It was mid afternoon when I got the call, we were enjoying the occassional chai at what used to be one of the rooftop cafe’s. The message said they were coming in from the south using Kharekhari road. A less travelled road that leads to ruaral lands, a perfect route to sneak in unnoticed. I desperately tried to reach the guards at the fortified door through the radio. They could be disguised as anybody, I thought to myself. I felt like I had to get there if they were to be stopped, something within pushing me to hurry before it’s too late.

We didn’t know what they had planned, were they coming to gather information or whether they planned an attack. I just knew I had to get to the checkpoint as soon as possible. I had already jumped on the bike and was zooming towards the checkpoint, in my panic state I didn’t notice my phone go off a few times. I found out why when I reached the checkpoint, they had caught them, the infiltrators were in our grasp.

I felt a huge weight lifted from my chest, it was like I was being choked all this time and the bastard choking me had finally decided to let go. Where are they? I asked excitedly Who caught them? The guard pointed to the hut towards the west, the one at the foothill of the Savitri Mata Temple hill. I jumped back on my bike and decided to cut through the sand and avoid the road. This was the first infiltration attempt in weeks, I had to know what they had planned.

As I was riding through, my mind was racing but I was reminded of a simpler time, a time when I was sitting with my friends right around the make shift hut. It was a cold winter morning and we were coming down from a night of camping under the stars, I could see us huddled around the campfire, one of our friends had a guitar and he was playing a haunting rendintion of ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane. A couple of us were singing along, we were so naive, oblivious to the impending storm rising in the minds of this once great country. A giant spliff freshly rolled had just been passed down to me, as I took in a couple of lungfulls I remember the world coming to a standstill, it is one of the fonder memories I hold.

First ray’s of the rising sun peeking out from beyond the horizon were just mezmerizing, the music and the wind slowing down to a crawl. I passed it down and layed back looking up at the sky and losing myself in the dark violet expanse. It never occured to any of us that we would never be able to relive that experience the same way again. These moments we hold so close are what we fight for, the right to breathe free without a worry in the world is what’s at stake.

As the harsh summer sun had turned into reams of sweat all over as I jumped off my bike and rushed towards the hut. As I got closer though a fear seemed to take hold and my feet started to tremble, my heart thumping hard in anxiety had a million thoughts ruunning through it. What are they palnning? What if it’s something too big for us to stop? What if it’s too late? What preparations do we need to make? What if this was a distraction to guide us away from the actual infiltration? I had too many questions but no answers. They lay inside but I couldn’t make myself walk in, with my feet paralysed I stood at the door trying to raise my hand to move the curtain.