Jimmy

Night sky in the mountains is spectacular. Its like a billion eyes are focused on you screaming for attention amidst quiet and stillness of deep sea. Still spectacular but it wasn’t like that in May of 1999. Not on Tiger Hill.

“Lieutenant Rajveer Tomar, reporting for alpha company sir. We have taken position in ‘Parion ka Talab’ sir. There is heavy arty fire from enemy lines”
“Rajveer, you have to move on. Tiger Hill is only half a kilometer away”
“Yes Sir. But the jawans are suffering, its really cold sir”
“The Pakis can see the highway from Tiger Hill and have stopped all our supplies lines. That position is really crucial. Do your duty to the nation soldier”
“Yes Sir.”

The night sky was lit with tracers and gunfire from the Paki bunkers. He had to scream to be heard over the radio.

Explosions all around them were enough to demoralize everyone.

“There.. These bastards won’t let up even at night”
“Tomar Sahib, now my water bottle too is empty and it’s getting really cold. What should we do?”

He had lost twenty men. As he sat their in the lee of a rock he smiled as Kenny Rogers came to his mind, ‘There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done’.

“Its only 400-500 paces now. Once we start moving you won’t feel so cold Harikrishan. This mission has come directly from the HQ. We must win this post for our country. Jawan stop whining. Get up, let’s rock this post”

They broke cover, dashed to the next rock, firing all the while. The bunker was now within RPG range. Rajveer loaded up and fired. He saw it bounce off the solid concrete bunker and explode without causing any damage. As they were loading it up again there was a massive explosion.

The Pakis had located their meager cover and blasted them off.
***
Jimmy, as Lt. Rajveer Singh Tomar, 8th Sikh Regiment, was known at home got up bathed in sweat in the middle of the night. It was ten years since Kargil. He still got these nightmares. Sometimes a bright light from behind his eyes, sometimes a feeling of warm fluid dribbling from his mouth and sometimes an acute claustrophobia would wake him up.

He had led the initial company of brave soldiers in May ’99 who were naively sent up to Tiger Hill. He was the only one to come back alive. Severely injured, his hip shot and mentally scarred for life.

He started his car that morning from his Dad’s farm just off Jeolikot. He enjoyed the drive in the hills. He drove off in a cloud of engine revs and calming notes of his favourite, Kenny Rogers.
His Dad kept worrying for him even after ten years. Jimmy had refused to marry too, so he was only one to worry for him. Tomar Senior remembered Jimmy as a feisty young kid always full of beans. Their Chandigarh house was a bee-hive of activity; Jimmy’s friends would be in and out, at all times of the day.

“Hi Uncle, Is Jimmy at home?”
“Isn’t it time for your classes? What are you all doing here at this time?”
“There’s a strike in our college Uncle”
“So, now you all are going to be gallivanting all day then. Why don’t you spend time in the library?”
Gitu giggled loudly, skipped through the drive-way, entered from the side-door and went straight to Jimmy’s room.

She was a bright girl, always chirpy, and was very pretty. She was doing well in her studies too. Tomar Sr. and Gitu’s father were Bridge partners. He was very fond of her but always sensed a streak of recklessness in her. He also could see a little twinkle in Jimmy’s eye whenever she was around. He hoped, as these two grew older and sensible, they would settle in their careers and hopefully get married too.

They had both come rushing out. Jimmy started his bike and waved to his Dad.

“Bye Dad. We should be back by afternoon. We are going up-hill”
“Drive carefully. Wear your helmet. Give one to Gitu too”.
“Yes Sir” he said as both of them put on their helmets.

They both laughed and went off. You could hear their bike screaming with excitement.

Ten years on, he was driving from Jeolikot to Nainital. He was enjoying the warm sun-shine, as Kenny sang the Gambler. Now he saw a broken down Qualis and some people sitting on the road side. He drove past slowly even as Kenny Rogers moved to ‘Islands in the stream’ his duet with Dolly Parton.

Three years of Jimmy’s graduation seemed to have passed in a jiffy. His love for the Army was well known in the family. When he appeared for CDS exam, no one was surprised. He had done well and was selected for Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He was to undergo one and a half years training at Dehradun and then would be posted somewhere.

When his first posting was announced as Amritsar, he was very happy. He was going to be an Infantryman.
***
Then he saw her. The same silky brown hair; the same little arrogant tilt to her shoulders; the same doe-eyed face; the same impish smile. She was standing there trying to shield her eyes from the sharp sun-shine. A tan leather bag was lying on the ground like her floppy Golden Retriever. She wore a light-blue Punjabi-suit with white churidar and a printed colourful dupatta. The same statuesque posture. Last ten years flashed though his mind. He had seen that figure so many times.

