Rifleman Sanjay Kumar : An Essay

Rifleman Sanjay Kumar

Unit : 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles

In 1999, Pakistani army occupied a large area in Kashmir in the winter, so an operation was launched in the summer to get this area vacated. This operation is known as Kargil war.

This is important to know that defeating a well-fortified enemy is a very difficult job, and in this war, the Pakistani soldiers had occupied strong bunkers on the hilltops, and defeating them there was a massive challenge. This challenge was even more difficult in view of the fact that the enemy was located at a height while the Indians had to move from below, so they could be easily seen by the enemy. However, the Indian Army, with help of the Indian Air Force, started to attack and occupy one peak after another.

Point 4875 is the name of one of the hilltops on which the Pakistani army had built strong fortifications. It was difficult for the Indians to attack these bunkers because all the routes leading to them were in the open and the enemy could easily see the approaching Indians.

At this, Sanjay Kumar took up the challenge and led a team to attack this point. Despite coming under direct enemy attack, he advanced with his small team inch by inch. Sanjay Kumar himself leapt from a distance and crossed the main hurdle killing three Pakistani soldiers. In this task, he himself too was wounded, but the goal was not yet achieved.

From a nearby bunker, the Pakistani soldiers were firing at Indians and it was necessary to silence them too. Despite being wounded, Sanjay Kumar jumped from this bunker to the next and attacked the Pakistani defenders there. The Pakistanis were so terrified that they fled from there leaving behind their machinegun. Sanjay Kumar took it up and fired at the fleeing enemies.

Enthused by his courage, the other Indians joined him and silenced the remaining Pakistanis in the area, taking control of the hilltop fully.

For his unique courage, dutifulness, loyalty and decision-making ability, Sanjay Kumar was conferred with the Param Vir Chakra.

Fg Offr Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon : An Essay

Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon

Arm : Indian Air Force

The air force plays the most important role in any modern war, so was the case in the 1971 India-Pakistan War. It defends the country from the enemy air attacks and also launches attacks well within the enemy territory. The Indian Air Force accomplished its objectives well and made victory possible in this war.

On 14 December, 1971, six Pakistani Sabre jets approached the Srinagar airfield to attack. At this time, Sekhon and Ghumman were on ORP duty, that is, they had to take on any intruding aircraft. They had the Gnats to defend the airfield, while the Sabre jets were far more powerful. But these two warriors were not scared of either the larger number of enemy aircraft, or the more powerful enemy. They scrambled their Gnats on the runway when the Sabre jets were on their heads, raining down bombs.

Sekhon and Ghumman took off facing these odds, and immediately started to chase the Pakistani aircraft. There was fog and visibility was poor, but they dared the enemy. Sekhon first shot down one Sabre jet and then chased the second one and hit it too. But the remaining Pakistani aircraft came behind him and shot at him. His aircraft sustained a hit. Sekhon spoke to Ghumman on radio and said, "It seems my aircraft is hit. Continue with the fight."

After this, his aircraft started to fall off the sky and was soon engulfed in fire. He died in the line of his duty. His effort disallowed the Pakistani intruders from causing any significant damage to the Indian installations. For his daring feat, technological skill and courage, Sekhon was conferred with the Param Vir Chakra posthumously.

Lt Col A.B. Tarapore : An Essay

Lieutenant Colonel A.B. Tarapore

Unit : 17 Horse

17 Horse is the name of the unit, but it does not have horses for fighting; when it was established long back, it had horses, which were by the year 1965 replaced with tanks, but its name continued as before. Tanks are armoured vehicles which play a major role in a battle. In the 1965 India-Pak War, this unit came to face the Pakistani tanks at Chavinda.

On 16 September, 1965, Tarapore was ordered to deploy his tanks at Chavinda. Taking part in a battle nearby, he was already wounded, but he continued to fight. He led a massive attack on the Pakistani tanks and destroyed 60 of them. In this effort, only 7 Indian tanks were destroyed. In this battle which lasted for 6 days, Tarapore laid down his life leading his unit from the front. For his exemplary courage and leadership qualities, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra.

Subedar Joginder Singh : An Essay

Subedar Joginder Singh

Unit : 1 Sikh

An army cannot fight well in the absence of supplies, that is, it needs clothing, guns, ammunition and food. If an army is not provided adequate supplies, its defeat is almost certain. Somewhat of this situation was faced by the Indians in 1962 India-China war. At this time, Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India, who believed that China would never attack India, so he did not prepare his army well, and its consequences were disastrous.

Despite lacking supplies, the Indians proved their bravery par excellence. They established highest standards of bravery in the battlefield while facing a much stronger, well-supplied and well-reinforced enemy.

On 9 September, 1962, 7 Infantry Brigade was ordered to occupy Namka Chu which the Chinese had occupied and fortified it well. The attacking Indians lacked training, arms, ammunition, equipment, clothing, and even food. In Chinese retaliation, this brigade had to suffer a huge loss, and lost about half of its men.

However, the Indians fought well with whatever they had. A part of this brigade was 1 Sikh, which was armed with .303 rifles in which bullets had to be loaded one by one, while the enemy possessed automatic guns. At one post, Subedar Joginder Singh led his platoon to take on the strong Chinese army, but soon he was out of ammunition. At this, displaying extraordinary courage, his soldiers attached bayonets on their rifles and jumped out of their bunkers to launch a direct physical attack with their battle call "Jo bole so Nihal, Sat Sri Akal". The enemy was bewildered to see these turbaned soldiers attacking in the open. How long could they sustain their attack on the powerful army? Despite lacking ammunition, they caused huge damage to the enemy, before most of them laid down their lives while the remaining were badly injured.

Subedar Joginder Singh too was badly injured in the fighting, he was taken prisoner by the Chinese, but he did not survive long. For his inspiring leadership and glorious bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest bravery medal of India.

Major Somnath Sharma : An Essay

Major Somnath Sharma

Unit : 4 Kumaon

In 1947, soon after independence, Pakistan cast its greedy glances on Jammu and Kashmir, and sent its soldiers in the garb of tribals to occupy as much part of the state as possible. To beat back the Pakistanis, India sent its army from Delhi and Ambala. One of these forces included the D Company of 4 Kumaon Regiment, commanded by Major Somnath Sharma.

Just prior to airlift to Srinagar, Somnath was taking physical exercise in which he fractured his hand, so he was advised not to participate in the war; but he said, "How can I rest in Delhi when my men are going to war?" Despite his fractured hand, he became the first officer to land at Srinagar.

His D Company was deployed in Badgam to check the advance of the invaders. Somnath had only 90 soldiers under his command. At noon, he saw that just outside the village, several people gathered near a canal. Somanth thought that they were villagers, but they were in fact Pakistani soldiers who were dressed like local villagers.

These Pakistanis entered the village and launched an attack on the D Company from there. With this, Somnath ordered his soldiers to retaliate. He found that the enemy was in a great number and was armed with mortars, guns, rifles and other large guns. The invaders were attacking them fiercely, but the Indian soldiers had to be careful as the women and children in the village could be killed in their firing.

The D Company repulsed an attack from the invaders, who returned to attack in a larger number. Several of the Indian soldiers were getting hit and killed in the attack, but they were fighting bravely and inflicting a major loss on the enemy, piling up corpses of the enemy soldiers. Seeing the large number of enemies, Somnath called for reinforcement from the Brigade Headquarters.

