The old shriveled woman was known as "Boba' in her small hamlet. She was 'Boba' to everyone, even her only son who was lost in the wilderness of the turmoil that had come like a tornado in her small hamlet in the tumultuous year of 2010, leaving behind destruction, shattered dreams and forlorn painful memories. The turmoil of 2010 that shook the entire State of J&K, collapsing the entire nation in a single loud cry of Azadi, caught every Kashmiri youth in the cornucopia of frenzied fervor. It wound the entire nation in the loose fabric of Azadi, a burning dream that gleams in every Kashmiri's eyes and thuds with every heartbeat.
The aftermath of the turmoil of 2010 was disastrous and such disaster fell on the household of 'Boba.' Her only son was taken away in the consequence wave since he was also the unfortunate one among hundreds who were jailed with PSA detention quashed on them. He was only a minor, who being swept away with the wave and those very patriotic emotions that govern every Kashmiri's heart. He too jumped into the whirlpool, and the consequence of that headlong patriotic jump were harsh, cruel and disastrous.
Boba had tried everything her frail self could do, to find her son from that unknown but alas! she wasn't able to save her son. He was thronged in jail after jail till his whereabouts became clueless and slowly hopeless.
She knew her son was innocent as were those thousands who too, were confiscated from their mothers and their homes. She would go every morning to nearby police station and wait till dusk but she was never able to gather the information about her son. The police station soon got used to her presence and didn't bother much about her. She was once told that her son has been shifted to Kot Balwal jail, in the outskirts of Jammu and from there, where; that is still not known! She was told some 15 months, after that her son had died due to severe infection and weakness in jail.
They say eyes are the mirror of soul. Well, her eyes reflected the anguish, pain, grief, despicable despair, anger and hollowness that lay bottomed at soul. She looked at the mound with a broken heart, closed her eyes and made her prayer. She had been coming to this mound of mud that the villagers had dug in memory of Boba's son and her untiring efforts and unflinching faith that she had in Almighty; he would come back! The death of her son had broken the frail self but not her faith because she believed till she didn't see his body, she wouldn't believe in the inevitable.
She had been coming here past 5 months, to this mound, her immense strength had failed her many times but she believed she had to come because this mound reminded her that her son had to come back, either from dead or nowhere! Every time she came there, it ripped her heart into pieces, with questions and memories tumbling over in her mind. There was never peace in her torn self. She fought against all odds, braved every hell to find him. But as they say, no one comes back from hell. Her faith in the miracle of her son's return, somehow made her move in her life and it radiated strength to the villagers of her village who believed in her unwavering, forceful and powerful faith that yes, the miracle will become evitable someday, somehow!!
This is dedicated to all those mothers who lost their sons in the turmoil of 2010 to the unnecessary law in J&K that snatches away the innocence of minors, without giving them a chance, in their respective lives.
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