"Two minutes and 45 seconds." "You can save at least 15 seconds... I sense a war;" "I've been summoned to Head Quarters." "War can break out at any time." "and set-up a new air base there." "Victory to India!" "The soldiers are here for firing, sir!" "Soldiers of the Punjab Regiment the day we have eagerly waited for, is here." "Orders have already arrived." "The Company will leave for Rajasthan as an advanced force." "Every bullet you carry will now bear the enemy's name!" "So, let's see, soldiers..." "how will you strike?" " This is Priti here, Papa." " Yes, dear?" "How is everything?" " Nothing is right, Papa." " Why?" "What's wrong, dear?" "My husband is being sent to the borders." "War is breaking out." "I'll die of the shock, Papa." "Could you have his transfer stalled?" "You're politically well connected you'll have to do this much for me, Papa." "Stop worrying, dear." " l'll have his transfer stalled." " Very well." "Don't worry, dear. I've had Kuldip's transfer suspended." "He will not go to war." "I'm having him sent to the Head Quarters in Delhi." "I've heard all that you had to say." "I understand what you are getting at." "And now you'd better understand what I'm about to say." "If you really have my transfer stalled then I will leave this daughter of yours for whom you are doing all this." "Listen, son..." "Get us some chairs." "What... was that you said to Papa?" "Just what you heard me say." "You had sworn by our son that you'd never leave me." "Remember?" "Yes, I had." "Will you break the oath then?" "And what if something happens to my son?" "I don't care." "Don't forget the oath I took when I joined the army." "I had pledged something when I was born in India." "I had sworn by this soil in which I have grown from childhood to a man!" "I had sworn by those alps and peaks which have been protecting my motherland for over 5000 years!" "I had sworn allegiance to 500 million of my countrymen who are born of this soil just as I have!" "I can sacrifice my son for them anytime." "Forgive me, Kuldip." "My love for you had driven me to despair." "A life without you will be worse than death." "It was because of this that I telephoned my father." "What if something happens to you in the war?" "Nothing will happen to me, silly girl." "Your love Deepu's will not let me die." "I'll return in one piece." "Watch out." "And that is a promise." "What makes you say that?" "Your border outpost has been kept ready by the BSF and you only have to take charge." "The tough job is left to the Air Force." "We'll have to start from scratch." "And we don't even know how much time we have." "Going by the situation in East Pakistan, it's pretty certain that they will start trouble on the Western Front." "As you said, Pakistan will start trouble in the Western Front but we will be the ones to "finish" it." "They will fire the first bullet;" "we'll finish off with the last." "With the Air Force around, I don't think you will need to open fire." "Victories and defeats in wars are now determined by the strength of the Air Force, Major." "But it's our soldiers who bare their chests to the offenders' bullets." "after we clear the path for you;" "we will first strike at their base!" "There's no end to the debate on the superiority between the Army and the Air Force." "All we must realize is that it takes all hues to make a garden." "What's the fun in being alone..." "Be it you or me?" "Fantastic, Major!" "Very well said!" "This is an emergency, Mathuradas!" "All leaves have been cancelled!" "But I've still sent your application to the Brigade Headquarters." "I'll inform you of whatever directions I receive." "That was Mathuradas; he belongs to your company." "He was asking for leave in an emergency situation." "Those who run homewards at the sight of war have no right to be in the army." "His wife is seriously ill with cancer, he says." "You could relieve him forever, sir." "He could spend his life sitting at his wife's bedside." "You will now go and take charge of the outpost at Longewala and relieve the BSF who are presently holding fort." "120 men of your company await you outside." "Will just a hundred and twenty men protect the post at Longewala?" "!" "600 soldiers will man the post at Sangewala." "You send 600 men for Sangewala;" "and I get just 120 !" "If the enemy decides to break through a new opening they will try Sangewala, as they did in the war of '65." "Which means you expect them to repeat their mistake!" "Or they might just ask us which is the safest way to enter the country!" "The enemy will not obey us;" "but you must." "Go and take over the post." "Strategies are planned at the Headquarters, you know." "Not here in our offices." "Go and meet your men." "Attention, soldiers!" "Don't move!" "Hail India!" "The soldiers are ready here at the parade, sir!" "Don't move, soldiers!" "You didn't tell me we had a kid among the 120 men, sir." "You're right, sir!" "I am a kid." "My father was a kid, too, when he joined the army." "But he was such a lovable kid that God took him away from us in the war of '65." " What was your father's name?" " Major Vir Bhan." "Ask the soldiers to mount, subedar." "I knew Major Vir Bhan very well." "I can't call him a friend, because he was a senior to me." "But we were still very friendly." " How is your mother?" " She's all right." " Though she cannot see." " Cannot see?" "She has lost her eye-sight in the tears she has shed." "We can't see anything around." "It's a desert." "Don't crib!" "You have a runway!" "You can..." "Which