Somnath established ground signals for the Indian Air Force to attack the enemy, while his soldiers were taking better of the enemy. With the increasing number of his soldiers laying down their lives, the number of Indian soldiers was dwindling rapidly, while the enemy was still strong. When he saw that his men were facing shortage of men to load the machineguns, he himself helped them do so despite his injured hand. About this time, a shell fell near him claiming his life.

In this battle, Major Somnath Sharma made the supreme sacrifice along with 21 more of his men, while another 26 were wounded. In this comparison, the enemy lost more than 300 men.

For displaying the rare courage, Major Somanth Sharma was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously. He became the first person to get this award.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam An Anecdote-3

In his childhood, Kalam was influenced by several people, one of them being Samsuddin, his first cousin. He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram and catered to the reading needs of the 1,000-strong literate population of the town. Dr. Kalam recalls that the newspapers brought news pertaining to the national independence movement, astrology and bullion rates prevailing in Madras. Some people would discuss Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah as well as Periyar EV Ramaswamy. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, there was an unprecedented demand for tamarind seeds, which Kalam used to collect and sell to a local provision store. When India was forced to join the Allied Forces, there was something like a state of emergency, and its first casualty was in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. Dr. Kalam recalls this much later in these words: "The newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameshwaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced Samsuddin to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin helped me earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in earning my own money for the first time."

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam An Anecdote-2

In his childhood, Kalam was influenced by several people, one of them being Samsuddin, his first cousin. He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram and catered to the reading needs of the 1,000-strong literate population of the town. Dr. Kalam recalls that the newspapers brought news pertaining to the national independence movement, astrology and bullion rates prevailing in Madras. Some people would discuss Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah as well as Periyar EV Ramaswamy. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, there was an unprecedented demand for tamarind seeds, which Kalam used to collect and sell to a local provision store. When India was forced to join the Allied Forces, there was something like a state of emergency, and its first casualty was in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. Dr. Kalam recalls this much later in these words: "The newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameshwaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced Samsuddin to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin helped me earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in earning my own money for the first time."

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam An Anecdote-1

In his childhood, Kalam was influenced by several people, one of them being Samsuddin, his first cousin. He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram and catered to the reading needs of the 1,000-strong literate population of the town. Dr. Kalam recalls that the newspapers brought news pertaining to the national independence movement, astrology and bullion rates prevailing in Madras. Some people would discuss Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah as well as Periyar EV Ramaswamy. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, there was an unprecedented demand for tamarind seeds, which Kalam used to collect and sell to a local provision store. When India was forced to join the Allied Forces, there was something like a state of emergency, and its first casualty was in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. Dr. Kalam recalls this much later in these words: "The newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameshwaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced Samsuddin to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin helped me earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in earning my own money for the first time."

The Wild Friend : A Story

Shakti was on a jungle safari. Ever since his childhood, he had a great liking for the forests, as his house was located at the edge of the forest. His father was a village landlord, but he never allowed him to go into the forest. Once long back, when he had expressed his desire to go in the forest, his father had said, "I can allow you to go in the forest only when you have realized your dream."

So, he passed his childhood and adolescence looking at the forest from his fields and house. Whenever he wished to see wildlife, he was taken to the zoo in the city. The only exception was Bholu, a little bear cub, which was brought in the house by his father, a great hunter. When his father brought the bear cub in the house for the first time, he said, "I found this cub near its dead mother; I took pity on it and brought it with me, else it could have died there in the forest."

Shakti had read several stories and biographies in which experiences about the forest had been mentioned, but having a real experience was something different, so he was now in the middle of the forest; of course, only after he had realized his dream. He was now a lieutenant in the army. His military training also comprised a substantial part of jungle training, so he had practical experience of the forest, though not very elaborate.

Shakti was in the forest with his servant, Malu and had planned for a week-long safari. They had arrived just the previous day and had pitched the tent on a mound. His jeep was parked on the jungle track. The entire area was thickly covered with trees, vegetation and undergrowth. It was early in the morning. He was sitting on the folding chair cleaning his rifle. He never wanted to kill a wild animal, but you don’t know, when you might need a gun to scare away the wild animals. Malu was making tea. He had much experience of the forest as he had accompanied his father on several forest excursions.

By the time Malu brought tea, Shakti had already cleaned his rifle and kept it against the small table.

"Baba," said Malu addressing Shakti. He had been with his household for more than two decades and had seen Shakti grow from a toddler to a handsome young man. "Better load your rifle, you don’t know when you may need it. I've heard about a maneater leopard in this part of the forest."

"Yes, Kaka," said Shakti. 'Kaka' was a term of respect for the old servant. "I'll load the rifle before we start. Bring the cartridges, they are in the tent."

His military training had made him quite confident. He sat on the chair comfortably with the cup of tea in his hand. The forest was serene. He could hear some animal calls in the distance. Perhaps two groups of monkeys were fighting not very far chattering loudly.

Shakti sat lazily sipping tea while Malu was inside the tent gathering things that they needed to carry with them. Today they had planned for a ten-kilometre track on foot. And then the keen eyes of the trained military man turned to a side, in the same action, he kept down the cup and his hand moved to the rifle. The first thing a soldier does on perceiving a danger is to reach for his weapon, this was what Shakti had done precisely. He had heard the leaves rustle; he was sure there was something behind the bushes in the front. He breathed in deep; he could sense some strange smell. There is certainly a large animal around. The birds on the trees too were screaming by now. It confirmed there was a large animal around.

Shakti was now fully alerted, but his rifle was not yet loaded. He called Malu to bring cartridges. He sensed some danger somewhere very near.

As he looked around carefully, he found two eyes staring at him. It was the uninvited guest, it was the leopard. 'Is it the maneater that Malu was talking about?' this was the first question that lurked his mind. The problem with him was that his rifle was not yet loaded. He was trying to remember all the tricks that his military training had taught him how to face the enemy physically. An empty rifle was worse than a stick, he knew, so he threw it down.

Shakti was weighing his options, and Malu was yet inside the tent. Maybe he had not heard his call, so he called again, louder this time, "Bring cartridges, Kaka!"

Malu emerged from the tent carrying the whole box of cartridges. He said, "Its latch is entangled, it cannot be opened."

"There is a danger, I think we have the maneater right here," said Shakti pointing to the bushes with his glances.

"I'll bring the jungle knife," said Malu before entering the tent.

Just then the leopard sprang in the air and leapt on Shakti who had spotted it in the air. He ducked swiftly to a side; still, its paws rubbed against his back, but bruising him mildly, but it was not the time to look at his wounds. Before Shakti could turn, he found the leopard on his back. He fell face down shrieking loudly. He turned on the ground and found that the leopard was on him. He could feel the hot, stinking breath from its fearful mouth. He knew there was no rescue from the deadly paws. Death stared in his eyes.

The desire to live on reigned supreme in his mind, but the situation was terrible, he needed outside support to survive, and Malu, where was he?

