Eighteen young soldiers were killed in the worst ever terror attack at Uri. India mourns their death. The cry for revenge and demolition of terror camps in Pakistan grows loud. A multi-pronged attack is the cry of the nation. Pakistan is a deviant state, a terror state. Sudeshna pays tribute to one such young martyr, exclusively in Different Truths.
Wrapped in tricolour her boy lay
Her mind consoled it was made of clay
Gun salute for her martyred son
A matter of pride to be earned and won
Her strapping boy the apple of her eye
Jovial impish a very handsome guy
Robust strong with a soft heart
Eager to help he would run and dart
Inducted to serve his motherland fulfilling his dream
Through tragedies calamities disasters ubiquitous he seemed
A Braveheart selfless bright young man
Pride of his village role model of his clan
Just the other day she had heard him speak
Of landmines grenades booming guns and situations bleak
How robust his voice had sounded
When he had the insurgents grounded
He was in the prime of his life
She was already planning ahead to find him a wife
…when all of a sudden she heard the news
Of violent skirmishes that turned huge
All around her world collapsed
Was it intelligence leak that led to the lapse?
It was not his battle that he fought
Between ideologies he was caught
His body splayed with so many bullets
Macerated lacerated by tiny pellets
Her soldier boy’s body was brought home
In a shiny lacquered coffin embellished with chrome
Her stony eyes looked at his metal ridden body
While her heart oozed red and gaudy
She looked at the lofty Himalayas impassive
How many lay at his feet? The count was massive!
Besides the gurgling Jhelum youthfully babbled
Seeped with blood it rushed past and gurgled
She brought her gaze back to the shroud
A shadow seemed to cross and cloud
Her son’s life sacrificed unnecessarily
So many families gutted so rudely
Winning losing mattered little
Those left behind were always skittled
While wise men debated and pondered
Many soldier’s lives were blown asunder
So many families ruined and doomed
A non-healing ulcer where guns always boom
Once called a heaven on earth
Reduced to rubble grovelling in dust …
©Sudeshna Mukherjee
Pix from Net.