The morning dew had just settled on the leaves of the deciduous trees, indigenous to the region. 0430 hours. He still had two hours of sentry duty left.
He sat on the cold ground with his back against a tree. This gave him respite from the aches that came inherently with the cold weather, and he could manage to catch a few winks, without landing with his face flat on the ground!
He could see his companion, Lieutenant Pramod Toppo, fidgeting with the bayonet of his assault rifle. Pramod was a strappy lad, who had just gotten engaged and was eagerly crossing off the days till he leaves for his annual home-coming. Pramod had promised to get him a leather jacket from his hometown.
As the fog hung low along the trees, he found himself drifting away, he was suddenly awash with a very particular memory from his childhood. He was against a glass case, staring at the shiny dial of the Casio. He had stopped by the shop everyday after school, for the past fortnight, just to gaze at the centerpiece of the display. At dinner, he had spoken at length about his fondness of the watch, praying that his father would take a hint. Finally, his father sat him down and said, ” Why do you want it so badly?”
“I dream of owning it!”
Then his father told him something he would come to remember his entire life.” Don’t cherish material things. Cherish your dreams. Work towards fulfilling them. Because, that will matter in the end, not possessions. You dream of serving the nation? Work towards it. And maybe I will have a look at that watch!” And there was a hint of a smile in his voice.
The momentary breeze snapped him out of his thoughts. He fastened his jacket tighter, and glanced at the Casio on his forearm. 0440. Time does not fly when you are on sentry duty!
He wondered what his friends were doing. Rakesh was probably making the car ride back,from his night shift. Saket was probably fast asleep at home. Knowing Farhan, he was probably up, watching architecture documentaries all night, he had his final project coming up! And accounting for the time difference, Robert was probably screaming at a couple of poor interns at his firm! And Alisha was probably….
(Sigh) Alisha. Alisha Banerjee. Something about her just made him sit up straight. Maybe it was because her presence made him feel woozy and intoxicated, so he thought it necessary to pay attention. Or maybe it was because she was one of the few people in his know-how, who made a better soldier than him (even though he didn’t like admit it!). She had proved it in the academy, when she had carried his backpack and rifle for him, while he hopped along with a swollen knee, on a cross-country race.