MishBir - Captivated Forever

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

It was there that Nishant Raj Singhania found her an hour later. He was shocked to see her at the border. He had imagined her far away from Srinagar by now. He thought the Dewars had left by now and so had not even gone to their rented house.

Embassy business had required him to leave for Punjab immediately and now he was to deliver a letter to Brigadier-General Khanna who was at the front of the battle lines.

He had been walking towards the border where many wounded were being treated. One of the wounded was explaining to the lady who was holding a glass of water to his lips that today's fighting had been a desperate and deadly battle.

The lady was Mishti.

Nannu (shouting) : Mishti!

Mishti : Nannu! You're here.

She rushed into his arms.

Mishti : I was so worried. Why didn't you call?

He held her by the shoulders and shook her none too gently.

Nannu : Why didn't I call? What the hell are you still doing here? And what do you think you're doing at the border?

Mishti : You told me you would come back and then we would go home together.

Nannu (shaking his head in frustration) : But Mishti! Don't you have any sense? If I was delayed, 

Shouldn't you have left with the Dewars? Who are you staying with here?

Mishti : They are here too. They are waiting for news of Captain Rohan Dewar. Besides, There are no available choppers or cars to take us safely. The citizens are on house arrest. I'll go mad, Nannu. I cannot stay at home and do nothing. But I can stay here and help the wounded. I know it sounds very dramatic and filmy but it's also true. Please let me stay.

Nannu : I'm going to be murdered. Naksh, Kunal and Naira are going to kill me.

Mishti (scoffing) : You know that if Naira was here, She'll be fighting to go there and shoot everybody off.

Nannu chuckled, then nodded his head.

Nannu : I have to give this letter to Brigadier-General Khanna. Once I return, We both will return home somehow. Is that alright?

Mishti : Where are you going to go deliver the letter?

Nannu : To the battlefront.

Mishti (paling) : Bhaiya! NO!

He pulled her into his arms for a quick, rough hug.

Nannu : Don't worry, Ms Teapot. I am not going to battle. I shall come back soon.

Mishti (nodding uncertainly) : All the best, Nannu. I will wait.

Through the border gates behind her two cartloads of wounded were rumbling. There was the sudden stench of blood in the air, stronger than before.

She turned away, distracted, without saying farewell, and he walked off south through the gates.

Nannu (thinking) : My precious sister. When did she get so mature?

He was damned proud of Mishti, out on the streets as she was tending the wounded instead of cowering inside the house.

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It was a few hours after that when Abir found Mishti in the same place. By that time a steady trickle of wounded had arrived, some of them severely injured. There were surgeons on the spot, doing what they could to deal with the worst of the wounds, plying their dreadful trade in makeshift tents. There were many others, mostly women there too, cleansing wounds, bandaging the less serious ones, offering water and whatever comfort they could to the others.