Time: 1000hrs
after two days
Location: Army Base Hospital, Srinagar, J&K
After about a day I woke up thinking, I had just faked my death and I was smiling to myself. Suddenly, my buddy Subedar Major (Sergeant Major) Rakesh, entered the ward to hand me over my medical report, and said "Saab, mujhe pata tha ki aap ko kuch nahi hoga, aap ka 'Sena Medal' toh pakka hai" (Sir, I knew that nothing's going to happen to you, you will surely be awarded the Military Medal). I laughed and asked him casually if everyone were ok, he said if wasn't there and had not informed them of the of the suicide bomb then most of the platoon members would have been dead. I smiled to this and started reading the medical reports. It said that my BPV's (Bullet Proof Vest's) ceramic plate had broken due to a big steel splinter, which had penetrated the plate and also, broken splinters from the BPV, also got into my abdomen creating further blood loss. I was happy that no vital organs were injured. I also heard that some doctor, himself or herself (I didn't know who it was, at least in that point of time) had given me blood.
After 2 hours
The CO came in asking me if I was ok, I said in a formal manner that I am alright. Now the good and the bad part was that I was granted a leave, that I hadn't asked for. So..... after 2 DAYS I reached Mysore ( A city in Karnataka) to my parents house.
A female doctor sitting near me in the flight, recognised me and said " Your the captain from the base hospital" pointing a finger at me. I replied yes, but I didn't recognise her. She said that she was the doctor who gave me blood. I was surprised and humiliated as I didn't thank her sooner. So I thanked her bowing my head and asked her that if she requires my help anytime I'll try and help her to my best efforts. She started a conversation to which I had to answer mostly. She asked me if I was from the RR ( Rashtriya Rifles; a counter insurgency force of the Indian Army), I corrected her by saying that I wasn't from the RR but from the SPECIAL FORCES. She talked mostly about her medical practices and also told me that she was a surgeon going to meet her aunt. Her aunt was a professor in arts at some college. So we talked, but I wasn't able to tell her much about me as I didn't know her enough..... like you know, a friend. So we exchanged our numbers as we were in the same city. ( The reason why SF guys don't share much about their jobs are because they work under very sensitive circumstances, and to protect themselves and the interests of the nation, most of the things are kept classified.... So, DONT MIND)
After reaching the airport, I straight away went to my parents house in a taxi. I was welcomed very nicely by all the members of the colony as they came to know about what had happened during the operation. Well, I was kind of happy also to take a break from all the monotonous routine in the SF (Special Forces), but to be true, SF is like my own family, so I wasn't too happy also. The main reason was because my hands itch whenever I am not having a weapon with me (because I usually carry a weapon or two, mostly a M4 assault rifle and a Beretta 92fs pistol). I stayed there and took my old bike for a stroll to the fast food joint I used to visit as a kid during holidays. It's known as 'Big Chicken', serving fried chicken. I had only stayed in Mysore until I was SUMMONED back to come to my unit.
After 3 days... I guess.... can't recall..... Yeah three days !
I was sitting in an AN-32 cargo aircraft with my team, Codenamed DELTA consisting of young Special Forces operatives from my battalion. We got our parachutes on with our weapons packed and our rucksacks strapped, in front of us. We had to conduct a HALO jump (HALO : High Altitude Low Opening ; a parachute insertion jump in which a paratrooper has to jump from 20,000 feet , and open his/her parachute at about 10,000 feet) We do HALO jumps so that we stay undetected on the enemy's radar at higher altitudes, and when we penetrate through the detectable altitudes, we open our parachutes. (This is an infiltration tactic/method that SF units, around the world widely use). We had to keep the details of the location classified until the cargo hatch of the aircraft opened. One of the young guys (Paratrooper Rohan) asked me screaming ( you'll have to scream inside an aircraft because the engines of these aircrafts are too noisy).
I looked at him smiling, and said "AFGHANISTAN !"
To be CONTINUED....