The dark rain-bearing clouds were fast building on the horizon, the hills transforming their green hue to muddy black, yes, a thunderstorm was on the way. I anxiously looked at my watch and quickly sipped on the remainder of tea. “We must take off fast sir or else we will get stuck on this post for the night”, my co-pilot echoed my thoughts. Before I could respond a cheerful voice boomed from behind, “Saab Ji, garam pakode banaye hai, kha kar jana (sir, we have prepared some hot snacks for you, do eat before you leave.)” I looked up and saw the smiling face of the young soldier, Kapoor Chand, who was looking after us for the last few minutes. We had landed on this remote helipad at an altitude of 12000 feet in our helicopter owing to an operational situation. As is the norm in the far-east, the weather goddess had yet again shown her capricious nature by rapidly changing her complexion for the worst.
We had finished with refuelling and during that time Kapoor had taken pains to make us comfortable with his infectious smile, constant chatter, and a cup of hot tea and snacks. He was a boy with just two years of service who had barely crossed his teens and seemed to be oblivious to freezing cold and biting winds at that altitude. “Please start up the aircraft, let’s quickly take off”, I ordered my co-pilot and shook hands with Kapoor, “thank you, son, tell me what could we get you when we land here next time?” The question was important as this post was three days turnaround from the nearest road head and getting anything of utility or need was well nigh impossible. Kapoor hesitated before saying, “Saab Ji, agar thodi cigarette mil jati”, I laughed and fished for the packet in my flying overalls, opened it, and found just two cigarettes. “Kapoor please take this but I’ll get you a carton whenever I visit next”, I gave his hand a firm shake and a smile before strapping myself in the helicopter.
The next morning we were getting ready for yet another mission when the telephone buzzed, “Anand there is an urgent casualty evacuation to be done from the xxx helipad, there was a thunderstorm and landslide last night which wiped out a post nearby. Immediately set course.” Coincidentally, the helipad location was close to where we had landed last evening. “Good, I can hand over some cigarettes to Kapoor today, he will be so happy to get his wish so soon”, I said to myself as I picked up the carton from the shop. We immediately took off and within an hour landed at the helipad. I quickly unstrapped to talk to the officer in charge who briefed us that there were two serious casualties.
The boys were being moved to the helicopter as I started to hand over the cigarette carton to the officer to send across to Kapoor. An intuition made me turn back to look at the casualties and to my horror one of them was Kapoor. His face was bloody and swollen and he was breathing with great difficulty. I rushed to hold his hand as he was being put in the helicopter, “Kapoor, son, how are you?” His eyes flickered and he mumbled, “Jai Hind Sahab Ji, aap aa gaye ab mai bach jaunga (sir since you have come, now my life will be saved). Tears welled up in my eyes, “Kapoor I have got you the cigarettes, let’s take you to the hospital. Smoke to your heart’s content once you recover.” Kapoor’s eyes closed as we took off for the field hospital. I kept looking back at both the casualties, the second boy appeared to be stable but Kapoor was in distress with erratic breathing and eyes fluttering. I kept talking to him through the one-hour flight, possibly the longest hour of my life. “Brace up Kapoor, we are only minutes away from the hospital”, I took over the controls to make the final approach to the helipad where I could see the ambulance lined up to take the boys to the hospital. I unstrapped after landing and rushed to give a hand while Kapoor was being taken out of the helicopter. The doctor was checking his vitals as his face fell, “sir he is no more.”
“What the hell are you talking doctor, I was talking to him five minutes back”, I shouted at the doctor who looked at me sympathetically before sitting in the ambulance, “sir we will give it our best shot, don’t worry.’ The ambulance sped off as I stood transfixed, not believing the vicissitudes of life. The weight of the cigarette carton in my flying overalls was unbearable.
Kapoor didn’t survive, a young life snuffed away while serving his motherland. He is a martyr, a hero who lived cheerfully and died gallantly. But what was it which made him sacrifice his life? Monthly pay of a few thousand rupees? Surely he could have earned it in another job where life would have been easier, less demanding, and life-threatening. Kapoor epitomized and reinforced the two concepts germane to our culture- Dharma, and Yajna. What do they mean?
Dharma is not about religion, it is the quintessence of any being. It is that quality without which that being will not remain its original self. The dharma of fire is heat, the dharma of water is sapidity, the dharma of human beings is to be the best in the role he/she is performing on the world stage. If you are a son/daughter, parent, spouse, sibling, employee, tea vendor, janitor, CEO, whatever the role may be, do the best that you can. Kapoor was a soldier and he was the best at soldiering, his profession. If it demanded giving the supreme sacrifice, he didn’t flinch away.
Yajna is again not about rituals, it is living in a cooperative spirit, immersing yourself in your dharma, while invoking the work to a cause much larger than you. This spirit of yajna lifts Karma to Karma Yoga, working for the sake of working without any anxiety for the fruits of action. Kapoor was not serving for himself but instead, he was serving his motherland. He lived and died for a cause that was much bigger than himself.
This, my friends, is the essence of what I wish to put across to you through my book, “Nine Mantras for Happiness and Success.” This is what my 32 years of service in the army have taught me- do your dharma in the spirit of yajna and you will find true happiness within. And once you are in this state of eternal happiness, also called joy, how can success be far away?
Maj. Gen. Anand Saxena holds triple master’s degrees to his credit—Master of Science, Master of Philosophy and Master of Management Studies in which he majored in Financial Management. He is also a Helicopter pilot with vast combat flying experience. Anand speaks and writes on religion, philosophy, positive psychology and personal finance. You can buy his book on Amazon or from Readomania.
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