26th January. The parade ground flourishing with people ,as every year. The national flag, raised its head up in the Sun. The hue of Tiranga swept its colour on every heart.
The awardees were called one by one to receive their honour for the greatest sacrifices their family member had done. Among them were also a few soldiers who were to be honoured for their bravery and wisdom .
The people stared at her as she moved through the crowd . Her eyes were pale and dark which were well camouflaged with the khakee uniform. She paid her salute to her nation with all due respect. When she received the medal , she felt that she would sink down to the ground that very moment. The weight was too heavy for her.
7 months ago.
The war was midway. The Kargil war, no doubt came as a heavy blow to India but India was determined to fight it back and the course it followed made it seem that the war would end soon following some treaty . That night it was her turn and as any other day she was not afraid. Their camp were laid a bit far from the barbed wire. That is boundaries separate us. The firing had begun . In that cold and dark and occasional flash of guns she saw a face . It was on the other side of the 'barbed wire'. A sudden thought flashed in her mind and for the first time her hand trembled in the battle field. It came near slowly and gradually. She cluthed the gun with all her strength realising that the other one was also armed and ready to snatch the life anytime out of her. A second thought would have been more perilious and she fired.
The next day, she saw him lie on the other side of the 'barbed wire'. His body was all stained in blood. It was him , she knew. But she should not think. The war was still not over.
Present day
She looked at herself in the mirror after many months. Her dark eyes well contrasted with the white saree . Today she was both proud and devastated. She hid her tears from everyone else except her five year old daughter who came to give her , her precious doll as her consolation . Though she was completely unaware of what had happened , yet something bothered her that her mother was sad.
She stood infront of his picture in the wall and changed the garland. Not once , but manier times she thought about this- Both of them were armed that day. Only he chose to be late. Yes, she widowed herself that day. That was the price Kargil took to bring peace.