OLIVE ASHES

10

"... he's a jolly good fellow, he's a jolly good fellow... he's a jolly good fellow so say all of us..." Normally these are the words and tunes to which army officers bid adieu to their colleagues... but in the summer of 1999, a small operation to foil an infiltration bid turned into a bloody battle forcing the army to bid adieu to some of its bravest soldiers by the "last post'. 7 years hence, the guns may have silenced but the wounds are still fresh. I remember the principal telling us in the morning prayer that our army buses would no longer be there to take us to school. But that only meant more masti as we would now be cycling our way to school! A little later I learned that it also meant that I wouldn't be seeing my bus driver ever again... Soon....

The People’s Army

10

A six-year-old boy falls in a 58 feet deep pit. As he looks up at us through the CCTV camera, his eyes are full of fear... hope... and despair. He wants to be out... he wants to be free... he wants to stretch... he wants to live...! But how? The fire tenders and the locals fail to pull Prince out into safety. As we all wait with bated breath to see if Prince will win this battle against death and darkness, the Indian Army is asked to intervene and help. An engineering unit of the army is called in from Ambala to help rescue a six year old. Without wasting anytime the army begins its earnest efforts to save Prince. After hours of meticulous and persistent work an officer of the Indian Army emerges with our Prince safely in his arms. Our army....

The People’s Army

10

A six-year-old boy falls in a 58 feet deep pit. As he looks up at us through the CCTV camera, his eyes are full of fear... hope... and despair. He wants to be out... he wants to be free... he wants to stretch... he wants to live...! But how? The fire tenders and the locals fail to pull Prince out into safety. As we all wait with bated breath to see if Prince will win this battle against death and darkness, the Indian Army is asked to intervene and help. An engineering unit of the army is called in from Ambala to help rescue a six year old. Without wasting anytime the army begins its earnest efforts to save Prince. After hours of meticulous and persistent work an officer of the Indian Army emerges with our Prince safely in his arms. Our army....

THE CIVILIAN CRISIS

10

Delhi, Baghdad, Mumbai, Gaza, Varanasi, London, Beirut, Srinagar, New York, Madrid, Bali, Colombo, Kabul... no this is not a list of random cities across the world. Neither are these cities signatory to an international pact. Nor is it the obvious terrorism that brings them together. The one thing that brings these cities from across the world under one list is 'Civilian Casualty'. The death of an innocent man... whether American, Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Spanish or British. Thousands of Americans died in the 9/11-terror attack. Just about as many innocent Iraqis were killed in the war that followed. Whether its terror attack or countering terrorism, it's the common man who is dying... dying an involuntary death... for a cause he does not believe in... for a wrong he did not do... in a war he did not start... in a bomb he did not plant... and yet....

dry memories… flooded future...

12

There were only a few people on the usually crowed Connuaght place. The reason for the thinning crowd was the unexpected rain. Dark and menacing clouds had come out of nowhere with the wind and had covered the blue sky like one massive quilt. This situation had an irony to it. Even as we were waiting for these clouds all summer, when they came they caught us so unaware....so unprepared. When the first few drops of rain hit the dry earth, soft clouds of dust rose from it. Surprisingly the thirst of the earth was quenched so fast that within no time water stood in pools on the gravel path. Rainwater dripped from the lamp-posts and the extended sheds of the shops. The rikshawallas usually thronging the bylanes of CP disappeared. It was business time for the autowallas and their meters stopped working, as stranded passengers were ready to....