Monday, January 08, 2007

Vanilla Sky

Siachen is freezing at minus 30 and it is just 6 PM. I look at the sky which is blue with a tint of pink. I get reminded of the Vanilla Sky painting of Monet she showed me on net.

"Do you have your location?" buzzed the walkie talkie in my hand.
"They are at our 3 O Clock at the pre confirmed location. Send back up now." I had made it fast than I had thought.
If I complete this operation successfully, we will be able to finish another band of infiltrators across the border which we are now going to eliminate based on a tip off.
"Major Ravi. So what are the plans after this?" asked the soldier on my left.
Plans? Man, Don't distract me now. I have a business to finish and home to get back to. Lovely parents, caring brother and...someone special. I got engaged just 2 weeks prior to the call and 2 more weeks are left for my marriage. The very thought of returning to home soon makes me feel on sky.

"sir, they are firing now sir." echoes one of my 2 mates. We have to retaliate and keep them there. I figure there are 4 men in that post and they are either terrorists or army men posed as such. We circle them and shoot them as fiercely as possible. Hang on buddy, backup is on its way. As I shoot the last guy I look at his face. Who was he? Few minutes before, he was a soldier. He was a son, possibly a brother, a husband, a father, a tax paying citizen who had a home which used to be filled with laughter and joy in his presence. It would never be the same again. Moments from now an inevitable call will be made to his house which will destroy it beyond imagination and beyond any compensation given.

Unfortunately a gun and a bullet know no religion, race, caste, creed on earth. For them the shooter is the master and the target is a piece of flesh which has to be torn to pieces and blood has to be spilled out. The only common reactions for the victim of a bullet are moans of pain and cry of despair and helplessness. An amazing hell of an invention is this thing. What were his last thoughts? Was he thinking of the past happy times or the could-have-been future? Was he cursing me to rot in hell when he breathed his last?

I joined the army as I believe in protecting my country, but I am no believer in war. Wars are just the games played by political big wigs to satisfy their egos at our expense. We are pawns which can be sacrificed before the checkmate. Sometimes there is no checkmate. Take the wars in Iraq, Srilanka, Kashmir, Israel, Chechenya, Afghanistan...anywhere. Do you think that war is the only solution? What will America get after that whole Iraq war? A few million barrels of oil? How long will it last? What will happen to SriLanka and Kashmir? Why do they want some piece of land which has been soaked red with the blood of thousands of innocent people? If only we all understood that irrespective of any accomplishments in our life we would rest six feet under or be burnt to ashes.....we may consider doing many a things in our living days.

Just a few more minutes and the back up will be on its way. The bodies will be handed over and questions will be asked. I look at the Vanilla Sky....but I am no longer in a mood to enjoy its beauty. Walk away soldier. You have a life to live and another day to die.

55 comments:

G3 said...

Nice post :-) superb writing and wonderful concept :-)

//If only we all understood that irrespective of any accomplishments in our life we would rest six feet under or be burnt to ashes.....we may consider doing many a things in our living days.//
exactly..

Dreamzz said...

/I joined the army as I believe in protecting my country, but I am no believer in war. Wars are just the games played by political big wigs to satisfy their egos at our expense. We are pawns which can be sacrificed before the checkmate. Sometimes there is no checkmate. Take the wars in Iraq, Srilanka, Kashmir, Israel, Chechenya, Afghanistan...anywhere. Do you think that war is the only solution? What will America get after that whole Iraq war? A few million barrels of oil? How long will it last? What will happen to SriLanka and Kashmir? Why do they want some piece of land which has been soaked red with the blood of thousands of innocent people? //


Wow wonderfull, billion dollar questions!

Dreamzz said...

its amazing how people want to self-decieve and got to go for war... and the extent they politicise the war itself, and the money they make out of it

Dreamzz said...

I remember seeing a very good movie on this, but forgot the name!

Heidi Kris said...

nice..

ramya said...

//What will happen to SriLanka and Kashmir? Why do they want some piece of land which has been soaked red with the blood of thousands of innocent people? //

chancey illadha kelvigal harish...ungalukkulla evlo thiramaigal enna viyakiren..continue this gud job.

Krithika said...

If only we all understood that irrespective of any accomplishments in our life we would rest six feet under or be burnt to ashes.....we may consider doing many a things in our living days

Beautiful!..awesum post!!

KK said...

Wow awesome post Harish!!! echoed most of the questions that I have in my mind about these places... I feel the explanation given in Kannathil muthamittal when Madhavan and Prakash Raj talk is kinda acceptable...what do you think?

Hell's Angel said...

they accomplish pride @ the cost of millions of lives by getting tht piece of land soaked in blood.. Mercy is one word thts long 4gotten nowadays..

Raz said...

War W- Wealth
A -Aggregating
R- Reason...

