Chapter 1: A Call to Duty

At that time I was studying B.A. (Part I) at Doaba College Jalandhar. The meaning of life was beyond comprehension at that time, but life was beginning to look very beautiful. Because through love and love letters, I got connected with literature. The poetry of Shiv Batalvi became the adornment of my love letters. He also wrote short stories and poems. A dakiya who used to come to our village became my friend. Seeing my fascination with literature, he told me that there is a story writer in his bank, he gets a lot of magazines by post. I told him to show me the newspaper. He did just that. Whenever a magazine comes, he gives it to me and I return it after reading it. That is, I used to read every magazine that came to Nachhatar and then go to him. After reading all of them, I was very impressed. My writing style has changed. Then the caller called me to meet him. When I go back to school, I go straight to the bank. He used to share many things about literature, I used to be very impressed. He often took me to literary events. My interest in literature grew. I didn't have much money, so I had to pay for it. I was very familiar with Hindi and Punjabi literature.

As a result of this love affair and my preoccupation with literature, my B.Sc. (Part I) resulted in two compartments. My father was very upset. Angry that I was removed from the college and admitted to Punjabi University Patiala. Sit at home and read. Beas river passes near our village. There was a gloomy atmosphere. I pick up my correspondence course papers and go to the riverside to study. But there would be time to sit down and write a story or a love letter. One day, he followed me without telling me. I decided to sit in a secluded place and write. Tearing the paper from the copy, putting it on the copy, the first letter was still written - "My life! "And then I got hit in the leg. I fell into the mud in front of the chuphal. I didn't even know that Bapuji was standing on my head. I said, I'll get you out of there! ! And they took me home. My mother tells me to take care of my son. The next morning I was taken to bed. My mother thought maybe I should study there... I thought the same.

The next morning, they took me to the army recruitment office. There were ten boys. Back then, there was no running. The height was measured - at six feet I became fit but the required weight was reduced. A lot less than what I needed. Colonel Sahib laughed and said to Bapu - 'Bring him bananas and let's see again'. I was so happy to be saved. But where was the father? They took me out and fed me more than a dozen bananas. The weight was not full, but Bapu had an old acquaintance with Colonel Sahib, so after getting medical treatment, I joined the army on November 28, 1978. That moment was the peak of my sadness... not even to go home from there. In those days no one was allowed to return home after that. There thought was that if they go  home they can change their mind.