Blossoms! 

That's what used to describe Kashmir once upon a time. The frosty sky with specs of cloud for the summer , the valley glimmering with beds of blossoms, until the weather gave rise to toasty winters, chilly and freezing when the mountains gets covered with thick snows to cover up the same flower beds till the next spring.

Kashmir was a paradise!

Until people destroyed it all. People and… hatred. The hatred for humanity, the hatred in differentiation and the hatred for acceptance. ber the

Kashmir was a paradise!

Until people destroyed it all. People and… hatred. The hatred for humanity, the hatred in differentiation and the hatred for acceptance. Kashmir couldn't accept it's fate that was brought upon them by force. Kashmir wanted to merge with Pakistan. While the beautiful, picturesque valleys compelled them to include it in the Indian subcontinent. 

What Kashmir failed to realise that india, Pakistan, they were mere lands. Driven by the people running the administration. Neither was Pakistan very humble towards Kashmir, nkr was india very meticulous about the valley. 

Kashmir remained secluded. Article 370 had kept Kashmir aloof from everyone , making it a hot target for bloodbath. 

Blood! The once gateway to paradise was now bathing in blood. Blossoms, that's what used to describe Kashmir once upon a time. Now, it's just bloodbath that remained, tainting the valley endlessly decades after decades. 

Shehnaaz was lost into the pages of her notebook, scribbling notes on the history of Kashmir then and now when a screeching sound of the chair being pulled scraped her mind away

" Ya khudaya Ruhi, can't you be a little silent and discreet! This is the library if you can remember. " She said, eyes still engrossed into her notebook, only the mind had deviated to know whom it was on the other side.

" Don't you get bored with these books the whole day! Yaar jawani wapas nahi ane waali hai. Can't you just skip the lanes of the books and enjoy life a little? "   Ruhi said, exasperated. She would be flabbergasted with her friend's dedication towards books.

Shehnaaz rolled her eyes, but never stopped once to deviate her eyes from what she was doing.

" Naaz yaar, tumse keh rahi hu. Allah thoda toh attention do. " Ruhi gasped. Shehnaaz loved books. She lived and breathed the pages of the same. If Obsession had a concrete definition, it would be Shehnaaz's limerance for books. Ruhi would often find it a little irritating. While Shehnaaz would be lost in books the whole day, Ruhi would writhe to get the attention of her oy friend to spare her a little time.

Her only friend, yes.. Kashmir wasn't a place where people gave importance to friendship. Hatred and carnage was all that was left of Kashmir now a days.

" What is it Ruh. I need to complete this right. You know this is my chance to live upto my dream. Agar ye article accept ho gayi, I have a fair chance for a full time journalism ahead in the future. Warna ghar wale.... You know they would never approve me of doing something as crazy as this. " She said, shutting down her notebook. There was a open entry competition going round by a well known newspaper to accept articles from outsources. Shehnaaz had cleared the first two rounds. They were easy, just checking in grammer and english for the articles they wrote. This was the tougher hurdle. To pen down emotions for a topic they had chosen.

Shehnaaz chose Kashmir!

There were lots to be penned down about the place, her birth place . Not the picturesque valley, but the brutality behind it. The beauty was a facade. The ugly facet of hatred and battues and pogrom that laid beneath that superficial layer was their reality. And Shehnaaz chose to pen down and demask the facade. People needed to know the truth.

" Gharwale galat toh nahi hai na Naaz. Haalaat kaisa hai tum jaanti ho right. The slaughterhouse Kashmir is turning to. The way the people are being subjugated and pestled by the inhumane army, you know our families are not totally wrong. They fear for us. They love us. " Ruhi sighed. The situation was worsening around the place. The way the innocents were getting targeted by the army each day, families were right to fear and protect the loved ones. There was a slight catch to her tone.

Ruhi had her own reasons. Some familiar issues and deaths due to the army. The most common story of tne people of the valley. They feared the army more than the militants.

" Hume college ane ka permission mila yehi boht nahi hai Naaz kya. In haiwaan arny o ko kya tu jaanti nahi hai." Ruhi hissed a little. Army was a sensitive topic around the valley. Everyone had a story to narrate of their ruthless.

" Har kahani k do pehlu hote hai Ruh. We cannot be judgemental right. " Shehnaaz voiced. This was wrong.

