Every individual counts

This incident dates back to the time when I was posted in Ladakh as an officer of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). It takes a lot of courage to work in Ladakh as it's a cold region with high-altitude mountains where temperatures drop in a matter of minutes. AK Mehta writes

This incident dates back to the time when I was posted in Ladakh as an officer of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). It takes a lot of courage to work in Ladakh as it's a cold region with high-altitude mountains where temperatures drop in a matter of minutes.

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Add to it the tough nature of the duties assigned to officers and men be it guarding the country's borders in the high-altitude areas or arduous trekking in Antarctic-like conditions across Himalayas to carry supplies.

That day the temperature was around -12 degrees Celsius when I received an SOS call that one of our battalion's truck carrying two men and important supplies was stuck in a remote location. It was late in the afternoon. Sensing the emergency, I, along with my driver, immediately set off towards the site.

The spot was at least 150 km away from our base, so I knew that night driving was inevitable. What I didn't foresee was that there was trouble ahead. It started snowing and the temperature dipped drastically by the time we reached the spot. To make matters worse, our rescue vehicle broke down on the way back.

My driver reported that nothing could be done as we had a broken axle. I concluded that we would have to spend the night in the vehicle till some help arrived. It was pitch dark and not a soul was to be seen around.

Deep inside, I knew we were trapped there. I was aware that we must find a shelter soon because we were risking falling prey to hypothermia. We were helpless and hopeless. The best we could do was to flash the lights of our vehicle and pray to God for a miracle to save our lives.

A miracle happened! We saw a shepherd approaching. I asked for help. He obviously didn't understand a word I said, but he wished us with a welcome smile and took us to his home a rebo (a tent made of yak's wool and hair), where he offered us hot soup and tea. I couldn't believe that the person who tended sheep was our saviour.

The incident taught me that come what may, one must always remain hopeful and have firm faith in God. Also, one must respect every individual and look beyond physical appearance of others. You never know who turns out to be your saviour.