is almost 10 days back we had got the ‘fresh” Yavesh said in gratitude.

“So, how is friend Soni? Did he create further trouble while moving out?” The CO wanted to know.

“He is fine. He was depressed, though”, Yavesh hid the fact that SONI had not been dispatched to MORTAR POSITION. If he had done that then, all hell would have broken lose.

“Is everything else fine?” The CO expectantly shot.

“Yes, sir”, the reply by Yavesh was also reflective.

“OK, then, all the best for the clear weather”, with this Colonel Ahluwalia signed off.

“Hey, doctor! Please, wake up. The heptr is coming.” Major Yavesh excitedly shook Captain Ram Lal out of his sleeping bag.

“Good sir, congratulations” said Captain Lal.

Captain SONI, when told by the orderly and Sub Ash Nandan, his eyes get lit up. But he is yet not sure if he would be allowed to leave. He had told Subedar ASHNANDAN, “Sahib, MERE LIYE YEH SAFED CHADAR KI ZANEEN KALA PANI JAIL HAI. Main shayad hi nikal payoonga. MAGAR AAPKA ‘MAJOR SAHIB’ CHAHE TOH MUJHE NIKAL SAKTA HAI. KYA WOH KAREGA? (Oh dear, this ICY SHEET OF WHITENESS IS A CELLULAR JAIL FOR ME. I might not get out of this ever. But If your MAJOR wants he can get me out of this. But would he?)

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Time 07.33 A.M. Date 21 February 1987.

SIALA is beginning to get covered under the pitch dark clouds. Visibility is there up to 1500 meters. Wind is blowing at a medium pace but it seems a BLIZZARD is in the offing. Major Yavesh is on his radio set screaming, “Sir, push in the chopper, now. In next 30-40 minutes it will be all snow over here."

“I will try, I’ll try. Keep your fingers crossed.” Ahluwalia was assuring him.

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Time 07.53 A.M. Date 21 February 1987.

'KUMAR' COMPLEX Tiger, Major Bharat Singh, comes on the air. He informs Major Yavesh that choppers were returning to the base camp, as weather had packed up. He however gave the hope that in case it cleared by afternoon, the choppers might come back with the ‘FRESH’. He further cheered him by saying that he had taken the mail of his company. He also told him of two letters Yavesh had got from his wife. He made an offer to open and read it to him. But Yavesh politely declined, though, this at times, was the common practice in SIACHEN Glacier, when weather packed up for days on.

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Time 07.58 AM.

It starts snowing. Wind speed picks up and the snow storm is building up. Subedar Ash Nandan Singh blows the alarm and asks everyone to get to his shelter. Yavesh was disheartened but still hopeful that weather might clear up by afternoon.

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Time: 08.29 A.M.

SIALA complex is under severe snow storm. Visibility is zero. Wind speed is touching around 150-160 Kms. Most of the shelters are already under 3-4 feet of snow. No one can dare to come out unless he wants to be blown with the wind.

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Time 11.17A.M.

Storm has fizzled out. It is still snowing but the wind intensity has died down. Subedar Ash Nandan comes to the company Commander and informs him that Capt SONI’s tent was not traceable. Yavesh and Ram Lal come out and find men digging in the general area of the rough location of the tent. Yavesh orders them to divide the men into three teams of six men each and dig up the area in three parts. The digging continues. Snow fall stops. It is now about 11.45 A.M. Still, there was no trace of the tent.
Finally, No 2 Team gets to it around 12.03 P.M. All of them rush to the spot. Pull out the sleeping bag of Capt Soni. He is fully into it , totally zipped up to his head. Doctor Ram Lal feels his pulse. It was not there. He remorsefully signals to Major Yavesh to tell him that Capt SONI was no more. “He is dead”, he shouted. HIS PREDICTION ABOUT HIMSELF HAD COME TRUE!
He probably died of asphyxiation, because he had gone into the Sleeping bag fully zipped even with his head inside. He did not realize when the tent collapsed and the tons of snow did not give him a chance. It all happened between 8.30 A.M. and 11A.M on 21st February. In just two and a half hours, a life had gone. On search of his pocket, a half written letter to his FIANCEE—SUMAN was recovered. He had, probably written part at night and part in the morning itself. It ran:

My dearest Suman,

Oh my dear, finally, oh, yea, finally my dear, there is a hope that I would ESCAPE FROM THIS EL-CATRAZ kind of WHITE PRISON tomorrow. This JAIL WARDEN (?) here tells me that he would help me escape,even if official permission does not come. I will escape. I do not care about the consequences. I love you, SUMAN. I am coming, SUMAN darling. It is a clear night. Hope it will be the same tomorrow too.

Oh, what a fine morning. It is clear. I will come and I do hope this ‘Bully’ (?) here stands by his promise. To hell with him, if he does not, I will scramble on my own. I will come. -------Hold on someone is coming.

Oh yea, It was my orderly. What great news? He told me that HELICOPTER WOUL BE HERE AROUND 9 A.M. Major SAHIB has told him. What luck? Finally I will be a free man. I will come soon, my dear SUMAN. Tell your parents; tell the whole world----I love you SUMAN---Love you, love you, love you my SUMAN. Oh, some wind blowing----------------

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The letter had ended abruptly because it seems the weather had packed and along with it Captain SONI’s last hopes had also vanished. Yavesh was sad. He was furious that he could not let him escape to his freedom and a life full of dreams with his SUMAN.

The weather remained packed up for 9 days. And the dead body of Capt SONI had to be kept in the same tent where YAVESH and RAM LAL had stayed. They were cramped up for space but there was no choice.

On 02 March 1987, a Chopper came. The dead body was evacuated with the half written letter to “SONI’s DEAREST SUMAN”. Perhaps, she might not ever know as to how much he loved her because the fate had robbed her love for ever. May be she might not even remember him because she might be married to some one else. BUT YAVESH WAS SURE CAPT ‘SONI’ HAD DIED WITH THE NAME 'SUMAN' ON HIS LIPS. It is on this day he penned these few line on SIACHEN calling it a ‘NATURAL HUMAN PRISON’: --------

Morning comes, hopes grow;

Evening shatters Life’s glow,

Silently curse men their lot;

What crime had them brought?

Memory gets normally impaired,

Eating becomes sometime affair,

Emotional tension abounds in lads,

Some lose nerves and go mad.

Each one counts each one’s days,

No one wants a prolonged stay.

Yet time for them moves very slow

Each day seems, years in a row.

Leaders across borders make tall claims,

Honors bestowed on heroes of Siachen fame’ –

‘Sense of reality’ though seemed to be lost,

Amidst emotional minds and prestigious boasts!

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MUSHAREFF's WISE/UNWISE WORDS!

In the recently held India Today enclave on security environments in South Asia at New Delhi in second week of March 2009, General Pervez Mushareff was one of the guest speakers. In a pointed question by Arun Poorie on the terrorist training camps, General Mushareff spoke thus:-

"This is is a time for frank talk. What have you and us been doing to each other. I know there is a terrorist of our sitting in Kabul. I know who is financing them. I know where he gets his weapons from? I know what your embassies in Jalalabad and Kandhar doing. We have documentary evidence. I know the terrorists who are doing terrorism in Pakistan. They visit Delhi and they are received here. I have seen the photographs and we have documentary evidence. Let's stop this blame game. We have been doing this since 1947 and we have been on a confrontation mode. We have never accepted each others realities, you more than us. We have to accept your reality. India is a big country, but please accept the reality of Pakistan as well. But when we don't then we are on a confrontation mode. You try to do damage to us and we are not sitting idle, we try to do damage to you. That is the reality of Pakistan and India and I am being very blunt. Your RAW does exactly what our ISI does. Let us tackle ISI and RAW to stop their confrontation."

The leadership in Pakistan suffers from this psyche. It feels India has not accepted TWO NATION THEORY. The basis of TWO NATION THEORY was "MUSLIM PAKISTAN" and "HINDU INDIA". While India accepted the two nation theory with a slight alteration to the thinking of Muslim league of 1947; Pakistan continues to disbelieve it. India's alteration to TWO NATION THEORY of PAK LEADERSHIP is MUSLIM PAKISTAN and 'SECULAR INDIA'. This is the major difference .
Pakistan's reason for rejection of India's acceptance of TWO NATION THEORY is based on its perception IF INDIA HAD ACCEPTED IT, THEN MUSLIM MAJORITY STATE OF 'Jammu &Kashmir' SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BE PART OF PAKISTAN. Since it didn't happen, therefore it doubts India's credentials on this. This is the emotional wound of 1947 and it continues to guide Pakistan's India policy.
Add to this psyche, the BANGLAD DESH WAR of 1971. It further wounded the leadership, particularly the military leadership, who is the real 'master' and 'ruling'power of Pakistan. It just can not forget the humiliation of 1971. Then again in 1999, it was made to eat an humble pie on KARGIL issue when it thought it had an upper hand on India. Therefore PAKISTAN MILITARY can never reconcile till it has avenged its humiliation of 1971 and 1999. In so doing, it will continue to stoke fire of PAKISTANI PUB:LIC on the INJUSTICE of 1947. It serves as a catylist for the common public, fed and reared on anti- India venom, since 1947.It must be added here thast it was Major general AKBAR KHAN of PAKISTAN ARMY who had misguided JINNAH on KASHMIR in 1947. He was the famous ' General TARIQ' of so called TRIBAL-RAIDERS in Kashmir in October 1947. He was later disgraced for 'RAWALPINDI CONSPIRACY CASE'. Before 1947, he was a Brigadier in British Indian army and became a self styled advisor of JINNAH and MUSLIM LEAGUE.
In view of the above, is it possible to think of PEACE WITH PAKISTAN? Yes, why not? It is possible only if Pakistan is ruled by a strong civilian leader who realises the IMPERATIVES of the modern times. But as long as military calls the shots in Pakistan, it will continue to spew venom in the mind of general public. Talks or no talks, peace in the SOUTH ASIAN subcontinent will remain a pipe dream. It will be pointless wasting time and energy on any future talks with Pakistan. instead India must work to strengthen the civil rule.
I am not convinced about TALIBAN taking over SWAT. It is a PAK MILITARY created hype. It is their ploy to throw civil government out of gear. The bogey of TALIBANISATION of PAKISTAN is the military's way of beating USA and the WEST. Therefore, it was deliberately planned by Pakistan army to weaken the civil government. The very fact that MUSHAREFF is living peacefully in ISLAMABAD, after so much resentment against him during his PRESIDENCY should tell you as to who is calling the shots in PAKISTAN. I even think, though a bit circumspect, that MUSHAREFF had orchestrated three murderous assault on his convoys during his Presidency. I am surprised as to why there is none , now, when he has less security. What would you say otherwise--the man supposedly ,so hated by militants and talibans is now living freely? Therefore TALIBAN is a bogey. i will even go to the extent of saying that OSSAMA BON LADDEN and MULLA OMAR are in the SECRET CUSTODY of Pakistan Military. It is the stick it uses to beat WEST and USA. It is most CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET by ISI and PAKISTAN MILITARY.
Now coming to the point MUSHAREFF made on mutually played dirty tricks against each other by RAW and ISI. Who does not know this? The fact is who started this? They will not stop by mere appeals and lectures. Both will have to be dismantled. Is it possible? the question does not arise. Therefore PEACE---the elusive peace----- in SOUTH ASIA is a distant dream. More so, when even OBAMA--the TALL TALKING prseident of USA to the guiles and intrigues ofPAK MILITARY. Its AF-PAK (Afghanistan Pakistan) policy seeks reconciliation with TALIBANS and ALQUEDA. His loud claims of defeating terrorism has proved to be a damp squib.
In view of the above, People of South Asia, particularly India and pakistan have a long dark tunnel ahead full of boulders, bumps,and deep pits. The journey, hereafter will not be smooth unless PAKISTAN MILITARY is effectively confined to barracks and guys like MUSHAREFF are removed from the vicnity of ISLAMABAD. Someone has to sign the death warrants for ISI and RAW--simultaneously and concurrently for peace to raise its head in south Asia.

