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LOC: Line of C...

Short Story Writing Competition
Monday, 30 September 2019
Topic : LOC


LOC: Line of C...


Bangs and screams on both sides.

Things being hurled towards and back.

Tension gripped the air.

The intensity increased minute by minute.


"Oh God! This is another India - Pakistan war".

My grandmother's words sent chills down my spine.


Another war!

A slideshow of gruesome pictures started running in my head :
Violence, Bloodshed, Murder, Police, Curfew…

Noooo!
God, not another war!

I prayed silently within, even as I sat a mute spectator of the ongoing clash, which seemed to be gaining momentum with each passing second.

It all started with trespassing.
Trespassing the defacto " Line of Control".


The "other side" had immediately sprung to action.
The trespasser was immediately taken hostage (after being beaten black and blue, that is).
His pictures and videos were being circulated around. Videos of him being beaten and pictures of him bruised and bleeding.

A kind of vicarious, sadistic pleasure seemed to fill the enemy by sharing these.
I couldn't stand the sight of those for a second.
God knows how his family would have borne it.

"Hope he is set free quickly" I murmured.

"Nothing to worry. He will indeed be released under political influence and pressure" assured my grandmother.

Thank Heavens that her words came true!

The MLA of our area intervened and made sure that the man was immediately released.

He threatened the people of both side with dire consequences for any such future nuisances and street fights.

He forced the other side to apologize and made people of both sides shake hands with each other as a friendly gesture.

It all finally ended with a feast sponsored by the MLA, and a night full of merriment.

Nevertheless, I knew that all of this festivity and friendliness would last only for a day or two.

Living in a house very close to the LOC, I had witnessed such fights every other day.  In fact, they had now become an amusement for me.

The LOC…

The dreaded LOC which I have never dared to cross since my childhood…

It is the street dividing the two major colonies in our tiny town.

The Line of Colonies

It's the most ominous border which I have seen.

Being a small-town girl, the war between the two colonies was the greatest war I had ever seen or heard of.

If India-Pakistan were being compared to our two colonies, then their enmity must be great!



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