He did not board a bus, the distance was pretty short to board one. Pushing the rolling empty gas cylinder down the dusty pathway on the sidelines of the national highway – NH1A, with the gentle pushes of his feet, he was singing a song somewhat like, "rain rain come along, I just want to sing a song!". It was winter and the gas outlet had run out of supplies. At 9:30 in the morning, the winter sun was yet to shine and Aarif was witnessing the long cavalcade of the yellow colored Islamic University buses, going probably for their final exams for the year. This was a sight he witnessed every day idling at his uncle's kiryana shop near Pampore.
The morning rush hour at play,the triple laning of the two lane highway, by the over-eager drivers, had set in. During this time ambulances, school buses, staff buses, passenger buses or private cars move at the same pace – that of a snail! It always takes, not a policeman, but a convoy of army to set the things back in order.
Here they are! The long convoy of army vehicles, with Jabalpur Vehicle Factory inscribed at the front, coming down all the way from the Khrew cantonment, located on the slopes of Bathen – a picturesque mount located a few miles south-east of Srinagar, has begun to descend on the highway. The cantonment having rendered the peaks out of bounds for any trekking enthusiasts can well be cherished by those interested in shooting – the cantonment has a big shooting range and you can hear bullets all day – one could well confuse it with an encounter! Having passed down the road on both sides of which, as Beacon declared, 'world's best Saffron grows' they now join the jam charades on NH1A. The statutory man at the top of the army vehicle begins to wave the long bamboo stick at the civilian vehicles stuck in jam to make way for the imposing army and everyone, even an ambulance, has to oblige.
Just when Aarif's phone beeped he took it out and checked if he had received an SMS after ages. There wasn't any! In the meanwhile, the overtaking army vehicle was honking the horn behind him and in the melee; he pushed the cylinder the wrong way – onto the highway. Screeeech….the army driver applied the brakes and down came the brave!
~~~
"Why did you not retaliate? You could atleast have said something in defence. It was them who were overtaking the wrong way, driving in the rough, on the path meant for the pedestrains", asked Aarif's friend.
"Don't you know about AFSPA?", replied Aarif, nursing injuries!
