The Hard Decision

Me with Diana and her master

‘Jai hind sahaab!’ Soldier greeted me as I was sipping the morning coffee at my post amidst picturesque hills, somewhere in Manipur. I could feel the concern in his voice. ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked. ‘Sahaab Diana has not eaten since three days’. Diana was beautiful, healthy,shining and intelligent Labrador trained in explosive devices. Jitendra was his trained master/handler. I asked him to check up with battalion’s Vet nary Doctor and let me know.

He walked away with something in his heart.

Next day, I asked jitendra again and he said that Diana drank only water since morning. I called him and casually kept my hand on his shoulder and asked if everything was fine at his home.

He told me that his wife was in hospital due to deliver their first child within two days and here he was fighting militants in the wild jungles of Manipur. I could sense the feeling of depression in his voice and to add salt to injury,there was no telephone connection in the close vicinity so that he could call up his home.

It was only Diana the dog who could feel the pain of his master which affected her heart and appetite.

I was amazed of such an amazing feeling between human and animal. I called for JCO (junior commissioned officer) and asked why he wasn’t sent on leave on time. ‘He can’t be sent without another dog master as per SOP otherwise the dog will not listen to anyone. His point was valid.There was no one available to relieve him and it would be too late for things to happen. The Soldier walked up to me for help. I asked my Commanding Officer for his views. ‘The Dog is there for a specific purpose and will not move out from there, nor will the master’ was the reply.

For the first time in life I felt very difficult to take decision. I was stuck in the middle of human relation and professional orders. I was helpless commanding my men under the high tension Insurgency Area.

I couldn’t sleep the whole night as it was my daily routine to be awake but I kept on thinking about solution. The next morning I wrote a SOS message in form of official radio msg. “Dog in critical condition, needs cas evacuation”. Chopper was arranged to take dog to vet doctor in Imphal(capital city)

I asked his master to accompany her, show her to vet, hand over to another handler and proceed on leave thereafter. He was very relieved and glad, however he was very much concerned that Diana was not well. Few hours passed and we were waiting for chopper to arrive. “Jai Hind sahaab!” It was voice of Jitendra but this time it was filled with happiness. I asked him what happened now. “I have been blessed with a baby boy!” he said with excitement and Diana also ate little ‘pedigree’ today.

I congratulated him and he gave me one of the warmest hug of my life. He left for the post happily leaving me behind to face the after effects of the whole scene. I had to listen to some bitter taste from my boss and superiors but I was happy that I could save two hearts and lives. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the dichotomy of human relations. Sometimes you need to take decisions from heart. J

The Cab Driver

“Kahan le chaley sahib?” the cab driver said, with his feeble eyes peeping through the frames of his powered glasses. “Hiranandani” I said doubting his skills on his ‘Fiat’ similar to his age and bearing. Well this isn’t just another story, but here is a 70 yrs old cab driver with typical Islamic beard hanging on his wrinkled face. He drove out of the airport, peeping through his bifocal lenses into the racetrack of Mumbai.

I couldn’t help and went ahead askind his age. ‘70’ he said, with sadness in his voice fighting his way through Mumbai cops with typical side caps. The Old man hailed from Allahabad. Moved to Mumbai in 1960s and been driving taxi since then. He has a son for whom he built a house, bought a car and gave him everything in life. ‘But the sad part was that he turned out to be a useless one’ he said with a sigh, his son roams around with local “taporis”(goons), spends time gambling in bars. This left him with no option but to sit on the driving wheels to fetch for himself at this age. “Lucky are those who have kids to look after them in their old age.” He wished he cold be one.

He kept on narrating the stories of Mumbai’s emergence, changes in the systems and roads. The development of High-rises and people moving away from each other. He feels tired to drive in the narrow roads with heavy traffic but he has no choice. He kept narrating me about the roads and for him every Sedan was “Impala”. While comparing the cars on the road he had serious concern for his car. “Fiat sahib will be asked to move away from Mumbai roads, where will I go and what will I do?” He said in despair.

“God has given you mouth, so won’t he give you grain?” I uttered to comfort him. It astonished him seeing my age and brought smile to his face. He agreed and gave in his humble surrender to the mercy of ‘Allah’. He dropped me to the destination and I tipped him for his service. I thanked him to which said that it was his duty to drop his traveler to the destination and I was his responsibility till the end. So much of dedication and belief in his voice reached my heart.

Well just another day but it left me with lots of questions. Standing still amidst the smoke left behind with my luggage, left me thinking what was wrong with generation which is upwardly mobile. Today everyone is forgetting that they have people who have given their yesterdays for our today are being forgotten to fight their own destiny. “If the young only knew; if the old only could”-

There is no support from govt whatsoever for growing numbers of old people in India. Though there are few NGOs , corporate initiatives for the cause but it alone cannot suffice the mammoth population of India. The Government should come up with substantial help for them. Schemes like old age pensions and benefits should deliver with success. We can’t solely blame govt to take initiative but it should come within us. Least we can do is try and take care of our own people and ageing elders around.

May be the coming generation will have something to learn , because remember its our turn tomorrow.

“The youth is not there to stay…remember tomorrow is your day.”