Dusk is approaching, but the heat does not retreat. Unlike the usual cool flurry of air, today the stagnant air still hangs loosely under the lambent sun. Weak & tired rays of sunlight ignite the clouds & burn across the sky, turning it into a sea of flames. A vast expanse of emptiness stretches underneath the alit clouds. The land is hot and dry. No seeds are germinating. No plants are growing. No animals are surviving. The sunrays have penetrated deeply into the ground, leaving huge cracks, splitting the land into millions of pieces. Nothing seems alive. Nothing is in sight apart from the vast expanse of sand & the dead bodies of the soldiers.

Just a day ago the enemy troops were making a slow but steady progress through the border. They took their positions individually, but were never able to capture the key crossing points along the border line. They used airpower, tanks and heavy artillery to clear the city with varying degrees of success, but our soldiers fought with bravery. And today towards the end of the battle we built up a large number of artillery batteries on the east side of the Border. This artillery was able to bombard the Enemy positions or at least to provide counter-battery fire.

Snipers on both sides used the ruins to inflict casualties. The most famous sniper in our troop was ‘Kautik Saxena’ with 45 confirmed kills during the battle. Targets were often soldiers bringing up food or water to forward positions. Artillery spotters were an especially prized target for snipers, but just an hour before, when the battle would have ended with the result in our favor, a bullet from the enemy side hit Kautik straight in the eye & killed him. Now he lay down on the battle field with his eyes closed as though he was sleeping, with the expression of calmness on his face but the only difference was that his heart no longer pumped the blood & he could no longer breathe. His listless body was one among the hundreds of soldiers.

I hung down from the chest of this martyr name ‘Kautik Saxena’ looking at the battle field, at the dead silence prevailing. From here they all looked the same. This very morning they spoke, they laughed, they breathed & now they lay dead, gone forever.

I have been with Kautik, hanging down from his golden chain since he joined the army. Accompanying him every moment as a true pal, close to his heart, His ‘Engagement Ring’ & today as he lay here lifeless, I wonder what fate has in store for me. Will I be thrown in a drawer as a piece of memory? Or will I be left here in the sand away from every one’s notice? Or maybe I fly in the wide sky clenched in the claws of a bird. Or maybe I accompany him to his corpse, wrapped in the Indian tricolor.

There was nothing else to think but death when I looked all around me & the scorching heat made it even more difficult. So, I simply decided to get lost in the Memory lane. The day Kautik & Ishya entered the shop hand in hand with gleaming eyes & their incandescent smiles, It was probably the time of Autumn when each leaf on the tree seemed as a flower, when the lustre in the atmosphere made everything look beautiful, when the streets were slowly & quietly hidden below the falling leaves & the flushing cheeks of the girls added more colour to the nature’s painting. I watched all this sitting on the soft velvet seat of mine which also had a wooden shade to cover me up, carefully kept inside a beautiful glass-case. While Ishya seemed more interested in looking at the Designs & Pear or Heart cut of the rings Kautik sat there admiring her, not because she was beautiful, which she actually was but for the fact that she seemed to be so happy & engrossed in selecting the ring that she almost forgot his presence there.

I watched such couples every day. Some who were very rich but so busy that they could not spend a little time shopping for their own engagement while some who belonged to simple families but the love in their heart radiated a glow which could even make my shine seem dull. I think they belonged to the latter.

The girl was a carefree spirit, pretty & cheerful. That beautiful smile never seemed to leave her face. She would again & again point out at the different rings & try them to see if they were any match to her beauty but once finding them just ordinary she would turn her head slightly & then narrow her eyebrows, a frown would appear on her face & the lips would be pursed in disapproval. This process went on for considerable times but then suddenly she shot a glance at my direction & pointed towards my glass-case without any confusion. I was a simple 8.0 mm double groove comfort fit engagement ring with diamond accent for male & so I was surprised when she pointed towards me. I don’t experience emotions but still if I was a human I would have described it as ‘Nervousness’ when I saw the shopkeeper approach me & his hands reach towards the glass-case. I thought my days of comfort were now over. I will have to cling on to the finger of some guy & stay there forever as a mark that he now belongs to a woman & is ‘Happily’ married.

The shopkeeper carefully & slowly lifted me up & the moment he placed me for display, Ishya gasped & finally turned towards Kautik “Don’t u think it is perfect ??” she spoke with her wide eyes waiting for the approval. He looked at me but did not seem to be pleased. His eyes surveyed the near-by kept rings & then picking up an elegant princess cut diamond ring, he looked at her “I would rather suggest this one to you” he spoke placing it in her hands for a clear view.

The shop was immediately filled with the giggling sound of Ishya. She did not even look at the ring he placed in her hands. She just continued to laugh & lifted me, slowly placing me in his hands, spoke “This one was for u dear.” He rolled his eyes & then looked at me, appreciation clearly visible in his eyes, a sweet smile was dancing on his lips when suddenly Ishya screamed out of felicity “O God! Baby! You selected such a beauteous ring! I love the embellishment!” she held her hand up to her open mouth, I always wonder why do girls do that.

“Do you like it?” He asked as if it was a question, she joyfully nodded her head & the very next moment he also spoke “Even I like this one” looking at me, held in between his thumb & fingers.

