The "T" Factor

Tanya called up in the morning, way too early in the morning - 0330 Hrs. She pulled me out of the cozy comfort of my warm blanket. 0350 Hrs saw me standing on the main road, waiting for her to pick me up.

It was freezing cold today morning with a big fog cover hogging the ground. A cold wind was blowing through the trees and thank God for the MES, the street lights were all working. Seems like the AGE (E&M) has pulled up his boys before the New Year.

Tanya had got her car & the moment I entered it, a high db blast of Jim Morrison hit me. Nothing could have been better than hearing The Doors sing Light My Fire on such a cold, wintry morning. Something was amiss, Tanya listening to The Doors and not Led Zeppelin and that too so early in the morning was a bit strange. But then, I have never been able to understand her quirky nature. She is as crazy as it gets!

It was still pitch dark though the MES lights were throwing up haunted shadows through the fog cover. Tanya didn't tell me where we were headed, she just kept on in her sing-along voice. I was mighty pleased that she'd got some eatables and that quintessential of all fauji drinks - Rum and garam paani. If you haven't tried this combination, then do try it out. The Olive Greens, the Snow Whites and the Mighty Blues swear by this heavenly concoction!

We criss-crossed the Cantonment, through a few back roads which I'd never been to before and traveled up the nearby mountains. I heard the sound of booming guns and gave a quizzical look to Tanya. She just shrugged it off and lit up her saviour - Mr Gordon Light aka Gudan Garam. Now that was a heady mix of Mr Old Monk and Mr Gordon Light. Intensity personified.

After traveling a lot of clicks, we finally stopped at the foothills of the mountain. We got down the car and started climbing up through the dirt track that lead to the top. We took about half an hour to climb all the way to the top. Mr Gordon Light was firmly entrenched in her fingers and Tanya made a very dramatic pose on the hilltop.

The first rays of light had started showing up. The entire space was still dark but there was the faint eerie outline of dawn that I find really groovy.

I suddenly realised that we were not alone. There was that distant booming of gunfire yet again though I couldn't locate it with my eyes. Suddenly, Tanya tugged at my arms and directed my sight towards the NW. There, many clicks away, I saw the darkness getting pierced by tongues of flame.

We were on a hilltop, overlooking the Long Range and those orange-red coloured flames were coming out from the barrels of heated up guns. The chaps were doing their zeroing-in and calibration before their move to their KLP for the next few months.

2007 couldn't have ended on a better note. I was on a mountaintop with Tanya - my buddy, my closest friend, co-conspirator and accomplice in many crimes, enjoying a cold wintry morning and towering flames of lights piercing the darkness of the dawn. It was just the both of us out there and the AAD chaps at the Long Range. It was a very magical moment, something that I will always cherish for the rest of my life.

I don't need to say this but for the record, thanks Tanya for your crazy eccentricities! I would love to see you take the Point on our next expedition in Feb 2008.

N.B. - For all those wondering as to why I have put up this picture over here, well, the reason is known to those who know the reason well. LOL!

Aksshe Shatrun Jahi.