Part 1 can be accessed here

PART 2 : The Team

"Classified message for you" she saluted and introduced herself "I am Sarla from Signals and Engineering". Her double-khukuri insignia denoted she was a Second Lieutenant, two ranks junior to Deepak. Deepak remembered her as the liaison in Signals that the Colonel said he was to work with.

She was a petite woman. Her hair was tied in two braides concealed under her military cap. She was around 5 feet but her lean frame and army fatigue made her look slightly taller.

She had been ordered to hand-deliver a classified message from Colonel Prakash received by the signals desk in the barrack.

He dismissed her and opened the envelope she had handed him. The DMI, according to the note, had received intelligence that the ISI was about to make a "drop" in approximately 10 days. Deepak was ordered to move the original plans ahead by 2 weeks to setup an under-cover reconnaissance post and monitor the modus operandi of the infiltrators. He was specifically asked to report on the SALUTE of the target : size, activity, location, unit, time, and equipment. The team was to keep an arms-length from the suspects and be extra-careful not to arouse any suspicion. This was to be strictly a reconnaissance and monitoring mission with no orders for engagement. Permission to directly engage the suspects would need to be obtained explicitly from Deepak's commanding officer, Colonel Prakash.

Deepak was glad the order came sooner. He was beginning to feel out of place amongst some of the other officers in the barracks. Unlike his well disciplined and suave colleagues back at Headquarters, the officers who shared his quarters were too laid back and a bit unruly for his liking. Their conversations time and again veered to subjects like girls and sex. At first, under peer pressure, he would laugh as some of the other captains and majors cracked jokes and recalled their exploits with women in far away places during various stages of their life. Polite amusement slowly turned to disgust as he learnt more and more about the brothel-happy ways of some of his ranking officers. The thought of filthy, smelly women who reeked with BO, as per the accounts of the others, sent shivers of disgust and disdain down his spine.

This was his first assignment in an infantry barrack and he initially struggled to cope with the new environment he was in. It struck him how the gap between Nepal's rich and poor made it self visible even amongst people eating and sleeping under the same roof. The officer corp generally came from well to do families while the non-commissioned soldiers who were almost always from more humbler backgrounds. Caste and ethnic consciousness seemed to run deep amongst all regardless of their ranks or backgrounds. Ever the extrovert, Deepak was quick in reaching out to those around him, especially amongst the officers. Deepak made a few new friends and gathered some admirers. And a few detractors too.

One such person was Major Ravi as once incident proved. He outranked Deepak but seemed to feel insecure in his presence. He would only half-acknowledge Deepak's salute when he greeted him in the hallways, and when the officers went off duty to the local market to dine out, the major seemed to take extra pain to avoid Deepak. One evening, after a couple of beers and a few pegs of Bagpiper whiskey the conversation veered towards the on-going Maoist insurgency. Deepak was sharing his opinion on the weapons used by Maoists when Major Ravi sharply interjected and said in so many words and a harsh tone that Deepak was one of the "dahi-chiure desk types" and did not know the ABCs of weaponry.

Deepak felt the blood rushing into his head. For a brief moment he was blinded and paralyzed with anger. But he could not do anything to a Major, even if it was outside of duty hours. The consequences would be catastrophic for him and his career. He knew he had to control his anger in spite of the raw, subliminal desire in him to crush the Major's face. You never take issue with anyone above your rank. He would make enemies with every other major in the barrack and the divisional headquarters once the word got around. Nowhere was the expression closing ranks more true than in the Army. Your rank was everything. You survived the rigors of military life through your ranks. Breaking rank,was a no no under any circustances. Besides, any violence on Deepak's part would probably lead to disciplinary action and cause disrepute to his family. As it is Colonel Prakash seemed to resent him and he feared this would provide the Colonel just the excuse he needed to send Deepak on an obscure assignment to a place only the Colonel had heard of.

He clenched his teeth and stomped his feet hard into the restaurant floor to release the massive amount of raw energy that had built up.

