Kashmiri lullaby

C H A P T E R 4

I ran.

I ran all the way from the hill, to the hospital, where the army was already barricading.

But not before leaving Shreya at the protection camp near the army centre. She was crying, worrying about her family and I promised her I would send somebody and have them shift her family there.

She had held my hand and asked me to take care. And I had promised her I would be back, with my brother and my mother.

I would be back.

I rushed breathlessly to the barricade, the area bustling with army men. But the area was silent. Eerily silent for a place struck by terrorists.

"Brijdas!" I cried upon reaching the front of the barricade, he was holding a walkie talkie, busily talking over it. He huffed a sigh of relief when he saw me.

"Sir! Where have you been?" I opened my mouth to answer but he ignored it. He pushed the walkie talkie in my hand. "The general" he said hushily.

"Sir! Major Zaheer Azhar speaking!" I said as I eyed the hospital.

"Major, you have been neglecting your duties!" Came the loud reply. "What have you been thinking? Is this your school? Do you think this is as simple as skipping classes?" He chastised me.

"Sorry sir!" I tried keeping my tone respectful, and not cuss at him. Was this the time to discipline someone or control the situation at hand?

"The situation at hand is not good" he said. "The media is reporting the incident. The government and the headquarters are working to suppress the news. I want you to block every media person, and the others from recording on any devic-"

I interjected him. My blood was pumping in my head. Controlling the media? Not let the info leak? My breathing came out rushed as I understood what was happening.

"What about the people?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. The other end of the connection was silent for a while, and the two barring sides in my head, for the first time, where of the same opinion.

"You know how things work here, Zaheer. You aren't new. Peace has to be kept. And lives have to be sacrificed, to keep the peace" he said.

My head was already aching. My mind was slowly loosing control of my body. My hands started shaking.

'zaheer' Abba had said, that day, my last memory of him. 'you must take care of your ammi and your brother.' he had smiled at me. And even rubbed my head fondly.

'abba, you can also take care of them!' I had replied. 'I don't like him, Amir, he is weird. And ammi is your wife, why should I take care of her?' I complained. And he laughed as he crouched down at my height. He was a tall man, and I was six years old.

'zaheer, Amir is your brother, and ammi is your mother. They are your family. And you must take care of them. Because you are a man.' he smiled, his eyes crinkling. 'you must always take care of them. They are your responsibility, and I have somewhere to be. I won't be at ease if someone is not taking care of them.' I had stared at him. And then I had extended my pinkie finger to him.

'fine' I had said 'but only until you come back, okay?' and he laughed again.

'okay. Until I come back' and he crossed our fingers together.

Until he comes back......

He hasn't come back yet.

I took a sharp breathe. "But my brother and my mother are inside" I said in the walkie talkie. Brijdas looked at me. Some form of pity in his eyes, something I couldn't comprehend.