I received an interesting mail from a reader with a
touching story which everyone should emulate. Here I am reproducing the story
for the benefit of our regular readers. This is how you too can show gratitude
towards the armed forces. This will inspire them and lift their spirits. Spare
a thought, the young men stay away from their loved ones and guard the
frontiers in difficult terrain, in extreme biting cold, hot weather and rain.
Sometimes not sure if they will return home to their family. Your small action
of appreciation will make them feel proud to belong to a country where they are
cared for and respected. Their morale will always be high.
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat
down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight to Delhi. 'I'm glad
I have a good book to readPerhaps I will get a short sleep,' I thought. Just
before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the
vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where
are you guys headed?' I asked the young man seated nearest to me. "Agra.
We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being
deployed for operations."
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was
made that lunches were available on payment. It would be several hours before
we reached Delhi, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask
his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that cost a lot of money, probably
wouldn't be worth it. I'll wait till we get to Delhi ...." His buddy
agreed.
I looked around at the other soldiers. None were
buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant
enough money to cover for 10 lunches and told her 'Take a lunch to all those
soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears
she thanked me. 'My young brother was a soldier in Kargil, it's almost like you
are doing it for him.'
Picking up ten lunchboxes, she headed up the aisle to
where the boys were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you
like best - Veg or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.
She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a
minute later with a dinner plate from first class. "This is your
thanks".
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of
the plane, heading for the rest room. An old man stopped me. 'I saw what you
did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me a Rs 500/- note.
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the captain
coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he
wasn't looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my
side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand,
and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat-belt I stood
and took the captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was an Air Force
pilot a long time back. Once someone bought me lunch. 'It was an act of
kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of
the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could
stretch my legs. A kid who looked about 18 was sitting about six rows in front
of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. I felt him stick a currency
note in my palm.
When we landed, I gathered my belongings and started
to depart. Waiting just inside the aeroplane door was a man who stopped me, put
something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word.
Another currency note!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers
gathering for their trip up to their training area.. I walked over to them and
handed them all the currency notes that was given to me on the flight and said,
'It will take you some time to reach your training area. It will be about time
for a sandwich. 'May God bless you and thank you for doing whatever you do.'
Ten young men of honour left that flight feeling the
love and respect of their fellow countrymen. As I walked briskly to my car, I
whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all
for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little.
A Serviceman is someone who, at one point in his life,
wrote a blank cheque made payable to ' India ' for an amount of 'up to and
including my life.'
That is honour, and there are way too many people in
this country who don't understand it.
I sometimes wonder – what if the husbands are asked to
write a few lines about their wives? I am sure most of them would be confused as to what to say.
It might go like this –
My wife is my wife. She is both my emotional anchor
and storm and typhoon. She looks docile, but isn’t and has the ability to put
with a person like me, who is never satisfied, happy or grumpy. She looks
better than me and is a better human being than me. She is also more sensitive than
me. She is a good mother and a good cook, and cooks what I like and not what
she likes as if her likes are not important. She is a symbol of sacrifice. She
is the one person who makes me more comfortable than me myself.
Knowingly or unknowingly, she agreed to be my better
half and she regrets her decision from that day. However, she has a special
quality. She can predict and see things happening in advance, whereas I am deaf
and blind to it. She will say – ‘This is going to happen’ and it does happen.
Then she retorts – ‘See, I told you so.’ She is far more clear about life than
I am, while I still try to understand life! Has a capacity to absorb stress be
it hers or mine. And so sometimes I feel spoilt by her magnanimity.
Finally, I realized, women have more brains and are
more beautiful inside and outside, which makes them unique! She has the ability
to translate our dreams to reality. And she makes the happy family and holds it
together in good and bad times.
If
you feel that Aneela Nike Post is making a difference to your life, do take a
minute to consider a comment or contribution. We would also value your
suggestions as how to make ourselves more relevant to you. Please write to akn929@yahoo.com to give
your valuable feedback.
No comments:
Post a Comment