SCATTERD BLOOD
The evening darkness was slowly spreading all around. BSF Subedar Raghuraj Singh posted on the border and looked towards the border. The barbed wires spread far and wide were witness to the Indo-Pak border. Raghuraj Singh has been posted on the border for the last ten years. Nothing has changed on the border in these ten years. Sand spread far and wide, hot winds in summer, sandstorms and movement of people between the two countries, everything is the same as it was ten years ago.
The world has come a long way but the only way to know about the well-being of family members on the border is still the letters that come by post. There are mobiles but there is no network here. Raghuraj's wife's letter came this afternoon, and since then Raghuraj has been very sad. Raghuraj had read that one-page letter many times. Whenever he read the letter, he felt a pang in his heart.
Only five-six days were left for the festival of Diwali. This time he had got his leave approved much earlier. And he wanted to celebrate Deepawali with his children. However, due to increased tension on the border after the surgical strike, the leaves of all the soldiers posted on the border were canceled. Therefore, this time too Raghuraj will not be able to go home on Deepawali. He will have to celebrate Deepawali here on the border.
Ten years ago Raghuraj was posted in the BSF here. Since then he has not celebrated a single festival with his family. Whether it was Holi or Deepawali, Rakshabandhan or Bhai Dooj, Raghuraj celebrated all these festivals here on the border with his fellow soldiers. But Raghuraj had never been so sad as he was today. He was missing his home again and again.
This time Raghuraj had made a complete plan in his mind to celebrate Deepawali at home. He had thought that this time he would decorate his house with his children. He would do pooja with everyone, burst crackers, and eat sweets with everyone. He had also bought new clothes for the children and new sarees for his wife and mother. He had brought a readymade coat for his father from Jaisalmer. But all his plans were ruined due to the sudden cancellation of his leave.
Raghuraj is a responsible soldier. He understands his duty towards the country very well. He knows that he is a soldier and his first duty is to protect the borders of his country. That is why he did not regret the cancellation of his leave. But he did not know why he was missing his home a lot today. Once again he took out his wife's letter and started reading it. It was written in the letter-
Dear Soulmate,
I keep praying to God for your long life and good health. Parvati and Rohit were overjoyed after reading the news of your arrival on Diwali. Both were chirping that this time they would go to the market with Papa before Diwali and buy a lot of things. Both had also made a list of their things. Rohit had even told this news to his friends that this time he would also celebrate Diwali with his Papa. Papa and Mummy were also very happy. I saw a unique sparkle of happiness in their eyes. What should I say about myself, my life is always stuck in you.
On hearing the news of your leave being canceled, the faces of the children have turned pale. We pray to God every day that the tension on the border ends soon and you come home soon. The children salute you.
Yours,
Yashoda
After reading the letter, Raghuraj kept it in his pocket. The sadness on his face deepened. The corners of his eyes become wet while thinking about something.
Just then the dinner siren rang. Oh, it's seven o'clock. He woke up in a hurry. He had dinner with everyone in the mess. After dinner, an emergency meeting of the soldiers posted at the post was held. This post was the last post of India on the Pakistan border. Therefore, at this time it was a very sensitive post of BSF. In the meeting, the soldiers were told that today the movement of Pakistani Rangers has suddenly increased across the border. Some dangerous terrorists have also been seen along with the Pakistani Rangers. Therefore, in the meeting, all the soldiers of the post were ordered to remain alert at night and be ready to face every danger.
By the time the meeting ended, it was ten o'clock. All the soldiers lay down on their beds. Unaware of the tension on the border, the bird in Raghuraj's mind had flown to his village. Bhojpur is a small village in U.P. where Raghuraj was born. Raghuraj was the youngest among the five children of his father. The eldest two sisters were married many years ago and were busy with their household chores in their respective in-laws' houses. Raghuraj had two elder brothers. They lived in the village and did farming. Both were married and lived separately from their father.
The responsibility of the old parents fell on Raghuraj's shoulders. After graduation, Raghuraj was selected for BSF and his first posting was at Jaisalmer border. Since then he has been posted here on the border.