The leopard looked here and there, and then opened its mouth showing its long, sharp teeth giving out an angry growl. In the leopard's open mouth, Shakti saw his opportunity to survive. Remembering the swift movement of catching snakes he was taught in his military training, he decided what he ought to do. Giving a jerk, he raised his shoulders and caught with his right hand the tongue of the beast as hard as he could and pulled it hard. The leopard was bewildered at this sudden movement; it tried to free itself with all its might, and in the process, the two rolled over and under each other.

Shakti felt that all his energy was deserting him, he was already bleeding from a couple of places. He knew he could not go on like this for long. He eyes were getting closed, he felt his hands squeezed of all energy, he knew he could not keep his consciousness for long; he was still holding on to the tongue, but not as strongly as before.

And then he saw some shadow leaping on the leopard from one side, and fell away taking it with it. Shakti was losing his senses. He thought it was Malu who had leapt upon the leopard. And then dark eclipsed his vision; he was unconscious now. He did not know what happened then. He did not know whether he was dead or alive, or whether he would die or live.

When Shakti regained his senses, he found himself lying on his cot in the tent and Malu was sitting near him, massaging his chest.

"Thank you, Malu, for saving my life," said Shakti with a feeble voice.

"Not me, Baba, I didn’t save your life, it was a bear," said Malu.

"Bear…?"

"When I came out of the tent and was thinking how to attack the leopard, a bear emerged from behind the grove," Malu narrated, "and it immediately attacked the leopard. It was so furious that the leopard was unable to face it. In a flash of a second, the bear caught it from the neck and shook it wildly. It left its neck only when the leopard fell dead. I had never seen a bear in such a frightful form."

"Then…!"

"What the bear did then is still more perplexing," said Malu. "It first ensured that the leopard was dead, and then it walked to you. You were lying senseless on the ground. I was scared that it could attack you. I was really frightened. But it walked to you, sniffed all around you, licked your face with its large red tongue, and then moved away disappearing behind the bushes."

"What…?" Shakti tried to sit up. He said in an excited tone, "I'm sure he was Bholu."

"Who…Bholu?" Malu was bewildered.

"Don’t you remember the bear cub that we had in the house?"

"O yes, that was a great friend of yours."

"I am sure it was he, he had come to repay the debt of our friendship," Shakti sat up and walked out of the tent. He could see the leopard lying dead on the ground. He could also see two shining eyes behind the bushes. He walked towards them.

"You must take your rifle with you, it is loaded now," called Malu from behind.

"I don’t need any weapon to meet my friend," said Shakti.

Seeing Shakti coming near, the bear rose to its great height and growled as if telling that he had done what a friend should, and then walked away. Soon, it disappeared into the dense forest.

"Good bye, friend!" said Shakti waving his hand from behind. He found Malu looking at him intently. He then said, "Friends will come and friends will go, but a friend like Bholu would never be found."

Shivaji and Surgical Strike : A True Story

From Vishalgarh, Shivaji made to the fort of Rajgad, his capital. Along side Bijapur, the Mughals too were becoming a potent threat, so they needed to be dealt with too. Shivaji had escaped from Panhala and now it was 1663. He had used the intervening time to expand his territories, win more forts, make his army stronger and harass the enemy. But now Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor, with a very large army, was near Poona, and he needed to be tackled on priority. Once again, Shivaji was faced with a much larger force. He knew he could not take on the mighty enemy face-to-face, so he started to launch nightly sallies, in which a few of his troops would come out of the fort at night, attack a part of the garrison, and go back causing some harm to the enemy. The harm caused by these attacks was not massive, but it certainly had an adverse psychological impact, as the enemy soldiers rarely knew when they would be attacked. They felt the pangs of terror all the time. And then, Shivaji planned something dramatic to cause irreparable psychological damage. Until now, the nightly sallies had targeted the posts located mostly on the outskirts of the garrison; but this time, Shivaji planned to strike at the very centre.

You have heard about the surgical strike that India launched not very long ago in 2016, in which a few of the brave Indian soldiers entered Pakistani territory and destroyed the terrorist camps. Perhaps they had learnt this lesson from the exploits of Shivaji that he undertook in 1663.

On the night of 5 April, 1663, Shivaji marched with 700 of his soldiers. He left 500 of them just outside the enemy garrison, asking them to enter if they perceived a problem. With the remaining 200 soldiers, Shivaji headed for the camp in which Shaista Khan lived. Let us not forget that Shivaji had walked almost 40 kilometers to undertake this daring attack.

Walking by the camps of the Mughal commanders, Shivaji reached the Janana or the inside palace of Shaista Khan. They broke through a wall and entered one by one. Only ten of them entered led by Shivaji, and the remaining were posted outside to alert them of any untoward movement. Shivaji headed for the cabin in which Shaista Khan was sleeping.

About this time, the Mughal soldiers were alerted about the enemy presence in the palace, but the lights were dim and nothing could be seen clearly. Before Shaista Khan could be attacked by Shivaji, he jumped out of the window to save his life, but in this melee, he lost three fingers of his right hand. Shaista Khan's son was killed in this attack.

Having caused a massive upheaval in the enemy camp, Shivaji returned to his base safely. He had struck terror in the enemy's heart. Striking at the very centre of the enemy garrison was no child's play. It terrified Shaista Khan so profoundly that he shifted his base from Poona to Ahmednagar. He was now too frightened to undertake any attack against the Marathas.

Shivaji Escapes : A True Story

In 1659, Shivaji defeated a very powerful military commander of Bijapur, Afzal Khan; not only this, he also occupied the fort of Panhala. This fort was not very large and had limited resources. Disturbed by this setback, Bijapur wanted to do away with Shivaji somehow. When it came to know that Shivaji was in the fort of Panhala, it sent one of its most shrewd commanders, Siddi Jauhar with a strong army of 20,000 horse-mounted soldiers and 40,000 foot soldiers in addition to cannons. This army surrounded and lay siege to the fort from 2 March, 1660.

In any military operation, the leadership plays the most important role, so it is vital that the leader is protected at any cost. It has been seen on several occasions that when a commander is killed, even a large army can be defeated by a smaller not-so-powerful army. Siddi Jauhar knew that Shivaji was right in the fort, so he deployed his army all around the fort such that literally not even a bird could fly out.

In those days, forts played an important role in the battles. It was normally very difficult to attack and win a fort, though Shivaji was a great exception in this regard. During his career, he conquered about 250 forts from the enemies, this also speaks volumes of his capabilities.

The siege continued. Shivaji ordered his troops to launch a few attacks on Bijapur, so that this siege would become weakened, but it did not happen. With the passage of time, the rations and resources in the fort were depleting fast, and this could force the Marathas to surrender. His problems were further aggravated when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sent his powerful commander, Shaista Khan, with a large army, to finish with Shivaji.

Shivaji could no more afford to remain in the fort at Panhala, it was necessary for him to get out in view of the depleting resources and the enemies threatening to annihilate the entire empire. In such a situation, he had only two options before him: (1) to come out of the fort and fight until the end; and (2) to sneak out of the fort somehow and then take on the enemy from a position of strength from another fort. Shivaji chose the second option because he was not in a position to choose the first one, especially in view of his small force present in the fort and depleting resources. However, sneaking out of the fort was no easy task, and some stratagem would have to be applied.

