Scribble : She came draped in a silk saree to meet her love. He came, draped in Indian flag.
'Bola tha mein ne tumko, Sanyukta. Mat karna usse shaadi. Pachtaogi tum. Lekin, meri beti ko toh apni hi manmaani karni thi. Lo dekho abhi! Chhod kar chala gaya naa tumhe. Us besharam insaan ko zara sa bhi ehsaas nahi hai meri beti aur uski patni pe kya beet rahi hai. Naa hi sirf mujhe par tumhe bhi log taane sunate hai. Baghode ki patni khelaati ho tum. Kitni baatein banate hai log tumhare aur uske baare me. Ek toh vo pahele se nalayak tha. Kabhi usne koi dhang ka kaam nahi kiya. Sanyukta, abhi bhi waqt hai. Aryan se shaadi kar lo. Acha kasha kamata bhi hai, ghar parivaar bhi bahut acha hai .. ' 60 year old concerned father, Mr. Kishore Aggrawal was interrupted by his 35 years old stubborn daughter. 'Papa, Randhir vaisa nahi hai. Vo zaroor aayega vapas. Aap samjhte kyun nahi ho' 'Sanyukta, mere samjhne se kya hone wala hai. Mein Narendra Modi nahi hu, jo poore desh me ailaan kar du, meri beti ke baare baatein mat banao. Baap hu tumhara. Bhala chahta hu tumhara. Log mujhe bolenge toh chalega lekin vo tumhare baare mein bakwaas karte hai, zara bhi sehen nahi hota hai. Tumhari maa toh rahi nahi, jiski tum baat sunti aur samjhti thi. Aur tumhe pahele se yeh aadat thi, mere khilaaf jaane ki. Dekh lo tumhe jo karna hai. Meri salaa maano toh Aryan se shaadi kar lo, poori zindagi padi hai tumhare paas. Jo insaan 8 saal mein ek bhi baar muh nahi dikhaya vo kya kaakh tumhare zindagi me vapas aayega. Aage tum aur tumhari zidd' He coughed hard as he let out his concerns as taunts. His few decade long asthma signs made Sanyukta freak out, thereby she rushed herself in the kitchen, to get a glass of water with his medicine along with the pump, which he needed badly, at the moment. 'Kya papa, aap bhi! Kyun khosna rehte hai Randhir ko, itna! Jaisa bhi hai mere pati parmeshwar hai. Aur rahi baat Aryan ki, uske liye pahele mujhe Randhir ko divorce dena hoga,naa.' 'Lo, kar lo baat. Jo insaan tumse contact me hi nahi hai peechle 8 saal se, tumko usse divorce chahiye! Ajeeb hai tumhara, Sanyukta' He taunted her non-existent husband, at that very instance. 'Bas kijiye, papa. Ab aap jaake shaanti se so jaayiye, aaram se! Aaj ke liye kaafi tha.' She lead him to the room. After watching him fall asleep, she switched off his room light and head herself to her room, switched on the table lamp, slid out the drawer, took out her notepad and pick the pen from the pen-stand.
And she began to pen down 9th letter to her hubby ...
Dear, naa Jai Hind Col Shekhawat,
Again, I convinced myself to write this letter for my love, but it seems, it's lost in India's Bermuda Triangle, a place where letters are received, maybe but replies are long lost for ages. My life strike out another year without you and your reply. Hadn't I told my pappa about your decision to join Para SF, with all gratifications and love, he would have never accused you of anything in these past 8 years. It seems, you are gloomed by his humility when I decided not to disclose your identity. It's a wife's duty to be concerned for her husband's safety. And I know I am right! ;)
After spending few sleepless nights on the research, the results made me feel so damn proud of you. Your 8 year long efforts paid off. Your works are not only appreciated by Indian military and government official but it's appreciated internationally. That moment of happiness ! I so wish I could shared it with my father. Reading your articles across the official site of Indian Forces, my tears of joy seems no bound. One of them stated, you were offered Authority Head post from Belgium Naval Force, but you denied by simply stating your oath ' I, Col Randhir Singh Shekhawat hereby solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the India, as by the law established and that I will, as in duty bound honestly and faithfully, serve in the Regular Army and Union of India, and go wherever ordered, by land, sea or air, and that I will observe and obey all the commands of the President of Union of India and commands of any officer set above me, even to the peril of my life', it made the interviewer speechless, whole of the nation, proud and as a wife, being a part of glory. Darling, I want to say those 3 words ' Sorry, Thank you and Please' and you thought I would say 'I love you' 😂
Randhir, I shout out a heartfelt thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for me, my countrymen and my nation. Over these 8 years, I witnessed your unflinching resolve to do what is right and your constant putting of others before self. I am dumbstruck by your reflexive readiness and courage to intrude yourself into a deadly territory and guide your fellow mates to do same with the same inspiration as yours. No matter how much the citizens of this country treat and blame you and your mates as per ongoing situations and circumstances, you know it's only way to protect your motherland and people of this country.
