A letter from Siachen
Dear A,
“We, the willing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”
This quotation was written diagonally on the first page of his diary as he showed me his poems. My host is a young man, whose spirits are still volatile despite the sub-zero temperature of this place. It is our first meeting. He does not know that the quotation is by mother Teresa, he does not know mother Teresa at all. He thinks it was said for him, dismissing any reason for researching its origins. The young man got engaged recently, the reason for an occasional blush whenever the subject of his future comes up. I only reached here the night before, but we are close friends now. There is something in the wind, with flakes, that urge people to speak in never-ending monologues. Discuss emotions, exchange secrets, talk about themselves – things they do not talk about ‘normally,’ not the least when they are engrossed in the workings of the ‘civilised world.’ I asked him about the quotation on the wall and he said let’s call it a day.
My room, call it my studio apartment, is a typical bunker, built on self-help basis, thanks to our meagre resources. Carved out from a hillock, it is a classical one-window room of 14×10 feet. The 10-foot high ceiling had 70 girders. Trivial information, you say? I count them every night before I can sleep. No, I have not grown insomniac, but I dare not venture out to count stars in this part of the world.
On one side, the empty cartons have been arranged, covered by gunny bags, only to be topped by the prayer mat. I have a lot of time to pray and reflect, probably since I am the closest I could get to Him. The other wall supports the bed (an arrangement of empty cartons) upon which lies an air mattress, along with our sleeping bags. Tastefully, the big-flower-print bed sheet does not permit the attention to drift to the poor structure of the bed. The dark toilet is an extension of the same room. An old cough syrup bottle has been modified with kerosene oil to serve the purpose of the lamp which practically lights up nothing. The empty ghee cans are our makeshift geysers. Basic instinct is the best aide when it comes to anatomy in the dark bathroom. The room décor is an artistic arrangement of the empty containers of food, fuel and fire. Food cartons serve as tables, fuel cans as stools and empty (fired) cartridges as bedside teapoy items. The most decorated table has boxes of chicken cubes, noodles, egg biscuits, brick-game and yes, our window to the world, the radio. Other inhabitants include a Fujika (a kerosene-lit heater), petromax, the books that you have sent and the military phone – this masterpiece of technology which connects me to you, remains silent. The weather, the snow, the wind, the electric power everything conspires against our probable communication. Reminds me how Shah Latif narrates the plight of Sassi after she had been robbed of Pannu:
“The camel (which carries Pannu) is my enemy, the wind (which is erasing the foot prints of caravan) is my enemy, the sand is my enemy and so are the brothers of Pannu,
And most of all the sun is my enemy, for having risen so late and not waking me up”
Our high point of the day arrives when we sit down for dinner. Fresh vegetables are a luxury. We have to live on roasted onions and tomato puree, which is canned. The weather denies us the luxury of fresh vegetables, and much more. After getting over with dinner, we gather around the radio and switch it on. This really is the world on our finger tips. There is no FM here, only the BBC and loads of incomprehensible regional channels. The alternative to BBC is Radio Pakistan, which runs the night-time transmission. About the night-time transmission, it is the radio’s revenge from the television for morning shows.
Another day has gone. The vigilant sentries change over their duties. Far from home, away from gatherings, phone calls, SMS-es, these men, I think, are doing something which can never be monetised. Purposelessly, looking against the ravishing snowstorms, their biggest foe is the weather. You can never predict its move. It sulks within and you only realise how loosely you hang between a life and death when it hits you. A minor headache turns into cerebral edema and a man full of stories, intentions, commitments and emotions becomes, what they call, a ‘causality.’
The radio is tuned up and we start receiving our dose of military bashing. A whole lot of qualified individuals start describing us as a merry-making mob, with no clue about how one can party at 20,000 ft above the mean sea level. My mind races. Huge chunks of budget for tomato puree and canned vegetables. Power hungry for morally supporting everyone that we have, people who love us and people who are the reason we live to guard this piece of land. Luxurious lives in a make-shift room with empty cartons. I think the quotation on the wall is not so over-rated.
Hope to hear from you soon…
Yours faithfully,
H
The author, who wishes to remain anonymous, served his tenure at Siachen with the men who were trapped under an avalanche on Saturday. This letter is one of the several that he wrote to his wife during his time at the glacier.
Yes I fully agree wth Sara.