***

RNA Barrack, Khalanga Bazar, Darchula
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After almost an hour in the air, they were getting ready to land onto the hard clay helipad at the RNA barracks. Subedar-Major Gopal looked at Deepak's face as the Puma helicopter hovered over and then descended vertically onto the helipad.The subedar-major was a lean man with a slightly shrill voice and a thick crop of hair trimmed in a crew style at the edges. Deepak had ordered his men to let their hair grow. A bunch of lean and fit men with crew cuts roaming the high altitudes of the central Himalayas would be tantamount to writing "spies" in bold on their foreheads. Although their hair hadn't grown in three weeks to the length Deepak had hoped for, he did notice that they looked much less like they were fresh off a barrack now than when he first started with them.

Deepak had obtained special use of the helicopter to drop him and his men. Helicopter usage was normally available only to the highest ranking officers. Both Colonel Prakash and General Tej had pulled strings stressing the time criticality of the mission and for a brief moment he felt proud of both his superiors. The helicopter also did wonders to Deepak's credibility amongst his subordinates and was a morale booster for them. A mission that involved the very top brass was something that excited them and what more proof of that than the helicopter Captain Deepak had obtained for their journey.

Subedar Tanka, Subedar Hem and Subedar Bhimsen were seated in adjoining seats. As the helicopter trembled slightly on its descent, Subedar Hem peered out of the window and marvelled at dust storm created by the air from the rotors of the Puma chopper. Hem was born and brought up in Sanfebagar and was the most "native" member of the team. He was trained by one of Deepak's close friends and considered a hard-working and straightforward person.

Second Lieutenant Sarla's, seated next to Deepak, threw nervous glances at him and the Subedar-Major a couple of times when the chopper shook a little unexpectedly as the pilot coped with the dualing forces of aerodynamics and gravity to put the machine on the ground. Sarla had completed her SLC from Urlabari in Morang and completed her plus-two from Biratnagar and then joined the Army. Her parents had wanted her to get married after school and the Army was her ticket out of it as she had not prevailed in the engineering and medical entrance exams she sat for. This was her first field intelligence assignment and she was secretly excited to work with Deepak who was very different from the other officers she had worked with and whom she had taken an instant liking to.

Subedar Tanka was probably the oldest member of the team in his early thirties. He had a wife and 2 children back in his village near Argakhanchi. He was weary to go on a mission to such a remote and desolate place - as if he hadn't been to enough of those places - but the Colonel had selected him precisely because of his previous experience with high altitude and rough terrain in Mustang, Jumla and Rasuwa.

Subedar Bhimsen grew up in Dhading and had childhood dreams of joining the Army. He was brought up by his mother after his father abandoned her and their three children for a woman 10 years younger than him. He was the eldest of the three and helped his mother in the fields before joining the army. He had also become a black belt in judo. He carried a picture of his sweetheart in his wallet. She was from a different caste and he had suffered much stigma and trauma at the hands of both their families because of it. The army was his way to prove to the world that he was a strong man who could stand on his own feet and provide for her. Few in his village would dare look down on a man in the Army especially when they saw him walk into the village during Dasain time with his head held high and his chest swollen in pride. He would be in his combat fatigue and carry a bag over his soldiers laden with "lipistic and lali" and a few bottles of the fine Bagpiper and Royal Salute whiskey they sold in Kathmandu and sweet orange candy that would make every man, woman and child envious of his achievements.

Deepak was struck by the alpine vegetation that he had caught glimpses of during the last part of the flight. Out in the north, he could see vast swaths of green pastures along the mountain side crowned with lush green pine forest on the mountain tops. He spotted what looked like black-tiled roofs atop stone house dotting the pasture land. The mountain side turned slightly more barren as they approached the landing site and and the settlements of Darchula on the Nepalese side and Dharchula (notice the 'h') on the Indian side loomed on the foreground separated by the turquoise waters of the Mahakali.

Sarla looked relieved as the helicopter planted itself on firm ground and she was all too happy to disregard the slight jolt created by the skids of the chopper coming into contact with the hard ground . She peered impatiently at the rotors as they slowed down provided a welcome relief from the din of the last one hour. Jamadar Tanka had a shy smile on his face from the trill of the whole ride and he watched intently as the pilot proceeded to unarm and unmount the door.

They were one step ahead in their mission.

They were to freshen up in their quarters and meet for a briefing at 1800 hours. Tomorrow would be a new day. And it would start early.

***