" Acha. Really. And what about those innocents killed ruthlessly by them! They are meant to be saving us Naaz and not kill us. Militant ko pakadna hai. Inhe maarna. But no, they are more interested in proving innocents to be the militants and escape the questions regarding their failure. Har roz mout ki kahabr gunjti hai yaha wadio mein. Kaun militant aur kaun innocent samajh nahi aata hai. Ye log samajhne ka mauka nahi dete hai. Magar innocent marte bhi hai na. Abhi bache nahi rahe hum Naaz. We are grown up to know and understand how brutal these people actually are behind the veil of their uniforms. " Ruhi scoffed. Shehnaaz frowned. Did she have a story of her own as well! She wondered.

" Kuch hai kya Ruh jo hum nahi jaante hai! " Shehnaaz asked, her hand crawling to her friend's to grab and press with concern. Ruhi flinched for the briefest before she balanced herself well.

" Nahi Naaz. Kuch nahi hai. Bas, in kutto k baareme baat sunte hi khoon khol jaati hai. " Ruhi sighed, hiding her sordid pains within . It was futile to talk and scrape old wounds! She thought

Shehnaaz sighed at the sarcasm. She felt defeated. The way people would be quick to jump and embrace the darker facet of anyone. This was exactly why she wants to pursue journalism. To debunk and show the reality to people. Army;  they were indeed heinous around this place, killing and targeting people who were apparently innocent.

But why! They might have a reason as well! Nothing happens without a cause. And this other side of the cliff was what she wanted to excavate and gouge.

Yet, it was baseless to fight with people like Ruhi who had lost their brains to the logics. Or so she thought.

They remained quiet for a while. Both reeling their reality. None was wrong, yet, the truth was something so obscure around the valley. Kashmir, the place that bloomed with blossom and romance had turned to a valley of genocide indeed. And no matter how much people like her defied, the truth remained the same. The army was indeed involved in more of the genocides than the militants!

Kashmir is slowly dying to the flames of a Holocaust!

" Acha theek hai. Mood theek kare apna.
Bataye kya karna hai hume humari pyari Ruh ki mood ko sahi karne mei. " Shehnaaz sighed inwardly and closed her notes. There was still a little time left for the final submissions. She would complete this eventually. Ruhi was important to her. And her sullen face was something that affected her. Ruhi was her dose of entertainment at the end of the day. Her best and only friend.

Beside.... Rashid..

" Agle hafte poetry competition hai na apne college mei.. Karte hai na taiyari. " Ruhi said, enthusiastically, the forlorn feeling ebbing off.

" And this was the fun you were talking about. " Shehnaaz rolled her eye again pushing away that gnashing thought of Rashid at the back of her mind. No one knew about Rashid. And she preferred to keep it that way.

" Alfaaz mei amazing ho toh ajeeb sa complacency se log guzarte hai khudaya. Magar humara kya. Hume toh nahi na ate hai itne pyare and khatarnaak alfaz. Hume kaun madad karega. Trophy toh aapne hi le jaana hai, magar qatar mei second hi aa jaye iski tamanna rakhna bji galat hai kya Allah! "

And Shehnaaz broke out into muffled laughter to this monologue of her best friend Ruhi. She was an entity on herself. Completely and absolutely out of this world. Vibrant and rich and so so easy to be with. Someone completely opposite to how she was. Gloomy, thoughtful and always pondering over sensitivity over the frolicking. Ruhi was like a soft breeze to her deeper self. The thing that had bonded them instantly when they had collided at their very first day in college.

They have been inseparable since then.

" Chale.. Aapke alfaaz ko bhi thoda sa taraaste hai kyu! " And the moment of heaviness was gone, just like that as the two friends got away discussing their entry for the poetry contest next week.

Jo haath dosti ka tune badaya hai
Ek sukun sa dil mei aya hai
Bas ek rahi mil gayi zindagi me, aur tamanna bhi
Bade, shiddat k baad bhaichare ne dastak jataya hai.

" Oh.. See. Now that is the power you hold over words Naaz. Beautiful! "  Ruhi was astounded once again by the power of her friend's words. She was a weaver of emotions through alfaaz. How could kne compete against her.

" Shut up and come. Let's brew something for you as well. " Shehnaaz said, gathering her things and stuffing them inside her bag. Pulling a mesmerised Ruhi along with her.

Poetry was another of something that connected their wandering souls.

Sidharth grimaced as he disconnected his call. His handsome face marring with lines of worry as he set off soon to pack his back.