I was not happy. After all I lost my ‘Freedom’. Even the idea of being an engagement ring did not thrill me. I wished they see the price tag & decline the thought of purchasing me but as the credit card swiped through that electrical machine, all my Wishes came crashing down with the wooden shade that covered me & imprisoned me.

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That day when Kautik received a letter about his unit’s deployment in the battle field, it was just a week before his Engagement. He was in a dilemma; he was confused, also sad. Unable to decide what to do he asked Ishya to meet in the park they first met & tell her about his deployment. Dressed up in his rugged blue jeans & black shirt he placed me & the other ring in his pockets. He drove his car to the spot he decided to meet. She was already standing there, in a pretty blue top & black jean, with her half clutched & half open hair flowing with the wind. She waved him a ‘Hello’ & he faked a smile after lot of difficulty because deep down the weight of ruining her happiness was making it difficult for him to smile.

The park was beautiful & so were the two of them, walking hand in hand, discussing the shopping she did yesterday they reached a wooden bench & sat down there. She raised her face towards the evening sky, getting lost in the brilliant painting of different colour on the wide canvass of the sky. The nature’s beauty always fascinated her.

“Will u be my wife?” she suddenly came out of her thoughts, when she heard this voice.
Kautik sat on his knees with that particular princess cut ring he chose for her. She had her eyes widely staring at him.

“Get up Kautik, everyone is staring at us.” She spoke looking all around just to find the curious eyes of people fixed upon them.

“I don’t care. I just need the answer.” He spoke, still in the same position.

She then smiled & her eyes dazzled with happiness, her face radiated a glow I had never seen & she approved his proposal by getting up & hugging him tight. Everyone else smiled too & went away. She now had that ring placed in her ring finger & rested her head on his shoulders, his hands holding hers.
 
“What was the need of this drama?, although I really appreciate this sudden romantic surprise of yours.” She said playing with his fingers & staring at the flying birds.

“Ishya, I will have to leave for the battlefield tomorrow.” He spoke nervously, now looking at her rather than the scenery & he could feel her fingers tremble. She immediately removed her hands away from his. The atmosphere was tensed. She was shocked to get this sudden news. All her planning for their engagement was now waste. What a game destiny plays, just an hour ago she was happily discussing the shopping with him & now there will be no engagement. She was broken; actually shattered but then she glanced at his face which displayed a greater parameter of the same grief she was going through. Of course watching his only reason for happiness cry would be tearing him apart & added to the fact he knew it was due to him. He was the reason of her tears. She quickly composed herself & faked a smile.

“Where is the ring I selected for u?” She asked.

With trembling hands he took me out of his pocket & placed in her soft, beautiful hand. She glanced at me & quickly slipped me in his finger.

“Don’t let this ring ever be away from your sight. I will wait for my Army man.”
She spoke with a smile & he nodded with a wider smile, not because she had that curve on her face but because he knew ‘This was his girl’ the one for whom his happiness mattered more than her own tears, the one who was ready to wait for him, the one who was destined to be his future.

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That day when Kautik misplaced me by mistake after returning from a night patrol, he immediately decided to hang me down from his golden chain, close to him, even during the battles & sat down to write a letter to Ishya.

This was his daily routine, instead of a diary entry he preferred to write letters though it was pretty much the same. He would run the whole day in the scorching sun, moving with the weapons, keeping his focus on the enemy targets, indicating his fellow men & firing at the correct moment. With bombardment, heavy military tanks & artillery all around the only thing which kept him happy & determined to stay alive was Ishya.

It was almost a month now & capturing just one more key point of the enemy’s army base would lead us to victory & then all of us would return home. That morning before going in the battle field he kissed me & prayed that the battle ends soon. The irony was unlike each day he did not ask God to make him see his princess soon. God granted his wish daily & he did grant it even that day too. We won the war, the enemies were killed but he would not return back to his home & share the warm embrace with Ishya. He would not be able to breathe the smell of her hair. He would now not hear his heart beat race. His eyes won’t twinkle now on having a glimpse of her nor will her tears affect him. Things were changed. He was now gone in a distant world, never to return back.

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When she saw his dead body in front, her world came crashing down. Her brain seemed to stop sending signals to the impulses it received. The hands of the clock stopped moving. The surrounding around her got blurred & the air she inhaled refused to enter those lungs. That ache in her heart made her give a loud cry & then her heart beats were the only sound which could be heard. With those loud lub, dub, lub, dub she ran & hugged his dead body, wailing & asking him to return back.

She kept crying, hitting him on the chest, trying to make her voice audible to him. The flashbacks slowly started playing in her head, their first date, their first kiss, the way he smiled, the way she would pull his cheeks to annoy him but now this was not possible. She would never be able to see him again. He would never sit beside her admiring the nature’s beauty.
 

Her eyes were blood shot red, the veins ready to burst out any moment. From her endless stream of tears, a drop fell upon me & I could feel the intensity of her pain, the desperation with which she wanted him to return back, to fulfill the promises he did & for the very first time I just wished to be a human. I wished I could cry. I wished I had the ability to comfort her or bring him back but I knew this was not possible. I was just their ‘Engagement Ring’.