When a war broke out in the country and the need for soldiers were urgent, a young woman approached an army unit commander and told him, “I want to help the army, sir!”
To which the officer smiled. “Do you know how to hold a gun?”
The girl shook her head. “How about medicine? Do you know how to treat wounds?”
The girl looked away. “I don’t know any of those things sir.”
The soldiers overhearing them laughed in mockery, and the officer asked in deep thought, “How then can you help us?”
“I’ll do anything you ask me to!” was the girl’s eager reply, to which the commander was moved.
“Okay then,” he says, as he walked to the wooden flagpole nearby, with the country’s symbol waving in the banner. “You’ll be in charge of the most important task in the unit.” The officer took the pole from its deep thrust in the ground and handed it over to the girl. “You’ll be the flag bearer.”
The soldiers laughed. “Flag bearer? What use is a Flag bearer in a battle?” they teased, thinking that their captain is kidding. But they were mistaken, and the girl took the flag with deep pride, and let it hung over her shoulders. “Thank you sir,” she answers stoutly. “Tell me now what to do.”
“But captain!” on of the soldiers faltered. “She doesn’t know how to combat, if we send her to battle, she’ll just die out there!”
“ENOUGH!” The captain glared at his deputy. “She wants to serve. Let her.”
The time came when the unit was called out to war. As every soldier was getting ready, the captain approached the girl and said, “There are two things I want you to remember. One,” he says, looking at the flag. “Take care of this flag as you would your life. Carry it with pride. See to it that whenever we lift our heads, we can glance at it. Second,” he took a serious look at her as he leaned over closer. “Do not die.”
And so the unit was sent out, and the fight was harsh. She did what she was told, waved the flag forth, to which the others can see, and dodged astray bullets as much as she could. The battle was in earnest, all gave their strength; but the enemies were too many that at the end, many of their soldiers died.
When the hubbub passed on the flag bearer walked through the field of corpses, watching the familiar uniforms on her companions’ dead bodies. She also recognized, that her captain has fallen terribly wounded, that she rushed to him without further ado.
“Captain!” She calls to him, hoping he is still alive.
He was badly shot, and he was bleeding, but still he recognized her that he tried to stand up, even though all he could do now is to lean at her arms for the last time.
“Captain!” She says to him one more time.
“It seems you have done well,” The captain smiled through his blood stricken face, seeing that the flag pole hung over her shoulders and the banner mildly torn, still waving at the air.
“Captain! What will happen now? What can I do?” She asks him, hoping to find a medic around to treat his wounds, but alas! As she discovers, she was the only one left standing through the smoke and blood scented ground.
“There’s one more thing,” The captain says in his weakening tone. The girl looked at him eagerly, “Yes, just tell me and I will do I as much as I could!”
“The flag,” The captain says. “Doesn’t just symbolize our country. It symbolizes our purpose—the reason why we’re here fighting; the reason why we we’re ready to give up our lives. Some people do not understand why they are here. Some are just forced, others are burdened with the responsibility of protecting their families, others have their own intentions, their own beliefs, and their own reasons. But this flag unites us—we are but one nation, and here in battle, we have but one purpose, one belief—we are one.”
“Go, and wave this flag among those soldiers who still have no idea of why they’re here.” The captain commanded. “You see, when we find our purpose, we find our strength—we find hope. Even if we die, we die in dignity. We die fighting for what we believe.”
And with this, Diwa’s journey begins.
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The flagbearer was writen during our country’s celebration of the Independence Day