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DOES SOUL EXIST---I CAN NOT SAY---BUT??????

On 29 November 2008, I was attending a marriage at Ferozepur. I got a call on my mobile from my youngest sister from Himachal Pardesh asking me if everything was Ok at ancestral home where my father had been living with my two younger brothers and their families. I asked her the reason for this funny question. She blurted out that she had got our DEAD MOTHER in her dreams. Our mother had told her that she had come to take away our father with her. I just dismissed it and carried on enjoying the drinks. I returned to Chandigarh in the morning of 30th November 2008. In the evening, I got a call from my youngest brother, around 1733 hours, about the sad demise of our father. I had been with my father just three days before i.e. 27th November 2008. He was OK--there were no signs of any problem, though he was unable to walk due to knee problem since long.
My father expired almost one year after my mother had left for her heavenly abode. She had bid us all good-bye on 22 October last year. On 01 December 2008, we carried out the last rites of our father. On 02 December 2008, I carried his mortal remains to Haridwar to immerse them in the GANGES and returned to my village in the early hours of 03 December 2008. A function is carried out on the 10th day after death---it is called DASNAHAN (10th DAY BATH). As it was TUESDAY on the 10th day, i.e. December 9, 2008, it was decided to pre-pone it by one day. It was organised on the morning of 8th December 2008. Same day, in the evening, around 1915 hours,I was sitting with my brothers and cousins in the drawing room of our ancestral house. We were all seated on the floor. We were discussing HINDUISM. My cousin, HARSH VARDHAN, who is a school teacher, had read my article on HINDUISM on Sulekha. He chided me that I had reproduced the words of my father in verbatim. We started discussing. Suddenly, then, I get a call on my mobile. It was a 'missed call' from an unknown number. I dialed out the number. I got the reply,"THIS NUMBER DOES NOT EXIST".
Precisely then, a thought came to my mind to record our discussion. I had this MOTOROLA mobile---touch phone---which can take video clips. I started taking the clip. As soon as I started, I saw two lights flickering in front of my cousin HARSH VARDHAN. They were something like the tips of a burning candle. I started following the flickering lights---without knowing what were they--not suspecting anything. I moved the camera focus towards the cemented Almirah in the wall. At this precise moment, a white shadow light comes out of the embedded CEMENTED ALMIRAH and moves towards the mantle on the wall where my father and mother's portraits were kept. The white shadow stops in front of my father's photo and it is almost joining hands to pay respect to it. I was recording all this unconsciously. I took a second video clip. At this point of time, I asked HARSH, my cousin, "OYE, BILOO, TERE SAAMNE YEH DO LIGHT KYA JAL RAHI HAI. (Hey Biloo, what are these two light in front of you.)". He responded quickly, " KONSI LIGHTS? KUCHH NAHI HAI. "What lights? There is nothing here.)". I immediately stopped taking the clip and looked at Harsh with naked eyes. There was nothing. We were surprised.
I, thereupon, called HARSH to see it through the camera. He saw it and was stunned. My youngest brother, who is a science lecturer, thought I was playing a prank on them and he rubbished it. I called him out to see it. When he came to see there was nothing being seen now other than the two photos and the cupboard. We took this video clip too. We compared the three video clips and got surprised. The first video clip clearly shows a WHITE SHADOW EMERGING FROM BEHIND THE CEMENTED ALMIRAH EMBEDDED IN THE WALL--going towards my PARENTS PORTRAITS and POSTURING AS IF PAYING RESPECT TO MY LATE FATHER. It also lights up my father's photo. I do not know what is it. But it has been recorded on my MOTOROLA MOBILE. The second clip has also recorded the same things but there is nothing of the white shadows in the third clip. It only shows blank cupboard and the clear two portraits of my parents. Whoever I have shown these clips, they agree that it were my father's and mother's souls who had visited us. It seems to me too. You are welcome to see these clips on my mobile.I am embedding two relevant clips at the end. One contains a WHITE shadowy figure the other is absolutely clear:-
The first clip (1208_191312.3gp) gives out;-

My brotherASHOK and another cousin sitting on my LEFT---next to the bed, followed
by BILOO(Harsh Vardhan--my Cousin) in front and my youngest brother KRISHAN on RIGHT of BILOO. All of us are seated on the ground. kindly note:-

TWO flickering lights in front my cousin HARSH VARDHAN (BILOO)

A white SHADOWY figure coming from the cemented CUPBOARD and bowing in front of the portrait of my father.

Also note the DOUBLE FACE on the PHOTO FRAME of my father.

The second clip(1208_192441.3gp) 30 seconds later gives out a clear
picture of my FATHER and Mother's portrait and also the CUPBOARD in the
WALL. The flame initially in this clip is on my right. It is of the POOJA performed in the evening. It was on my right when I took the of first clip. It does figure in the first clip also---when I am surveying the room.
My father was a very spiritual and a well-informed person on Hindu way of life. He was a self taught man and he could enchant you with his deep knowledge of VEDAS, PURANAS and other religious SCRIPTURES of HINDUS-yet he was NOT an orthodox Hindu. He would examine everything critically and, if convinced, he minced no words in advocating it.
While people flocked to him to seek knowledge, I always debated with him on certain rigidities of Hinduism. He would always dismiss them as aberrations of time. It was he who convinced me that HINDUISM was not a RELIGION---it was a way of life. It was he who explained to me the difference between the ENGLISH word "RELIGION" and the SANSKRIT word "DHARMA". According to him, the word RELIGION was a mere PYGMY before Sanskrit word DHARMA. I will like to explain his mind briefly .
Religion was RITUALISATION of TEMPORAL PRACTICES and PROCEDURES. It was a WESTERN thought. This is why PROGRESSIVE WESTERN thinkers evolved and coined the term "SECULARISM"------------the separation of RITUALS and GOVERNANCE-------which encapsulated RESPONSIBILITIES and DUTIES along with social DOs and DONTs. Oriental thinkers, according to him, developed an INTEGRATED view of HUMAN EXISTENCE. Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Sufism---they all take an integrated view of HUMAN EXISTENCE. They never define it in a structured and a layered manner. RELIGION IS A PART OF THE WHOLE AND NOT "THE WHOLE" ITSELF.
The ORIENTAL THINKERS subordinated the TEMPORAL PRACTICES to overall existence. They never separated RITUALS and GOVERNANCE. They CODIFIED it as a way of life. They allowed these codes to develop, modify, grow and alter as the time passed by. This is the meaning of DHARMA, he would insist. He did not see any rigidity in these codes as part of DHARMA. He described DHARMA as a "GROWING CONCEPT" and a "philosophy on- the- move". There was no "ABSOLUTISM" about DHARMA as it was not RIGID. The biggest trait of DHARMA, he reckoned, was its FLEXIBILITY and ADAPTABILITY with the changing TIMES. He used to emphasise that customs and traditions; ethos and norms;values and moralities of DHARMA must alter and modify to suit the diktats of changing times.
To him, to change with the changing times was also a DHARMA. All this is not acceptable within the confines of RELIGION--which is founded on the philosophy of "DOGMATISED TRUTH" and ABSOLUTISM--no scope for debate and discussion. According to him only three things were absolute---i.e. BIRTH, DEATH and "GOD INSIDE YOU". It is this "GOD INSIDE YOU" which exists in a FORMLESS MANNER after your DEATH. "THIS", he said, "WAS ALSO CALLED SOUL".
He would explain as we were all created by god out of his own divine-self---we ought to have his elements within us. And the element of god never dies. This was our soul. All other things about BIRTH, DEATH and GOD were just man made myths. HIS OFT-REPEATED REFRAIN TO US WAS LISTEN TO THE "GOD INSIDE YOU" and NOT TO THE "GODMEN".
He often stated that RELIGION, in isolation, was akin to HERD-PSYCHOLOGY of ANIMALS--no better, no less. According to him, if religion was to be useful and purposeful HUMAN ACTIVITY, it must be loaded with responsibilities, duties and social codes defining collective living in a harmonious manner. In other words, "religion" must become "Dharma". In our parlance, DHARMA is our way of life as per our physical, social, geographical and climatic environments. He would often say, " When you add 'language and living-style' to Dharma---it becomes CULTURE" . By living-style he meant, food habits,dresses, customs, traditions and physical characteristics.
Many years ago, we had a lengthy debate on the EXISTENCE OF SOUL AFTER DEATH. Despite my beliefs on REBIRTH and KARMIC THEORY, I had always reluctantly accepted their existence. I always wanted some scientific evidence. My father would always chide me by saying that I had to first remove the clutter in my mind created by my WESTERN EDUCATION. We had a heated argument on this. The year was 1974. He had then said, if GOD ALLOWS HIM A CHANCE HE WOULD RISE FROM HIS ASHES TO GIVE ME MY PROOF, ONE DAY. IS THIS THE PROOF, he is giving?
Read more...