On 13 July, 1660, Shivaji sent out a message to Siddi Jauhar that he would surrender the following day; this put the enemy at some ease; but the same midnight, one by one his troops started to come out of the fort in the dark. It was raining, so the rocky surroundings had become quite slippery. The enemy had surrounded the fort from all around and Shivaji needed to cross through the enemy siege. A total of 600 soldiers set off with Shivaji in a palanquin. They did not have many horses; moreover, the noise from horses could have alerted the enemy. This force started towards the fort of Vishalgarh without making any unwanted noise.

They had barely crossed the enemy lines, when at an outpost, an enemy soldier noticed them in the faint moonlight. He immediately rode his horse to alert his commander. Siddi Jauhar immediately knew what was happening. He lost no further time to despatch a force of 2,000 horsemen, under the command of Masud, his son-in-law.

Shivaji was a master strategist. He came to know that his trick had been found out, and they would be chased. So, he planned something dramatic.

The force under Masud did not take long to sight and surround a group of 40 men carrying a palanquin. He never doubted that the enemy had surrendered without any opposition. He looked inside the palanquin, and said to his troops, "Yes, Shivaji is right in it. Let us take him to the camp."

Masud rode his horse in front with puffed up chest and forehead held high. He was sure that he would be promoted because of this feat in addition to getting a handsome reward from the king himself. His joy knew no bounds, but he rarely knew the reality.

At the camp, not only Siddi Jauhar but also Masud were shocked to find that the man in the palanquin was an ordinary soldier, he was not Shivaji. They were mad at the trick that had been played on them. Siddi was mad at this, he cried at Masud hoarsely, "How stupid you are!"

Masud once again set out after Shivaji. When the Bijapur forces caught up with the retreating Marathas, they were about 8 kilometers from the fort of Vishalgarh. It was not so dark now as day was about to break. The Marathas could hear the sounds of the trotting horses, and could soon see them nearing fast raising a cloud of dust. The threat was imminent, and their purpose was not yet fulfilled. They had been walking all night, and were certainly tired, but they were determined to take on the enemy with all their might and apply all tactics they knew to check the enemy advance.

Shivaji divided his force into two groups. One group was to take Shivaji to the fort, while the other group, commanded by Baji Deshpande, was to take on the chasing enemy. The latter group was given a task to check the enemy's advance until Shivaji had made to the fort safely.

Just imagine only a couple of hundred foot-soldiers taking on a far numerous army of horsemen! But these warriors engaged the enemy and made the supreme sacrifice, but not before their leader had made it safely to the fort.

The place where this battle took place has been named Pavan Khind (or Sacred Plateau) in the honour of Baji Deshpande and his men who fell fighting keeping the highest traditions of chivalry and bravery gloriously aloft.

The Secret Bond : A Story

Manik played well today and made the highest score in the game, he had fielded well too taking two spectacular catches. After all the hard work he had put in, he felt hungry as he walked back home. He remembered he had a tenner in his pocket, so he decided to buy a bar of chocolate from the neighbourhood market. First he wanted to eat it, and then decided that he would eat it only after he washes his hands, so he headed home with quick steps.

As he climbed up the staircase to his apartment on the first floor, he found a small crowd standing in the lobby. He found his mother standing just outside the closed door with sweat on her forehead. He thought there was some thing wrong, so he dashed and was in no time before her. He grew cautious and asked, "What happened, Mummy?" He thought that he had got late, so she was worried about him.

"Thank God, you are here," said his mother.

"What is there to feel nervous about? I was in the ground playing cricket," Manik tried to pacify his mother. He noticed a letter in her hand.

"Is there something in this letter that worries you?" said Manik trying to take the letter.

"I am not worried about you or about this letter, son," she said. "Actually, the postman came and as I came out to take this letter from him, the door was accidentally closed and locked. This is the problem with automatic locks. I don’t have the key to open it."

"But you keep a key tied to your saree all the time, where is that?"

"I left it in the bathroom when I was bathing."

"Where is Grandpa?"

"He is right in the house, and he must be sleeping now. You know he is hard of hearing. I have pressed the bell and knocked at the door several times, but to no avail. I am trying to draw his attention for the last half an hour," his mother said wiping sweat from her forehead with her saree.

"Mummy, it must be half past five, Grandpa must be awake by now," said Manik.

"I can't say for sure, he is not very well today."

Manik looked around the building what he could do, and then he noticed the old neem tree near the kitchen window.

"I can climb up the tree to look into the house; I am sure Grandpa will see me," said Manik.

"No, you can fall down," his mother said anxiously.

"Don’t worry, Mummy," assured Manik. "I have climbed up this tree several times."

As Manik came down the stairs and started climbing up the tree, there were many people to draw his attention.

"Be careful."

"Hold that thin branch."

"That twig is weak, don’t hold that."

"Keep your foot on that hole."

Manik laughed in his heart about all these instructions. In no time, he was sitting at the branch from which he could see across the kitchen window.

"Can you see Grandpa?" his mother called from below.

"No, maybe he is asleep in his room," said Manik. "Let me wait here."

Manik was already feeling hungry, so he slipped his two fingers into his pocket and took out the bar he had bought while coming back. He removed the wrapper and ensured that he did not touch the chocolate inside, and as he took the first bite, his eyes saw something that amazed him. He could see Grandpa entering the kitchen. He hurriedly swallowed the bite and was about to call him, when he saw that Grandpa opened the refrigerator and took a bowl full of sweet pudding from the casserole. And now he was standing right there, quickly eating one spoon after another.
Manik held himself. He observed that Grandpa would eat from the bowl and also keep an eye on the entrance. He was taking sweet stealthily. The doctor had forbidden Grandpa to eat any sweets as he was suffering from diabetes, so his mother kept a strict eye on him; but today, he had found an opportunity to gulp down as much sweet as he could. Mice enjoy when the cat is away.

At first, Manik wanted to call, but then he remembered the favour that Grandpa had done to him just the previous day. He could not help suppress his smile, but covered his mouth because all his movements were being observed from below. He wanted to give Grandpa an opportunity to enjoy himself, and thus repay the debt.

Yesterday, Manik had got his monthly progress report in which he had scored very low marks in science. He knew that both Father and Mother would shout at him, so he told this fact to Grandpa first. He had said, "Grandpa, I am scared that I may be thrashed." At this, Grandpa had said, "Don’t worry, I'll ensure that nothing happens." In the evening, he had said to Father, "Manik is a good student, but he is a little weak in science, so there is nothing to be surprised when he scores low marks in science. I have decided to teach him science now. I am sure he will score nice marks in the final exams." This was an indication for Manik to show his progress card. Grandpa's warning had ensured that he would not be rebuked or thrashed. And now the time had come when he could repay the debt. After all, none can be a better friend than a grandfather.

Sitting on the branch, Manik decided that he should allow Grandpa to eat as much sweet as he wanted. He kept munching the chocolate showing as if he could see nothing inside the kitchen. He was enjoying Grandpa's expressions because he loved so much what he was forbidden to eat.

And suddenly, Grandpa happened to look outside the window. He had never expected to see Manik there on the tree, looking at him intently. A long line of terror appeared on his face. He hurriedly kept down the plate, joined both hands and put his finger on the mouth as if requesting to keep mum. Manik slowly nodded his head. Grandpa came near the window and whispered, "Before your mother enters, let me wash the plate and set the house in order. Just wait a little."

