Legends Never Die

I was wriggling for some space to stand in the train. I was struggling today even though it was my everyday route. The Andheri bound local was packed to its full. As usual there was Rajiv with earphones on, playing the popular game PUBG, Raheem bhai with his squad discussing the politics of the country and many other familiar commuters. But my eyes searched for only one set of beautiful eyes.

There she was , Roshini tired but still elegant. Her hair curling in front of her face and she busy reading the news from her mobile as she always liked to. In this chaotic day, watching here gave me the required peace. Once done with her phone, she glanced around and smiled looking at me. I greeted her with a smile too. She signalled me to come over. There was not even a bit of space to move. Still somehow I made her way to her.

“Hi, how was your day?” she asked.

“Fine, was late to the office today thanks to your insistence on having breakfast.” I said.

“You should never miss your breakfast. Do you know the effects of it? It leads to… ”

“Stop stop. I know, I know” I stopped her from going on and on.

“Ok, I wont bore you. What are the plans for this Weekend?”

“The routine, spending the day with you in the park. Having dinner and spending the night at my home ” I grinned as I liked the idea of spending time with her.

“Lets go somewhere this time. Not the usual place. Somewhere quiet. How about the beach?”

I sighed. I knew going to the beach would include trips in the local trains even on the weekend which I hated. But seeing her puppy eyes, I gave in. I could do anything for those eyes.

“Ok, just this once”

“I love you” she mouthed without saying out loud. Afterall this was India, the place where the idea of upholding the tradition and western culture always clash with each other.

The train was slowing down. The station was near. I said my byes to Roshni and made my way to the door. You have to literally fight to alight from the train or you will never get to get down. As I got down and waited as the train left the platform, I heard a commotion.

As I turned my head to see what the matter was, I was terrified. I could see a guy with a gun in his hand  ready to fire it. Next second all hell broke loose. People started running, gunshots went rapidly off, bombs went off. I froze for a moment. I got myself together quickly and jumped on the tracks to hide in the gap. I could not believe an attack was happening right now I immediately dialled the police. It was busy , shit. I tried again and again, finally it connected. As soon as the operator picked up, I yelled.

“Someone is firing a gun here at Andheri station. We need help fast.”

“Sir we are aware of the situation and teams have already been dispatched, please keep calm and hold tight”

“Please send help fast” I cried.

The gunshots subsided and the walking of the terrorist could be clearly heard. The platform announcer was continuously cautioning people entering the station, what a brave person. A lot of people were hiding in the gap like me. Everyone was quiet careful to not make any noise that would cost their life. I was scared to shit. Suddenly on the hoarding on the opposite platform, I could see the reflection of the terrorist rounding around people ready to kill them. There were two of them and had huge guns in their hands along with ransacks.

“Freeze and put your hands in the air” I heard the voice being said on a speaker. I was sure the Police were here.

“We have you surrounded, surrender yourself.” boomed the loudspeaker.

“Move back or we will kill all the people here. Leave the station right now otherwise these people die.” shouted one of the terrorist back.

I dared to bring my head up to see what was happening. The terrorist had their back towards me and were facing the station entrance. The police were maybe hidden behind the pillars. There were people kneeling in front of the terrorist. I was sweating profusely.

The terrorist were not far from me. I was not gonna watch this silently. If soldiers could give their lives why can’t we ? I believed service to the Motherland was the greatest service one can do.  I thought fast and figured once I would tackle them down the police would help me out. I needed help. While the police and terrorist were battling out in words, I asked who would help me down the terrorist. Though most of them refused, two people came forward. Laxman and Ashar. That’s the thing about India, you know people would sacrifice themselves foe their motherland.

I knew that time was running out fast. We decided to take them by surprise. My knees were weak. But deshbhakti was more than the fear in me 

“Ready?” I whispered. They nodded.

All three of us climbed and ran towards the terrorist. They were quick to respond, they turned and fired. But we were very close. Ashar fell to the bullets but Laxman and I both lunged at the terrorists despite taking bullets. Suddenly the station came alive and people escaped towards the exit. The police closed in. I struggled with the terrorist to prevent him from getting grip on his gun. But our effort was not enough. Both the terrorist got up on their feet and fired to subdue me and Laxman.

 “Stay back or we will kill them” the terrorist yelled at the police.

I cursed the police for not acting fast but to my relief most of the people had managed to escape.

“You thought you could take on us ” one of the terrorist shouted while hitting me and Laxman.

The other was looking out for the police but was visibly injured. I knew I was not gonna survive the bullet wounds. If I could take out even one of them. It would be a great service to my motherland.     I remembered my brother’s words who was a soldier “Legends Never Die”. The time was apt. I mustered all the energy I had

“Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and took out the injured one. As the other one emptied the bullets into me, my whole life flashed in front of my eyes. The dreams I had with Roshni, my parents, my brother,my family…….

-Hechet Ray