The Toughest Battle Fought
A young & fierce soldier gets a call one night, ordering to end his vacation and calling him to join his battalion on the border. Twenty-odd terrorists had entered the line of control & immediate action had to be taken. The defending army was not prepared. Only a handful of soldiers to fight them till back up reaches the spot. But action had to be taken immediately. The next dawn, he is in the frontline holding a rifle ready to fight the battle for his country, with no fear in his eyes or heart. Enters the enemy line of control, gets a bullet in his leg, still kills a dozen of them and wins the battle for his motherland. Goes on killing a dozen, yet doesn’t blink his eyes in fright, or lets his heart race of nervousness, or regrets taking lives, or fears the possibility of losing his own. They win the battle and he emerges as the bravest fighter.
They shower him with highest gallantry awards. The announce him as the most ferocious, the strongest, the toughest, and the one who can win any battle with his unwavering hand.
They write articles about the battle, calling it the toughest battle fought and calling him the strongest of all. He keeps it low. All the leaders meet him, thank him, congratulate him. He smiles. They give him all that he deserved. He has become a hero. After all, winning the toughest battle is not a small thing.
All this while he did not celebrate much, not even once the joy of conquering the toughest battle was seen on his face. But it was fair to assume that this was his personality.
He comes home and the first thing he does is he goes to his mother’s room. She’s sleeping on her bed. He sits by her side, takes her hand in his hand. And just sits there for a while. No words exchanged. He keeps looking at her once in a while but doesn’t wake her up. He sees a new prescription and a few syringes on the side table, he quickly checks it. His heart rate increases, his palms get sweaty, and he quickly turns around to find the house help. The house help starts explaining to him what has changed between the old and the new prescription. After hearing out clearly, he nods in despair. He sits down again, for a few minutes before he kisses her forehead and walks out of her room.
She is in a coma for the last few months. His vacations are only meant for him to spend time with his mother. He is the strongest and toughest guy for the whole nation, but seeing his ailing mother he becomes the weakest of all. As much as he wants to finish off all the enemies on the battlefield, he wants to just kill the one enemy that has taken over his mother. He is not going to give up. He fights along with his mother. He fights for his mother. The medals and trophies in his drawing hall don’t excite him much, a 4x6 picture of him and his mother next to the trophies is what he takes it everywhere.
Toughest battles are not the ones where you are the strongest fighter; toughest battles are the ones where you are the weakest fighter, yet you never give up. Toughest battles are not the ones where you win by keeping your strategies secret; toughest battles are the ones where all your vulnerabilities are wide open and yet you stand your ground strong. Toughest battles are not fought with a capable team, toughest battles are the ones that you are fighting alone inside, and no one has any idea about it.
The world may have claimed him as a hero for winning the toughest war on the field, but he should be celebrated for fighting this battle.
Each one of us is a soldier fighting against battles that others may not even see. And others will never understand too. We know why we are fighting and for what we are fighting. We will pretend we are strong, but we will have our breakdowns. And it is okay to feel that. We breakdown only to rise again with a better war-plan.
The world is not an easy place to live in. Be thoughtful of all the fellow soldiers around you, the only ammunition that can help other warriors around you are kind words. Spread them as much as you can. That may not end their battle, but it will definitely make them stronger.