Politicians are less expierienced, less educated, more interested in their push and pull to become richer and richer where as Pak Army is professional have delivered in all expected and unexpected situations. A Hearty and Big Salute to those who laid lives for the country as well as are in uniform as last hope to salvage our beloved country, Pakistan . may Allah give them more strength and spirit to live and die for the only Noble Cause " To let Pakistanis live with freedome and peace" Aameen
Dr. Asad Mahmood
Well my forefathers were in Army i would definately say Paki soldiers r doing a great job. Actualy Pakistan is
not down because of its Army BUT because of its Political leaders.
Salute to Army but from Kargil to War against terrorism someone has to be held responsible. There are many brave soldiers who have sacrificed their lives and we need to honour them.Just blaming each other will not bear the required results.
A place where crows afraid to go in winter-Siachen, May Allah rest their souls in peace.
I think the quote in the case of our army should have been “We the unwilling, led by the all knowing generals, are doing nothing for the grateful masses. We have done so little, with so so much of tax payers money, for so long, we are now qualified to do nothing, with all the national resources at our disposal”.
People who work in the armed forces are public servant, they are paid by the public money which is collected through taxes which is supposed to be used only for public welfare. To say that Pakistan exists because of you is downright nonsensical, because there can be a counter argument that Pakistan broke into two because of you. Armies exist in the other countries too, but they do not behave as if they are superior to the civilians, that the civilians can sleep peacefully in their homes only because of the sacrifices by them. Please drop the air of superiority, and condescending attitude towards the people who pay for the food on your plate and the palatial bungalows in which you live.
You have no right to demand respect, you have to earn it. For earning respect from the public you have to learn a bit of humility. Study the life of the greatest person who walked the earth – our prophet. Did he ever demand respect? People became Muslim because of the strength of his character, at the heart of which was humility, respect and love for others, and never telling a lie. Please read the Quran and become a good Muslim. Allah dislikes arrogance and haughtiness.
There is a need to get out of the colonial mentality and live like the other countrymen, we are all equal and demand equal treatment – no one is superior to the other. People die of accidents we all feel sad for their demise, and hope for Allah's benevolence for the departed. Yesterday we heard of the air crash of Bhoja Air and the demise of over a hundred people. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future if we make an effort to understand the cause for the accident and take action so that the a similar incident does not happen again.
We need to make an effort to resolve all outstanding conflicts with India so that the people of the two countries can live peacefully, and the tax payers money can be used for the welfare of the public. If Germany and France could do it, so can we. Robert Schuman unleashed an age of peace and prosperity in Europe by his brilliant plan to put their key resources (the resources that they had for ever fighting for: coal and steel) under a common high authority so that they may never have to fight for the control of those resources. This led to the development of the European Coal and Steel Community which eventually metamorphosed into the present day European Union.
Instead of weeping or eulogizing the soldiers who died in the tragic incident, we need to transform this tragedy into a hope for a better future. For that we need to have the courage to think differently from the way we have been thinking in the past and forge a peaceful and prosperous future.
i would like to remind you that you people are always comparing Army Men with other public servant, which is incorrect and illogical. Will you please make it mandatory for all your (public) servants to serve at Siachin? Let me tell you one thing, no soldier is weeping, and no soldier wants monetary benefits: I offer you double the pay an officer is drawing and you only serve there for One month?
You please help resolve all outstanding issues with India: at least suggest some solution acceptable to both India and Pakistan? Anyone can advise to resolve issues.
Please reconcile and at least keep your thoughts harnessed if you cannot express them objectively.
zaigham
I just wanted to say that this is such a thoughtful comment and you have raised this with a genuinely educated concern.
Such a touching piece ,i being a citizen, salute our brave soldiers, this is not the right place, to discuss our foreign policy with India, soldiers are just doing their duty with passion. Most of you who have the nerve to be critical of these soldiers , who live in DHA area for security reasons, please find some other page to spill milk… Some page of Karachi , where political parties are busy killing each other, they really need your sanity lessons.
The complete quote is "We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing".
This is falsely attributed to Mother Teresa (with the "led by the unknowing" taken out).
See: http://www.motherteresa.org/08_info/Quotesf.html
The origins of this quote are in dispute, however, it is commonly held to be said by a General to his troops during the Vietnam war.