A STRANGE LOVER!

In the month of November, the sun sets at about 1745 hours around Chandigarh. The weather was not so lively on the fifteenth day of November 2008.
It was drizzling. Also, a strong wind was blowing. Sumesh was sitting alone in the balcony of his house. It was total darkness because there was regular evening cut of electricity supply in the town. Sumesh was worried about his wife who had gone for shopping with his daughter to the market. He was contemplating whether to go to the market to pick them or not. Lazily , he started looking for his mobile to contact his wife to know her exact location in the market. The shopping complex of 17 Sector Chandigarh is a huge open market plaza. It is not easy to search someone there. He got up to locate his mobile phone-------.
Suddenly then, a voice resonated his ears," Do you believe in ghosts?" It seemed a familiar voice. How familiar , he was soon to find out. She was there, right behind him ,when he turned back.
Sumesh had almost shrieked when he saw her face. Yes, it was this girl at his back whom he knew ages back .
He said in a hysterical tone, " Yes, S--u---m--a--n what are you doing here?"
" I was just passing by, when I saw you alone with this damn glass", Suman was explaining.
" But you are dead--you died some 34 years back", he was shaking with fear.
" Yes, I did-- but now I am out to set things right." she stated falling over him.
" Set things right? What had gone wrong? You mean there was something fishy in your death." Sumesh questioned her.
" A lot had gone wrong after you deserted me --you coward!" Suman replied while leaning on to Sumesh.
" What do you mean by calling me a coward? It was not deliberately done. we were just school kids when we had met. It was a mere infatuation and NOT love, you silly old woman" Sumesh responded.
" No, it was not mere infatuation---we had made promises to each other. It were you who had been mad for me" Suman reminded him, while falling on Sumesh.
" Enough. OK, fine. But do not fall on me; please stay away from me" Sumesh almost shouted.
" You stupid idiot! Do not shout; people will think you are mentally unsound because no one can see me" Suman gave him a mouthful.
" Yea, it is dark --no one can see you but how can I see you?" he said in panic.
" It is because I love you sweet heart!." Suman said emphatically.
" If you had loved me, then, why did you marry that man ---what was his name----Kranti", Sumesh became nostalagic.
"After we left the school, I joined the college---RK Arya College for the Girls-- You never came back" Suman intimated remoarsefully.
"I know that. My father was posted out of Ambala and I went away to Jallandhar. From there I joined the NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY", Sumesh stated.
" I waited and waited for you--hoping that you would keep your promises but you did not. I did my graduation. Thereafter, I joined the PCS cadre and was posted at Gurdaspur---where I met that man Kranti Kumar, IAS, whom I married. He put up an act of desperate love and I fell for it", Suman had further given the input.
"He and his parents were greedy. They were lured by the affluence of my father. They saw in me a hen that laid golden eggs. When I refused to comply with their demands, the love had vanished. He started ill-treating me. I was accused of extra-marital affairs with my subordinates. I vehmently questioned them on my character assasination. This led to daily skirmishes in our married life." Suman had said everything so easily.
"How did you die? I suppose it was complications in your pregnancy" Sumesh asked matter of factly.
"No, No!! I was poisoned during delivery. He manipulated with the doctors. I breathed last when I was in the labour room" Suman clarified.
" You mean to say Mr. XXXXX, the ex-Chief Secretary of XXXXX is actually a murderer at large. He manipulated with the doctors being the Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur in those days. It is strange. He is such a respected man in the society--no one can think of such CRIMINALS IN WHITES" Sumesh showed his surprise.
" Yea, the visible INNOCENCE IS MOST OFTEN VERY DECEPTIVE and it does not give a true picture of a real person." Suman stated.
" I agree. OFTEN, WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS GET AWAY FROM THE CLUTCHES OF LAW, while simple folks pay for their crime" Sumesh amplified.
" Exactly, while I was poisoned by the doctor during my labour pains--a poor NURSE was made the scape goat for UTTER NEGLIGENCE and punished. It was so cleverly done that the poor nurse had to lose not only her job but spend some five years behind bars. I saw all this helplessly. But I have got the chance to take revenge now" Suman let out some information.
" Revenge? How? I can not see the case being reopened after so many years." Sumesh was aghast.
" You see, Ramneek, son of that NURSE SAMEEKSHA, who was falsely implicated in my alleged death by negligence, had joined IAS and is now posted as deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur. My husband and doctor Sanjeev's wife, Seema, had illicit relations. Doctor Sanjeev learnt it one day and he threatened to expose my husband. Thereafter,Doctor Sanjeev disappeared without a trace. It was suspected that he was murdered but his body was never found. It had happened 30 years back. My husband and Seema re-married. Doctor Sanjeev's daughter REENA did not like this. She always suspected her mother and my husband's hand in her father's death. Strangely, she is married to RAMNEEK. She is more keen to get the case on her father's death re-investigated. " Suman elaborated the cross connections.
" But, how does it reopen your case, Suman?" Sumesh had questioned.
" You will soon see this. Doctor Sanjeev's soul had told her daughter, REENA, the entire story of her disappearance and alleged murder. The soul had also informed her the place where his body was burried. On Reena's insistence the case has been reopened. " Suman had said.

Precisely at this moment, Sunita, Sumesh's wife of 33 years, yelled, " Get up Sumesh, it is already 8 AM." Saying this she also pulled the quilt, too. This forced him out of his dreams. He had his morning cup of tea and began scanning the morning news paper.

Suddenly his eyes caught a glimpse of a strange news item which read," THE BODY OF A MISSING DOCTOR RECOVERED AFTER 30 YEARS FROM A CANAL BANK NEAR DINANAGAR, GURDASPUR".
Sumesh read the news item and found the same information as he had got from soul of SUMAN. He was stunned. The only thing new learnt by Sumesh was that the SSP, Mrs REENA KAUSHAL, had ordered fresh investigations into the disappearance and murder mystery. The correspondent had obliquely mentioned that Mrs REENA, the SSP was also the wife of the Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur. The news item had also stated that in a strange coincidence the late Doctor Sanjeev was the father of present SSP.

*************************************************************************************************************************** More than a month had lapsed, when Suman's soul had met Sumesh. He had almost forgotten about the incident. It was 9 PM in the evening of 16 December 2008 when Sumesh was sitting on his laptop when a strange thing happened. Suddenly a bold message appeared on his LAP TOP as if some one was CHIT CHATTING with him.
It was something like a NEWS CHANNEL breaking NEWS. Of course, it was News but it was NEWS in ADVANCE. The BREAKING NEWS was:
"AT 0100HOURS, THIS MORNING (17 DECEMBER 2008), WHEN POLICE WENT TO ARREST Sh. KRANTI KUMAR DUGGAL, EX CHIEF SECRETARY OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, AND HIS SECOND WIFE Mrs SEEMA DUGGAL FROM THEIR RESIDENCE IN SECTOR -4 IN CHANDIGARH, FOR THEIR ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN A CONSPIRACY TO MURDER AND DESTROY EVIDENCE IN THE CASE OF DISAPPEARANCE OF DOCTOER SANJEEV MEHTA, SOME 30 YEARS BACK, THE COUPLE COMMITTED SUICIDE."
It was a strange phenomenon. Whatever Sumesh was trying to write, he just could not do anything. He was writing only this message. He was nonplussed. He spoke, " Suman, are you there?"
A message flashed on the screen " I am there. I will soon have my revenge. This is for your advance information"
" Suman, as you can reach anywhere, why don't you go and tell that man" Sumesh asked.
" We souls can only communicate with those people whom we love and those who are PIOUS and SAGACIOUS. We can not communicate with murderers and frauds." Suman's soul explained.
" What if I forewarn the couple?" Sumesh said.
" Try it out. Where ever you ring up that phone will be dead. You have FOUR minutes to pass on this information. Their time has come. It has been 34 years of struggle in this FORMLESS LIFE--I have to succeed now. You better prepare for your own reunion with me, now. Your time is also up. Let us go, dear. Come"
"What?" said Sumesh and collapsed.
*************************************************************************************************************************
" Sumesh--- Sumesh----Sumesh! Come Let us have our dinner--" Sunita was shouting from the kitchen. but there was no response from Sumesh. Having been fed up with NO RESPONSE, Sunita barged into the STUDY ROOM and she found SUMESH's head on the laptop. She shook him. there was no response. She checked the pulse. it was not there. And then ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE---SHE BEGAN CRYING LOUDLY-----but the message on the computer screen was time and again flashing :
"---PREPARE FOR YOUR OWN REUNION WITH ME----YOUR TIME IS ALSO UP------LET US GO , DEAR-----COME! "
Read more...

UGLY DIWALI-----DIWALI OF 1962--A SHORT STORY

It was around 9.45 AM in the morning. It was a bright
sunny morning of October 1962. At a height of 17000 feet,
above mean sea level, one got a splendid view of the
watershed.The scene from the NITI POST across the watershed
presented only waves and waves of hills right up to the
skyline. The soldiers of 9 PUNJAB had just arrived here two
days back with 100 rounds of ammunition each of .303 rifles.
All their pleas of celebrating DIWALI in the unit were turned
down by the Commanding Officer (CO) as the matter was urgent.
He had already delayed it by three days and just could not
entertain their plea of occupying the post after the festival
of lights. He had known the urgency.
Brigadier Dalvi, his commander had given a dead line for
establishment and occupation of an EARLY WARNING FORWARD POST
at NITI on the watershed, some 53 KMs North West of famous
‘TWANG MONASTERY’ in NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh).This monastery
is the second largest monastery after LHASA monastery in
Tibet. It is more than 1000 years old. The surroundings are
serene and beautiful.
An active, Sino-Indian rivalry had begun ever since DALAI
LAMA escaped to India from TIBET in 1959. The Chinese had
rejected the MAC MOHAN LINE, an imaginary line running along
the watershed, which was accepted as the border between India
and China in the Shimla agreement in 1920. Chinese government
had felt that 1920 Shimla pact was thrust upon China by an
OCCUPATION FORCE (BRITAIN) and it was not an agreement between
two sovereign countries. Therefore, they had resented Indian
presence in NEFA in the East and AKSAI CHIN in the West. Thus
they had been nibbling upon the Indian claimed territory both
in the West and East. It was to stop this nibbling act that
BHAG SINGH and his men were sent to establish NITI POST—some
150 KMs North West of BOMDILLA. They had to foot march the
distance through a very rugged and fissiparous terrain to
reach the place 23 kms ahead of LUMLA post. These men of 9
PUNJAB had been in the place just two days ahead of DIWALI.
Sure, it was DIWALI, that day. The team of ten men was led
by Havildar Bhag Singh,actually a Naik but specially promoted
for his volunteering to lead this team, with Lance Naik Kushal
Singh as his second in command. They had all volunteered to do
this task.While they were all brave hearts,their equipment and
the weapons were a joke, as the events later turned out to be.
Who cheated them, we don’t know? Was it the fate? Or was it
the army? Could it be the nation?