Mother called from below, "Manik, could you see Grandpa?"

"No…yes…I can see him coming from the room. I am trying to draw his attention," said Manik as he broke a twig or two to wave. "Yes, Mummy, he has seen me, let me call his attention."

After some time, the door was opened. Manik entered with Mother and said, "I want to have pudding today."

"You don’t like pudding I suppose," Mother looked at him. "Here is good news for you that I have cooked pudding today."

A little later, Mother served Manik a small bowl of pudding, which he pushed towards Grandpa, saying, "You too love pudding greatly."

"No, Manik, I don’t want, you know I have diabetes. The doctor has forbidden me to eat any sweets," said Grandpa meaningfully.

Mother intervened, "No problem, you can take a little. He is offering you the pudding with all the love of the world."

Mother found Grandpa and Manik smiling very softly. She could not understand the cause of it. She too joined them smiling. The secret bond between grandfather and grandson was growing stronger.

                                                                        --based on a story by Neela Subramaniam

Knocked Thirty in a Blow : A Story

As the little tailor heard a honey-seller in the street, he craned out his neck from the window, and finding the honey of good quality, purchased two spoonfuls. The poor honey-seller went away as he had never sold so little honey before, but he could not refuse him – he being the first customer of the day.

The tailor cut himself a slice of bread and spread it with honey and deciding to eat it after having finished with the shirt in hand, placed it on the table.

Having finished with the job in hand he decided to have his breakfast. He saw that many flies had swarmed feasting on the slice. He cried, “You little naughty things! How dare you do that!” And picking up the shirt he had just sewed, blew away the flies violently. He noted that many flies had fallen dead. He counted them. They were thirty in all.

“Wow! Thirty in one blow! How strong I am!” pleased at his feat, the little tailor said to himself. “The world must know how strong I am!” And he sat down to make a belt for himself and embroidered on it in bold words, ‘KNOCKED THIRTY IN ONE BLOW’. And taking a piece of cheese which he might need on the journey and the bird he had in the cage, he set out on his journey.

Going through the streets with his head held high in a cocksure manner, he reached a forest. Seeing his feat recorded on his belt, a terrible giant appeared before him and said, “So you think you’re so mighty.” And he picked up a stone and pressed it so hard that it powdered. “Try and do it if you’re that strong,” cried the giant.

Controlling his perplexity, the little tailor took out the cheese from his satchel and squeezed and whey dropped from it, and he triumphantly said, “And what do you think of that? Was my squeeze better than yours?”

“Well done!” cried the giant in his astonished voice and picked up another stone and flung it away, and it fell a great distance away. “Beat that, O tiny warrior!”

“No doubt it was a great throw, but you look up. I’ll throw the stone which would never land,” said the little tailor and he freed the bird into the air. Finding herself at liberty, the bird flew away out of sight, never to be seen again.

“Well, O little warrior!” said the puzzled giant at his defeat, “Your stature defies your might, and you’ve earned my invitation. Come to my cave and I’ll treat you like my honoured guest.”

At the giant’s cave they had had a nice dinner and the little tailor got a fine bed to sleep on, but he was ill at ease, for he was not very convinced of the giant’s intentions of having come to terms with him, so he placed the pillow in the middle of the bed, and curled up himself under the bed having a sound sleep.

The little tailor was right. At dead of night, the giant came into the room and hit the bed hard with a thick iron rod, crying, “So you’re finally off to a perennial rest, you little creature!”

Having saved himself from the savage power of the giant, the tailor knew that the best course for him was to flee, so he sneaked out of the cave and ran and ran all night until he arrived at the king’s palace in the town. The dawn had already broken and he was dead tired, and seeing the soft green grass in the garden, fell asleep snoring loudly.

He had not slept for long that he was awakened by the king’s men who seeing the inscription on his belt, woke him up and led him to the king. The king was much impressed by the inscription he had on his belt, and said, “If you’re brave enough, go to the forest and kill the two giants there. They keep terrifying my subjects and steal away the pets.”

“As you wish,” the little tailor could only speak.

“And if you do, you can have half of my kingdom and my daughter in marriage,” the king proclaimed.

The little tailor bowed knee deep little considering how he could deal with the giants and wondering if he would ever be able to accomplish it. In the forest, he spotted two enormous giants fast asleep under a tree. How to kill them, the question lurked. Shall I throw stones at them, thought he. But one such stone would hardly injure them and they would awake only to make mincemeat of me, thought he. And an idea flashed his mind.

The little tailor came behind the tree and judged if he could do what he wanted. Then he slapped one of the giants on the face and hid behind the tree. The giant awoke and looked first at the other giant and finding him fast asleep thundering in snores, he looked around, and finding no one around once again lay down to sleep.

The little tailor once again came out from behind the tree and slapped hard the other giant. Now he awoke. Finding the first giant asleep, he too once again slept. Now the tailor hit the first giant again. He had hardly slept by then. He looked at the other giant. Not finding him asleep as fast as he was earlier, punched awoke him crying, “Hey you! It’s too much.”

The other giant sat up and finding his companion raging in fury cried, “It’s you who are hitting me.”

“Don’t tell me,” roared the first.

The two giants argued and quarrelled, hit each other with punches and slaps, and threw rocks and trees, and at last both of them fell dead.

The little tailor walked into the king’s palace and said proudly, “It’s all over. It was difficult indeed, but I finished them off. They threw trees at me and I returned with rocks, and the poor giants could hardly stand my fierce attacks.”

Having told the cooked up story, the tailor bowed his head anticipating for the reward the king had announced, but the king had never really thought to give half his kingdom and his daughter to the funny-looking man, so he said, “You’ve done a great job indeed, but to earn your reward, you need to get rid of the unicorn plaguing the kingdom.”

Once again the little tailor set off to the forest. The unicorn was a horse-like fierce animal with a strong horn on its forehead. As soon as it saw him, it began chasing him, making him to run for his life. Little did he know how he was to take on the dreaded animal, so he ran helter-skelter in the woods. When he saw the unicorn had caught up and was just behind him, he jumped behind a huge tree. In its flow of great speed, the unicorn could neither stop nor divert and thrust hard its horn into the trunk of the tree. Presently, it was no more in a position to move and all the little the little tailor had to do was to severe its head with his little sword.

The little tailor, having accomplished the job entrusted to him, returned to the king with his head held high boosting about his adventure. However, the king was least pleased with him and was perturbed at the thought of loosing half of his land and daughter in marriage, so he thought out another way, “The princess desires that you must spend a night with the bear in the palace cellar, and if you can do that, you’ll have your reward at once.” The king thought that he’d get rid of the tailor in this way, for the bear was very frightening and no one had ever escaped from his sharp claws.

“That’s not a great problem,” said the tailor.

In the evening the tailor was left in the cellar and locked from outside. As the bear got ready to make mincemeat of him, the little tailor took out some walnuts from his satchel, cracked open one and ate the inside. He then asked the bear, “Would you like to eat them? They are so tasty.”

The bear nodded. The little tailor gave him a walnut. The bear crack opened with his teeth and found it very tasty to eat. “Yes, it’s really good!” said the bear. “Give me some more.”