It is sad the way the people and military are portrayed as if they are apart. It’s same country, same people, same values and same character. You put them in army or elsewhere we are Pakistanis. They culture for blaming army offcourse is not totally baseless but is very unreasonable. The politicians and some people want to blame somebody or our failure as a nation. They point fingers to army and not look in their own selves and their own character and their own state of affairs. Just because army has some decipline and is successful as an institute while the rest of infrastructure is failing, they want to believe it’s because they are opportunists on the nation. It is offcourse not true they are doing better because they are better organized. It’s about time we fix ourselves and follow commands of Allah and stop this blame game. Please stop this finger pointin and get to work
When the elite interfere into running the nation and foreign policy and take short-term, myopic, harmful decisions, they bring the entire nation down with themselves included. The army should be focused on external security and not governance, real estate and running parallel businesses as the army of any other nation. It's should be the nation's army and not the army's nation.
When you say that the army is 'successful' as an institution, you mean on national sovereignty (allowing drone attacks for money)? Or do you mean Mehran attack or Bin Laden or the daily scores being killed in blasts and sectarian attacks?
still we can see the ungrateful comments…what a pity.i wish they loose someone dear to them like this or they are forced to spend few days in same environments.lets us be ungrateful.we love pakistan and our armd forces.we are because of their sacrifices.
.Thank you every body for your nice opinions and comments. One thing we should know the reasons of why these two countries forces have been facing each other in this bitter coldful dangerous area. Actually, this heart throbbing incident would not happen and the mobilization we won’t see any more if India shows their good intention to honour the Kashmiri Peoples self-determination rights through referendum. This is the only way the peace can reign all over Kashmir and ultimately it will spread all over the Sub-continent. The world should show their sympathy towards them and need to force India to accept the Kashmiri peoples long waiting self-determination rights. Let us make an appeal to the world communities to uphold the Kashmiri peoples birth rights so everybody we can live in peace in our own territories!
As I write these lines, in the comfort of my room, I am unable to represent the true agony, in fact no one can describe what these men embraced. Given one second, minute, hour, day or perhaps weak by the remaining life, what would these, once father, brothers, sons be thinking?
Faces of their loved ones would be popping in their minds the most, the lovely tricks children play when they used to return home from duty, how passionately siblings loved and took pride in them telling their friends about how metal-hard their brother was; how shockingly parents used to hear their tales of courage and they would be thinking how their wives looked at them with shyness and innocent complains in their eyes, for being so late at home. Yes, all of this would have spinned their brave minds. May Allah Almighty give strength to the bereaved families to overcome the most saddest event of their life
Sheryar
Yes its the ones who are left behind are in more agony and pain and the real test is for them. All my prayers for the families of the martyred soldiers.
Prayers
Amdee
Khan sahab, we on the other side of border r equally sad for the loss of brave hearts. We r not exactly …enemies….Hope at least the next generations get that.
According to our Generals in the GHQ, Indian part of the Siachen is more inaccessible and inhospitable, it costs them thrice the amount of money to maintain their positions on the Saichen. Hence the rationale for perpetuating the conflict rather than resolving it. It is simply a case of lust for power and no consideration for the lives of junior soldiers and waste of taxpayers money.
There is too much misuse of the word of patriotism, which in reality is "the virtue of the vice" and "the last refuge of the scoundrel".
Yeah,i agree with you,Indian Govt spend 8 lacs dollar per day on soldiers of Indian part of Siachin to maintain their positions,There is a huge loss of Indians too,more than 4000 Indian soldiers lost their lives due to extreme harsh weather and battle both,its just a battle of power,and they dont consider the lives of soldier and huge expenditure of monent.
Do not question the wisdom of strategists.They have their own logic and mathematical solution designed in air conditioned banglows and offices.
Please…Honour the sacrifice these brave soldiers have made.Honour the fallen soldiers.They have embraced martyrdom while performing defence duty.Let their glory not to fade.We as soldiers can suffer but not our beloved Pakistan.The defenders of Pakistan need your support and display of 1965 spirit .Pray for them.BE A PROUD NATION.
janab, yes its about power and politicians and superficial so called strategies. but the root cause ..they all taking advantage of is …the mutual fear of people on both sides. Its just a hype…they keep on feeding this monster of hate for their own benefits. lets get over it ….i would like to fight a firang anyday than a pakistani who ..looks and talks like me. for gods sake …lets stop this madness…which started in 1947 ..when we killed and raped and looted and massacred each other's innocent civilians, and in the process destroyed the whole ancient cultural texture of the land. one day ..i am hopeful ..we can see the true colors of …nehru and Jinnah ..who separated us ..forever…with the evils of ..division of religion …language and superiority of culture. 60 years down the line …..we can see the truth in it. lets get over this evil befallen upon us ..many a decades back. We are not …weak minded or kamzor ..as they might have taught you. neither do i believe the same about pakistanis. lets ….talk…..finally.