************************************************************

On this fateful day, Lance Naik Kushal Singh was deeply
engrossed in his memories of last few days. He was married
just 10 days back when he got the recall letter to rejoin
duty at the earliest. It was just seven days before DIWALI
that he had left his home to join the unit. He had hardly
seen the face of his wife but the glimpses were stuck in his
brain.It was around 10 AM when a high-pitched voice screaming out of a loud speaker shook him out of his memories.
It said, “HAM HINDI-CHINI BHAI- BHAI—YEH JAGAH HAMAARA—TUM
YAHAN SE CHALE JAYO—NAHI HAM TUMKO MAAR DEGA (WE,INDIANS and
CHINESE, ARE BROTHERS. This is our territory. You better vacate this land,
otherwise we will kill you.)”
Havildar Bhag Singh shouted, “SAALE ‘HARAAMI’ ‘KUTTO’AAYO--
-AA JAYO AJJ ASIN BHI DIWALI MANAANI HAI. BADA MAZAA AAYEGA
ASLI PATAAKHE CHALAWANGE TE ASLI GOLI CHALEGI.”(You bastards!
You Dogs!! COME, WE HAVE TO CELEBERATE OUR ‘DIWALI’, TODAY.
IT WILL BE A GREAT FUN, AS REAL CRACKERS WILL BE BURST AND WE
WILL HAVE ‘LIVE’ FIRE WORKS)”
Every half an hour Chinese repeated their same announcements. And every time Bhag Singh and his men sang out
in a chorus, “AA JAYO ‘SAALIYO’, ASSIN BHI AJJ APNI DIWALI
MANAANI HAI.(COME, YOU BASTARDS! WE, TOO, HAVE TO CELEBRATE
OUR DIWALI.)
Then, after every round the Section Commander,Havildar Bhag
Singh, would tell his men,“VEKHIYA, KINNHE KHUSH-KISMAT HAI
ASSIN, KI RABB NE SAANU KINNHA CHANGA MAUKA DITTA HAI ASLI
DIWALI MANAUN DA. INHA SAALIYAAN NU BHUNN KE RAKH DEVANGE, JE
AAYE. (SEE, HOW LUCKY WE ARE TO GET THIS REAL GOOD OPPRTUNITY
FROM THE GOD TO CELEBRATE TRUE DIWALI,TODAY. WE WILL ROAST
THESE BASTARDS, IF THEY COME.)
This process continued till 5 PM when it had got dark. As
they had been here only for 2-3 days, Havildar Bhag Singh had
not got their regular maintenance rations from the unit. They
were self contained for 96 hours. They did not have proper
clothing for the high altitude weather or any medicines for
high altitude sickness. It was extremely chilly at night.
Most of the men were down with cold and cough. Some had
breathing problems.The worst point was that they had moved to
this height before any acclimatization. Despite all this they
had their morale very high.
Generally, in the mountaineering parlance if you go above
9000 feet one has to acclimatize at every addition of 3000
feet. In those days there was no such concept.Every one
thought that PUNJABIS were a TOUGH and STURDY lot and they
didn’t need such silly formalities. This was the main reason
when BRIGADIER DALVI selected 9 PUNJAB to not only STALL the
Chinese spread on the watershed in NEFA but also use them
later to EVICT them as ordered by his Corps Commander,
Lt General BM Kaul—a special Nehru appointee to evict the
Chinese.
BM Kaul was an officer from the ARMY SUPPLY CORPS(ASC)who
knew more about concluding contracts for supplies in the army
than ‘combat soldiering’ or tactics and strategy. So,like a
‘post office’ he had passed on the ‘NEHRUVIAN-KRISHNA MENON’
orders to his subordinates to ‘EVICT THE CHINESE’. No one knew
the ground realities other than the men like Havildar Bhag
Singh and Lance Naik Kushal Singh who were all charged up
despite these handicaps. Consequently, this section of
Havildar BHAG SINGH was dispatched post haste without any
real back up and proper equipment clothing.These men were
chosen as real sacrificial goats because when they needed the
much promised help, it never came. The false gods had failed
their men.

***********************************************************

At about 1915 hours, Sepoy Partap Singh complained of
breathlessness. Havildar Bhag Singh asked him to take two
large pegs of rum and relax. He did but did not improve. By
about 2053 hours he had stopped breathing. His pulse had
stopped.He was dead.Havildar Bhag Singh and Lance Naik Kushal
Singh had just moved his body to one side of the tent,when
Sepoy Nirmal Singh reported some noise some three hundred
meters away. It was moon lit night and Havildar Bhag Singh was
sure it were the Chinese. He shouted to his men, “AA GAYE NE
KUTTE---SAARE APNE TRENCHES VICH JAYO---FIRE MERE KEHNE TE
KARNA.(THE DOGS HAVE COME. EVERYONE MOVE TO HIS TRENCH. FIRE
ON MY ORDERS.)”

The .303 rifles of his section opened up and they had pot
shots on the leading Chinese soldiers.The DIWALI CELEBERATIONS
had begun."It is going to be a unique DIWALIof the year 1962"
So, Bhag Singh had thought.
“Hold your fire”, he had shouted after five minutes. “Report
ammunition expenditure”, he had repeated in the same breath.
He soon realized each one had fired some 15-20 rounds of
ammunition. He knew he had to preserve his ammunition for the
final assault by the Chinese. There was pin drop silence on
the enemy side. Twenty minutes later, some Chinese were seen
on the left flank. He ordered fire. Again, some 15-20 rounds
per man had been expended.
Exactly half an hour later, a third column of Chinese
appeared on the right hand side. They were supported by mortar
fire. The mortar shells were landing on the post. It
was a stronger column and the firing continued intermittently
for 15-20 minutes. Some Chinese had almost come on to the post
.And in their bid to evict them, Santokh Singh,Suchitar Sigh
and Vinod Kumar had lost their lives. Thus, by 2200 hours,
they had lost four men and expended some 60-65 rounds each.
Sepoy Neki Ram was badly sick. He had high fever and lying
like a dead body. Therefore, they were only five effective
men. But, still, they held on to the fort.
There was total silence between 2200 hours and 0200 hours
in the night. They kept waiting for the final assault.Havildar
Bhag Singh was determined to fight till the last man last
round. He suddenly thought of something else. At about 0130
hours he collected other colleagues and told them,“Those of
you, who want to save their lives, can leave now. I will stay
and fight. But in case all of you stay with me then, we must
decide about one man,who should escape when only two fighting
men are left”.Everyone refused to desert him. They said in a
chorus, “ASSIN ITHE HI RAHANGE. ASSI MARANGE TE JIVANGE
IKATTHE. ASSIN EH HI KASAM KHAADDHI SI.(We will hang on.
We will live and die together. This is the vow we had taken
together.)”
But Bhag Singh had made his decision. He said to Lance Naik
Kushal Singh, “Tera nawan nawan viyah hoyaa hai. Tu bhajenga.
Tainu saadi khatir jaana hi pavega---Nahi duniya nun kaun
dasega ki assin 1962 di diwali kis tarah manaayi si. Mauka
milya taan saade ‘baal-vachyan’ nun mil ke kahani sunanaa.
(You are newly married. You have to get away from here---Also,
otherwise who will tell the rest of the world as to HOW DID
WE CELEBRATE THE DIWALI IN THE YEAR 1962? If you get an
opportunity you also must tell this storyto our children.)”
Lance Naik Kushal Singh protested but he was over ruled by
four others.
Exactly at 0210 hours, a fresh Chinese attack began from
the front. It was a major force.Havildar Bhag Singh shouted
at Lance Naik Kushal Singh, “Kushal, Mitra, huNH tu Chale ja.
(Kushal, my friend! Now you leave.)” Kushal resisted but he
was not listened to by the other four. Sepoy Neki Ram who was
lying sick with high temperature, murmured to Lance Naik,
“Kushal, Je Tu nahi gay ate main apne aap nu GOLI MAAR
LEVANGA. Meri rifle mainu de devo, USTAAD JI. (Kushal, if you
don’t go I will shoot myself. Give my rifle to me,Sir”
The assault by the Chinese had begun. There was rapid mortar
fire. Reluctantly Kushal Singh ran down the slopes and he was
running for two hours, till he hit ‘Zimithang’ village.It was
almost 4 .15 AM in the morning. He saw shadowy figures roaming
near the village gate. He got suspicious. As he got closer he
realized they were Chinese soldiers. He ran back and climbed
on to the hill. As he was climbing along a stiff gradient, he
slipped and fell down some 40 feet. He had become unconscious.

*********************************************************
Months,days and years passed.It was winter of 1987. Indian
army had adopted ‘forward posture’ on the Chinese border as
part of the 'DISUASIVE STRATEGY' of General Sundarji,then
Chief of army staff.Army had employed some porters from
Zimithang village. Tholma Apang,some 49 years old person, was
also one of the porters. One day while carrying water
jerricane on his back, Tholma slipped and fell unconscious.
When he regained his consciousness, he was totally shaken. He
came back home and told his wife and children that he would go
out for some days to Bomdilla.His mission was entirely
different.