are our neighboring villages?" ""What's the fun in being alone?" "Be it you or me"" "Here's the army to take over from us." "They're mostly Sikhs." "Must be a regiment from Punjab." ""Victory to Mother India"" " Where's your Commander?" " He's away on Patrol, sir." "Send word over wireless that we have arrived to take charge." "Sir!" " There's a message, sir." " What is it?" "They want you at the post." "The army has arrived to take charge, sir." "Really?" "And here I was..." "sleeping like a log." "How do you manage to sleep in the sand through the night, sir?" "We don't consider this land to be our mother for nothing, Santram." "It has a lot of compassion for us." "When it sees its children going to sleep it spreads out a protective sheet of sand to cover us." "You have received the orders, I believe?" "This BSF company will move on to the post at Gutaru." "You must know this region very well." "Mustn't you, Captain?" "I know it as I know my courtyard, sir." "Perhaps this is why my Headquarters has directed me... to join you with three of my men in the battle here." "It was a request from the army headquarters." "Please ask them to light a lamp in the Goddess's temple everyday, sir." "Do you see the Goddess's temple there, sir?" "My soldiers want you to light a lamp for the Goddess everyday." "A lamp will be lit everyday and prayers offered, too." "They believe that the Goddess will protect this post, if you do that." "Make a point to remember that, Kartar Singh." "Glory be to Mother India!" "Move it... yes, from there." "Ask the soldiers to get their fill of water from the well." "Get the water you want, soldiers!" " Get a bucket, feller!" " l'm dying of thirst!" " l'm longing to have a bath..." " Hold it, guys..." "Wait!" "Wait, I say!" "Freeze!" "Out of my way!" "None of you will even touch the water!" "Let me first take the water I need for cooking you can drown in it after that, for all I care!" " Are you issuing that order?" " Yes." " Although I am very much here?" " Of course." "Do you know whom you are talking to?" "I know you're an officer..." "a high-ranking one." "Your wish is my command, sir but I will say this much." "Nourishment makes the soldier;" "it's not the other way around." "No army in the world can ever fight on an empty stomach!" "You talk too much for a cook, don't you?" "I hope you don't take offence, sir Bhagiram cooks as lovingly as the acid tongue he uses." "Many high-ranking officers take everything he says jokingly." "And why not?" "It's because of my food that they've risen in the ranks!" "Watch what happens when you eat the food I cook, sir!" "You will go places!" "Let's go, buddy." "Here comes Subedar Ratan Singh ... to die here!" "You've got just two anti-tank guns!" "Do the top-brass think the enemy has only a couple of tanks?" "Let them have a couple of hundred, sir." "You don't need to worry, so long as Ratan Singh is around!" "Are you going to stop them with your hands and feet?" "Indeed, sir. I'd thrust my head into their tanks, if need be to silence them, sir." "You can't ever change, Ratan Singh." "You must be hungry as usual." "Isn't it?" "I'm so terribly hungry, sir I could grill the enemy's tanks in my tandoor!" "Go ahead then." "Bhagiram is waiting for you." "Greetings, Bhagiram!" "Cursed luck, Bhagiram!" "Did you curse your luck when you saw me?" " Yes, I did." " Why?" "Didn't you like my arrival?" "My word!" "As if our friendship has gone to the dogs!" "I wonder what the Indian army holds against me." "They send you behind me, wherever I'm posted!" "Don't blame the army, if you take my opinion." "I suggest you meet a wise astrologer." "You'd find him somewhere among the bad stars." "The bad stars have no class." "This man is a demon-incarnate, born to torment me!" "is this how you treat me for our years of friendship?" "!" "To hell with our friendship!" "I just have to cook now!" "You've been cooking for a 120 soldiers, right?" "Start cooking for 130 men from today." " Where have 10 guys sprung from?" " Can't you see?" "!" " Here's one... two... three..." " Stop it, I say!" " Buddy boy!" " You're a pal!" " How far is the border from here?" " lt's just 16 kms., sir." "Are the villages around the border friendly to us?" "They used to be, sir." "Many moved across the border during the war of 1965." "They're all related." "And some of them are informers, too, sir." "Start a full-scale checking of the villages from tomorrow." " Shall we use force, sir?" " Only if necessary." "These two happen to be the narrow paths to the border." "They link us to Border Post # 635 and 638." "I'd like to examine the paths and the border-pillars." "Certainly, sir." "You can see the Pakistani bunkers from across them." "Prepare to leave for the border early tomorrow." "There's pillar # 635, sir." "Don't remain standing, sir." "The enemy's snipers fly around dangerously." "What madness is he up to?" "!" "Please stop him!" "That Indian officer seems to be mad, doesn't he?" "I could lay him flat, if you wish, sir." "Hold it." "Madness and love have a strange old relationship." "The Major seems to love his country as much as I love the soil of these deserts." "In which case, he's bound to be given a medal someday." "My father was given one, too." "He was also a victim of this madness." "He left behind a medal and a blind mother for me." "May I ask you a question, sir?" "Sure." "Go ahead." "is there no difference between bravery and madness?" "That which you consider madness is a result of one's belief." "I strongly believe that