His holidays were over just like that. With a call over the phone. Taking out the bag from atop the cupboard, he started to rummage through the wardrobe and fill it up with whatever that his disturbed mind could conjure up. His mind was disturbed yes. He was on vacation from his duty. It was his sisters marriage tomorrow!

Yet, one call from the head office and he had to leave his family and set off for the top most priority of his life.

His country! Major Sidharth Sekhawat served the nation at the borders. Safeguarding those borders had always been his top most priority. It came even before his family. The day he had taken his vows at IMA, Sidharth had dedicated himself to his country.

He had always wanted to do that. Serve his nation with all his passion!

And his country needed him right now.

He was half done through his packing when he was interrupted with a knock at his door. He knew who that was.

His mother!

" Aa jao ma, the door is unbolted! " He raised his voice a little for it to reach her ears beyond that beautifully carved wooden door, decorated with strings of flowers. The whole house was in fact decorated with flowers everywhere. It was his sister's wedding after all.

" Kiska call tha Sid. And what is your baba saying that you are....

" Going back. " Sidharth completed her trailed sentence. He felt a pang to see her mother plop down on the bed, crestfallen.

" No. You cannot be going right! " She husked. Sidharth drew a long breath in. He felt his heart clench to see her devastated face. Why wouldn't she be! He just came back from the abyss of the border two days back!

Abyss! The border was an abyss to her. She had lost something major in her life to that border.

But to Sidharth, it wasn't an abyss at all. It was his life. He survived to serve his nation.

Just like his father did!

" Ma, please. Let's not start again! " He whimpered, tired of this argument everytime. Repetitive, it was becoming repetitive. Everytime he would be back for his holiday, it would take an ample toll on his sanity to coax her mother to let him go by the end of it.

" But Sidharth. You promised to stay this time! " Suchandra cried out to her son, who yet again busied himself with his packing, nonchalant, so nonchalant he was to it all. Just like his father! But Suchandra felt a fear everytime he had to see her son go back to face death from point blanc over and over again.

It had started to feel ad nauseam to her now. The fret of the borders taking a toll on her fragile heart these days.

" Fauji hai Suchi. Fauji ka jigar aur jaan dono watan hota hai. Khushi khushi jaane do bache ko. Dil se khush hokar jayega toh wapas bhi khushi manate hue ayega. " Nishant, her husband came and wrapped a hand around his devastated wife. He was well aware with the scene. A repeat for each time his son would come to pay them a visit for his holidays. And the way his wife would breakdown each time! Yet still, he would be there like a doting husband each time, giving her the pillar to lean on.

"But he promised his sister Nishant. He promised that he would be here for her wedding. He cannot leave us like this."

His mother cried out again. Sidharth sighed, taking a seat beside his mother on the other side. Taking her palm in his and caressing it softly.

" My duty towards this country is much much much more heavier than this promise Ma. And you know that right. You know how important this is for us. This country, the oath we take while graduating, Ma, main koi 9 to 5 ka job nahi karta hu, that I would have a fixed holiday designed for me to take anytime..
Hum army men ki koi holiday nahi hoti. The country needs us to be vigilant all the time. You need to understand this as a mother of a army official mom. This duty is heavy. Much heavy."

He took his mother into an embrace. A tighter one. Mothers were build such. He was aware. Yet, the border had always been a very sensitive issue among them. The border, their shortcoming. Specially her's.

" tune yehi regiment kyu choose kiya Sid.. Why Jammu and Kashmir beta. Why." She sobbed a little in her sons embrace. He leaned and pecked his mother's temple.. Pulling her more unto his huge arms..

" You know this had always been my passion mom." He whispered back.

" Kya passion. To leave us in fright every time?" she asked back, eyes full of complaint and grudges, yet proud etched deep. " Exactly like him! " She whispered the last line.

" No. To leave you all so that you and a million others like you do not have to live in fright. Fauji hu ma.. Seena taan k jung ladna tha. I live to serve the nation mom. I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry. " he muttered.  A few tears leaking down his own eyes.

A life of an army man is tough enough. More tough to leave back their families for the protection of crores of other's families. Yet, it never meant they didn't have sentiments. Only their way and manner to showcase those sentiments were different.

And yet, the way their every passion and dedication backlashed at them from time to time. Specially in the valleys of kashmir. The way the localites abhorred them, it would make him flinch at times. Why were they questioned for acts they pull. Why wouldn't people not understand the reasons for the same! Killing was not their goal, safeguarding people at the larger scale was!