******************************************************

When Tholma Apang reached Jalandhar Cantt, he got down from
the train. He realized how different Punjab was from
Arunachal Pradesh. He caught the bus for Village Balachaur
of Hoshiarpur district---the village of lance Naik Kushal
Singh of 9 PUNJAB. He straight away went to the house of
Bishan Singh—father of Kushal. When he reached he was told
that Sh.Bishan Singh had died some years back. He enquired
about Kushal’s wife. But Raj Bahadur’s wife (Kushal’s
youngest brother) told him that she had gone away to her
parents,after a few years. But some villagers told him that
she was thrown out by Raj Bahadur to grab the property. She
was living penniless in her parental village. He went to her
village "Thane" in "Kharar" Tehsil of "Ropar" district of
Punjab. He was late by two days. She had committed suicide
as her brother had also thrown her out of the house. Tholma
Apang was disappointed and wanted to return to his village
in Zimithang.

But before doing so, he went to the house of Havildar Bhag
Singh in Nakodar. After introducing himself as THOLMA APANG,
who had known Havildar Bhag Singh as a porter at Niti Post in
1962, he started narrating the story of valour of Havildar
Bhag Singh to his family.He was oblivious of the fact that
an old man was keenly listening to his story. As he finished
the story,of the DIWALI CELEBRATIONS of 1962,an old man of 60
years came in front of him. The old man said, “Kushal, you
have taken 25 years to come and narrate this story.”

Tholma Apang was stunned. He looked up; he found Havildar Bhag Singh in front of him. There were tears in Kushal's eyes. He narrated his story—how he had fell unconscious ---how he had lost his memory and how he was saved by a villager of Zimithang---whose name he had adopted along with his wife and children after real Tholma had died some years back. He also told him as to how he had regained his memory a few months back. Havildar Bhag Singh told him that all four of them were taken as prisoners. Neki ram was killed by the Chinese because he could not walk. They were tortured for months. Other three too, had died while in captivity and were given extreme physical torture. Somehow, Bhag Singh survived. Finally, he returned to India in 1963 after months of Chinese captivity.

Bhag Singh had retired as an Honorary Captain in 1975.Bhag
Singh advised Kushal to go back to his village–Balachaur and
claim his property to sort out his youngest brother who had
maltreated his WIFE, though of only few days. Kushal said
something and moved out of Bhag Singh’s house. He did not go
anywhere—neither to Balachaur nor to Zimithang. No one knows
where did he disappear? Bhag Singh tried to find him out but
he could not.Thereafter, Bhag Singh never celebrated any
DIWALI. He is over 81 today and it has been 21 years; No
lamps are lighted on DIWALI day in the house of BHAG SINGH.


Read more...

A HOUSE DIVIDED!

Once upon a time, this grandiose house was full of life-
Deserted premises, today, tell the story of a family strife;
A small but unusal issue had become a bone of contention-
Amongst brothers and sisters with ill-conceived intentions.

No doubts,it was a close knit family, full of mutual adulation,
They were close and proud of each other without hesitation;
Slowly and slowly, the clock hands had begun to tick away-
And loving children of "yesterday", became greedy adult of "today".

They had grown up in liberal environments with open minds,
They were given the freedom to marry anyone they could find;
It had thus become a cosmopolitan family in due course of time-
But individualistic and self-driven children could hardly rhyme.

Educated and informed, they had known their legal rights-
And lo! On what flimsy grounds had begun their family fight?;
The spark was provided by a desired site to pray to one's God!
Claiming supremacy of own god, each one sought a prime spot.

One son, who married a Christian, said, " We'll have a church",
The other one, a Hindu said, " Let a statue of "Rama" be perched;
The daughter, married to a Muslim, was also, not to be left behind---
She made her case for the images of her 'Prophet' to be enshrined.

The 'convertees' behaved dangerously than the true disciples of faith,
The parents cursed themselves for the 'unwanted freedom' they gave;
Mother soon became sick and uncared she left for her heavenly abode,
Father, aged and infirm, dubbed as moron, was thrown on the road.

One day came a cunning and scheming man from the far away land-
He observed the family members fighting over an issue so bland;
He suggested to divide the house equally amongst all the members-
And asked them to vacate their portions until a solution is rendered.

As soon as the house was vacated, the scheming man occupied it,
And the family members with their holy 'Gods', outside the house sit;
The days and months come and go, the scheming man does not go-
The family members cry aloud but no one listens to their tale of woe.

Thus, the family members and their 'Gods', weather the storm and rain-
While an outsider enjoys the house and its articles, so beautifully lain;
In a bid to divide the house for their 'Gods', family fell to a stranger's bait-
If one trusts an outsider to resolve its family disputes, this will be the fate.
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LAWS OF ABSURDITY & ‘ENB’ SYNDROME

In my 40 years dealing with human beings, both in the civil and military arena, I had come across certain unique features of human conduct and behaviour. I formulated them as three LAWS of ABSURDITY. To me, they characterize the Extreme Negative Behaviour (ENB)  of a normal human being. I had posted them some years back, too, but I feel it is relevant for all times, so I am re-posting it after refurbishing.

ENB is a mental posture of a normal human being, whereby, he tends to display negative responses in all sorts of situations. He might not be suffering from a psychic disorder. Do not also confuse with a schizophrenic personality. They are mentally sick people. I am talking about a Perfectly Normal Person (PNP) with no abnormalities. You will find such persons in your day to day dealings, who will announce their disagreement with you even before you have completed your argument or statement. These ‘Constant Nut Shakers' (CNS) have a perennial ‘NO’ on their lips if you suggest anything new to them. They become habitually negative. When the Negativity takes an extreme stand in their day to day conduct we refer to them as afflicted by ENB syndrome. Basically, this bulging club of people suffering from ENB Syndrome includes in its ranks government servants and professionals alike. There are no exceptions.

Having had dealt with thousands of human-beings over a career span of 40 years under different kind of situations, ranging from ‘death-defying missions’ through ‘Film Stars Nights’ to whimsical needs of ‘Hospitality Industry’, I have observed that ENB syndrome is more pronounced in an age group of people between 30-60 years of age. It is because of the auto-activation of ‘defence mechanism’ in the man suffering from ‘social and financial insecurity’. Ironically, this is the age group which is hyperactive in all spheres of human activity, at any given time. All of them might not be victim of ENB but bulk of them will display some tinges of ‘Negativism’ in their conduct.

While some amount of ‘Negative’ behaviour is not bad but its repetitive streak pushes man into the sphere of ABSURDITY. Generally, the man suffering from ‘ENB syndrome’ will be governed by the LAWS OF ABSURDITY. In my experiences of dealing with human beings, I have found there were THREE ‘Laws of Absurdity’ which characterize the general conduct of people under the spell of ENB Syndrome. These are: namely, Law of BIASED MIND, Law of PARANOID MIND and the Law of LOVE-FAILED MIND. I will briefly explain them in the paragraphs appended below.

‘THE LAW OF BIASED MIND’. They are prejudiced people who eat, drink, sleep and dream “HATE”. They are people with a mental disposition of, “I HATE EVIL BUT YOU ALONE ARE THE EVIL.” Their mind functions only one way----any other way, they come under ENB spell. They are UNI-DIRECTIONAL in their conduct. The moment they get into unfamiliar grounds they switch on their ENB button. The conduct and behaviour of our political parties and leaders, today can be described as such. They suffer from fixation of mind which guides them in their conduct. These people are always focused on their well set targets. They can be ordinary people or most powerful personas. Pakistani military leadership’s anti-India disposition is reflective of the biased mind which will never allow any peace in the subcontinent. Modern electronic ‘media rivalry’ is another example of prejudiced and biased people drum-beating their piety while exposing others. They have an agenda to pursue which they do relentlessly. All their noise on the ills of others is basically aimed at hiding their own weaknesses. These kinds of people can be talked out of their mental state if one shows empathy towards their cause. They ought to be persistently told as to how self-destructive their hate could be? They must be made to realize that their hate is more harmful to them than their intended target. If not handled properly and allowed to pursue their agenda with impunity they graduate into the second law of absurdity, which is Law of Paranoid Mind.

‘THE LAW OF PARANOID MIND’. They are mentally hardened and stiffened people who have a negative world view. Their excessive hatred galvanizes them into thinking that they alone were the indispensable tools of “goodness”. These are the people who think the world around them was terribly wrong and they have the charter to do something to bring order to it. They suffer from ‘self-righteousness’. They move around with the DROPPED SHUTTERS of mind. In fact, they are best described by Thomas Harris as people with mental dispositions as “I AM OK, YOU ARE NOT OK”. Despots, Dictators, Powerful-Men around the world might display this inclination and tendency. Hitler’s hatred of Jews or George Bush’s obsession with late Saddam Hussein and Ossama Bin Laden’s hatred of Americans are some of its finest examples. Initially, this impelled them into their infamous acts, later when they graduated into third law , it became their addiction. These people are inebriated with self acclaimed virtues of self- greatness and self-righteousness. They disdain dissidence and difference of opinion. Intolerance is their chief characteristic. Such people are murderers and killers at large. Fundamentalists, Religious-Terrorists, Militants and Radicals also fall under this category because they are regimented for a cause and desensitized of human compassion. To them it is always “Us versus They”. While ‘us’ denotes ‘Puritanism and Good’; ‘they’ stands for ‘Satan and Evil’. So, their simple analogy is EITHER YOU ARE WITH THEM OR YOU ARE AGAINST THEM. There is no third option. You got to deal with these people firmly and carefully. They need to be constantly bombarded with the view that the world ought to be seen without their tinted glasses. Squeeze out the sense of self-righteousness in them. The destructive tinge acquired by them, if not corrected, leads them into the third law of ‘Love Failed Mind’. This is the most dangerous state of a human mind.

‘THE LAW OF LOVE-FAILED MIND’. It states: “IF ‘SHE’ CAN NOT BE MINE, SHE CAN NOT BELONG TO ANY ONE ELSE, TOO. KILL THE DAMSEL”. This is a destructive mind at its best. It has no logic and it follows no logic other than the one to destroy the ‘object of desire’, it could not procure or acquire. To be very frank, they do not listen to logic and it is pointless engaging then in discussion. They are totally desensitised and dehumanised. While dealing with them---- EXPECT NO MERCY AND SHOW NO MERCY. Some of the hard core killers and terrorist leaders fall into this category. Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, since 1990, is the result of failed romanticism of the ‘unfinished agenda of 1947’. Talks or no talks, it will 'blow hot and cold' on Kashmir only to surprise uncouth Indian Leadership. In the wake of rising clout of MULLAHS and TALIBANS in Pakistan, India’s pipe dream of peace in the subcontinent is a distant far-cry because with the rise of the religious fanatics in Pakistan, the threat of a civil war there is highly on the cards. President ZARDARI is tottering on one leg since the end of his honey moon with NAWAZ SHARRIEF. He might collapse any day due to inherent imbalance in his posture.

