"I see a blue rose," called out the Major.

"A rose, and that too a blue one," said the soldier.

"Yes, see," the Major confirmed looking excited. He gave the binocular to the soldier and stood up and started loitering about the trench. He again called out, "There, there. A blue one. One of its kind. It’s bluish." He pointed his forefinger towards the valleyand if we accurately follow the direction of his finger we would reach a narrow, indistinguishible crevice between two low hills or to somepllace beyond it. But no rose, blue or not blue, intercepted the rectilinear path initiated by the direction of his forefinger.

"But roses are not blue," argued the soldier.

"Ha! If you haven’t seen one doesn’t mean that there isn’t one. A blue one. I saw one just now. Give me the binocular." He took the binocular from the soldier’s hand angrily and spotted the blueone instantly.

"There, there. It’s always there. What eyes you have? You can’t spot such a beauty of nature. Look, look. Have some joy. You weak of eyes, it’s blue."

"I haven’t ever seen a blue one."

"That’s why I am asking you to spotthat blue one. You Delhiwallahs! Do you understand that not all the flowers of the world are found in the Mehrauli flower market?"

"I still haven’t spotted it. It is proving allusive for me. I asm not meant for joy. A soldier’s not meant for joy."

"A moron’s not meant for joy. You will never make a major. You live around nature; can’t you appreciate it. A soldier is a soldier, but he can also be a lover, a poet, a visionary. Don’t contradict me."

"I won’t. But this much I would say that there isn’t any blue rose; at least nowhere nearby; not here."

"There is. There is. I say there is. Don’t you believe me? You should believe me. I am the major here – more experienced, aaa… more experienced than you."

"I am a fool."

"Yes, you are that."

"I am a fool because I believed you partly. I shouldn’t have believed you absolutely. This is no place for any plantlings. No plants can grow here. Here not even, what do they call them…"

"Rhododendrons?"

"Yes, yes. Not even those can be seen here. And what a fool I was to search for roses here. And that too a blue one. Ha! Ha!"

"Come on, come on. It’s a surprise. WE live to face nature’s surprises, which are equally likely to surface either today, tomorrow or twenty years from now. And you have that opportunity at present."

"I was not expecting to be surprised."

"What logic is that? I pity you. I really pity you. You have eyes not to see, but not to see. Anyway look again."

"No. It’s madness."

"It’s an order."

"Okay. All right. But I assure you, Major, that the only rose I’ll see will be the invisible one."

The soldier took the binocular and again started gaazing at the chilling scenery from his trench on the snow. He had not been looking long when he alarmed the Major, "Look Major. I saw something."

"Is it the blue one? I told you so."

"No. No. Just look." The Major took the binocular and asked, " What is it?"

"I… I… I saw the enemy coming."

"Where? Where?"

"I can see them even with naked eyes. There they are and it seems that our garrison will be outnumbered."

"Where?"

"Don’t you even hear our outposts firing?"

"Let me have a careful look. Oh! It’s but just goats. Ha! Ha!"

"This is a battlefield and I am serious. Let’s fire."

"I can’t order you to fire on these innocent goats."

"Fire!"

Copyright: Amit Shankar Saha. (2000)