my life and death are in the Almighty's hands." "And my Almighty is with me..." "not with the enemy!" "Because I am always in His protection." "These are the villages that are most endangered, sir." "Because they use these very paths for movement." "There are Pakistani's on the wireless system, sir." " On our frequency?" "!" " They want to talk to you, sir." "Yes?" "This is Kuldip Singh here." "We know you have arrived, Kuldip Singh Chandpuri." "You're posted at Longewala with the 23rd Regiment of the Punjab, right?" "We have been waiting for you." "Perhaps you are destined to die in Longewale." "Run away from the post, if you wish to escape death!" "You can't escape us!" "Should you die, your wife can always get married again." "But what happens of your son?" "All you can do is to indulge in cheap talk!" "Will you keep nagging us like women?" "Face me, if you're man enough and you'll know whether I'm here to die, or to wreak havoc on you!" "Don't you guys dare to set foot on our soil!" "Longewala does not have space for a graveyard for all of you!" "As for my son... you're a bunch of cheapsters!" "Even my son could put you to shame!" "Let them advance, sir!" "We will build a graveyard for them, sir!" "We certainly will!" "It's the villagers who must've passed on the information to them." "They keep going across the border very often." "They've lit a fire in the ruins, sir." "I wonder who they are and what they are doing here." " What is the matter, sir?" " Who are you?" "We're travelling to Tanaud for a visit to the Goddess's temple." "They're on their way to Tanaud, to the Goddess's temple, sir." " Where do you come from?" " From village Dongra, sir." "I thought we'd eat and rest and give our camels a break, too, sir." "There's nothing on them." "Go ahead and eat." "D'you see the grass the camels are feeding on, sir?" "The grass is green." "Out here in the deserts, we don't have green grass for miles." "Across the border in Pakistan, however, they do have such grass." "He seems to have encountered death for the first time, sir." "Ask him to get used to it!" "This man can't be Major Vir Bhan Singh's son!" "Forget killing the enemy he throws up at the sight of their blood!" "You can't win a war by being martyred at the hands of the enemy!" "Wars are won by slaying the enemy!" "Shove that thing behind!" "I remember a film I saw, Rafi, in which the villain tells the hero you mustn't mess around with guns;" "they're not for kids!" "What's up, lieutenant?" "Why aren't you asleep?" "Your father was martyred in the war of '65, wasn't he?" "Obviously." "He was in the army." "Do you really hold the Indian army responsible for your father's death?" "Yes!" "Then why did you join the Force?" "My father had invoked his love and extracted a promise from me, that I would join the army!" "And why did he extract the promise from you?" "Because his love for the nation was the biggest love he had ever known." "Which made him shackle his son in this uniform!" "I have been given a gun to shoot down the soldier I encounter." "A soldier who is a son to some woman;" "a soldier I've never met before." "A soldier who has done no harm to me!" "A soldier whom I do even know!" "Why must I kill him?" "What for?" "Because he will kill you, if you don't kill him." "Who will trample upon your body to tread on the soil of your motherland!" "And this free land will once again be shackled in chains of slavery!" "We don't even cast a look at the land the others possess." "But we're not such worthless children to watch silently, as they eye our motherland!" "Keep your eyes on the enemy!" "Do not even blink!" "Let's forget these serious things." "You're a young officer, Dharmveer..." "Your mother must surely have chosen a bride for you, right?" "Did you see her, too?" "Did you like her?" "The beauty of it is that she liked me." "This is the right mood!" "How did it all happen?" "Nothing much. I returned to my village, after my commissioning." "Just when the bus ground to a halt..." "Auntie!" "Auntie!" "He's here, auntie!" "He has arrived!" "He has arrived, auntie!" "He's here at last!" " Really?" " l swear!" "Mother!" "Not there at my feet, son..." "You must come close to my heart!" "You ought to be in my heart, my son!" "I will bless you from the bottom of my heart, son." "Greetings." "How have you been?" "...and what's this?" "You've started shaving!" "My son has grown up!" "However much I may grow, I will always be your son, Mom." "You have weakened!" "Doesn't the army feed you well?" "He's just fine!" "He hasn't weakened at all." "You won't understand this." "You can't see, what a mother can feel with her hands." "Well, all right." "You can rest assured that I won't cast an evil eye on your son." "I've already got what I wanted." "What are you talking about?" "I don't understand a word." "It's good that you don't understand." "Shall we move now?" " What are you doing?" "!" " lt's okay!" "There you are, auntie!" "My parents have arrived, too." "Congratulations!" "Dharmveer has returned as an officer!" "Bless you, son." "Heartiest congratulations, sister!" "Thank God!" "Vir Bhan's family is happy again." "God willing, Dharmveer must get married soon, too." "I'll go and fetch some tea." "Try this one." "For all the mangoes I've had, this one is incomparable!" "It has love in its juices!" "... the idiot!" "I must go and light the oven." "You must eat with us before you leave, son." "Enjoy yourselves, kids." "I'll take a look at the fields." "What are you up to?" "!" " What have you