Jihadi Genius! (Flash Fiction Entry)
Phil squinted against the glaring sun as he tried to put his finger to what it was that he found familiar in the child standing on the opposite side of the dusty road. Weather beaten vehicles with passengers hanging out whizzed past with increasing regularity as the sun travelled westwards. It was exactly 4 years since he had last stepped on Pakistani soil to report the turbulence that was so synonymous with the region.
His Vulcan like ears picked up a mortar blast a mile away. It all sounded familiar as fresh adrenalin made his excited mind flick its tongue in the atmosphere to feel the tense current in the air.
A bag full of essentials to last several days, he was hunting for a guide who had his ear to the ground and accompany him to the most sensitive areas in the foothills of Safed Koh ranges wherein the Bugti tribesmen commanded the respect for being the fiercest and most barbaric.
The kid stared open mouthed for a few seconds before disappearing into the sparsely forested patch close by.
Phil trudged to the tea stall near by and ordered a Suleimani chai *that refreshed his raw senses. The prosaic life of the semi-rural suburb stared at his Caucasian looks that made him stand out like a silver oak amongst dry prickly cactus.
The kid this time was peeping from behind a pile of dried cow dung cakes that were stacked in neat heaps. Phil felt drawn to this curious fellow. He just looked so darn familiar!
As Ashfaq the driver brought a pair of skinny men dressed in local garb, Phil inquired if they were successful in tracing Ramzan Durrani the link to Masood who Phil aspired to interview for his latest assignment.
Masood had been topping the most dreaded terrorist list for a while and his fanatical anti-establishment messages had been floating in cyber space that threatened the fence sitters to get out of their cushioned cocoons and pretend to take the hardliners by the scruff of their collars. And this is what had made the present assignment fall into his journalistic lap that supported an illustrious war reporting experience.
Ramzan Bhai was supposed to pick Phil and take him blind-folded into the interiors. He sounded optimistic as he related how Masood had welcomed the idea of spreading his message of Jehad through Phil.
Dawn brought a kind of starkness that ripped any doubts of peace that Phil had toyed with in his mind before he fell into restless slumber.
Innocent villagers had been killed in a terror strike as a faction of the rebelling tribes from uphill had vacuously tried to establish their supremacy. As Phil filmed the sight of the massacre, his eyes fell on the inquisitive kid from the day before. His small lifeless toes were caked in blood. Phil realized the similarity that had eluded him a day before. The Vulcan ears and a much lighter skin tone! He then remembered Ruksana!
* Suleimani Chai – Lemon tea (hot).
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2008
His Vulcan like ears picked up a mortar blast a mile away. It all sounded familiar as fresh adrenalin made his excited mind flick its tongue in the atmosphere to feel the tense current in the air.
A bag full of essentials to last several days, he was hunting for a guide who had his ear to the ground and accompany him to the most sensitive areas in the foothills of Safed Koh ranges wherein the Bugti tribesmen commanded the respect for being the fiercest and most barbaric.
The kid stared open mouthed for a few seconds before disappearing into the sparsely forested patch close by.
Phil trudged to the tea stall near by and ordered a Suleimani chai *that refreshed his raw senses. The prosaic life of the semi-rural suburb stared at his Caucasian looks that made him stand out like a silver oak amongst dry prickly cactus.
The kid this time was peeping from behind a pile of dried cow dung cakes that were stacked in neat heaps. Phil felt drawn to this curious fellow. He just looked so darn familiar!
As Ashfaq the driver brought a pair of skinny men dressed in local garb, Phil inquired if they were successful in tracing Ramzan Durrani the link to Masood who Phil aspired to interview for his latest assignment.
Masood had been topping the most dreaded terrorist list for a while and his fanatical anti-establishment messages had been floating in cyber space that threatened the fence sitters to get out of their cushioned cocoons and pretend to take the hardliners by the scruff of their collars. And this is what had made the present assignment fall into his journalistic lap that supported an illustrious war reporting experience.
Ramzan Bhai was supposed to pick Phil and take him blind-folded into the interiors. He sounded optimistic as he related how Masood had welcomed the idea of spreading his message of Jehad through Phil.
Dawn brought a kind of starkness that ripped any doubts of peace that Phil had toyed with in his mind before he fell into restless slumber.
Innocent villagers had been killed in a terror strike as a faction of the rebelling tribes from uphill had vacuously tried to establish their supremacy. As Phil filmed the sight of the massacre, his eyes fell on the inquisitive kid from the day before. His small lifeless toes were caked in blood. Phil realized the similarity that had eluded him a day before. The Vulcan ears and a much lighter skin tone! He then remembered Ruksana!
* Suleimani Chai – Lemon tea (hot).
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2008
posted by Bunty's Banter at 8:08 AM
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