Emotions ( beyond borders)

By Sushama Kasbekar

This is something she had never thought she would have to face. Her mind was in more than a cauldron of emotional distress. It was a tsunami of emotions and grief. Her eyes were red rimmed and face haggard. The lines of sorrow were etched endlessly into her face.

Her body shook with sobs as they took her son out of the coffin covered with the country’s flag. He had been killed on the merciless craggy rocks of the Kargil peaks. How the bullets must have torn into his chest as the enemy had a strong vantage point. Her chest heaved in untold agony.

No amount of gun salutes, talk of valour and bravery would take away her pain. Her only child’s martyrdom seared through her almost splitting her body into shards. The enemy had belonged to them and she had lived beyond the borders before India was divided into two countries. How many more people were going to die before the border either opened or closed. All peace talks seemed pointless, a sham, senseless talk. She felt a black cloud of descending on her as she fell beside her son’s lifeless body, a desperate heap of despair.