Simple... we cannot change it... let us pray for peace...

another wonderful post h
a
r
i
s
h

Sat said...

ada paavi...marupadiyum blog look-a mathitiya?....muthalla manjala irunthuchu, aparam karuppa irunthuchu, ippa veluthuttu pola?!
enna nadakudhu ???? ;)

iru post innum padikala, padichittu varen

Sat said...

Wars are only political...nothing else...political tension between 2 countries, peace, world peace, idellam verum perukku thaan. If u have seen farhan akhtar's lakshya, there's this scene where a soldier admonishes priety zinta for her lecture...my sentiment's on a similar line. There's no such thing as peace, there's no such thing as humanity when faced with such dire situations, if one thing matters, it's survival!...Men could settle for something else other than war...but no...they will not, when there are lives ready to be risked, might as well give it a shot than sit down for a compromise...after all it's not their own life in question!

prithz said...

wonderful post... U have very realistically penned down the emotions of a warrior...

btw, get some politicians to read ur stuff :D

Syam said...

//Moments from now an inevitable call will be made to his house which will destroy it beyond imagination and beyond any compensation given//

romba touching ah pochu harish...you are rite...it is the same joy or sorrow in both the sides....

Dreamzz said...

harish..aama, antha padam LOW thaan! thanksungov!

Arunprasad Durairaj said...

//I joined the army as I believe in protecting my country, but I am no believer in war. Wars are just the games played by political big wigs to satisfy their egos at our expense.//

This is exactly wat I feel sometimes... as KK said, theres a political reason behind every war fought under the cover of social reasons...

WARS only engender WARS..America doesn't know that their invasions on Iraq will potentially sow the seeds for n number of militants and terrorists who lost their families.

Unknown said...

template maathiteengala? naan konjam late pola? :(

nalla dhaan keedhu unga template! :)

Unknown said...

//I joined the army as I believe in protecting my country, but I am no believer in war. Wars are just the games played by political big wigs to satisfy their egos at our expense//

correcta sonnenga raasa!

Revs said...

my sentiments exactly!! great post!!:):)

EarthlyTraveler said...

சிறுகதை தொகுப்பே வெளியிடலாம்.அழகாகக் கதை சொல்கிறீர்கள்.சோகம் இழைந்தோடும் கதையான ஒரு நிஜம்.I hate to discuss this dirty politics.parunga,Iraq war yeppdi pogudhunnu? kovamdhan varudhu.yeppo thirundha?But asusual you have expressed it in an excellant way.--SKM

Harish said...

@G3
I myself donno how i wrote that. Edho flow la adichutaen ;)

@Dreamz
Its so hard to know it and not think about it

@Heidi
Thanks yaar..

Harish said...

@Ramya
Romba thanks nga. I will try to be better :-)

@Krithika
Thanks yaar...

@KK
Unmayaana movie buff nu prove panita nanba. Anda conversation super pa. sila samayam naamae kaelvi kettundae irukka vendi irukku....badil daan illa...

Harish said...

@Brinda
Wish we had a flood like in Noah's ark...but trouble is...where can we find Noah ;(

@Raz
Thanks yaar :-)

@Sat
Nee solraadu correct. Adutta Iraq war kku Bushyaum Kashmir warukku Musharafauym anipuna ellam sari aaidum.

Harish said...

@Pritz
Un idea correct. But...do most of our politicians know to read english let alone blogs ;)

@Syam
Thalaivare...this phone call thing happened to my friends house when his bro was in army. I remember how he felt that day and so this line.

@Prasad
in a way they r setting the things for another 9/11. Wats the point crying then?

Harish said...

@Karthik
nandri nanba. ippo daan pa maatinaen ;)

@revathi
Thanks a ton yaar

@SKM
Idula kodumai ennana inda pasanga innum aalunga anupalaamanu vera yosikiraanga. Apam en Osama maranju paranju bomb poda maaatan?

Nithya said...

Awesome post Harish..very meaningful and poignant...I am reminded of a poem that appeared in my 12th class text book..I am unable to recall the name/author..

Lovely post !! :)

Bhargavi C said...

@nithya,
if am right u should be talking about the poem 'The man he killed' of Thomas hardy.
A fantastic write-up Harish!as u had mentioned,wars is quaint and curious!

Sat said...

hmmm...ellam pechila thaan saathiyam!
hey, just an other point of view...There was a movie that released last summer...Jarhead. That movie is a 'war' movie, but it doesn't deal with anything like wars are evil, wars are not to be fought...and as if the soldiers are regretting that it's all happening (in fact if you notice, most war movies in Hollywood at least don't...edho they started it, so we go finish our job...it's more like business as usual...oru vela Americans eduthathunalayo ennavo!)...instead it focusses more on the state of the US marines due to lack of action duringthe war (gulf war i guess)...they stay put and they are raving mad for action. In the end when they almost get their bit, the war's already over! Climax-la they fire their guns towards the sky in what seems more like a helpless situation that they couldn't use it in real action. Quite different!