done?" "!" " Why did you dirty my shirt?" "You were so taken up with the mango couldn't you pay some attention to me?" " Why?" "Don't you like mangoes?" " No!" "I don't!" " What do you like then?" " Must I tell you?" "Mother!" "Kammu!" "Come back here!" " Mother...!" " l'm coming after you!" "Come back here, I say!" "Are you back, son?" "Yes, Mom." "What are you making?" "I'm weaving a bridal gear for my son." "A bridal-gear for me?" "!" " For my marriage?" " You're the only one I have." "Have you found a bride for me, too?" "I don't need to." "There's just one girl whom we all like." " Who's that?" " Who else, but the lovable Kammo!" "No!" "Not that snob?" "!" "She always has her nose up in the air!" "I will not marry her!" " What are you saying?" "!" " Just what you've heard, Mom." "lmpossible!" "It's Kammo you must marry!" "And I've made up my mind that she's the one I will never marry!" "Never!" "Why must you be so angry?" "!" "What's wrong with her?" "You just can't see what's wrong with her!" "The rustic idiot can't be wife to an army officer!" "Why are you flinging things around?" "Why must you be so angry?" "Won't I get angry?" "I insist I don't want that girl!" "But you're being stubborn that I marry Kamla alone!" "You can't do this, son." "Kamla and her parents have long dreamt of getting her married to you." "But I can't ruin my life for someone's dreams!" "All right." "I won't insist. I'll beg her father's forgiveness, with folded hands." "They've had the hope, ever since you were little kids." "I'm not sure if he will forgive me." " Where are you off to, Mom?" " Leave me alone!" "But I've only been joking!" " ls that the truth?" " Yes. I've been joking!" " Do you approve of Kamla then?" " Yes, I do." "May you live long, my son!" "I'll have you both engaged tomorrow itself." "I've heard it on the radio that war is about to break out." "An emergency has been clamped and the leave of army-men has been cancelled." "They're being asked to report for duty." "What's wrong, son?" "Why have they stopped singing?" "Continue singing!" "You folks may please leave." "Why are you leaving?" "!" "Dharam!" "Why are they leaving, son?" " Sit down here..." " Where is Kammo?" "What's wrong?" "Tell me." "My leave has been cancelled, Mom." "I will have to return." " Where to?" " War is about to break out." "Won't you wear the bridal gear I've made, son?" "It's still not complete, mom." "First finish making it." "I will wear it after I have returned." "No..." "I will not let you leave." "Don't be stubborn." "You know I can't stay back, even if I wish to." "No!" "Please, son..." "have mercy on your mother!" "My eyes can't continue to wait for you anymore." "Nor do I have the tears I can shed for you." "Don't make it difficult for me, Mom." "I must leave." " l will have to leave!" " No!" " No!" " l must leave!" "I will have to leave!" "No!" "I will not let you go away..." "No. I won't let him leave... I will stop him!" "I won't let him go." "I won't let him go!" "I will stop him." "Kammo?" "You?" "You thought you'd leave without informing anyone." "But I had already decided that I would see you off." "So I can receive you again, when you return." "Would you mind if I walked with you to the bus-stand?" "Let's go." "I will not let him go away!" "I will stop him!" "There's something I want to tell you, Kammo." "Go ahead." "If I don't return... you must marry someone else." "You're laughing?" "!" "I happened to remember something." "I saw a madman doing strange things in Agra." "He used to look back..." "shut his eyes... look around himself..." "angrily sit on the floor!" "He'd then start throwing blows around!" "He'd turn this way and that run some distance, look back and lie down again!" "He'd suddenly get up and start running around!" "D'you know what he was trying to do?" "He was trying to get rid of his shadow!" "I am your shadow, silly boy!" "You can't get rid of me." "I must make a move." "Listen..." "Look after yourself." "I didn't even have the courage to look back at her from the bus." "Her eyes must surely have followed the bus drive away..." "You've heard my story." "Won't you tell me something about yourself?" "Mine is the same old story of the King and the Queen." "I'm a Rajput." "My forefathers once ruled this part of the country." "I'm the company of a blue-blooded man!" "Love blossomed with youth and that brought Phool Kanwar into my life." "She's the daughter of a princely family from a neighboring village." "She became my bride." "I can never forget that nuptial night." "Orders for you from the Head Quarters, Sir." "There was my bride;" "before my eyes." "And in my hand I held a call from my motherland." "Very well. I will leave for the border at daybreak." "Thank you very much." "Something wrong?" "What were the BSF doing here at this hour?" "They were here to congratulate me on behalf of the battalion." "A congratulatory message does not upset someone." "Haven't you heard of people being helpless; that's how I look!" "Don't you say a word against my husband!" "What happens, if we don't return?" "Have faith, Bhairav Singh." "We will surely go back." "How else will God answer for the loss of Phool Kanwar's husband and for Kamla's youth?" "Preparations are afoot here and the Indians are bracing themselves." "This is a Pakistani informer on the frequency, sir!" " On our frequency?" "!" " Yes, sir." "Their anti-tank guns are positioned to the left." "Could you somehow trace this swine?" "I think he's in a radius of 10 kilometres to the west." "Let's go!" "I