Jimmy had loved Gitu ever since he could remember. Those heady college days were a breeze. They had been a pair at college. When he had been commissioned as Lieutenant, the Bridge partners decided that their children should get married.

No one among their friends was surprised to hear of their engagement. It was a small, family and friends affair at Lake Club in Chandigarh. Gitu had worn a brocaded pale blue Lehnga and looked like a film star. She had a thing for pastel blue. Jimmy was his dapper self, tall and handsome. He had begun sporting a moustache at the Academy.

He was at home in Chandigarh when the call came. Forces were being mobilized. It was time.

***
‘Gitanjali?’ He whispered to himself and screeched to a halt. He slowly reversed his car, came abreast, took off his sun-glasses and rolled the car window down.
‘Gitu?’
‘Jimmy?’

There was an un-perceptible hesitation in her step but the weight of an avalanche of memories and images was too much. She stepped into the car.

‘Can you imagine, seeing you here after so many years’ she said. ‘My God! It must have been, what ten years? Tell me all about yourself. How has life been? You must be married. Children?’

She was flowing like a mountain stream. That’s how she had always been. Kenny Rogers changed tracks and began, ‘Ruby, Don’t take your love to town..’ He turned up the volume from the buttons on the steering wheel.

You've painted up your lips, And rolled and curled your tinted hair
Ruby are you contemplating going out somewhere
The shadow on the wall tells me the sun is going down
Oh Ruby… Don't take your love to town

“Yes I am fine. No never married. Live on my Dad’s farm. Help him out a bit. Tell me about yourself. You’ve clearly done well for yourself”
“Yes no regrets. I became a model, roamed the world, enjoyed my life. You remember Sachin?”
“Whose Dad was a shippy?”
“Yeah same. We were living together for a while. I just broke up..”

Jimmy was slipping into one of his quite spells while she was going on and on about herself…

It wasn't me, that started that old crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go, And do my patriotic chore.
And yes, it's true that, I'm not the man I used to be
Oh, Ruby I still need some company

“You know its good that we didn’t hitch up” she was now analyzing their relationship. “Even though we enjoyed our time together, I don’t think we were made for each other”

Something gave way in Jimmy’s mind as he slipped into those days. Gitu had never visited him even once in the Hospital. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the first six months but after that he had asked his Dad many times about her.

‘She’s now a model and needs to travel a lot for her work. She’ll be here soon’ he had said.

Finally he came home on a wheel chair after a year. All his old friends came to see him, there were flowers and chocolates every day. It was Varun who finally spilt the beans one evening over a drink.

‘She has changed a lot man. She’s become a celebrity and behaves like one. I met her at Bombay airport last week. She just looked through me man. Can you believe it? I still went up and said Hi. She seemed embarrassed to see me. She was with a hunk who kept nibbling at her ear’.

I am sorry Buddy but I think you should forget her and get on with your life.’

That day his life had drained out from him. He had started drinking and went into a depression. It had taken six months of therapy to bring him back to normal. His Dad had decided to move with him to their farm in Jeolikot that day.

He turned up the volume further and increased the speed of his car. These were serious hills for driving but Jimmy’s eyes were focused as the car ate up hair-pin bends.

Its hard to love a man, Whose legs are bent and paralyzed
And the wants and the needs of a woman your age, Ruby I realize,
But it won't be long I've heard them say until I’m not around
Oh Ruby…Don't take your love to town

The car was now doing 70. The vehicles coming from the other side screamed past. Gitu too realized now that something was wrong. She became quiet. The loud notes of Kenny Rogers were the only sounds other than the swish of the cliff on their left.

“Jimmy slow down” there was a little bit of fear in her flippant voice. The car’s speedometer kept climbing slowly. They were now doing 80 Kmph. And he was quiet
“Jimmy, what are you doing? We’ll crash. This is dangerous”
“Jimmy please. Why don’t you say something?”

She's leaving now cause, I just heard the slamming of the door
The way I know I've heard it, Some 100 times before
And if I could move I'd get my gun, And put her in the ground
Oh Ruby…Don't take your love to town

The windows were rolled down and the cold April wind was biting at their faces. There was sheer terror in Gitu’s eyes as the car touched 90. They had just passed a small car whose passenger’s screamed at them. He was taking the bends at break-neck speeds.

They hit a straight stretch and car accelerated again. Then she saw the turn-off towards Kilbury. It was the highest point on the mountain.

“Jimmy no. Jimmy please. Jimmy stop, I am sorry Jimmy please stop.” Even as she was saying sorry, the car did not take the turn and leapt off the road into the ravine below.

There was complete silence; it was as if time stopped. Kenny Rogers notes echoed in the valley..

Oh Ruby… for God's sake turn around.