Yet, they were the most misjudged in the valley.

Suchandra was a different level of emotional mess right then. Kashmir held a sore wound for her. It would till the end of her life. It was Kashmir where she had met the love of her life.

Major Sudhir Sekhawat!

Kashmir indeed held the softest corner in her heart. Yet, it was this same Kashmir that had robbed her off of her love three and a half years later.

And her son, choosing the same regiment, she couldn't be more frightened than ever. This fear was a constant. Like the ticking of the clock at the back of her mind, reminding her always that it could just be anyday that Sidharth might leave them like his father.

Yet, belongings to the army was like a pride no one could deny.

" I still feel scared. Ye khuaff nahi jata hai dil se kya karu. Har pal jab ti dur rehta hai, bas khauff mei beet ti hai zindagi. Ab toh shayd ye khauff ka hi sahara leke jeena hai. " Suchandra sighed. The fear would just not diffuse. She had tried, oh the Lord knows she had tried so many time. Yet, the fear was her constant companion now a days.

"Khauff nahi sweetheart.. Pride.. Pride bolo.. Ek fauji ki patni aur ek fauji ki Ma.. It's a pride and it's an honor to devote your family towards the service of the country. Tumhara contribution is much profound than ours combined. We were duty bound, but you gave away self lessly.. This self less love is everything.. Jaane do usse. Is emotions mei mat baandho. He is an army man. A proud army man."

He said, taking his wife in his embrace again, letting their son pack and leave. His jeep was waiting outside.

Nishant Sekhawat belonged to the army as well. Only, he was lucky to have survived while...

Suchandra nodded, leaning against her husband.

" Thank you Papa! Chalta hu Ma..take care.. Ananya ko sorry bol dena..mil nahi paya. I do not have time to handle that mess again. She is a different story when crying. " Sidharth fondly rolled his eyes remembering his sweet little half sister. She was an exact replica of their mother. An emotional mess and he just did not have the time to manage the jittery Ananya. His heart could handle this much pain .not being able to watch his dear little sister getting married was already heavy for him as well. Army, no army, he was a human being after all.

" Take care of both of them. Bye Papa. Bye Ma. "

He said, once done packing, hugging his mother.. All set and ready to leave.

" Uh huh.. Duty pe ja rahe ho. Army man ki tarha jao.." His father interrupted, patting his back.

" Major Sidharth Shekhawat saluting to ex Colonel Nishant Shekhawat , Sir!"

He said, body straight and stiff, rigid, eyes in the distant, not locking with his father as he saluted his ex reporting officer.

Kashmir indeed had a soul stirring connection with Sidharth and his family.

It was Kashmir that was again going to play havoc in their lives again. Only, they were still unaware.

" Situation is tensing up major.. The intelligence had cracked a few codes receives by the Interpol. The ISI along with their wing is planning a series of attack. Several places. One of them is Baramulla. I guess it's time you shift your base to Baramulla. The place is more at threat. Specially Baramulla degree college for woman. This would be the focal interest of your ridle company."

Sidharth hummed and nodded throughout as their plan of action was being laid down. The basic. The details he was to design. And that was only possible when he would be visiting the college personally.

" Tonight major. You and your team leaves for Baramulla tonight. It's an emergency! "

Sidnarth hummed and walked out.

Blossoms!

That's what used to describe Kashmir once upon a time. The frosty sky with specs of cloud for the summer until the weather gave rise to toasty winters, chilly and freezing when the mountains gets covered with thick snows to cover up the same flower beds till the next spring.

Kashmir was a paradise!

Until people destroyed it all. People and… hatred. The hatred for humanity, the hatred in differentiation and the hatred for acceptance.

Kashmir was basking in blood now a days. Sidharth sighed, as he summoned his team for a detailed analysis.

Kashmir was going to bask in a lot of blood the next few days!

Only this time, it would be something more than just blood and rebellion.

***

Nacho saare.. Aaj toh eid mana lo. Waise next week is hectic for me. Let's see how much I am able to manage.

How do you like the chapter though, do let me know.

Comment.. I love them.

And I love u all.

P. S : it's a very sensitive issue that I am going to deal with in this book. But again, I am anything if judgemental. I would try to be as neutral as possible. Still, some very sensitive issues would be there. Jo bhi koi comfortable na ho, they leave the story and spare themselves from spreading hatred.

Love to all of you.

❤,

Sanu