I opened my eyes on the 2nd morning of this year to the news alert of the terror attack in the air force base. No sooner had I read the words “Air Force”, my heart skipped a beat, my brain was racing and my eyes started hunting for more information hoping that this is not happening in any place where my acquaintances dwell. A very selfish yet a common and natural human emotion. Once that was ruled out I religiously followed the media coverage on the whole attack with a slightly relaxed yet agitated mind. And then went on with the daily chores of paying attention to mums futile efforts of pushing me into the marriage market, weekend plans with friends and other similar life altering activities. As the day progressed with more news flowing in from the Pathankot attack, I remembered a concern expressed by a celebrity recently that created a lot of hullabaloo with everyone blindly ridiculing his statement.

Intolerant India, search this on Google and it throws up about 1,250,000 results in 0.78 seconds. More than this are the cultures that our Constitution recognizes, the languages we speak and the values that we inherit. Media gimmicks or political plot, on social media this issue was debated a lot. Neither do I know what he or his kith and kin who voiced out their apprehension truly meant, nor do I have the time to probe into the matter deeper to justify the statement or condemn it whatsoever. Being from a country where you can express anything you feel and its validity and classification depends on your influential capabilities and cultural qualifications, and although what I am writing does no justice to how I actually feel about the whole issue, I decided to record my thoughts nonetheless.

I am a girl and I fear for my security, I am a guy and I fear for my security too, on this land or underwater or in Air Force One (all the drama effect’s credit goes to our movies Of course!), and I will continue to do so until I disappear into the void. But for every person who might pose a threat to me, I know there are 100s backing me in my land of cultural and emotional diversity. And there is no better proof to this than the martyrs who lay their lives so we can wake up with a hangover from New Year celebrations or read about the never ending contretemps between the ruling and the opposition party.

“My job is killing my social life” is a common statement I have heard. “My son’s job killed him” said no mother of a soldier ever! Someone rightly said “A soldier is a son to two mothers, one mother bore him, and the other- Mother India, made him who he is”.  And one such soldier was Lt Col Niranjan Kumar, a hero at the battleground, a father of a little angel, a son to proud parents, a husband to a dignified woman, did his part to ensure my security, our security, so we can wake up to yet another day filled with laughter, anger, excitement and sadness. And like him countless others have taken a bullet for millions us of.

Today I have shed silent tears for the martyrs of the heinous attack on Pathankot, a few of you have shared related posts on your walls, but a few days down the line, a new issue creeps up and we all display our concerns on our  walls. But for the families of these soldiers, it’s an irreplaceable void inside their four walls!

Dear Heroes, I deeply feel sorry for I have nothing to offer to you or your family but for my Love, respect, gratitude and this tear of pride. I feel secure because of you, and if I am sitting in my chair comfortably, listening to music, and writing all this without any fear, then it is because you are striving at the borders during the sleepless frosty nights, and endless morning heat, keeping a strong vigil. And all I have to say are two words which every citizen of this nation owes you, and that is,

THANK YOU!