The little tailor this time gave him small brown pebbles. The bear wanting to taste the dainty inside, tried his best to crack open them, but little knowing that he was trying on pebbles, broke all his sharp teeth.

The bear was tired, but unable to sleep owing to pain in the teeth. The little tailor knew this, so he brought out the wooden flute and played. The bear liked the music and said, “Can you teach me how to play the flute?”

“Of course, I can, but your sharp long nails will come in the way,” said the little tailor. “If you’re so sure to learn it, you may have to undergo a little pain.”

“That I can, for I want to learn it. I can play whenever I want to entertain myself,” the bear replied.

“That’s the spirit,” said the tailor whipping out his needle. “I’d need to sew up your nails, agreed?”

“Yea,” said the bear. The tailor sewed down the nails of the bear and said, “See, I’m quite tired now. I’ll teach you how to play flute on the morrow.” And he lay down on the bear’s soft straw and fell asleep, snoring and muttering in sleep as he was used to. The bear wanted to learn music right then, but he was able to do nothing without his claws and teeth and growling helplessly he too slept down.

In the morning, the king had no more ideas to get rid of the little tailor and he married his daughter with him. The little tailor, now the king of half the kingdom, began to lead a comfortable life. One night, as was his habit, he muttered in sleep, “I’ll sew your shirt next week.”

Listening to these words, his wife felt strange and went to her father and repeated the words The king now knew the reality and said, “Your husband is nothing but a poor tailor.”

The princess too no more wanted to live with her husband, so the king said, “Tonight I’ll send some men to deal with him. All that you’ve to do is to keep the window of the bedroom open.’’

As the little tailor lay down on his bed, he heard some hushed voices from the window. Blinking he looked in that direction. He saw some soldiers stealthily sneaking into the room. He knew he could not fight them, so pretending fast asleep, he murmured, this time loud enough to be heard by the soldiers in the window, “I knocked thirty in one blow and killed the two enormous giants and a fierce unicorn and clapped the claws of the mighty bear, so why should I be afraid of the men in the window? I can kill them all in one blow.”

Listening to his words, the soldiers ran away as fast as they could. But the tailor realized that he might not be able to survive long, so he gathered a bagful of gold and fled from the kingdom the same night.

Fish : An Essay

When we say the word 'fish', the first image that comes to the mind is that of a slanting, streamlined colourful creature sliding in water, flapping its fins up and down, and jumping out of water when we throw food to it. But thinking this way is a very limited way of looking at a fish.

 The word 'fish' can be sometimes a tricky grammatical term for students because the same word stands for the plural too, but you should know that when we refer to different kinds of fish, we can very well use the word 'fishes', but for the same kind, the plural to be used remains the same 'fish'. So, you know the exact meaning when we use 'fish' or 'fishes' in the plural sense. The funniest thing about the word 'fish' is that all animals that carry it in their names are not necessarily fish; for example, jellyfish, crayfish, cuttlefish and starfish are not fishes.

Fish plays such an important part in our life that it has intruded our everyday language. We have a number of idioms and phrases that hinge on the word 'fish'. When you say that a person is like 'a fish out of water', you mean that she feels awkward or uncomfortable because she is not in familiar surroundings. When you say that you 'have bigger fish to fry', you mean that you have more important things to do. 'An odd fish' is a person who is slightly strange or crazy; and 'a big fish' is an important person. And when somebody points out that 'there are plenty more fish in the sea', he means that there are many other people or things that are as good as the one somebody has failed to get.

Fishes mean different things to different people. To many people, fishes are best known sources of food; they form a large part of food in the entire world, especially in the areas close to the seashores and water bodies. This has made catching fish an important source of livelihood for a very large number of people. To some people, fish are a source of sport or game, as they go out hunting them. Angling fish has been described to be an ideal pastime by many people, and may be, nobody seems to be talking about animal rights when it comes to fish.

Fishes are inhabitants of water, this fact is known to all people, but all those that live in water are not necessarily fishes, though they all coexist in water bodies including rivers, lakes and seas.

A true fish is a red-blooded, vertebrate animal which lives throughout its life in water. Its body is typically covered with scales. It breathes by means of gills. It propels itself by the sinuous movement of its body, aided by fins, which are the balancing organs. Most fishes breathe dissolved oxygen in water that bathes their gills; but a few like the lung-fishes have developed lung-like structures, which enable them to take in oxygen from the atmospheric air. Some of the lung-fishes are Epiceratodus, Protopterus and Lepidosiren.

A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone; a series of bones that we too have. Other than humans (who are mammals) and fishes, the other animals to have backbones are amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

The largest fishes living today are sharks; they are found in abundance in the tropical and sub-tropical zones of the world. Indian seas are rich in sharks. Interestingly, whales look like a fish, but are not one, they are mammals in fact.

Thus, we see that fishes are of so many types and are so universally found in seas, rivers and lakes that they have been divided into several types of groups. Though they all look alike so far as the shape of their body is concerned, but different features of their bodies and organs have caused their classification into different groups. It is estimated that there are about 25,000 species of fishes living today. They are second to insects in the largeness of population, and they outnumber all other vertebrates, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians put together.

Fishes have had a long history. They first emerged about 430 million years ago. During this vast stretch of time, they have become adapted to all conceivable aquatic environments. They are the most common forms in rivers, rivulets, lakes and estuaries. They roam the open seas and have descended into the dark depths of oceans. They have climbed the rapid torrents of the mountains and crept into the crevices of cave waters. The story of their evolution is fascinating.

Fishes are curious to look because of their smooth body with scales, without legs and feet. And one of the most conspicuous features in fishes is the absence of the external ear, but they very well have the internal ear which is fully developed. They can very well recognize the sound produced by their own kind and can register sound waves conducted through water more sharply than through the air; this fact has been demonstrated by biologists through experiments. Fishes can also smell; their olfactory organs are paired, simple cup-like organs, which have no connection with the mouth. Most fishes have a high sense of smell, which enables them to detect their prey from a distance. Experiments on blinded sharks have shown that they can locate food with the help of smell alone. Salmon is a kind of fish that has an uncanny sense of smell. Fishes practically have no tongue, but they do taste through the oral membrane.

Fishes have a highly developed sense of touch, which most of them feel through barbels.

Have you seen a fire-fly, also called glow-worm or jugnu? It is abundantly found in our country. What makes it fascinating is the light that it emits in the dark. Among sea-creatures too, there are some that emit light; this phenomenon is called bioluminescence. It is in fishes that this process has reached its perfection. The great majority of deep-sea fishes living at depths of 90-550 metres or more have evolved light-producing organs, called photophores, which are varied in kind, number and origin. Deep-sea sharks produce greenish light.

What can be the use of these lighting organs in fishes? It is a biochemical process. The most obvious use is to provide light in places of darkness as in the deep seas, where sunlight does not penetrate. They are also used as defensive organs to confuse the enemy, as in lantern fishes. A further use may be as recognition marks for individuals of the same species, like spots and stripes. They also act as lures for prey as in wide-mouth fishes.