don't know, sir!" "Get the jeep." "That way, sir." "He must be holed up in one of those houses." "There are about 120 soldiers in this regiment of the Indian army." "He's dead!" "Didn't you ask me to get used to this, sir?" "I've done it!" "Hand over the body to his family." "If it remains unclaimed, give it a decent burial." " Who is this?" " Not "is" ; he used to be." "An informer of the enemy." "Who killed him, sir?" "Kids grow up, as they play with their toys, you know." "is the border-pillar clear?" "Everything is clear; we see no movement of the enemy." "D'you think the Pakistanis are crazy to break into this stretch of land?" "They will go to Punjab or Kashmir, where's there's greenery and joy." "A jackal goes berserk when its death approaches, my friend." "But what will they find here?" "!" "A god-forsaken desert for miles together!" "You end up eating half a kilo of sand, even if you don't want to!" "No matter how the land is!" "It belongs to us!" "That's all very well." "But what does this land possess?" "What does it breed?" "Shrubs and scorpions?" "You perhaps don't know..." "this land breeds lions, too." "In which case, lions from this sand must be made of clay!" "You're wrong!" "They'd any day consign someone to the dust!" "What are you getting at?" "Had you not been in the army, I'd have given you an explanation." "Really?" "There!" "I'm no longer in uniform." "What do you wish to explain?" "My hands speak better than my mouth!" "You have abused my motherland!" "You have abused my mother!" "He has abused my motherland, sir!" "I consider this land to be my mother, sir!" "And the swine says it's a barren piece of useless land!" "He says it breeds only shrubs and scorpions!" "Tell me, sir!" "Won't children love their mother, if she is ugly?" "Do they have no respect for her?" "This man has dared to abuse my mother!" "Apologize to Bhairav Singh, Mathura Das." "Embrace him as you would embrace an errant brother, Bhairav." "Go on." "Be a good boy." "Forgive me." "We're sick of waiting for the enemy, sir." "Why haven't you married, sir?" "I thought I'd always be a free bird." "But I met a girl who refused to bow to anyone." "You're an atheist, all right." "But why must you hate God?" "I hate everything man has made to suit his convenience." "The idea of God happens to be one of them." "But there has to be a Supreme Power to whom you bow." "No, sir. I bow to none." "Forget God. I'd make you bow to a mere human being." "Will you really?" "Try it!" "On the condition that we will share the coffee!" "You will stay at a particular place for 5 minutes at eight tomorrow." " l bow to none, she says!" " And what happened, sir?" "That's no way of bringing someone to his knees!" "The fact remains!" "You did bow to someone!" "Death could scare anyone!" "You could call God a scare, too!" "I'm sure He won't mind!" "Saying sorry won't help!" "I won the bet, all right." "But my wings have been clipped!" "I've decided to marry her." "You guys will have to dance when you join my wedding procession!" "My son!" "I've brought your bridal gear, son..." "Mother!" "The movement of our troops has begun, sir." "I don't think we will have to wait much longer for the enemy." "You know everything, sir." "When do you think we will see some action?" "The bloody enemy neither fights nor lets us remain in peace!" "Patience, Gurnam!" "Be patient!" "We're sick of being hold up here for months, sir." "Why don't we simply get it over with?" "To hell with the enemy!" "Give us the clearance to advance." "We can do nothing about that." "Just hold on to your position." " Hail India, sir!" " Hail India!" "is everything all right?" "Has my leave been sanctioned, Subedar?" "What's your problem that you're dying to go home, Mathura Das?" "My problem is that my wife is dying of cancer." "There's no one to even give a glass of water to my child!" "We've been rotting here for months!" "Without a godammed letter!" "I can understand your feelings, Mathura Das." "Here comes the mail, guys!" "A letter from my beloved has come!" "Come over, guys!" "Here come the letters!" "How about my letter?" "Know what?" "My brother has passed in the examinations." " What is this?" " A letter, of course." " You tell me." " lt's a letter." "What a shame!" "Have you guys seen me so happy recently?" " No, sir." " My leave has been sanctioned!" "I'm going home!" "What's the time, Ram Singh?" " lt's a quarter to two." " Time for the bus!" "Bye..." "Jeet!" "I'm going home!" "Do you want me to say something to your wife?" " Just that everything is all right." " Very well.." "Bye!" "Manjeet!" "Let's shake, pal!" "I've got my leave;" "I'm going home!" "It's good that someone is getting away." "Sit there with long faces, you guys!" "Here I go!" "Sukhdev!" "I'm going home!" "Anything to convey to your folks?" " Ask them to keep writing." " Sure. I will do that!" "So long!" "I'm leaving!" "Mr. Ratan Singh!" "My leave has been sanctioned!" "That's good." "You've got a break then, haven't you?" "Now go and look after your wife." "Mr. Mathura Das!" "You are delighted to be going home!" "But the ugly manner in which you have demonstrated your happiness is totally unwarranted!" "Your leave has been sanctioned because you have a problem at home." "But who does not have problems in the world?" "In fact, life itself is a problem!" "Now tell me!" "Do you know of the hero in our midst whose widowed mother cannot see but whose son is lost here in the sands of the desert?" "D'you know of the hero whose mother's mortal remains wait for