Monday, December 28, 2015

The Anti-national - 1

(First of all, a few apologies for those of you who still care for not updating this more regularly. This is the first post of 2015, and I have few excuses, except that I have been overcome by a big writer's block. I just cannot  seem to be able to write prose anymore. Random poetry yes, but prose - a big no. So not sure if this effort will succeed or not.)


Their last hope died. The call from the headquarters came. There were no reinforcements which could be spared for them. The enemy had surrounded the capital too, and the last stand was to be waged from there. All reinforcements were needed there. Hence, the 100 were left on their own, guarding that small hillock. The enemy had surrounded them from all sides, and there was nowhere to go. They could have surrendered, but their supreme commander's order still rang in their ears. "We never surrender" was what he had told them, and their motto, which each of them had tattooed on their right had, awakened them to it. "Nusquam Quiescunt," was their motto, and hence they fought on. Down to the last man. And how they fought - each men counted the number of enemy soldiers he got down. Each of them had the aim of 100 - and all of them met it. In the end, they managed to kill more than 10,000 of the enemy troops, but the end was nigh. And so they fell, the 100. 

The teacher paused - for dramatic effect - and asked the class, "then what happened?"

Joy looked around the class, waiting for someone to answer. He was bored - they had read this story for the umpteenth time, and he knew it by heart. And as always, Sharona, the class topper replied, "The 100 got martyrdom. The Others took over the capital, and they prosecuted our leaders and ruled over us for the next 2000 years. However, the resistance fought on underground, and finally after 2000 years, the Others left, just as suddenly as they had come. No one knows where they came from, and where did they go. The resistance played a big part in it, and the sustenance of the resistance came from this supreme sacrifice by the 100. They have now been immortalized in our history books."

The teacher beamed at Sharona as she always did, and said, "That's exactly right - the 100 were an inspiration for everyone"

"Why did they fight, having had no hope to live?" Joy suddenly spoke up.

The teacher looked at him sternly. The class expects her to answer and shut down this insolent boy, "For glory, and for their motherland," the teacher replies.

"But they lost the war, and they knew their motherland was finished. Why did they have to die then? What was the purpose of their death? What was the glory they were looking for? And, how do we know how they fought - for like they said, all 100 of them died on that mountain top? What if it is fiction, or a myth, handed down to us over the last 2000 years? I mean how does someone know the exact number of Others killed - especially as there is no mention of this incident in their history?"

"This is blasphemous - how dare you question our history?", the teacher said, "you must be anti-national."

And for the first time, Joy was called anti-national. But it would not be the last.

(To be continued).