Arohan - The Ascent

When Calls the Heart

Every soldier writes a letter to that one most important family member, before going off to serve the nation, to a place where he may have to lay down his life, to see the flag of his nation flying high. In that letter, he articulates, or at least attempts, to express everything he ever wanted to say, to that one person. And he does so as if he were writing his very last letter.

The soldiers who were posted on the Doklam valley that fateful day, all wrote such letters.

The letter which Vikram had written, would have been sent out to Urvashi, if...

Padrauna - Pandit Ji's House - June 20th 2017

Pandit ji had just finished his dinner and sat down in front of the old-fashioned, Onida Tv, to catch up on the news. The TV-like himself would be considered ancient, for 2017. But it was Pandit ji's habit to not unnecessarily waste money on electronics. If something was working well, what was the need to throw it away, in the name of upgrades and keeping up with times?

As he tuned into Doordarshan news, for a daily news roundup, the anchor, in a voice devoid of any emotion started reading on from the teleprompter. What the anchor read, however, put Pandit ji on the edge of his easy chair.

"Unexpected conflict broke out on the NorthEastern border between India and China. Chinese soldiers attacked Indian jawans, when our Jawans tried to clear some Chinese equipment, that they had tried to bring in illegally into Indian territory at Doklam sector..."

Pandit ji saw the unpleasant news and his thoughts immediately jumped to Vikram. However, a few minutes later, he rationalized that Vikram, could and would not have been there.

"In this clash between both sides, no modern equipment of war was used. While the Indian side fought with bare hands, the Chinese fought with batons, and such other, non-mechanical weapons..."

Pandit ji watched the news, sans any cacophony or debate drama on Doordarshan, and turned the TV off. This is why he hated watching some of the private channels. They had even converted news reporting into daily drama. It was enough for the day. Instead, he turned to his small Caravan radio player and played some old songs, featuring RD and Kishore Kumar.

Before long, Pandit ji had dozed off, comfortably on his bed.

The next day, Pandit ji rose as usual at 5:00 am, finished all his morning chores, and left for school.

It was almost towards the end of the school day, when the usual mail arrives, that the lady in the reception, asked for pandit ji to come. 

It was a rather strange request. Why would the lady ask for Pandit ji to come and receive the mail? If there was any mail, it would usually be dropped off at the reception desk. But that day was different. 

Bhanu ji walked into Pandit ji's office with a slight fluster on her face.

"Sir, the mailman is refusing to hand over the mail to me. He says he needs to hand it over only to Urvashi madam. I am telling him that she longer works in this school, but he just won't listen to me! Can you please come and talk to him!" she requested.

"What happened today that he is asking for Urvashi madam!" commented Pandit ji, slightly annoyed at the unusual request.

He walked out to the front doors, where the small wooden table for Bhanu ji was kept. He looked at Devi Lal, the postman of the town, and questioned in a tone that gave his irritation away.

"What is it Devilal ji, you know Urvashi madam doesn't work here in this school these days. Just leave the letter with Bhanu ji," and he began to turn away, without waiting for the middle-aged man to respond.