him to return victorious from war and complete the rites?" "One of these men has his father fighting for his life." "A man who wards off his death every day on the pretext that the one to cremate him is defending the borders of the nation!" "If each one of them were to make excuses and go on leave how will we win this war?" "!" "Speak up!" "Aren't you man enough?" "!" "Before I declare you a traitor and gun you down just run away from here!" "What he said is right." "Who will fight the enemy" "The Major is like a coconut;" "a hard exterior and soft within!" "Why did you run for the mail?" "Why did you run for the mail?" "Who's going to write to you anyway?" "Didn't you say you have no one in the world?" "You're an idiot!" "These guys are my family!" " You're right." " We share the bonds of love." "That you certainly do." "When these guys receive their letters some of them have tears in their eyes, and yet others laugh." "I laugh and cry with them, too." "This is funny! "Everything else is okay", she says." "What are you laughing for?" "is it a letter from your wife?" "Yes, it is." "Let me read it out to you." "It doesn't have all the details, does it?" "Oh come on!" "Not with me here on the borders!" "She says our uncle in Karnal is dead... but everything is okay." "The cow had a calf which died;" "but everything else is okay." "It's four days since Munni has been running a fever." "My son has fallen and broken his arm;" "but everything else is all right!" "My son is now 4 years old." "D'you know what toy he has asked me to fetch?" "He has asked me to bring an enemy-tank when I go home so we can both play together." "What does your son write?" "His handwriting seems to be good." "He writes good things, too." "He writes that the people across the border are just like us." "They dress like us and speak a language similar to ours." "If all this is true, why then do they fight with us, he asks?" "Return home at the earliest, when the war is over." "I miss you very much." ""There has been no letter from you ever since you have left"" ""Are you angry with me?"" ""Don't ever be angry, even if the world is against me"" ""Or I'd have had enough of my life"" ""l had been to your house." "Your mother is fine"" ""She's lonely and keeps waiting for you..."" ""...making the wedding gear for you all the time"" ""l've told her that her darling son..."" ""...will come to my house, when he wears the gear"" ""Yours, Kamla"" ""Dear son, the roof of our house has been damaged"" ""Every time we try to build it, a storm knocks it off"" ""lt's very difficult to stay here when it snows"" ""lf you could come at the earliest, the house will have a new roof..."" ""and we will have our son"" ""Your mother wishes to see you happily settled before she dies"" ""You are undoubtedly doing your duty in the service of the nation"" "" But you are also the only support your parents have"" ""Do write and tell us when you're coming home"" "What news, Bhairav Singh?" "What is this?" "Tears in a lion's eyes!" "They are tears of joy." "Really?" "What's the good news?" "Tell me!" "It's a letter from my wife." "I'm going to be a father." "Congratulations!" "We're going to lay out a feast today!" " Don't forget the porridge!" " Everyone gets booze from me!" "Wait and watch!" "You're going to have a baby-son!" "There's a message from the Command, sir!" "Friends!" "The enemy has launched an attack!" "Have the village vacated." "The enemy has begun the attack." "We can't handle the post and the civilians together." "I entrust this task to you because you speak their language." "Undoubtedly, sir." "Rush to the border pillar and keep me informed on the enemy's movements." "Have the soldiers on alert and ready the post for a battle." "Don't you worry, sir!" "Come on." "Let's march to the pillar." "Move!" "The Commander wants to meet you folks!" "What mistake have we made, sir?" "They won't even let me bring my camel back!" "What is the matter, sir?" "What are your orders?" " Are all the villagers here?" " Yes, sir." "You know you're staying on the border and since war has broken out the enemy can attack at any time." "So quickly take your children and things, and leave the village." " l want the village vacated." " lt's a fight between the armies." "Why will they target us?" "The enemy's bombs will not heed names and things when they explode here." "Look after yourself, Mr. Bhagiram..." "Have the village vacated!" "Quick!" "They've blown up the barracks!" "But they couldn't touch the Goddess's temple." "Just you wait and watch!" "We're going to win this war, sir!" "Because the Goddess protects us!" "Get out of the village!" "Go on!" "We've been asking you to do it!" "Move it!" "Quick!" "Get out!" "Hurry up!" "Come on..." "Hurry up!" "Mother!" "They're not our tanks, sir!" "They're coming from across the pillar!" "A whole regiment of tanks from Pakistan is headed for Longewala!" "I see." "Which is why they're using artillery fire... to drown the noise of the advancing tanks." "Follow them like a shadow..." "What treasure do you have in there that you will risk your life?" " Go away..." " l can't go, sir!" "My father gave me the Holy Quran before he died, sir." "I've left it in there by the oven, sir." "Here you are... now go away." "You went in there and got the Quran for me, sir." "But you're a Hindu, aren't you?" "Yes, I am." "Which itself explains my deed." "To render selfless service is what Hinduism is all about." "This what the true Hindu has been doing down the ages." "Go on now." "Please!" "Hurry