You will thus see that ENB syndrome gradually leads a person to dangerous and diabolic actions. The acid test to identify them in the early stages is their failure to appreciate the ‘do-gooders’ of society. They can not praise anyone. In every “GOOD” they will find “UGLINESS”. In a lighter vein though, I find the leaders of two major national parties i.e. CONGRESS and BJP actually suffering from tinges of ENB. They just can not praise each other's good. So is true of MULAYAM SINGH YADAV and MAYAWATI. Now KARAT's Left has joined this "ENB Brigade" as is the case of MAMTA BANNERJEE of TNC. I won't find DMK & AIADMK in Chennai any different. Somehow they see all "red "in each others "blue". Such an irrationality and negativism can not allow INDIA to deal with TERRORISM effectively.

The people suffering from 'ENB Syndromme' will be virtually cribbing, crying and criticizing everything. It is easier to cure them in the initial stages. As soon a man shows negative trends, remedial measures must be initiated to guard him against falling prey to ENB. Once they pass on to "Second law of Absurdity", they become difficult to handle and endanger the society, both locally and globally. India suffers because of this syndromme afflicting its political leadership. What is your take?

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THE FOOL- PROOF JUDGMENT (A SHORT STORY)

The defense counsel leaned forward in his chair to listen carefully to each word being uttered by her Lordship, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav, in a husky, baritone voice. The Prosecutor winked at the Defense counsel, a bit naughtily, as if conveying some coded message to him. The judge had begun:

“This case had generated more than required media interest, though I doubt it merits so much attention. But I suppose in the INFORMATION AGE, every one wants to create information out of information. We, as a society, are becoming slaves of spicy tidbits which media excels in generating”, her lordship had taken the dig at new found ‘Media Activism’ as a rejoinder, probably, to counter media concocted phrase of ‘Judicial Activism’.

In all fairness, the judge was disturbed with the unwanted hype being given by the media on the Stampeding of some pedestrians by a MERCEDES CAR driven by the son of a top business man of Haryana in the year 2001. Mrs. Ranjana Yadav, the trial judge of the case was known for social graces and sociability. She was the most popular judge amongst the high court lawyers. Soft spoken, suave and dignified, she was known for good behavior both inside and outside the court. She never interrupted a lawyer during his arguments of a case. Generally, all high profile cases of politicians, business men and bureaucrats were handled by her being the senior most judge of the High court.

The judge had resumed after some time. She spoke for about hour and a half. She did not pronounce any judgment but reserved her judgment till 5 PM because she wanted to consider various angles. In this session she had allowed the defence and prosecution to close their arguments. She had said, “-----------------------Take this case of Mercedes car allegedly over running a few pedestrians------I am afraid--------I ------- some conclusions because------------ O K--- I reserve my verdict till 5 PM, today. It is 11 AM, now; I have six hours to write my judgment. The Court is adjourned till then”, the Judge, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav had declared and moved into her chambers.



******************************************************************************

The present case involved the grand-son of a business tycoon of Haryana—a neo rich, who had a typical ‘rag to riches story’. He had risen from Mr. NOBODY to Mr. BUSYBODY over the last 17 years of liberalization of Indian economy. Mr. Niranjan Bansal, the business man, was a street hawker till about 20 years back. He used to sell CHAAT (spicy fast food) near Chandigarh bus stand in sector-17. His clientage varied from the Rickshaw pullers to coolies and daily wagers. A rickshaw puller, Sohan Singh had become his friend sometimes in 1990. Sohan Singh, used to keep his money with him. Though, he was a rickshaw puller but he used to get a lot of money from somewhere, which he often told Niranjan that it had come from his relatives in Canada. Niranjan had always wondered on this but never questioned Sohan Singh. He used this money for starting his own small business of selling readymade garments. His two sons, Virender and Jatinder began to help him in this business. Both of them had not attended the school beyond 8th class.

Then one day Sohan Singh disappeared. No one knows what happened to him. Some say, he was a terrorist, who lived under the guise of a rickshaw puller and he went out of the country to escape arrest. Police had questioned Niranjan on this two or three time. Niranjan always showed his ignorance of Sohan Singh to the policemen. He had told the police that Sohan Singh was one of his regular customers and nothing else. Some say, Sohan Singh had been killed by the police in an encounter. But the most popular story was that he was a drug-peddler and he often visited Pakistan in this connection. It was rumored that Niranjan and his two sons were his equal partners in smuggling of drugs. He was last seen with Jatinder and Virender at Jallandhar Bus Stand, some 18 years back. It seemed they had betrayed him.

The garment business of Niranjan and his two sons had flourished and they became rich. They diversified their business and became property dealers. Politicians, Bureaucrats and all big-wigs of society, in Northern India, were at their beck and call. They had fleet of Mercedes cars. All this was acquired within the last 15-16 years. Some questioned their business ethics but they say, in the India of today, who cared for ethics? Jatinder had a son, Surinder Bansal---a 26 years old school drop out. He was fond of fast driving in his Mercedes—presented to him by his father. One day, in the evening of September 21 2001, near the 17 sector Chandigarh bus stand, he over ran some pedestrians with his Mercedes. He was arrested but let off by the police for lack of evidence. However, under media and public pressure the police had to reopen the case and charge him with negligible driving leading to death of five persons. The case had lingered on for seven years. Many witnesses had turned hostile. Some had disappeared. Some others found their names having been deleted. The general accusation was that MONEY BAGS of "BANSALS" had done the trick. But there were no 'proofs' and evidences for such claims.

It was this case that the judge, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav was going to give her judgment, today. The court room was full of media, both from electronic and print. The media people shrugged their shoulders when judge made a caustic remark on the media. None protested, as media people knew they had been somewhat guilty of 'Media-Trials' . When the learned judge had spoken there was a pin drop silence. The case had created a lot of media and public interest. Everyone wanted to know whether truth would prevail or it would be buried deep under the weight of money due to hostile witnesses and lack of identification of Surinder Bansal, the accused driver of Mercedes.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Suneet Garg, the defense counsel of Surinder Bansal, was in his chamber when his mobile rang. It was Jatinder Bansal who wanted to know the progress of the case.

Suneet replied, “The court has been adjourned till 5 PM. The honorable judge has reserved her judgment till then.”

“Sab theek hai Na. Packet Pahunch gaye kya?”(Is everything all right? Have the packets reached?” Jatinder had enquired.

“I will check with MIKE for those two packets. Om Parkash was properly briefed by me. Rests of the packets are with me. How much is her packet weighing? It should be nothing less than 25 Kg.” Suneet had responded.

“Dekh lo bhai. Mere ko bataa dena ki mil gaye hain” Jatinder disconnected the mobile so saying.

***************************************************************************************************

Mohit kaushal had a hectic day. As a public prosecutor his life was very busy. He wanted to just sleep in his cabin till 4.30 PM before the court reassembled. As he closed his eyes, his mobile rang up. It was his lawyer friend, Sunny, on the other side.

“Mohit, yaar, there was a lot of harangues by the boss, today. CHHORI KE SAATH SETTING HAI NA; DHOKHA TOH NAHI DEGI (I hope you have a good equation with this girl. Hope she won’t ditch). I am a bit suspicious. Will everything be OK?” sunny was saying.

“Yes, yes! Do not worry. She had to make this noise to silence these “JHOLHE-WALLAS” (persons carrying bags like the journalists) you see. Tanne packets toh bhej diye na? Arre, bahut pahunchi hui cheez hai yeh aurat. Agar packet nahi mila to sara kara dhara mitti mein mil jayega. Jhat plaatty maar legi. Fir manne Na kehna.“ (Have you sent the packets? This lady is very fast. If she did not get the packet she will turn the tables on you. Then, don’t blame me.).Mohit advised.

“Yes, it is 25 Kg. Apples” Sunny informed.

“How about my 10 kg?” Mohit checked up.

“It is on the way. Om Parkash, my PA, will be reaching you any time. He was to go first to the madam’s residence and then come to you.” Sunny had clarified.

“Ok. Please note, she will wait till 4.30 PM and then make up her mind. If she does not get the apples by then, you know what might happen” Mohit warned and switched off.

Exactly at 4.20 PM, Mohit’s mobile rang again. It was the court room orderly. He asked,” Sir, madam is asking if you would be ready by 4.30 PM?”

“Yes, yes! We will be ready. I have sent all the documents with my final arguments to madam‘s residence. My messenger OM Parkash would have reached her.” Mohit had replied. But the orderly replied,” Madam is at her residence only. No one has reached so far. She will leave for the court in next five minutes.” The court room orderly had so informed Mohit and disconnected.

****************************************************************************************************

The court reassembled exactly at 5PM. The trial judge had resumed her address. She went on, “I am a person of law. I do not go by emotions and human passions, certainly not by media created pyramid of reasons and counter-reasons. It is not required and the law does not approve of it. All the same, one must remember, judges are also human beings. They, too, have emotions—both positive and negative. They also react, over-react, and under-react on every piece of information finding its way into the ‘Gossip-Bazaar ‘of media. But all this is within our selves. Our emotions do not and can not spill out of us. There have been times when I get sick of irresponsible arguments. I never understand as to why each one of us views issues in an isolated manner and not in a holistic manner. Security forces only think of security; Media only of information; politicians only of politics and lawyers only of legalities. Why can not we debate in our inner-self about the impact of our intended act on the other limbs of society and the polity? Why don’t we define our limits to check us from being dubbed as irresponsible in pursuing single-minded objective? Shouldn’t we say, “Thus far I go, for, territory beyond this is a prohibited area?” Notwithstanding our well-meaning intentions and motives, but as members of a civilized and a dignified society, we are lacking in self-discipline and self-restraints. Take this case”, the judge said with a deep sigh and then continued:

“I have tried my best to keep my personal feelings out of it. As a judge, my job demands a hard solid evidence to separate the chaff from wheat. I can not go by inferred logic and say, “Lo, behold! It is QED.” That is a mathematician’s job. I am not here to enhance my judicial TRP to swim along with popular sentiments. Well! It is the domain of the TV channels and they are welcome to try all the tricks up their sleeves. As a judge and upholder of our laws, I must note that THE ERRORS LIKE STRAWS UPON THE SURFACE FLOW, THOSE WHO ARE IN SEARCH OF TRUTH MUST DIVE BELOW. I, therefore, had to do deep-sea diving in this raging sea of arguments and counter arguments; followed by counter-counter arguments and counter-counter-counter arguments. I had to sift the real evidence from the heap of non-evidence. I am bound by this evidence in coming to certain conclusions on this case. It might disappoint some and cheer up others. But as I have already said I am not here for a popularity contest”, her lordship stopped a while to take a few sips of water and then resumed.

