Page 76 - Love Story of a Commando

‘Ha ha! I just dropped by to show you the world’s most scenic view
from your balcony.’ And she opened the rear door.
The red sun was sinking between the azure mountains. The vibrant
shades of red and orange were spreading across the sky. The birds were
returning to their nests. The long chinar, cedar and willow trees were
swaying. It felt as if the whole earth was encircled by the far-off mountain
crescent surrounded by departing clouds and varied shades of colours: blue,
green, red, orange and purple. The mellowness of the light was
overwhelming.
Soaking in the panorama of the landscape stretching before me, I
realized that coming here was the best decision of my life.
I could not take my eyes off the view for a while. Then, we sat down
on the plastic chairs in the balcony and Susan poured us some hot tea from a
thermos flask that she had brought along with her.
‘So what is your story, Susan? Frankly, it seems unreal to see you
here.’ I broke the silence between us.
‘Why? I have survived the last year here and it is quite a nice place.
Except for the clashes and curfews that keep on happening and sometimes
there are terrorist shoot-outs at local houses! Otherwise, everything else is
quite lovely. So much peace and tranquility among these woods, you don’t
find that easily elsewhere. I like this whole concept of hiding oneself amid
these beautiful mountains,’ she said smilingly.
‘So you like the place. But how did you end up here and what do you
mean hiding oneself?’ I asked.
My Indian genes could not help nagging her. For us courtesy means
never leaving people alone and extracting all their private and personal
information. Namaste!
‘Well! I was a journalist in the UK. Actually a very hotshot journalist
back there at my place. I worked with the Daily Mirror and was sent on an
assignment for a few months to do on-ground reporting from Kashmir. I met
a really nice French journalist here and we made out quite a lot, which was
very therapeutic in such a place, but then he was kidnapped by local
terrorists all because of me.’ She paused for a second, as if drawing all her
courage out.
She continued, ‘Once, I had insisted that he ditch the security we
were provided by the Indian government and contact our local informer
directly, which turned out to be a bad idea. The informer double-crossed us
and handed us over to the terrorists. They decided to spare me because firstly
they did not want to carry a female along with their all-male group—they
thought I would corrupt their religious beliefs—and secondly, they wanted
me to carry their message to the whole world. It created a buzz back then
with no specific action taken. They beheaded him in a video which they later