Chapters (53)
- Cover
- Title page
- Prologue
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Part Two
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Part Three
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
The first one to go forward was Ananta. Pricking his index finger with a pin he pressed hard till a drop of blood oozed out. Dipping the quill pen in the blood, he signed his name on a sheet of paper.
The students were stunned.
‘Do we have to sign the way he did?’
‘Yes, of course. No sacrifice is big enough for your country, Nehru has said.’
‘We will have to sacrifice for our nation.’
‘For that, is it necessary to sign in blood? Isn’t an ordinary signature enough?’
‘I love my country. I will do what is needed. But I cannot prick my finger with a pin.’
‘You are afraid to shed one drop of blood and you say you will fight for the country? Huh! I know what you will do. If the Chinese army comes, you will either turn tail and run away or fall at their feet for mercy.’
‘As if you are not scared! Why are you sweating so much then?’
The students slowly went forward to sign. Some were scared, while others were not. Some sneaked out from the queue in fear, compromising their self-respect. Mei Hang was scared stiff and kept staring at those who were signing.
‘Oh God! How can I prick my finger? What if all my blood flows out? Hey Kaushalya, why did the Chinese have to attack our land? Oh! The Chinese are after my blood!’
The girls who were around burst out in laughter.
‘Look at the way they are laughing. Absolutely unmindful of where they are,’ a student leader commented in irritation.
‘I know her. She is a Chinese girl, studying in GBC.’
‘Oh! That’s why they are laughing!’
‘No, not for that. I know that girl, Mei Hang, she is very funny.’
‘How do you know?’
‘We studied together. She is a good friend of Ananta.’
‘Is that so?’
Ananta was looking at the girls too. Slowly his face became serious. What was there to laugh about? How could Ahlin and the others laugh at such a serious moment?
Was it because they were Chinese? Was it because they would not lose anything if the Chinese subjugated India? Or did they not feel anything when Indian soldiers were killed at the frontier?
No. This could not be the reason. There were other girls like Kaushalya who were laughing, too. It was not just the Chinese girls. There must be something funny. He shouldn’t have thought this way about Ahlin.