Lost in the middle of a desert with nothing to
count on, no GPS or maps to look to for help. What hope did we have ?
After about half an hour of frantically looking
through the deserted huts in the region, we spotted a Rajasthani shepherd woman
standing under a neem tree along with a flock of sheep. Our navigator and I struck some conversation
with her and requested her to show us the direction to Delta sector. Initially she was hesitant, probably because
she didn’t understand our request clearly.
However, after some persuasion she agreed to lead us. We requested her to sit in our
Jonga/Jeep. She refused politely and
started walking in front of our Jongas.
After walking for about 30 minutes in that heat,
amidst the recurring sand-storms and hot winds, she led us to a dilapidated hut
with mud walls and a thatched roof. A
torn rag cloth was hanging at the door of the hut. She requested us to come in. While the navigator and I went in, my other
colleagues remained in the Jongas, I saw an old man lying on a rickety old cot,
moaning in pain. Our lady escort
immediately brought two glasses of water from a half broken mud pot and offered
it to us. Having spent almost three
hours without water in that hot and dusty environment, this glass of water was
a great relief.
Immediately after offering water, she started
talking to our guide cum navigator in fluent Rajasthani, gesturing towards the
old man lying on the cot. My guide
explained to me that the man on the cot was her husband who had been suffering
from high fever since the last week. She
had no resources to take him to hospital and was awaiting some help from the
army medical team who occasionally visited the region and provided medical help.
In the meantime, our leader Brigadier sahib who
was dressed in Army gear joined us in the hut.
The lady started narrating the story of her husband’s misery to him
assuming he was an army doctor.
Unfortunately, we had no medical kit with us. Suddenly, I remembered that I had packed a
few Paracetamol tablets and anti-allergic tablets for any emergencies in my
personal bag. I immediately fetched
those medicines and gave two paracetamol tablets to the old man. I could see the sense of relief on the face
of the lady who started thanking us profusely.
Our guide requested her to show us the way to
Delta sector and highway. She asked us
to wait and we started looking around, at the interiors of the hut. Except for a few clothes on one of the ropes,
a mat on the floor, an earthen chullah in
one corner and a few half broken utensils, there was nothing in the hut. I was feeling very sad looking at the
poverty-ridden state these people lived in.
In the meantime, I saw the lady bringing two plates of Bazra Rotis, a
piece of onion, green chilli and some kind of chutney to us. Probably this was the food she had cooked for
her husband. I could see that there was
no other food left in that box.
Despite our persistent refusal to accept the food
the lady insisted that we should eat the food before resuming our mission. With a heavy heart we ate part of the
offerings and wished speedy recovery for her husband. The lady, then escorted us by walk to Delta
sector which was almost five km from her hut.
She refused to take any monetary help and wished us a safe journey.
When she turned to go back we offered her a jeep
ride back to her hut. She gently
refused. I could not control my tears
and thanked God that our Rajasthan has such strongly rooted traditions of
hospitality that, even the most miserable situations themselves had no effect
on them.
I have deep respect to the brave and selfless
lady who contributed in the mission of setting up the land range for India’s
missile programme against all odds in her life.
I think India preserves its SOUL and heritage through the acts and lives
of such great people; those whose lives we’ll never remember, stories we’ll
never find out or names that will never be etc .
We owe our freedom in a huge way to the
sacrifices and efforts of these unsung heroes, who touch our hearts and leave
memories that can’t be wiped out with the sands of time.
Sir excellent blog and thanks for sharing your experience with all of us. It's so nice and humble of you to recognize the old lady's contribution in our missile programme.
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