Some fishes have venom too, so it is not advisable to take every fish as food. Generally, fishes do not use their stings as organs of offence; they use them only on provocation, when attacked or stepped upon. In most cases, their venom is not life-threatening and can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, itching and numbness, sometimes accompanied by fall in blood pressure and heart rate.

Earlier it was thought that there are no separate males and females among fishes, so a large number of myths and legends grew around them. Some people said that they reproduced by spontaneous generation, while others believed that the young ones arose from the mucus or slime of their parents. But the truth is that there are males and females among fishes, and they come together to lay eggs. A fish can lay a very large number of eggs; for example, a cod, salmon or plaice may lay anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000 eggs in a single spawning season. You can see fish eggs during the rainy season in the local pond if there is one in the vicinity.

The Jar of Greed : A Story

Once upon a time, there lived a potter in a village. He was an expert craftsman. His pots were beautiful and sold at a good price. His earnings were enough to look after his day-to-day needs but there was hardly anything he could save. The potter wanted his wife to look like a rich lady wearing expensive and gaudy jewellery, but he was not able to save even a penny out of his earnings. His inability to save made him desperate. So one day, he said to his wife, “I want you to have gold ornaments, so you must save as much as you can.”

As you might know, the women are fond of jewellery, so she began to save as much as possible. Thus passed many weeks but their saving was not at all enough to buy a ring even, let alone other costly necklaces and bangles. As the potter’s desire became harder to realize, he had an idea up his mind. He said to his wife. “Cut on food expenses as much as you can. We can do without one meal a day.”

Now they began to have only two meals a day instead of three. It had an adverse impact on their health. They were now weaker than ever before. With every passing day, they became thinner and weaker. Even then the potter’s desire to have gold did not subside.

They went without one meal for many months and at last were able to save enough for a necklace, though not very heavy and thick. But the potter was not content with it. He wanted his wife to have more gold ornaments. But there was no more possibility of cutting down any more of his expenditures. He pondered over the situation for long for a way out so that he could hasten the process of accumulating gold ornaments. The idea that struck his mind was to increase the price of his pots. He doubled the rates. It made it possible to earn more but was not yet enough to fulfil his desire. Thus passed a few more weeks.

The potter, as was his wont, used to have a long walk in the morning to keep good health. One day, he was out on a stroll in the woods. His mind was, as usual, deep sunk in thoughts about gold ornaments. Just then he heard a voice. It seemed to emanate from a tree. The voice said, “O potter! Is it that you want gold?”

“Yes, I want,” cried back the potter in desperation. “I want to be rich.”

“Will it satisfy your desire if you get five jars of gold?” came the voice.

“Yes, it should,” said the astonished potter.

“Well, now you run back to your cottage. You’ll find five jars of gold,” said the voice before it fell silent.

For a moment the potter stood his ground stunned and startled, but the very next moment he began to run towards his cottage, praying all the while that he might get those five jars of gold as promised by the voice. It had not told a lie. There were indeed five jars of gold. They all were covered with lids. His wife sat down near the jars while the potter kept standing bewildered. He told his wife what the voice had told him. His wife removed the lid of the first jar. She exclaimed, “Yes, it is full of gold!”

The potter too stooped over the jar to see what lay inside it. It was molten gold full to the brim. Then she removed the lid of the second jar. Yes, it was full of gold too. The third and the fourth ones were full of gold as well. Their happiness knew no bounds. Only one pot remained to be seen. “Let’s keep these pots in safe custody,” said the potter.

“Yes, we ought to, but we must first see the fifth pot too if it’s full of gold,” suggested his wife.

“Sure, we ought to do it,” said the potter removing the lid. But no! The pot was half-full, or say, half-empty as the potter perceived it.

“You opened it so only it is half-full,” shouted the potter’s wife.

“Oh, yes! I should have let you open it. But you need not worry it. We’ll fill it with gold and make it as full as the other pots are,” said the potter.

The potter took the necklace and the ring that his wife had, and got them melted at the village jeweller. But alas! It was hardly sufficient to fill it to the brim. The fifth jar remained half-empty as it was before. The potter sold all the utensils and exchanged them for gold, but the jar remained half-empty.  He sold the little furniture he had, but the level of gold in the fifth jar refused to rise. His wife and he further reduced their meals from two to one, but it failed to raise the level of the gold in weeks. It drove him to extreme desperation. Physically too, he was famished, frail and feeble.

One day as the potter passed by the landlord’s place, the latter called him and said, “What’s the matter? You’ve grown quite thin and weak, haven’t you? Are you ill?

 “No, I am not ill,” replied the potter.

“Then there must be something very sad troubling you, for your face is very gloomy these days,” inquired the landlord.

“There’s nothing serious. It’s money that I’m worried about,” said the potter.

“Money! But you should be having a lot of it because you’ve almost doubled the prices of your wares,” said the landlord.

The potter contemplated in his mind whether he should tell the landlord that he was worried about gold and more gold. He had not told anyone about the five jars. The landlord was a helpful, kind-hearted man. So the potter decided to reveal the secret. He told everything and added, “It’s the fifth jar that I’ve miserably failed to fill up to the brim. It’s what has driven me crazy.”

Listening to this, the landlord laughed loudly and for long. The potter looked at him with wide open eyes without understanding what made him laugh. The landlord said, “So you’re fixed up in a trap!”

“What trap?” said the potter still bewildered at the sudden change of behaviour of the landlord.

The landlord said, “It was I who was offered those jars. I too found the fifth jar half full, but instead of filling it with my gold, I went to the tree and asked why it was half-full.”

“Then?” said the potter.

“I asked why the fifth jar was half-full. The voice said that the fifth jar would always remain half-empty,” the landlord said.

“What happened next?” the potter asked anxiously.

“The voice fell silent even though I tried my best to get more answers from it. But I understood that it was a trap. The voice meant that the jar always remains empty however hard I might try to fill it. It meant that this jar was the jar of greed which is never fulfilled,” explained the landlord.

“Then how did you get rid of the trap?” asked the potter.

“It was not at all difficult,” said the landlord. “I asked the tree to take back its five jars. When I went home, all the jars had disappeared.”

“Are you sure what you said,” asked the potter.

“There is not an iota of doubt in it,” replied the landlord.

The potter straightaway went to the tree and requested it to take back the five jars of gold which had made his life miserable. When the potter reached back home, the jars had all vanished and with it had also vanished the gold that he had put into it. Awakened from his greed, he found that had lost even his own utensils and furniture which he would have to work hard to earn once again.  However, he was feeling very relaxed and happy.

The Twin Trouble : A Story

The entire house was in a shocked, silent state; only some sobs could be heard at some intervals. Nikhil had received a couple of slaps from his father; his cries had by now transformed into mild sobs. Father's anger had burst out because his monthly progress report had the unsavoury remark : 'There is little possibility of his passing.'

Nikhil was lying on the floor, while Father had already gone to his room, still murmuring angrily. Mother sat down on the floor taking Nikhil's head in her lap. And there, Nitin stood blankly with his report card in his hand. He was hungry; in excitement for his result, he had not taken breakfast; so, he needed food immediately. Once again he glanced at his report card, which said : 'Excellent, keep it up!' He had stood first in his class and was among the highest scorers in all school, but nobody seemed to bother. What all others had seen was that Nikhil had failed in three subjects, and no more.

