AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 252 of 332 “The day after?” I confirmed, remembering Kargil. The terrain captivated me. In Kargil, nature stood with a grim, awesome beauty. A difficult terrain at best with its vast, towering mountains, a biting, cold wind wraps itself around you, making you feel small and insignificant. We shared a joke, some family ribbing, confirmed the expected time of arrival at Srinagar and after assuring him that I would pick him up, I hung up. And then I realized that Ashwani did not have my current address. I had shifted a few days ago. I would reach the bus stand well before the expected time. I was concerned. Ashwani would be travelling over the Zoji La Pass, a daunting, treacherous terrain where accidents weren’t infrequent and loss of lives quite common. ******* In addition to my administrative duties, I was assigned the duty of securing the base along with the adjoining civil airport. Operation Blue Star and the consequent death of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had heightened terrorist threats to the base and to the civil airport in the past few months. I had been allocated a One Ton army vehicle and Hawaldar Ram Singh on deputation from the army to assist me in my security duties. Hawaldar Ram Singh, at 5 feet 6 inches was a head shorter than me. Stocky and middle- aged, his thick, curling moustache stood out in an otherwise non-descript persona. His balding head was smooth with thin, short hair on the edges. After years of army service, the Air Force environment was still new to him. Although I am a Kashmiri by birth, I grew up almost entirely in entirely in Rajasthan and consider it my home place. Hailing from Kathputli in Rajasthan, Ram Singh developed a strong bond with me and this showed in the form of fierce loyalty and devotion. And, that’s where my story truly begins. The next day at office, time was slow to move. Thoughts went down the memory lane unbidden. Youngest of the 3 of us, Ashwani was born after me and our sister, Anita. At last, I patrolled the campus for a final security round and the day came to an end. “Ram Singh,” I said, stepping off the One Ton at my house. “Ashwani bhai is coming from Kargil tomorrow. We’ll leave early at 4:00 0’ clock to pick him up at the government bus stand.” Ram Singh was curious, “Sahebji where is bhaiyya working?”