up!" "Run away..." "Quick!" "And there are people who call the Hindus infidels!" "Lay the anti-tank mines all around!" "Don't be scared, Gurmail!" "Pick it up!" "The anti-tank mine won't blow up under a man's weight." "It needs thousands of pounds to explode, that the tanks have." "Now lay the mines!" "Quick!" "There's an emergency call for you from the Air Command." "They want you to call back immediately." "The Pakistani air-force has attacked our airbases we need to give them a fitting reply." "Our Prime Minister is likely to declare an emergency anytime now." "As you've heard just now, the war has broken out." "The enemy has commenced attacks on our airbases." "We've got to give them a reply." "At the break of dawn tomorrow, we will storm the Rahim Yahya airbase." "They're heading for an attack on our post, sir!" "There's someone coming this way, sir!" "You will always find the black sheep returning to you, sir." "You're the prodigal son..." "You must not even be blamed." "You don't seem to have to reached your home either." "I've returned from half-way through the journey, sir." "I can leave my wife in any state and condition but I cannot desert my company and my country." "I will obviously get leave after we have won the war, sir." "Certainly." "Put me through to the C.O." "This is the Station Commander." "Who's that?" "What is it, Major?" "The Pakistani's have surrounded my post Longewala from all sides, sir." "They can launch an attack anytime now." "They have 40 tanks and troops of a thousand men!" "I have just 120 men but unfortunately you cannot get air support tonight!" "Why not?" "We have only hunter aircraft's." "They can't be used in night-combat!" "But I will be there at the break of dawn." "How will we hold fort till dawn tomorrow?" "!" "It's hours away to sunrise." " What's wrong, sir?" " Nothing, Harnam Singh." "The hour of our test has arrived!" "Blow up every tank you see!" "And let's pray for those brave 120 soldiers, who are confronting death!" "Have the soldiers fall in, Ratan Singh!" "Tonight is the night when we are being put to a test!" "Because the air-force cannot arrive to help us till dawn tomorrow." "And there's a lot of time before daybreak." "Soldiers!" "There is the enemy!" "We're just 120 men... and they're a whole tank regiment!" "We have been asked by the Command to withdraw from our post." "But they have left the final decision to me." "And I have decided that, I, Major Kuldip Singh will not desert my post!" "I now leave your decision to you!" "Anyone wishing to leave the post, is free to do so!" "Sir!" "You must listen to my decision before anyone else's, sir!" "Whether someone stays here or not I will not run away, leaving my land to the enemy!" "I'd rather die!" "But I will not retrace my steps!" "Bhairav Singh!" "Don't you ever talk of dying again!" "No dead man has ever won a battle!" "You win a war only by finishing the enemy!" "I didn't reach my house, although I was given leave, sir." "I returned, only to be with my company in its battle with the enemy." "Was it to be told that the Command has asked me to withdraw?" "!" "You might as well shoot me, sir!" "But I will not obey this order!" "I understand how you feel at heart, Mathura Das!" "But the Command must've thought of something while issuing the order." "We're just a hundred and twenty;" "and the enemy's troops number 2000!" "So what's new, sir?" "The Revered Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Sri Guru Gobind Singh has proclaimed I will set birds against even the hawks!" "Such will be the glory of Sikhs in a victory of this kind!" "When even birds can take on hawks, sir we're after all human!" "We are not scared!" "No one will leave!" "Do I take it then that all of you will face the enemy with me?" "Indeed, sir!" "Should anyone of you try to run away after taking this decision I will personally kill him!" "God forbid, but if I happen to waver in my step and try to run away, you must get together and gun me down!" "That's an order from your Commanding Officer!" "Blessed is the one who proclaims in God lies true glory!" "Victory to the path of righteousness paved by the Gurus!" "Soldiers!" "Back to your positions!" "Listen carefully to what I have to say." "The Command is not ignorant of our weak position." "They want me to decide if we are to fight or to withdraw." "You're forgetting, sir!" "I am Major Vir Bhan's son!" "I can't even think of retracting!" "That's exactly what I expected from you!" "Come on, you swines!" "No one will open fire till I order it!" "Let the creeps get a bit closer!" "Or whom have we laid the landmines for?" "Victory to Mother India!" "Hold it, soldier!" "Stay back!" "The Indians seem to have laid anti-tank mines for us." "No one will advance any further!" "" Blessed is the one who proclaims..." "in the Lord's name is glory"" ""Victory to the path of righteousness paved by our Gurus!"" "We seemed to have got wrong information." "They have a battalion of 600 men." "Not a company of 120 soldiers!" "The angels of your death await you!" "Either send your guys out and surrender with your hands on your head or say your last prayer!" "Save your measly band!" "You can't escape!" "You're Ghulam Dastagir, aren't you?" "The infamous thug of Lahore?" "Scum from the rotten gutters of your city?" "!" "Only time will tell if I say my last prayers or you!" "Should you set another foot forward on your silly assignment I will send you back to the gutters you have come from!" "What makes you shut up?" "Give him a reply." "Mathura