Nithya said...

@ Bhargavi --> Precisely...! Thanks for helping me out with that :)
btw Hello :P

brute said...

nice post bro!

Himavan said...

Beautifully written. I liked your style a lot...:)

Kavitha Jay said...

u changed ur page..i came here before..n thought this is not harish's page n went away :P...cha..hehe..missed it ;)...
i really enjoy ur writting..something different n powerful..in a nut shell...simple superb..

Priya said...

That was a beautiful piece well
written:-))

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

wow! :)

Arunkumar said...

touching post.. couldnt pick few lines , liked the entire narration.

nice one harish... someone somewhere is getting benefit out of all these wars.. Truth bitters but i dont think this has an end :(

Happy Pongal to you and your family members !!

-Arun

(ps: thx for stopping by @ my blog. i have bloglined u. guess i missed a lot of ur posts. will read at leisure n comment..)

Marutham said...

Ayo...topuchinnnnnnnnnng!!! [:)] Awesome story bossey....
:)

Has to be me said...

Hmm new look fr the new year eh? :)

lovely post.....circulate it to the terrorists pls! Awesome!

Anonymous said...

good one...
so good that u r linked up now ;)
cheers....write on...

S said...

good post!! i am reminded of this poem by lord alfred tenyson..
"ours not to question why
ours but to do and die"
it kind of sums up the life of a soldier!

S said...

sorry typo in the last one. altho the typo also seems kinda ironic!!!
"ours not to reason why!
ours but to do OR die."

lovely post once again!

Incognito said...

Good one! Really nice.
Ur post reminded of one of my earliest.. I am giving u the link.. I found an ode to war.. that screamed of simplicity, am sure u will love it.
http://etched-on-the-epitaph.blogspot.com/2005/10/ode_21.html

Too many questions unanswered..

Incognito said...

And thanks for dropping by.. :)

Harish said...

@Nithya
Thanks yaar. It remains as a question unanswered.

@Bhargavi
War is a higher crime. And a dignified mass murder. But who listens :-(

Harish said...

@Sat
Paravala...ippadi ellam padam edukaraanga, I happened to saw Platoon after I wrote this post. It was so frustrating to see the way they fought in Vietnam. As the tag line of movie says "The first casualty of war is innocence"...hurt a lot.

Harish said...

@Brute
Thanks buddy

@Contended
Wow...I have a style? I never knew that :-)

@Mystery
Just wanted to try something different. And I guess I couldnt have chosen anything more cruel and more appealing...

Harish said...

@Priya
Thanks a ton yaar

@Porkodi
:-))

@Arun
I was happy that I could write something that was poignant....and sad that it happens without an end in sight. Wish I had a magical wand.

Harish said...

@Marutham
Thanks dear sis. :-)

@HTBM
After a long time eh? I think Bush should get to read it first :-)

@1$
There is only trouble Bro. I am a little bit lazy to write :-)

Harish said...

@Outlaw
I guess as Sat said we should send these generals to the war and ask them to battle first hand.
As in Letterman show they lampooned Bush saying " We made mistakes in Iraq war....and we hope we will not repeat them in Iran"
Now who should be hung first :-(

Harish said...

@Incognito
That was a beautiful short poem. So simple and so powerful.
Wish we could have the answers :-)

Sat said...

Hey did you see the question yesterday in the daily quiz from Tanay?...on Captain Vijyant Thapar. I checked out the complete letter on the website. it really does something to you...to think that people march into death like everyday business is hard to imagine! and worse to think that they thought that people like us deserve a sacrifice of that measure doesn't make things better either! At 22, i was a pampered daughter....starting out my career and the farthest i could think was the next hike...death was never in my scheme of plans!!!

Anonymous said...

I just plain loved it .. Its not that the concept was new ... but there was a feel behind it ... you put a smile on my face .. and then made me sigh ... all in the same breath ...

Harish said...

@Sat
I felt the same way after I saw the movie The Legend of Bhagat Singh. At 23 he sacrificed his life for the country with a smile on his face. I was wondering...what I am I doing now?

@Anonymous
This story is an ode to a soldier in every nation in every war. I wish everyone realizes that war is just fatal and is never a process of bringing peace.

KC! said...

exactly the same feeling of the soldiers in Iraq! Well captured, aama, I am confused. Did I go to a wrong site then thinking it was this site? I posted a comment on a site thinking it was yours asking eppolerndhu you started writing real events instead of stories...am I missing something?

Unknown said...

@Usha
Is this the Gopi Effect ;)

Kalyan said...

awesome