God's Immortal Warrior

It happened all of a sudden. The effect was so volcanic that every Indian was affected by it. Akalbir was just like another guy when he was in school. He was never at home. His childish demeanor was really a headache for his parents. Particularly his mother who was always at the receiving end of his father's anger. But like any other mom, she always pampered him. Being the only son, that was an advantage.

The name Akalbir, was given by his paternal grandmother. Her mother fondly calls him Vira. But for everybody else, he is Akalbir. He never bothered to know the meaning of his name though. He was born in Lahore(now in Pakistan) at his maternal grandfather's residence. He was there till he was 8 because his father, Shamsher singh didn't have a fixed home at that time and was away most of the time for his trading business. Later they settled in Amritsar, Punjab (India).

Akalbir is 19 now. The age where a man's destiny and desire changes with direction of wind. He is a tall, daring, carefree guy. He roams all the day with his friends and comes home at night. His father, the only person he fears, stays away most of the time for business and his mother, who is everything for him, doesn't bother about her son's doings. Somewhere in the heart she knew, her son can't do anything to harm anybody.

But last night was different. Vira has not returned home. There is no trace of his friends too since morning. Everyone is worried. In the morning a Train from Pakistan had arrived in Amritsar from Lahore, carrying the bodies of innocent victims of the partition. Akalbir's friend, Gurnam's parents were among them. Little did they know that an imaginary line on the map can make a human being bestial. And this menace did not take much time to grow inside 5 young men who have nothing lose. And at this age, they are unstoppable.

The only girl Vira ever liked was Vani. They met from the first day when the teacher asked each student to introduce themselves and explain the meaning of their names. Vani was the only one who didn't laugh at him when Vira was not able to explain the meaning of his name. They were schoolmates for 2 years till she left school to help her mother in household. They never really talked but always adored each other from distance. But there was a sense of fondness in their eyes when they see each other. At this age, one can't define this feeling. May be we are not allowed to. Vira always hated to be alone and was always found with his friends. But when Vani is around, he forgets everyone. That adorable face with the innocence of a child, that smile which can bring even god to his knees. Vira is a different person then. He is focused, poised. In contrast to Vira, Vani is more matured, sensible, positive, focused She knew that she loved him since school. Though she didn't like his carefree attitude towards life, she was confident from inside that she can change his life and let him understand the meaning of his name, once they are together. Both could never share how they felt. It never happened.

Amritsar railway station was never so crowded. It is easy to get lost inside the sea of people. Small children were sitting on the shoulders of their fathers. Everyone's face looks worried. They are not homeless. They just don't know which one is their home now. Some are there to receive their relatives coming from Lahore today. It was morning 6:50 AM. Among such a circumstances a train has arrived. Full of bodies with blood. Many could not even recognize their relatives. It took a little time for the eyes which were full of sadness and worries to have agony and vengeance. You can imagine how quickly the minds of these five teenagers have been engulfed by this. They planned to attack the train that will leave Amritsar that night. Vira will lead them. They will stay here at the station in disguise and attack the people who boards the train. Gurnam said he could arrange all the weapons they needed.

Everything was happening as per the plan. No one would do anything till Vira says. Finally the train that will take people to Lahore arrived at Amritsar at 11:00 PM. The station was flooded by people with children and family who were eagerly waiting to go to Lahore. This was the world's greatest migration. Thousands of Hindus and Muslims were moving across the countries with no idea about what their furure will be. The capacity of the train was not enough to hold this much of crowd. Suddenly a group of people with weapons in their hand came running towards the platform. The crowd somewhere knew from inside, this would happen after the incident that happened on the train which arrived in the morning. Many groups had arrived on the station for the same ruthless intention. Vira and his friends could not understand what to do. Though they had planned to do the same, they were stunned to see the massacre in front of them. Vira gathered some courage and told all his friends "Let's save the children. That's the least we can do." Nobody asked anything and did as Vira said, they ran towards the train. They did the best and most they could do. Vira and his friends tried to put every child to the train as it had picked up the speed and had started leaving the platform.

Suddenly Vira sees something. A man, must be at his 40s at least was in a hurry to catch the train and was dragging his wife who is in Burqa. They were being chased by people who would definitely kill them. "They are too late to reach here. Lemme help them"- Vira thought to himself. With all his energy, He ran to them and helped both of them one by one to catch the running train. While doing so, he also slipped and fell down. He hurt his forehead and almost fainted.

Before he could close his eyes, he had the last look at the train. The train to Lahore, that took so many people to their new home, and left so many, will never come back. The couple which he helped, he could see them too. The wife doesn't look so happy to be on the train. She is trying to jump, but her husband is not letting her. Suddenly a blow of wind came and Vira could see the face of the girl inside that Burqa. "Oh god. Is it Vani? No It can't be. But I can never forget her face. It's definitely her.". His body which had no energy, didn't even let him to think more. Perhaps that was the only time Vira knew, how much he loved her. All he begged was to be awake, to at least see her some more time. But his body had no sense left.

Later when he returned home to his mother, he explained everything. Holding her, he cried like a baby. If you really want to see how a man cries, try to see him crying in front of his mother.

Her mother told him only one thing:

"Don't cry my son. You have justified the meaning of your name. Akalbir - God's Immortal Warrior "