“My judgment runs into 143 typed pages. I am going to read only the operative parts of my judicial verdict. It is a unique case. I find the police and the prosecution lacking in their role. Alfred Hitchcock, the doyen of Horror Movies, had said, ‘I AM NOT ANTI –POLICE BUT I AM AFRAID OF POLICE.’ Is it true in our case, too? I feel our investigating agency has somewhat slipped deliberately or carelessly but it does not mean that the accused was totally innocent. The way this case has gone, a question kept nibbling at my conscience during the hearing and it was: Is our legal system fool proof? I have been reading about the debate raging across the length and breadth of the country.

In my way of thinking, it was a non-issue. The debate is meaningless. The institutions of a society are its mirror-image. All institutes, social, political, legal, military and whatever function like a computer---GIGO---GARBAGE IN; GARBAGE OUT. Who are the people practicing law in India? They are all Indians? No one has come from heavens or GOD's own country. So, the LEGAL SYSTEM IS THE MIRROR OF OUR SOCIETY. Why blame judges, lawyers and the investigating agencies? INDIA, THEY SAY IS BIG CONSUMER MARKET. Everything here is on sale, from law to moralities. Whatever happens in our society, is also reflected in our judicial life. There will be temptations and lurements but it depends on individuals if they can resist the temptations or not—whether simple policemen or the lawyers or even the judges. I am afraid I can not allow the high and mighty of the society get away by using their money power.” She looked at the prosecutor, Mohit Kaushal, who was stunned.
He knew something has gone wrong. He looked at the defense counsel who stood nonplussed. The accused was shocked. The judge was saying things what was not expected. This sudden talk of moralities had convinced everyone that something was wrong. There were loud whispers in the court room.
The judge ordered silence and continued her address, “As I said, the accused has committed a serious crime. Despite all out efforts by everyone to save him, he is guilty though not conclusively but circumstantial evidence can not be ignored. Five people have been killed a mercedes over running them. We know who owns the Mercedes in the region. Though he has been helped by the poor investigations and faulty prosecution but there are eye witnesses who had seen the mercedes with the said number. Technically, he might say he was innocent but there was enough evidence to prove that he drove the car on the fateful day. It has been admitted by his co-accused. I therefore hold him guilty of rash and negligent driving which lead to the loss of five valuable lives. I sentence him to seven years rigorous imprisonment.” So saying judge had disappeared into her chambers. Every one was shocked. Mohit Kaushal was totally at a loss. He guessed that the apples might not have reached in time.



****************************************************************************************************

It was six PM and Mohit was getting ready to leave his office, when he found an Inspector of Chandigarh police along with Om Parkash, Suneet’s PA, entering his office. Om Parkash was hand cuffed. When he heard the story from the police Inspector, Mohit denied everything about it. He just said “I don’t know. This is nonsense. It is ridiculous. You better check with Suneet Garg”

The police inspector had informed that Mr. Om Parkash had delivered a packet containing Rs 25 Lakhs at the residence of Justice Ranjana Singh, saying the packet has been sent from Karnal. He had another packet which was to be delivered to Mr Mohit Kaushal. It had contained Rs. 10 lakhs. On enquiry it was found out that the packets were given by Mr. Suneet Garg, the defence Counsel of Surinder Bansal. This is what Mohit Kaushal had denied.

“The Tribune Times” a Chandigarh daily, carried an article on 22 September 2008, where the correspondent, Mr. Naveen Malhotra, had alleged that there was corruption in the judiciary. The COURT CASES WERE GENERALLY FIXED by the PROSECUTOR and THE DEFENCE COUNSELS. Besides this case, he had also cited the case of TWO FAMOUS DELHI LAWYERS who had been found guilty by the Supreme Court for FIXING the CBI CASES. He had , therefore, claimed that money bags can buy justice in India, while poor were sent to jail on flimsy grounds. He quoted JESSICA LAL MURDER CASE where attempt was made to hoodwink the law but for the media and the public.
The same thing had happened in the BMW, hit and run case of New Delhi. The article had alleged that Rs 25 lakhs delivered at Justice Ranjana Singh’s place was a mistake. Probably, it was meant to be delivered at Justice Ranjana Yadav’s residence, who was the trial judge of Surinder Bansal, grandson of business tycoon, Niranjan Bansal of Karnal. Naveen had stated that a simple error of the PA of Suneet Garg, the defense Counsel, led to this major faux pax.

The concluding remarks of NAVEEN were that it seemed the LAST BASTION OF MORALITY IN INDIA WAS ALSO COLLAPSING. According to him, the courts had become the PLAYGROUNDS OF FIXERS and PERSONS with MONEY BAGS. He had unabashedly stated that JUSTICE in India, not only can be manipulated but can also be purchased. He had contended that we were having a legal system with serious LOOP HOLES. Justice just leaks out of them. God save the common man---------------------------------. The article went on to give various details of cases of corruption against judiciary from lowest level to highest level.--------------- it was, also, alleged that some people at the lower level in the judicial service might have connections with underworld, too. Recently, a metropolitan judge in Mumbai was sacked for this.--------------------------------Naveen Malhotra had quoted instances after instances of judicial corruption. I"t made a very sad reading-------------------
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Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat, I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.

This is the english translation of my HINDI GAZAL, " THEHARA JAA O' JINDAGI! KUCHH TOH KARO RAFTAR KUMM". This is for those who do not understand Hindustani. This is there on my HINDI BLOG--"THOUGHT MACHINE"

Thanks. Please read On:-


Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


It were those childhood dreams, which I passionately chased;

Got so embroiled in them that fun of my youth I had missed.

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


Many a goals I had achieved but I was never to be contented,

As the race went on, sorrow and ecstasy were both presented.

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


There were those times when 'life' moved slowly, so did I;

I don't know how it happened, but suddenly 'life' began to fly?

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


In this fast moving life, I came across land- mark destinations-

At times, my feet stumbled or it were simple miscalculations.

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


'Relatives- worries' or the 'pressure of my job' were never kind;

Also, the future of my children constantly troubled my mind?

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


I was so engrossed with the worries of the future, my dear!

I have no clue when my face aged and body had wear and tear.

Halt there, O' dear life! please reduce your speed somewhat,

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.


I lament, I wasted my time always worrying for others,

Time to take rest now "Rajee", your tired feet dodder.

Halt, O' dear Life! Please reduce your speed somewhat;

I have been constantly on the move, let me have some rest.
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TO MY GREAT GRAND CHILD--WHEN I BECAME THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA!

It is the year 2008. When you read this write-up, we might be around halfway down the 21st century or say it might be between the years 2045-50. Am I right? Anyway does not matter.

Why do I write to you? Well, it is to inform you as to how I had nearly changed the course of the Indian society you live in or at least identify with? To be very frank, I had almost pulled it out of the abyss it had got into and had a vision to give it new direction.

I am not very sure whether you are an Indian citizen or US. Your grandfather had left India’s shores in the year 2006 AD because he found there were no opportunities for talent and merit, then. He had hated this kind of uncertain, unequal and imbalanced approach at the national level. He was bubbling with enthusiasm to grow in life, wanted to race to sky in shortest possible time. He had no chance to make it here, so he left. He could do so but I could not. The difference was my emotional attachment with this soil. I was the son of a farmer; he was the son of a senior army officer---the difference in status made all the difference. I resolved to stay and fight it on.

But India, then, was a mass of incompetent, inefficient corrupt, scandalous, greedy and immoral leaders, whether political, regional, religious, administrative or whatever walk of life. India was too engrossed with trivial matters because focus was on individual identities. Political parties to religions to regions—every thing had become personal fiefdom of a few individuals. And these one percent people with personal agendas decided the fate of other 99 percent.

There was time in 1992 that India had to fly all its gold to UK to mortgage it to take loans to get out of the murky financial state, India had landed in due to years of faulty Economic planning. A man called Man Mohan Singh rose phoenix like from the economic ruins and put us on a liberal growth and development. Over the years, the growth became lopsided, the rich became richer and poor became poorest. A nation of 1160 million people had become a real mess within 15 years of liberalization. Conditions like French revolution of 1789 had been created.

Everywhere there was noise of reservation based on religion, caste and region. There were unwanted debates on non-issues like secularism, religion, freedom liberty, media rights, democracy, judicial corruption, political indifference. Violence and corruption had reached a level of ‘no-return’. Terrorism and militancy had raised inexorable head. Every region, religion and community was singing its own songs. In this INDIA hardly any INDIAN lived.

You will wonder why? My answer is simple. No one was interested in India and Indianess. We were Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. If this was not adequate, we divided ourselves into Punjabis, Tamils, Marathas, Guajarati, Kashmiris, Asamese, Nagas, Biharis, Mizos, Manipuris, Bengalis, Sikkimese, Rajsthanis and what not. We failed to identify ourselves with India. This was so both with educated and illiterate. In fact educated elite identified itself more with religious, regional and lingual identities. A Raj Thakre here and Mehbooba Mufti there, would start an agitation either on what language people should speak in a particular region or why a piece of land should not be given to some community. No one was interested in the real problems of the people. THE EDUCATED ELITE HAD MISGUIDED THEIR COMMUNITIES, CASTES, RELIGIONS, REGIONS and LINGUAL FRATENITIES in ORDER TO RETAIN THEIR GRIPS ON THEM. We know from our history that it was the biggest bane of Indian society to allow itself to be emotionally exploited on these grounds. We were thus a nation waiting to be fragmented when I stepped in.

