I first saw the Indian border more than 12 years ago when I was on a trip to Sikkim. It was when I had gone to the Nathula Pass which used to be part of the ancient Silk Route and is on the India-China border. We couldn’t actually go to the border because the army had closed it due to snow, but it gave me the first flavour of a border visit.
The next time I remember going to the border was during a trip to Ladakh. It was during the drive from Nubra Valley. We passed Turtuk which is the last village in India and around 5-6 KM from the border post. This village is interesting because it is a unique part of Ladakh but has mostly Balti people. It used to be a part of Pakistan till 1971 after which it became part of India.
I remember we were permitted to go to the border by a soldier of the Marathi Light Infantry – Jangi Paltan – posted there then, who checked our documents at the post and accompanied us right to the border. He even took our photographs while talking to us in Marathi. It was my first surreal yet endearing border experience with the armed forces.
The next time I remember being at the border was during a visit to Arunachal Pradesh when I went to Bumla Pass from Tawang. This was a truly emotional affair because the army actually hosted us with tea and snacks at over 15000 feet. They took us right to the last point of India, after which there was a no-man’s land and we could see the Chinese army across. I remember a soldier narrating a number of anecdotes to us during that short visit.
Then there was the Haa Valley in Bhutan where we went to the China border. Surprisingly, this Bhutan-China border is manned almost entirely by the Indian Army and is largely peaceful (perhaps because of that!).
These visits have been exalted experiences that remained with me for long. Some of them have also inspired stories.
The trip to Bumla Pass was the inspiration for my story about a tourist complaining about facilities till he meets the “Soldier on the Border” and learns about the tough conditions he embraces.
It also inspired another short story “Baby on My Back” about the wife of a young soldier waiting for him. Both of these are now published as part of ‘A Bend in the Road‘ collection. A recent Kirti Chakra young widow also inspired the very short story “The Last Post” which is yet unpublished.
These are not army stories as much as they are about the people from the army that I saw or met. These are stories about these characters who inspired them. The reality is that we civilians have no real and complete idea of the life of a defense person. We can only imagine what they go through, get inspired by them and write stories about them.
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