I feel disgust to watch few authorities of this profession misuse their power to misguide young minds like you into the path, advocating anti-national mindset. Some of our neighboring nation set excellent example on this thoughts, I am not sure about my nation. I pity on those people who are antithesis of what you are and what you stand for. I believe, they are ones who favor separation and call aloud slogans to chop the nation which is served by Indian Forces, which you are part of, into million pieces and their routine is to rant our nation is plebiscite, yet complain about their freedom of speech when someone counters their insinuations with the hard facts. It is ridiculous when a person who know nothing about your tribulations or who have not experienced a minute of your life got a complete authority to enquire and judge your credibility to qualify your pension that you earned thousands over. It's too much loathing when all armchair analyst and media dimwits hold the responsibility to pronounce your actions careless and inept, and allowed to question if you or any of your mates deserved to be honored when any of them fall in line of the duty. I feel sorry on your behalf as one of the point of your job role states to treat such democrats and bureaucrats with all respect, which I doubt they deserve.
I request you, please don't let such people make you cynical about our countrymen. I don't want to be among those patriots who put up few Facebook posts, trend few tweets on Twitter on every occasion where we, people are moved episodically by the exploits of Indian Armed Forces. Cheering aloud when India beats Pakistan in a cricket match or compulsion to stand for the national anthem in the luxurious environment of a multiplex : This is exactly how we as a citizen brag around being patriotic.
Randhir, I never want you to be a part of self sacrificing event where you are remembered for one day and forgotten at another. I know, there are people who are willing to sacrifice in the understated way, which would never match your heroism, no matter how grateful they be.
I always had your back and always stood along. Come back, Randhir. I am independent enough to give us a peaceful life with all required comforts. I miss so much of you. It's so hard when you can't see your love's cheerful smile on his radiant face. I hope, We will be together soon.
Always & Forever,
Mrs. Sanyukta Randhir Singh Shekhawat
Putting down the pen at 120 degrees on the notepad, she wiped off her tears rolling down her face. She took the photo frame of her marriage resting at the opposite side of the table lamp, cringed herself holding the frame as close as she could, to feel his presence at the least proximity and talked under her breath 'Randhir! I love you so much. Please come back. Please'
Prologue:
Few months passed by, and one such day when she was busy with her daily kitchen chores after tutoring 12th grade teens, her phone buzzed with a call. Since the caller id flashed the complete number, which basically means a call from unknown, she attended that call after few seconds, maybe she had second thoughts whether or not, ignore the call. 'Mrs. Shekhawat, your husband is on the way home ...' Before the person on the other side could continue his talk, she jumped in the excitement, threw her hands in the air, as a result her cell phone fell on the couch luckily. She ran across the lanes announcing everywhere about her love and dear hubby's homecoming, little did she know, her father already received his official casket loaded with his personal stuffs by group of other officers, few weeks prior, in her absence.
Next day, her face glow had no bounds not because she just bathe but her hubby could arrive any moment, after 8 long years. She pulled our lavender shade Banarasi silk from her closet, gifted by her hubby on the event of their one month anniversary and in no time, she draped it around herself. She hooked up her short depth light weight mangalsutra, which was initially hooked by Randhir around her neckline while Pandit was chanting all required mantras. As she spread vermillion slightly at the centre of her forehead, she reminisced the evening of her marriage - that knot ceremony, that kanyadaan moment, hooking up short depth light weight mangalsutra along her neckline, that moment when he spread vermillion slightly at the centre of her forehead and a pinch of it fell on her nose, accidently and his shrugging of his nose to her's without anyone's notice in everyone's presence. Essh! She blushed hard as she re-winded his flashback.
And then, there was a knock at the door! Closing her eyes, she spoke within her breath 'Randhir!' as she rushed to open the door. 'Papa, mein darwaza khol rahi hu. Btw, aap ne yeh white color ke kapde kyun pehna hai?' She enquired her father who walked out of the room slowly, with no emotions pulled up over his face. To her surprise, bunch of neighbours who were invited by his father a day prior wore same colored outfit as that of her pappa. She found herself to be on tenterhooks. With the slow triumphs of the national anthem followed by parade of Army Soldiers, they brought in Randhir's cold body draped in Tricolor Flag. She was all stoned and all her reflexes failed to react. He divorced her in a good way, labeled her as a divorcee and a wife of Lt. Col Randhir Singh Shekhawat. That day, her father felt pride on his daughter's choice & his son-in-law's selfless sacrifice for the nation and decided never to accuse him ever. Deep down in her heart, she felt worthy enough to be his wife and his part of life. The guy who always carefree by his heart soon became responsible and mature enough to sacrifice his life for his long found mother - India.
Maybe, every family in this country whose bread earner works for Forces has devoted their entire life to this country. There exist people on every damn border of India giving up their sleep, putting their life on the stake, far off their families, just to give safe and secure place for us to stay. Even their family go through same pain, not able to meet and touch them for ages. Their love ones are clueless because they may or may not return. We all are aware of the viral video of BSF Jawan Constable Tej Bahadur Yadav and the quality of the food they were served, all across social media. And what was the outcome : he was shifted to another location without required and essential actions been taken. It's high time for the Indian government official to be considerate towards the fact, all those men across the border and their family should exactly get what they deserve, rather than turning them down.