Something we win, something we lose.(PART2)

“Faraz, put your hands up, where I can see them”, the voice brought me back to the senses. A military officer having a speaker in his one hand and a pistol in the other with a large patrolling party was referring that to me. 

“NO…, Allah, NO…, this can’t be true.” I retaliated, with a flash I hurled out my AK and fired it on my new companions. I needed cover, but from what, haven’t I came prepared for this. This is what, I was preparing for, isn’t it.? With cover fire I was able to get into deep woods, but then I realized, ambush was going to be of no avail, I was surrounded, “erghh, these informers”, I cursed.

 I ran far enough to get out of the sight of the military personnel and sat in a dingy makeshift hut, must have been of some woodcutters. The radio frequency was not there so I couldn’t contact Zubeen, she would be worried. But then I realized that I was given a task, a task that I have to do at all cost. I remembered the famous quote from Nietzsche, ”He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How”. “Yes, yes he was right”, I thought to myself. I opened my bag to look for the material I brought with me, it was there, “Thank God, Allah is with me”,I sighed after reassuring that the contents were not lost.

 Sun sank soon as the valley experience shorter days in winter, with a bag as my cloak and a few dry fruits as my dinner, I reposed in that hut. Neither the chilling winter nor the hunger was the reason I couldn’t sleep, it was her, my meethi. I was a trained soldier, “service comes first”, we were embedded with this thought but still for that moment I was afraid, “what if the bullet of that officer would have hit me? What would happen to zubeen? What would happen to peeshi? My sweetheart..” the moment that thought crossed my mind I went to my wallet to look at the photograph of my little world.

 It was peeshi’s fifth birthday anniversary, and we went for a shikara ride, there she is effloresced, smiling as always. I remembered how we used to go to drop her to school, her kindergarten, we were living a great life. A professor, living in his world full of happiness, along with his loving and simple wife and his sweet little daughter. “What has happened to us? How have I come to this?” BAM!! BAM!! My hut’s door thumped and brought me back, in an instant I brought my gun out of my bag and the door slowly opened and I couldn’t utter a word after what I was looking at…