Das!" "What the hell is wrong?" "Come on!" "Steady..." " Bhagiram!" "It's you!" " You're surprised, eh?" "!" "You're handling a gun!" "What will a soldier handle, if not a gun?" "But I've always seen a ladle in your hands!" "It's thanks to the ladle that you're such a strong man!" "Now watch me work magic with these guns!" "I will bump off no less than a couple of the enemy's soldiers!" "Damn you...!" "Now, buddy... who's going to feed me if you kick the bucket?" "Listen, buddy..." "I hope you remember the inn we start after retirement?" "We're going to be equal partners." " l have a condition." " What is that?" " You will not eat at the inn." " How can that be?" "Then we can't have an equal partnership." "I will have 90% of the holdings;" "you will get just 10%" "What for?" "You're going to eat stuff worth that much of money!" "Damn it!" "The spring is broken!" "You wanted a spring, Bhairav Singh." "Here it is." "Open fire!" "Go on!" "This land is as much my mother as it is yours, Bhairav Singh!" "If possible, please carry a message to my wife." "Tell her that I am indeed guilty and answerable to her." "I am repaying a debt to my motherland in this birth of mine I will repay her debt when I am born again!" "I will repay her debt in my next birth!" "Das!" "No...!" "Bhairav Singh!" "Go and take over the MMG's!" "Take charge of the MMG's, Bhairav Singh!" "Take charge of the MMG's, I say!" "Go and take charge of the MMG's!" "I'll fix these guys now...!" "We're returning to the post, Gurnam!" "I need covering fire!" "Not one of them must escape!" "Dharmveer is returning, sir." "He has asked for covering fire." "Officer Dharmveer is returning!" "Give him some covering fire!" "Blow them up!" "Go and take charge of the LMG in the next column!" "Remember the great man, Dharmveer!" "Remember the great Major Vir Bhan!" "lnvoke your father, my dear soldier!" ""One Sikh shall take on a hundred and twenty five thousand..."" ""...and bring glory to my revered Guru!"" "Duck, soldiers!" "Ratan Singh!" "What the hell are you doing?" "Bhagiram!" "You won't have to cook for 10 extra guys anymore!" " Don't say that..." " You remember, don't you?" "Ratan Singh... get up!" "Don't leave me, my friend!" "You're my partner!" "You must start that inn, Bhagiram!" "I'm game for the 10% share in the profits!" "But see that you pay the profits to my parents." "They have no other support..." "Ratan Singh!" "They who can set birds against the hawks, sir will bring glory to Guru Gobind Singh's name!" "How could you do this?" "You've left a friend?" "!" "Why doesn't this bloody night end?" "!" "That MMG gun has bothered us no end." "Blow it up with the tank." "Bhairav Singh!" "Are you all right?" "Watch out!" "Beware!" "Do not let them set foot on my motherland!" "Mother... here I come!" "I'm coming!" "Bhairav Singh!" "Come back here!" "Mow him down!" "Kill the swine!" "Oh Mother..." "Goddess Shakti!" "Goddess Mother...!" "Goddess Shakti!" "The infidel has an anti-tank mine in his hands!" "Drive the tank backwards!" "Backwards, I say!" "Drive it back..." "Quick!" "Hurry up!" "Drive it back..." "Assemble here, soldiers!" "There is the enemy!" "We must defeat them!" "Go for them in full force!" "Go for them in your senses!" "Charge!" "Hold your fire till our soldiers return!" "There's still life in Dharmveer!" "Give him covering fire!" "You asked me to invoke memories of my father, sir!" "To invoke memories of the great Major Vir Bhan!" "My father is here, sir..." "to take me away." "It'll soon be dawn!" "You must live, Dharmveer!" "Don't stop me, mother..." "Please let me go!" "Father is calling me over!" "Let me go..." "He's still alive, sir." "Please don't kill me, sir!" "For God's sake!" "For the sake of the God you pray to!" "In the name of the Bhagwan you worship!" "Please don't kill me!" "I have little kids back home!" "What are your children's names?" "Khalid... and Asma." "Nice names." "Now tell me the plans of your forces." "I'm an ordinary soldier, sir." "It's the higher-ups who plan strategy." "All they said was that we'd have breakfast at Jaisalmer in India." "That we'd have lunch at Jodhpur in India." "And that we'd have dinner in Delhi." "I swear by Allah, sir!" "By the Holy Quran!" "This is all I know!" "Please don't kill me, sir!" "I don't want to die!" "We will not kill you!" "You are a soldier of your nation, just we are for our country!" "We will treat you as a soldier ought to treat another!" "Give him some water." "is it time yet?" "There's still an hour for sunrise, sir." "Listen, brave soldiers of Pakistan!" "You will be conquerors if you taste victory!" "And you will be martyrs should you die!" "Do not bother about the anti-tank mines!" "Drive your tanks into their post!" "Advance!" "They said they'd have breakfast in Jaisalmer!" "But we're going to feast on them today!" "One Sikh is equal to a hundred and twenty five thousand, said our Guru!" "It's time now to prove His proclamation true!" "" Blessed is the one who acknowledges the proclamation..."" ""Glory be to the Lord's path of righteousness!"" ""We tread the path shown by the Lord..."" ""Victory to the Lord"" ""What's the fun in being alone?" "Be it you or me?"" "Escape!" "The Indian aircraft's have arrived!" "is that Base?" "Where the hell is our rotten airforce?" "The Indian air-force has made life miserable for us!" "They're hovering around us like flies!" "Most of our tanks have already been destroyed!" "Sir!" "We have won the battle!" "The enemy is fleeing!" "We have won the battle!" "Sir...?" "!"