Nitin saw that Mother was still busy caressing and tapping Nikhil's head, and saw little opportunity of her paying any interest to him. He wanted kudos for his accomplishment, so he went to his father. "Here is my progress report."

His father took it, glanced at it cursorily and then gave it back, saying in an indifferent tone, "Good."

Nitin was dissatisfied with only this much appreciation. He wanted more of his parents' attention, but all that was diverted to Nikhil. His father said, "Go, show it to your stupid brother."

'Here too Nikhil,' Nitin said to himself. He almost sobbed within himself, his eyes getting moist, he silently looked at his father and murmured to himself, 'Don’t you pride in me and my accomplishments?' But he was sure that his sentiments would not be taken care of. He was dying to hear words of commendation from his parents, but they all seemed to be focussed more on the failure than on the success.

Nitin was growing hungry. He needed food immediately, so he went back to his mother. She still sat on the floor caressing Nikhil. He blurted out, "Ma, I'm hungry."

"Can't you see that lunch has been set on the table? Go and help yourself," said she in a little raised tone.

Nitin went to the dining table. He removed the lids to see what all was cooked. Oh no! Golden fried eggs, lady's finger and paranthas, exactly what Nikhil likes. His like was not at all taken care of. None of all those dishes was there that he liked so ardently. 'Is this the reward for his good performance?' Trying to suppress his anguish, he served himself food. Everything was cooked what Nikhil liked. Why doesn’t she cook at least one dish that he likes? He sat down, but could not eat well, but what he did was strange. He emptied the casserole of all lady's finger, ate only a little, and discarded the rest in the garbage bin. He was gradually growing defiant, wishing to have his parents' attention.

The reaction had to come sooner or later. After some time, Nikhil's feelings were assuaged and he was brought to the dining table. There was another shock. Nitin had already emptied out one dish that Nikhil liked best. Mother was furious, she screamed, "Are you a mindless creature? What will Nikhil eat now?"

His brother's name seemed to prick him. He cried, "Let him eat what there is. Let him starve, only then will he learn to pass."

"You don’t have to advise me how to punish him," admonished his mother. "Your father is thrashing him and you want him to die of hunger." Then she darted to the kitchen to cook more lady's fingers.

Nitin looked at Nikhil before heading to his room, mumbling to himself, 'He is quite stupid! When I am studying, he would go out to play. And Mother, she would run after him lest he should get tired. And when I ask for some help, she would simply ask me to do it myself. Am I not her son? She forgets about me all the time. She says that she can't run after me every now and then, and she exactly does this for Nikhil. She neglects me for Nikhil's sake. I hate him.'

Nitin decided that he would not do so well in the next unit tests; he was quite angry with all attention being paid to Nikhil. This time he secured a tenth position in the class, but Nikhil had improved greatly, he had attained passing marks in all subjects. As Nitin walked back home with the report card, he was excited that his parents would now pay attention to him and ask him to study well. He was a little scared that his father could hit him as well. But he was sure that Mother would cook his favourite dishes and would run after him.

As Nikhil and Nitin stood before Father with their report cards, he took Nikhil's report card first, and expressed elation. He said, "You are improving, Good." And then he took Nitin's report card and said lightly, "When we are satisfied with Nikhil's progress, you have come with this kind of report. Can't you both give me happy news together?"

'Again Nikhil!' Nitin grumbled. He said miserably, "I have still scored better than him."

"Don’t compare with him, compare with your past performance," his father said indifferently. He was still looking at Nikhil's report card feeling happy.

Nikhil stomped to his room. He did not wish to have lunch that day. He was thinking how he could draw his parents' love and attention. His trick to score less had not succeeded. And then he decided to fail in the next test. 'Only then they would realize my importance. They would love me and praise me.' To him, getting failed seemed to be the only answer. He was sunk in inner conflict. He was not studying well these days. He was angry that all their attention was fixed on Nikhil, who was not doing good, and he was deprived of all their love despite his good performance.

Days ticked by and the next unit tests started. The first test was that of mathematics. He had left for school with a firm resolve that he would not solve even a single question, or do them all wrongly.

As the question paper was given, he read it from beginning to end. He wanted to first attempt a question that he did not know. 'Ah! I know all the questions well. How can I do them wrongly?' Nitin was undergoing a great upheaval within him. 'If I did well this time too, my parents would never care for me.'

He picked up his pen and wrote on the test book, 'Question No. 1'. But then he kept down his pen. He could not think to do a question wrongly that he knew so well. He sat blankly and then burst out crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

All eyes diverted to him. He hid his face in his palms and cried inconsolably. His teacher came to him promptly and said, "Are you not well, Nitin? What's the matter? Is the question paper too tough?"

Nitin was crying uncontrollably. He could not utter even a single word. He had been suffering from his parents' neglect for some time, and it had become unbearable now. The class too was shocked at his behaviour. Normally, he was the first to solve all questions, but today, he was crying with the question paper before his eyes.

The teacher took Nitin to the principal who offered him water to drink. When he pacified a little, he asked, "Nitin, you are a brilliant school. The whole school prides in you. What's the matter today? Don’t you know the questions?"

"I know them all, but I don’t want to do them correctly," Nitin said with trembling lips.

"But why?"

Nitin was crying again now. The principal rang up his father, who came immediately thinking that there was some problem with Nikhil. When he found Nitin sitting in the principal's chamber, he was surprised. He asked, "What is it?"

Nitin was still overflowing with sentiments, he could not speak for a while. The principal said, "Your son knows all the questions, but quite strangely refuses to solve them. Do you know what the matter is with him?"

His father was bewildered at this. He said, "He is a brilliant boy and my lovely son. He doesn’t need any care or warning. He studies of his own, never does he fail to be a good boy. We are never worried about him, so good he is."

"I want you to be worried about me," blurted out Nitin. "Nikhil fails, still you love him. The more he fails, the more you love him. So I thought that I should fail to get your love. You don’t otherwise love me. You don’t want me. But how can I fail? I know all the answers."

Dumbfounded, his father looked at him. The principal said, "For any child, the greatest burden on his psyche is his parents' love. It is your shortcoming that you let him feel biased against."

His father could not decide for some time what to say. Then he started in a low voice, "Nitin and Nikhil are twins. Nikhil has been weak since his birth, he also has a lower resistance, he is prone to fall sick any time, so it is natural for us to pay more attention to him. Maybe due to this we have grown more anxious about him. We ardently wish that he too should become like Nitin. He is not like Nitin, this pains me, and sometimes it is so distressing that I even thrash him."

"You haven’t been justified in this," the principal said in a firm tone.

"I promise that all this would no more recur."

Nitin was looking at his father's face. He could clearly notice his wet eyes. His father pulled him and took him in his tight embrace and said, "You're the star of my eyes, so is Nikhil. I want both of you to succeed. In my effort to see him at par with you, I have perhaps made you feel bad. I am sorry for that."

Nitin too was weeping, "I have been too selfish, Father." He knew that he was loved greatly, only Nikhil needed a little more attention. He too promised that he would help him come up.

As the two walked out, the principal said, "I'll get today's paper arranged for you on another day."

Father and son thanked him before closing the door behind them.

                                                                                    --based on a story by Ajila Girija Kumar