"There is no point in morality or principals. A Man's only
goal should be to better his and his dependents' lives by every means possible.
Principals are for the ignoramus masses to keep them in control, to impart an
illusion of order to the world we live in, where none exists", rambled
Brigadier Arjun Khanna. It was his weekly night of drinks with his junior and protégé,
Brijendra.
Brigadier Arjun Khanna, son of a martyred army man himself, had
not known of any life beyond the defense forces himself. He had spent most of
his childhood in cantonments, travelling across the country with his father and
now he was doing the same with just one change. Acutely aware of the upheavals
in his life when his father was transferred; change schools, find new friends,
sometimes learning new language, he had made sure that his daughter does not go
through similar disturbing experiences. He had insisted that his wife and his
daughter stay behind in his ancestral home, Chandigarh. The city was clean,
developed, provided good education and moved at a leisurely pace - providing
for every comfort his family desired. Thus satisfied, he opted for isolated and
dangerous border locations repeatedly and on purpose. Every three months or so,
either he visited Chandigarh or they came to stay with him for a few days. Over
rest of the period, he was a strict disciplinarian with none but one friend and
little distractions.
Brijendra was eight years Arjun's junior but they had known each
other since childhood. Even as children, they tended to behave as siblings with
Arjun being the protective elder and Brijendra as the mischievous younger
brother. They had kept in touch over the years but their bond got particularly
strong on this posting. Misery loves company and to Arjun, Brijendra was now
practically family, quelling loneliness and providing a sense of emotions in
this sea of order following human machines.
Once a week, they would sit together on the pretext of swigging a
few pegs. It was then that Arjun, after a few fairly large rounds, would share
his thoughts and experience with Brijendra. He would begin by teaching him the
backdoor politics involved in rising up the ladder or the tricks that must be
pulled to get a plum posting. He would then begin about the times he learned it
the hard way and regret that their way nobody to train him such. His sermon
would then drift to his life philosophy.
This is when their discussion would heat up. Brijendra was an
upright, honest, patriotic officer; the kind any defense force in the world
would be proud to have. But Arjun was quite the opposite - his principles could
be termed Machivellian at best and, Brijendra feared, Quisling at worst. He was
only concerned about the well-being of himself and his family, the army be
damned. This used to trouble Brijendra deeply. This line of thought would not
be surprising for any Indian but damning the army is not like damning the
electricity board and could have far serious consequences for the
country.
On one such fateful night, Brigadier Arjun had had a few more than
the usual and had been tipsy even before they got to the philosophy. He had
been pulled up about the increasing infiltration from the area under his
command and was taking it out on the scotch, gulping with a vengeance. His
jibes on the army were particularly acrimonious today and so was the resulting
argument with Brijendra. "Your attitude of self-preservation is not fit
for the army. As long as you are in the army, nobody's benefiting, neither you
nor the army. Why don't you leave?" poked Brijendra. Arjun was now some
time past his last sober thought and began blurting whatever came to his mind,
sadly, the truth. He slammed the table and retorted, "The army may not
have gained my boy but you cannot accuse me of losing it. How do you think I
managed the car, the farm house, the wife's business and the multiple
plots?" In his excitement, he tried to stand up, failed, and collapsed on
the chair. Between hiccups, he slurred, "You think it's a coincidence that
infiltration increases in every location I...." And he passed out mid-sentence
but having said enough for Brijendra to put two and two together.
When he woke up the next day, events of last night whizzed past
him. He had been out of his senses but he remembered everything, word for word.
As he replayed the last scene of the night in his mind, he wanted to kill
himself for being so stupid. He immediately called up Brijendra but the phone
was switched off. He next called up Arjun's quarter and was informed that Arjun
had left about an hour back, dressed in his uniform. He knew where he had gone
and now it would be all over. Long ago, Arjun had prepared for such eventuality
and knew exactly what he needed to do.
Although hung-over, he set in motion and got dressed,
simultaneously informing his team that he will be heading for an impromptu
border patrol immediately. The captain, although surprised, heeded to the
order. Once there, he took out the map and pretending to study it for a while,
pointed to a particular spot he wished to visit. The patrol was flummoxed to
spot some men who were certainly not Indians in the precise location. They
decided to move slowly and round them up.
It would suffice to say that what happened over the next half hour
was the product of one man's anxiety and subsequent bravery. Arjun first gave
away the element of surprise by accidentally firing a few shots. And then, as
the fire exchange turned in to a deadlock, Arjun went for a suicidal charge,
pulling the infiltrators in the open and winning the day, getting fatally shot
in the process.
He was rushed to the army hospital where, between gasps, he
asked to see Brijendra. Teary eyed, Brijendra entered with heavy steps and sat
beside him. He looked at Arjun quizzically, asking for an explanation in the
deviation in his actions from his words. Actions that cost Arjun his life.
Arjun gestured him to come closer and whispered in his ear, "No country in
the world will ever investigate a martyr.", and dropped dead.
