It was a cold December night! All the cylinders of the 1590 CC Suzuki Engine was on fire, thanks to the desire of the man behind the wheel to get home as fast as possible to just hit the bed. His eyes were drooping and it seemed like he may fall asleep any moment. It was quarter to twelve and the road was like a formula one track (Budh International?) tempting anyone on it to race…! However, as he saw an ATM, he stopped the vehicle and hastily walked towards it.
A man with dark complexion and an unshaven face with wrinkles all over his forehead was sitting in a plastic moulded chair in front of the ATM. The dye applied on his hair was withering out leaving portions of his hair brown and white. His skeleton structure left a pathetic impression and the uniform he wore was a reminiscence of his past glory as it was shabby then, and the brass emblem of the company he represented called for an immediate make over to regain its lost sheen. As the glass door of the ATM flexed its muscle and opened with a creaking sound, the guard woke up from his nap with a shock. Seeing a client inside, he lit a beedi. The fire he set to fight the cold was almost nonexistent and he started to stir the half burnt broken leg of furniture to kindle the fire again, but in vain! The old and fragile framework of his body was in no mood to surrender as he sat down and started to blow air with all the attained energy and as a token gesture towards his focused effort, the fire hesitantly came back…. so much to his satisfaction!! However, the old man went into a long bout of coughing. The moment he stopped coughing, he looked at his beedi which was already off. Cursing it with despair, he threw it into the fire. After some skepticism with some blinks, the fire decided to stay put with its full vigor. The Guard admired the quality of the wood.
After the quick session inside the ATM, he stood there near the fire and looked at the Guard and wondered about the criminal negligence of the bank for engaging guards of his age and health. In a moment he also realized that how important the job might be for this man to survive.
However, the haunting figure of the guard remained in his mind while driving back again. The thought streams had considerably slowed down his driving. Suddenly it stuck to him that such unsung heroes are many in our nation and they have this knack of rising up to the occasions, when challenged with unsolicited situations. He remembered about the ordinary policeman who caught hold of the terrorist despite taking in all those bullets fired from a powerful machine gun, during the Mumbai attack. In the end of two day war, the only proof for India to show the world was this lone ‘live capture’ achieved by this most ordinary martyr! There was neither any hype nor that there was any state of the art training provisions, nor any high end weaponry!!
He nodded his head and bowed once again inside his mind at the memories of those pictures of the martyrs of that tragedy and sped off!
Paddy's Globe 
Dec 17, 2011 @ 14:31:53
Very inspiring indeed
Dec 19, 2011 @ 06:46:43
Thanks Kuruvila! In fact, ‘Indian Jugad’ is a global brand now! However, what we often forget is that in the process of encouraging ‘Jugad’ by never executing anything with precision planning, we expose such innocent lives to the danger of these crisis situations without any shame or regret?! Their vulnerability to succumb to modern fire arms are ever increasing as global terrorism/ robbery had grown more sophisticated and well planned for precise execution! The lesson 26/11 gives us is that along with the wealth they are guarding, we should be concerned about the safety of the lives of these guards.