13th April, it was the birthday of Arsh and also the day of Baisakhi festival. We all loved going to Gurudwara and had made the plans of attending the celebrations of Baisakhi in Gurudwara and after having langar there, we would go for a dessert treat by Arsh. We all had been to Gurudwara many times before but we didn’t know why, that was the first time, when we heard what was being said by an old person on stage. He had come there not to impose his thoughts on people but just to share what he felt. Disha went to sit with Arsh’s sister, Harneet.
For the first time, we realized that day that whatever he was speaking were not related to any religion in particular, but was true for anyone's life. Some of the things that I remember were –
This was not just limited to these sayings, Sikhs have done it before, Guru Gobind Singh’s all 4 sons (the age of smallest was just 7 and eldest son was 18 years old) died fighting against injustice by Mughals. At the end, he humbly appealed the masses to wake up and fight against the evil in this world. Arsh had been listening to all these things from his childhood and had incorporated lot of them in his life. We all knew how Arsh never thought before doing anything he felt was right, even in the case of Vicky. He used to say these lines whenever we asked him to remain cautious, ‘Guru Gobind Singh once said – ‘sava lakh naal je ik ladawa, tabei Gobind Singh naam dharawa (Only then I'll proudly call my self Gobind Singh when each one of my Sikhs fights fearlessly against huge battalion of unjust enemy).' This may have sounded funny but we knew what Arsh meant was clear that one shouldn’t stop him/her(self) from fighting against something that they feel is wrong. There were many other things that Arsh used to tell us which has stayed with us since.
Everyone was quiet and in deep thought when we'll met outside Gurudwara after Langar. We all had lived this life without ever thinking about others, we didn’t even paid attention to the selfless love that our parents gave us. Then after some time Arsh started – ‘Oye, ki hoya? Kise nu treat nahi chahidi hun? I guess I'm spared for the day, thanks a lot guys.’ But then he dragged us to Ginger’s and ordered Ice-cream for everyone with me and Disha opting for milk-shake. We were sitting there when two people came and sat behind us, of which one was looking very upset and it was clear that the other had brought him there to cheer him up. As after that Gurudwara session, all of us were already silent, we could actually hear their conversation. The person who seemed upset had lost his brother in a terror-strike that took place in Delhi. He was a middle-class person who went there to purchase some items for his shop when a bomb exploded due to which he got seriously injured and then succumbed to his injuries after 2 days. He had a son in 6th std and a daughter in 1st std.
They left the place soon as the person was not able to contain himself. None of us could swallow whatever was remaining in our plates and glasses after that. All of our eyes were filled except Arsh's. His eyes seemed to burn red with anger. I took an initiative to lighten up the situation, but then realized that nothing would help that situation, so just said – ' Guys !!! Lets have this and go from here to DHN Park and spend some time there'. We had our shakes and ice-creams and went to the garden. Harneet had tution so she left.
Arsh's anger had not lighten up yet. He never abused, but this time he did and that too in front of Disha. We asked him to relax and sit calmly. Karan tried to divert the attention and pointing as to what will happen by abusing and beating our heads around that topic. To which Disha replied ‘So what we just keep quiet, haan? Whenever terrorists wish, they come and kill our people, that’s it? It's that easy right, and we, we just change three channels, feel sad, abuse terrorists and then go back to sleep hoping that this won’t happen again. It’s true that we didn’t lose any of our closed ones, so maybe we won’t realize how it feels when someone so dear dies such a disgraceful death. Okay tell! What was the fault of those 2 young children who won’t be able to see their father again in their life, they might not have thought in their wildest dreams that when he was leaving his home, he would never come back.’ Saying that she broke up. Sagar and I went to conciliate her. All this time Arsh was silent, he didn’t speak a thing, but we all could read his eyes by now. If given an opportunity he might not even think twice, go and do whatever he could have done alone.
Sagar tried to change the topic, by pointing towards an old couple who just came to the park, and were looking completely satisfied and happy. They seemed to play pranks on each other. It felt so nice to see them relishing those moments together. A light moment that to a great extent dissolved our anger. But not for Arsh, he had been thinking something all this while. Seeing him tensed Sagar asked him to just stay calm and think what role could we play in this time of crisis.
After a long silence, Arsh spoke – ‘I have decided. I won’t leave any single of them, I’ll just ... I will join defense forces. No person should die like this and if someone wishes to show their strength, they should face our defense forces first, not innocent unarmed people, who will show them their real place.’
He was a serious person, a person with firm determination who left no stone unturned to get something he decided, done. This was where his journey started and landed him to the place he is right now, and I’m sure he would be one of the best captains of Indian Army.