Raghuraj was married when he was studying in Inter. Raghuraj had two children Parvati and Rohit. Parvati was studying in Intermediate this year. She had taken the PCM group in Intermediate. Parvati was very good at studies. Raghuraj wanted Parvati to study engineering after Inter. His dream was to make Parvati an engineer.
His younger son Rohit studied in class four in a public school in a nearby town. Rohit was very dear to his father. During holidays, however much time Raghuraj stayed at home, Rohit did not stay away from him even for a moment. Rohit loved playing with Raghuraj, going for walks with him, eating with him, and sleeping with him at night. That is why when Raghuraj returned to the border after spending his holidays; he used to miss Rohit for many days.
Just then Raghuraj heard some noise on the border. He got up and looked around, but there was silence all over the border. He thought that maybe it was an illusion of his mind. He drank some water from the water cooler and lay down on the bed again. The links of thoughts started connecting again.
His wife's face came alive in front of Raghuraj's eyes. Raghuraj got married to Yashoda fifteen years ago. At that time Raghuraj was eighteen years old and Yashoda was a carefree teenager of sixteen years. Two years after Raghuraj's marriage, both his brothers separated from their wives and children. Therefore, the responsibility of the parents fell on Raghuraj and Yashoda. Raghuraj's mother was often ill and one of his father's legs was weak due to which he could not walk much. Yashoda took very good care of both of them and did not let them face any kind of trouble. She gave them both more respect and love than her parents. Raghuraj's parents never got tired of praising their daughter-in-law.
In these fifteen years, Raghuraj had spent most of his time on the border. But Yashoda had taken care of the house very well. She alone took the responsibility of the entire household and outside work, but she never complained. Raghuraj thought that, unlike other wives, Yashoda never demanded jewelry or expensive saris. She was happy with whatever she had. Beautiful, well-mannered, and intelligent Yashoda had made Raghuraj's house a heaven. Whenever Raghuraj went home on holidays, his house would echo with laughter.
Raghuraj was lost in these thoughts when suddenly the alarm siren rang. All the soldiers of the post gathered. They were told that Pakistani Rangers had attacked on their post. So everyone should take their positions. The order was immediately followed and all the soldiers took their positions.
Raghuraj was lying on his stomach waiting for the enemy to attack. The picture of his family flashed in his mind once again. The faces of his parents, Yashoda, Rohit, and Parvati appeared before his eyes one by one. Then bullets started firing from the front. The soldiers of his post were also ordered to fire. Bullets were firing from both sides.
Now the faces of all the family members were fading away from Raghuraj's mind. Now one face was emerging rapidly in his mind and that face was of Bharat Mata. He took an oath to protect Bharat Mata by touching the soil of the earth to his forehead and started firing bullets at the enemies.
A total of ten soldiers were deployed at his post while the number of attackers was more than fifty but this did not reduce the enthusiasm of Raghuraj and his companions. Unaware of death, they were firing bullets. Meanwhile, two soldiers of Raghuraj's post had been martyred in the firing. These people had also killed ten-twelve Pakistani Rangers.
Just then a bullet from the front hit Raghuraj's left hand and his left hand was cut off from the body and fell away. But this did not reduce Raghuraj's enthusiasm. The fingers of his right hand were moving faster than before on the tracker of the assault rifle.
Eight soldiers of Raghuraj's post had been martyred till now. They had killed thirty-thirty-five Pakistani Rangers. Now only Raghuraj and one of his fellow soldiers were left alive on the post. The number of enemies in front had reduced to about ten-fifteen. Just then a bullet hit Raghuraj's chest. Raghuraj instructed his companion to inform the post behind on the wireless and he stood with the rifle. Now he did not care about the bullets firing from the front.
He shouted Bharat Mata Ki Jai and started firing bullets. The fiery bullets from his rifle killed eight to ten Pakistani Rangers. The remaining five to six Pakistani Rangers ran away to save their lives. While running away, they fired bullets at Raghuraj. Raghuraj's entire body was riddled with bullets. He fell to the ground.
He took his last breath shouting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. He was proud that he had not let the country's border be harmed. The pain of not being able to meet his family was visible on his face. He fell to the ground.
Fresh blood was scattered on both sides of the border and there was a deep silence all around like before.
