Pride

I have tried my hand on writing another fiction. Completely different from whatever I have written till now.I would love to hear comments from you people! Please spare your time after reading this..

He stood there glaring at the wide expanse of area in front of him being drenched in the torrential rains. His rotten clothes could hardly cover his already toughened body. But his worry was more to cross that wide area without being caught by the sniper bullets which will take a fraction of a second to hunt him down if the search lights spot him. The un-named security prison was built for the sole purpose of facilitating the extraction of information from foreign spies. The prison had seen only one escape in its whole history, but bad luck the prisoner was shot dead before he could cross the wide open area of 6 Square miles surrounding the security facility.

Ram was weak and not as agile as he was when he was captured, but 3 years of torture had built his endurance. Patiently he waited for darkness to cover the prison before he started to crawl. As he crawled after waiting for 2 hours his elbows started bleeding, his knees pained like hell, but still he successfully reached the other end of the open area. He felt like an Olympic Athlete who had got his Gold. He still had to reach the border before 0600 hrs so that by the time they finish checking the prisoner’s count he will be in his dear mother land, on his native soil.

Two days later: The Army hospital had never seen such activity or visits by so many high officials in last 20 years. Major General Vishwapratap singh was visiting the hospital that day to see that daring devil of a man who had escaped from the “Qayamat” prison [as named by his soldiers because of its fame of digesting many of their best officers]. Ram was enjoying the princely treatment he was receiving in the hospital [princely - compared to the one he was receiving in the prison]. Ram was weak and unable to walk because of a broken ligament. He had made friends with a sweeper named Subhash in the hospital.

The hospital had prepared itself for the visit of the Major general who rarely had visited a hospital in his life except as a patient. Major General Vishwapratap singh arrived sharply at 0900 hours as he had informed. He walked without stopping in his regular fast pace towards the room where Ram was reclining on his bed. Nobody even dared to give him directions though he dint need any. As Ram heard the foot steps he became stiff in his bed and the moment the saw the figure of the Major general in front of his door he tried to get up and salute his superior officer.

Major General Vishwapratap singh spoke “At rest lieutenant, no need to get up from the bed” [though the sentence reads like a soft one it sounded like a order to Ram and he dint move a bit from his bed] Ram said “Thanks you, sir”. Vishwapratap singh spoke back “That’s ok boy, but do you know what you have done, you have broken down the pride of our enemy nation and added much more pride to our nation.” He smiled as he spoke these words, then stiffening he spoke “I want you back in action in one month, your family will reach here by tomorrow you can spend time with them while you heal, and by next month you will have to report to the base again. We are planning for a commando mission to Qayamat and you will be the first in command of that mission. And I will send in Major Sivakumar to get all the information he could get from you about Qayamat.”

Ram was speechless for a moment – mixed feeling about meeting his family after a long time, about a commando mission to Qayamat –the death hole which he had just escaped. But before he could gather himself to push a word from his mouth Vishwapratap singh spoke again “Ok gentleman, all the best” and he turned to leave when he turned back as if he had forgot something and said “And yes I have recommended your name for the Nations highest order of awards – the golden cross”. And he left.

Don’t even imagine me to describe Rams feelings – totally mixed at that moment. The next day Major Sivakumar was supposed to reach there by 0700 hours to the hospital and start collecting details about Qayamat from the sole survivor of that place. When he reached the hospital he saw a huge crowd of soldiers who were guards in front of Ram’s room. Major Sivakumar thought “what the damn, so many people to listen the story of Ram, was I on a data collection trip or had I reached a public speech gathering,”

He made his way through the crowd of subordinates who were behaving like civilian fools who crowd in a political meeting, when he had just reached the door the sight was a total shock- Rams dead body was lying on the bed, his neck cut and most of his blood clotting on the floor to forma blackish mass but some blood was on the walls which formed the words “We are still proud of Qayamat”. The message of the spies of the enemy country was clear.

Near the bed Subhash stood with the national flag to cover the body of Ram who once thought that he had escaped Qayamat [death]. Any body, who had seen that gory scene that day, will never dare to compare the pride some one has for his own nation, whether he is a fellow country man or a citizen of the enemy nation.

Even an enemy can be forgiven but certainly not a traitor!

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With Love,

Image Courtesy : Google Images