'Deh shiva var mohe Eehai, Shubh Karman te kabhun na tarun, na Darun arsyion jab jaaye Ladu, Nishchaya kar apni Jeet karu.' He also explained the meaning of this line – “O Lord!! Give me enough strength and a strong will, that before doing any good task, I never think twice, never be afraid of doing whatsoever that might be; And while doing that good deed, I know that I'll always WIN!"
He said one more line that will remain with me always and won’t let me stop when I find it difficult to move-on(fight). That was –
‘Sura so pehchaniyen, jo lade deen ke het, purja-purja kat marein, kabhun na chadein khet'. It means – “Only that person is brave who fights for the needy and unprivileged; even after having each and every part of their body cut, they don't leave the battle ground till their last breath.”This was not just limited to these sayings, Sikhs have done it before, Guru Gobind Singh’s all 4 sons (the age of smallest was just 7 and eldest son was 18 years old) died fighting against injustice by Mughals. At the end, he humbly appealed the masses to wake up and fight against the evil in this world. Arsh had been listening to all these things from his childhood and had incorporated lot of them in his life. We all knew how Arsh never thought before doing anything he felt was right, even in the case of Vicky. He used to say these lines whenever we asked him to remain cautious, ‘Guru Gobind Singh once said – ‘sava lakh naal je ik ladawa, tabei Gobind Singh naam dharawa (Only then I'll proudly call my self Gobind Singh when each one of my Sikhs fights fearlessly against huge battalion of unjust enemy).' This may have sounded funny but we knew what Arsh meant was clear that one shouldn’t stop him/her(self) from fighting against something that they feel is wrong. There were many other things that Arsh used to tell us which has stayed with us since.
Everyone was quiet and in deep thought when we'll met outside Gurudwara after Langar. We all had lived this life without ever thinking about others, we didn’t even paid attention to the selfless love that our parents gave us. Then after some time Arsh started – ‘Oye, ki hoya? Kise nu treat nahi chahidi hun? I guess I'm spared for the day, thanks a lot guys.’ But then he dragged us to Ginger’s and ordered Ice-cream for everyone with me and Disha opting for milk-shake. We were sitting there when two people came and sat behind us, of which one was looking very upset and it was clear that the other had brought him there to cheer him up. As after that Gurudwara session, all of us were already silent, we could actually hear their conversation. The person who seemed upset had lost his brother in a terror-strike that took place in Delhi. He was a middle-class person who went there to purchase some items for his shop when a bomb exploded due to which he got seriously injured and then succumbed to his injuries after 2 days. He had a son in 6th std and a daughter in 1st std.
They left the place soon as the person was not able to contain himself. None of us could swallow whatever was remaining in our plates and glasses after that. All of our eyes were filled except Arsh's. His eyes seemed to burn red with anger. I took an initiative to lighten up the situation, but then realized that nothing would help that situation, so just said – ' Guys !!! Lets have this and go from here to DHN Park and spend some time there'. We had our shakes and ice-creams and went to the garden. Harneet had tution so she left.
Arsh's anger had not lighten up yet. He never abused, but this time he did and that too in front of Disha. We asked him to relax and sit calmly. Karan tried to divert the attention and pointing as to what will happen by abusing and beating our heads around that topic. To which Disha replied ‘So what we just keep quiet, haan? Whenever terrorists wish, they come and kill our people, that’s it? It's that easy right, and we, we just change three channels, feel sad, abuse terrorists and then go back to sleep hoping that this won’t happen again. It’s true that we didn’t lose any of our closed ones, so maybe we won’t realize how it feels when someone so dear dies such a disgraceful death. Okay tell! What was the fault of those 2 young children who won’t be able to see their father again in their life, they might not have thought in their wildest dreams that when he was leaving his home, he would never come back.’ Saying that she broke up. Sagar and I went to conciliate her. All this time Arsh was silent, he didn’t speak a thing, but we all could read his eyes by now. If given an opportunity he might not even think twice, go and do whatever he could have done alone.
Sagar tried to change the topic, by pointing towards an old couple who just came to the park, and were looking completely satisfied and happy. They seemed to play pranks on each other. It felt so nice to see them relishing those moments together. A light moment that to a great extent dissolved our anger. But not for Arsh, he had been thinking something all this while. Seeing him tensed Sagar asked him to just stay calm and think what role could we play in this time of crisis.
After a long silence, Arsh spoke – ‘I have decided. I won’t leave any single of them, I’ll just ... I will join defense forces. No person should die like this and if someone wishes to show their strength, they should face our defense forces first, not innocent unarmed people, who will show them their real place.’
He was a serious person, a person with firm determination who left no stone unturned to get something he decided, done. This was where his journey started and landed him to the place he is right now, and I’m sure he would be one of the best captains of Indian Army.
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