The World Bank report that year had stated that 42 percent Indians live on Rs 30 a day. It is a laughable sum for you today, because you might be getting a pocket money of rupees 30/- second. I am sure India in your times must be a prosperous nation. But it was ranked 94th poor country in my times. It was no where in sports. The nation went mad with celebrations after three of its people had won three medals in Beijing Olympics. Imagine 1.16 billion people and three medals. Even Jamaica was miles ahead. It is not even one-tenth of India in size and population.

All the same, there was no dearth of talents and ideas in my times. You needed a person who could divert the attention of the nation from the frivolous fights. You needed a strong man—almost a dictator to push forward his selfless agenda ruthlessly, no matter, if some genuine people suffer. This was the premium nation had to pay for its development and growth at par with its biggest competitor of your times, i.e. People Republic of China. They were many years ahead of us and they had proved it in the BEIJING OLYMPICS they had organized in 2008. It had happened because the priority and focus of Chinese leadership was on growth, development and progress, through education, safety and security. They had said Liberty and democracy can be introduced in a controlled manner. I tell you, in the year2008, USA the SUPREME POWER of the world, then if at all was scared of competition it was China. All others, including India, were its “Surrogates”.

Fortunately, for India, a unique experiment was carried out by Election Commission of India. After the UPA government of Man Mohan Singh decided to have general elections, the commission realized that the cost of elections was unbearable for India. The reason was the uncertainty after the elections. Some concerned people raised hue and cry.

One of the front runners in that lot of concerned people was a patriotic Indian, temporarily settled and working in New York, USA. A son of a great teacher and philosopher, he had strong in built moral qualities. I do not know his real name because he never showed up after that. His pen name was Ramesh 007. He made a suggestion to election commission that voting be conducted on- line. This idea was supported by many right thinking people and I also jumped in.

After great deliberations, Election Commission Of India, decided to hold direct on-line elections for the Prime Minister. A web site, called SULEKHA. COM was given this task. This had millions of Indians as its on-line menbers world wide. I won’t be surprised, if the membership had touched almost 4-500 millions. If this site is still there, check records with its management. I was member of this site. I used to blog there—not very popular because I was a straight forward and too out- spoken to be diplomatic. I could annoy friends when it came to speaking the truth. I never minced my words when pointing out the flaws in the flimsy poems of the people. I was overly critical. People say VIRGOS are like this. May be, my army background, also, prevented me from putting up an act.

Then, one day your great grand ma got annoyed on this because she felt I did not know how to appreciate people. She reminded me that I suffered from HALO EFFECT. It meant that I used to only look up to those people and appreciate those who exhibited similar views and sentiments. She forcefully told me that FIVE FINGERS were not equal. To say the least, I left writing poetry and stopped commenting on poets. If I did, I had to be there only with positive remarks, otherwise quietly scoot.

Anyway, I too gave my name as a candidate for election to the prime ministership. Surprisingly, when the election was held on line, the Sulekha population voted heavily in my favour. I was stunned, when results were announced. I was declared winner to be the Prime Minister of India. Luckily, I was free to choose my own ministers. I was going to be the strongest Prime Minister without any pulls and pressures of party politics. This was the turning point in the political history of India.

I was to take over with effect from October 01, 2008. I sat down to work out my priorities and remain focused on the. Prior to elections, I had been debating with my self on the real problems of India. My brainstorming with self and your great grand ma narrowed down my priorities. My quest ended with just an acronym of five words, i.e. SPICE. It represented Security (S), Population growth (P), Identity crisis (I), Government Controls (c) and lack of Education (E). I could reduce and relate all other problems to this denominator. Corruption, Violence, Terrorism, Insurgency, Communal riots, Regionalism, Lingual Upsurge and Religious Aggressiveness---all could be controlled if we tackled SPICE with earnest zeal and sincere purpose. These were my commandments of INDIA’s MARCH towards, growth, progress, development safety, security and INDIANISATION. I append them in the following paragraphs.

Security. It must be noted that nothing can be done unless there is peace and harmony. Growth and development can take place only if our homes are safe and secure. Today, danger to our security is more from internal foes, then external foes. We have to think of internal security. We have a large number of cleavages in terms of regional, communal, religious, lingual and ethnical troughs, which are vulnerable points for exploitation by our enemies today and in the future. I must act on two fronts of external threat and internal threat. Some of the measures I had planned to introduce were:-

-Vitalize and reorganize my internal security forces. We might have to have a rethink on the reorganization of state police mechanism to enable it to tackle violence, riots and terrorism, whether external or internal. Internal security force must be an all India force. Its members must be all India cadres. Each district of India should have a battalion of 1000 people placed along with the district police.

-Law and order must not be exclusively state subject. The power of the police should be cut down to only investigation and filing of criminal complaints. It must be made mandatory for each police station to file FIR in every case. The FIR lodging procedures must be simplified.

-Intelligence agencies be made more responsive to the modern day problems of violence, riots and terrorism. There should be only one agency controlling all kind of intelligence in the state.

-External security force be trimmed and made capable of fighting SMART and DESIGNER WARS. In so doing there is a requirement of greatest coordination amongst three forces. Thus the post of CDS (Chief of Defence Staff—A five star general) be created to closely and intimately control Army, navy and air force.

-Defence ministry be bifurcated into two wings i.e. IS (Internal Security) wing and ES (external security) Wing. Each wing must be placed under a minister of state for defence.

-CORRUPT and DERELICTING public servants. To remove insecurity from the public minds, public servants, including MLAs & MPS were to be summarily dismissed if found indulging in corrupt practices. All Public servants were asked to file annual return on purchase of items worth Rs 20,000 or more. Non-filing will invite not only confiscation but also dismissal.

-Media to be made responsible and partner in nation building. They will be debarred from propping up criminals and terrorists in the name of freedom of speech. There will be severe punishments.

Population Control This is the biggest bugbear of India. It is not getting any attention. Education has not been able to reduce the growth. It is really exploding. All the progress India makes is eaten up by its rising waves. It has to be checked, if need be forcibly. I am votary to what Sanjay Gandhi had thought of it some 33 years back. His point is as valid now as it was then. Unfortunately, some over jealous bureaucrats and politicians made a mess of his BEAUTIFUL POINT. Time has come when we have to launch ONE CHILD NORM forcibly. We will give incentives to those who have only one child. We will punish those who have more than one child. CARROT & STICK policy is needed to tackle this. This must be the national priority. Time had come for us to take HARSH measures as appended below:-

-Incentives in the form of free education up to post graduation.

-Accelerated Promotion will be given to those who are childless for first five

years of marriage. Double promotion to those who remain childless for 15 years of

marriage.

-Punitive actions in the form of loss of job, demotion and denial of

reservation in schools, colleges and government jobs.

-A Child tax be levied on those who have more than one child.

-Close monitor of population at district level. incentive to bureaucrats.

Identity Crisis. This is another major area I had planned to concentrate. I had simply planned to ban carrying of religions and regions on our sleeves. I had resolved to tell everyone that as long as I were the PRIME MINISTER, only Indians would live in India. All those with PAN-NATIONAL identities were welcome to leave for the nations, they adore. I had full scheme to ban all Govt officials, whether state or Central, from attending any religious and regional functions. All those being caught were to be summarily dismissed. The mention of religion and caste on any official documents was to be banned. I had visualised following stiff measures:-

-Any Indian can buy property anywhere in the country. All special laws would be withdrawn—such as hill states denying land to outsiders; some state not allowing purchase of agricultural land, if one was not a farmer. I had also decided to abrogate article 370. Some leaders from Kashmir would be rounded before hand and sent into IGNONIMITY for a year. All second rung leaders were also to be arrested and sent to places, their forefathers had not visited. Kashmir will squeak for few days and then quite will flow the VITSTA RIVER (Jhelum) for rest of my tenure. I will never hear those vociferous Kashmir’s ISI agents, masquerading as leaders. I had learnt this from Sh Beant Singh and Hiteshwar Saikia, both chief Ministers of their states, Punjab and Assam respectively in the early 90’s. After their death, India never had a nationalistic leader of their stature.

-ONE COUNTRY ONE LAW. India is for Indians. Call it secular or Non-secular but there will be only one law for everyone—whatever religion or region one belongs to. I had planned to this incorporate in the constitution. I had already thought of abrogating special privileges to various states. All cases of reservations on caste, creed and backwardness were to be considered keeping in mind population law. I will stop the open ending philosophy of reservation. I will fix the time of five years. No more reservation, thereafter as we were having free and compulsory education up to graduation level.

-Identity number I had planned to give an identity number to each Indian. This would be his real identity. This number would be given at the time of birth registration and it will continue through out one’s life. It would have replaced religion and caste based names ultimately. This would have helped ending the caste, creed and religious divisions. This number had Mohalla/street/Town-city-village/district/state and 16 digits numerical number. It would have REPLACED INDIVIDUAL NAMES—the root cause of all our problems which keep CASTE, CREED and RELIGION publically alive. It might take some time in implementation. There are bureaucratic and vested interest objections. But I will push through if I am elected for one more tenure.

Government Controls The main reason for corruption is when powers are centered in some persons. I intend to reduce government intervention and controls in all spheres. We have had enough of this BUREAUCRATIC-CONTRACTOR- POLITICIAN nexus. More controls help only some people. Government will oversee and not get involved in managing things. We will disinvest freely. I will study more after I take over and then see what else can be done.

Education It will be free for everyone up to graduation level except professional education. The professional education will begin only after normal graduation. We want Indians to be well aware of what a graduate ought to know. There will be one syllabus for the whole country. It will be standardized. I will discourage Private schools. All religious schools and institutes will be closed. If they want to have community -specific schools, they will provide free education as per the standardized syllabus. Admissions will have to be given to all students without caste, creed and religious preferences. There will be severe punishments for drop outs and also for the parents.

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Dear Great grand child,
I wrote this letter before I was slated to take over as Prime Minister. I was all set mentally and prepared to do my duty earnestly. So, I waited anxiously. But, you see the time to take over never came. Why? Because your ‘great grand ma’ had woken me up from my sleep. And I was disturbed. I got up and came to my lap top. I rewrote whatever I had written to you in my dream and I am now posting it as a blog on SULEKHA BLOGS. Perhaps, one day you might read it. Won’t you dear, 8/B/N/P 9988776655443322 , my great grand child?


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