Mother or Mother Nation – True Story of a Soldier
74 year old mother of a JCO, Subedar Kalyan Chand is lying unconscious in the hospital bed for more than 3 months now. He has been transferred to a border area in Jammu as his tenure in this Unit is complete. The junior officer is in a fix now as he has to honour his commitment to serve the mother land and at the same time he has to look after his ailing mother who is in the bed for so many days and is unable to talk or walk or respond to anything. She needs 24X7 attentions, and the entire family of Kalyan Chand (his wife and 2 children) is looking after her day and night. The wife of the officer has to look after her son and daughter who are studying in class 8th and 10th respectively.
The struggle of Kalyan Chand and his mother had begun long ago when he was just 10 months old. They belong to a small village in Himachal Pradesh near Dharamshala. His father died when he had not even started walking and recognizing him. The tragedy struck his mother as well who at the age of 23 found herself in such a position as there was no other earning member in the family. The uncle of Kalyan who himself was not financially very sound and had 9 children though helped them. The family of the uncle put in their efforts in bringing up Kalyan and to console her mother in those days when this tragedy happened. His mother however a brave lady wanted to live her life with dignity instead of depending on her relatives. She took charge of the land her husband left and started harvesting the crops with the help of the laborers and made sure that they have enough to eat for the entire year and don’t have to look for help from others.
As Kalyan grew old he started going to school with his cousins and his mother in order to give him the best of nutrition bought a cow and a buffalo. It solved two purposes, one they had enough milk and milk products at home and the remaining milk she used to sell to the vendors. They were able to make their both ends meet but did not have enough money to spend on other day to day activities.
Now Kalyan had grown up and he passed his inter exam. He was now aware of what sacrifices his mother had done for upbringing him. He wanted to study in the college as he was an intelligent student but he knew about the financial condition of his mother. At the age of 18 when a child is care free and go to college and enjoys his life Kalyan Chand was searching for a job. He finally got a small time clerical job in the electricity department. He was employed on daily wages and not as a permanent employee.
Simultaneously Kalyan Chand took charge of the Cattle and started harvesting the land as well. The small kid had so many responsibilities into his shoulders. When everything was going smooth and Kalyan Chand was looking for other opportunities another tragedy struck the village he was living in. There was an earthquake and the old Kaccha House got damaged to an extent that it became difficult to live as it would come down anytime. The other houses in the village also met the same fate. The local administration though offered some financial help but it was not sufficient to build a new house. The administration had also provided the tents to the villagers as a temporary arrangement. After staying in tents for many days Kalyan Chand decided to build one room set. For this he had to take a loan from the friends and relatives. Once there was a shelter for him and for his mother he was happy but had a big task to return the money back from where he had taken.
He thought for the entire night and came to the conclusion that in this job and scenario it would take him ages to earn this much amount would not be able to return the money as per his promise to the friends and relatives. He decided to join the Indian Army as a soldier. It was his dream to join the army as an officer but the circumstances did not allow him to study and fulfill his dream. Since Army was his aim right from the beginning when he was in school he decided to go for it.
He was intelligent and passed the test easily. Since he was from a village and used to walk 6-7 kms a day he had good stamina. Hence he passed the Physical fitness test with flying colours.
After joining the Army he used to miss his mother and village very much. His mother stayed in the village and looked after her house and fields. The financial equation had changed now and Kalyan Chand was free from all the loans.
At the age of 25 he got married and now he also had got promoted at this time. Hard work always pays. This is what he had learnt from his mother and implemented in the Army. He was the trusted guy and was ready to take any job assigned to him by the superiors. His commitment to the nation was inspirational and very soon he became a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Army.
Kalyan Chand, his wife and mother were living together in the Defence accommodation wherever he was posted right from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. The mother was very happy but there were few years of sadness in between when even after 10 years of marriage Kalyan did not have a child. His mother wanted to play with her grand children but there was a long wait. Finally he had two children a girl and a boy. All of them lived very happily there after till the time Kalyan’s mother fell sick and unconscious all of a sudden one day. The near by hospital recommended her to the bigger hospital and it was found that she had a brain hemorrhage. The operation was required and since he was posted in a small town the facilities were not available. He rushed to the bigger city travelled overnight where his mother was operated. Though the doctors said that the operation was successful she hasn’t regained her consciousness till that day.
Kalyan Chand stayed in the hospital for over a month. His leaves were exhausted. His wife and children were there with him all along the journey. If it had been a civil job Kalyan would have taken a leave and stayed with his mother till the time she gets recovered but he got a call from his work place to report after a month.
On one side his mother was lying unconscious and on the other side there was a call from the mother nation. He had to honour his call from Mother Nation and had to leave his mother behind to do his duty for the nation. His children who are studying in 8th and 10th Class along with their mother replaced Kalyan at the hospital to take care of his mother. The doctors at the hospital were hopeful about her regaining consciousness but after 2 months passed they suggested to take her to home as such cases may take longer time to recover.
The mother of Kalyan required oxygen every time to survive and other medication. He got her admitted to the near by Army Hospital where she is still unconscious and the family is doing their best so that she again speak to her grand children who cry and remember her every time.
Kalyan Chand has now been transferred to Jammu Border where he has to join his duties soon. He is praying for his mother to recover soon so that he can take her along with him. Other wise this time also he had to leave her here and had to do his duty to protect our Mother Nation at the borders.
Lets pray for Kalyan’s mother and for him. May God give him strength in these difficult times
Note - The real name of the soldier has not been given here
