Gauri Parashar, Class X D
The story begins when I saw my grandmother reading a letter under a tree in our garden. She usually had a big smile on her face but that day there was something unusual. She was smiling but there were also tears in her eyes. I suddenly recalled my father telling me about a letter that grandpa had given to her. This must be that letter.
My grandfather and grandmother married when they were kids. But my grandfather supported grandmother’s education and thus she learnt to read and write. My grandfather’s greatest wish was to join the army to serve the nation. Though my grandmother could not even think of being separated from him for months, but, realizing how important it was for grandpa, she did not object.
Soon, he became an officer in the army and he was immediately called for his first mission. Before leaving, he wrote a beautiful letter addressed to grandma and handed it to her himself saying that his presence will always be with her in the form of that letter.
He never returned from the battlefront. We learnt later that he fought bravely. The lives of grandmother and her children was nearly shattered. It was a slow but steady process moving on. It was today, 35 years ago, that grandpa had left for the mission and I could understand why my grandmother held that letter in her hand.
