The Story of a brave girl

 Author: Soumyosree Chatterjee, Class 5, West Bengal, India

 Category: Junior

Once, upon a time, in the high mountains in Kashmir, there was a small village called Lamahata. In that village, there lived two girls named Sahiba and Saheda with their parents. Although, they were poor but also were happy. Their father worked in the Indian Army. The days passed, the little girls now became teenagers. The elder sister Sahiba was in class XII and Saheda in class VIII. It was time, when the girls had completed their examinations and were spending days with their father.

One day a letter came to their house; it was from the Colonel of the Indian Army Force. It said that, there will be a war within five weeks, now their father, Haji Ali had to go to the army camp tomorrow. Haji Ali packed everything and left for the army camp. After that many days passed but there was no news about their father.

After three months, Family of Haji Ali received a letter from the General of the Indian Army. It said: “Dear Sahiba, please inform your mother that, unfortunately your father was killed in the devastating battle field”. After receiving this letter, Sahiba was traumatized for a while. But she said to herself that - “If I don’t do anything and sit like this, then what will happen to my family?” Then without saying to her sister and even to her mother, she went to a nearby saloon, dressed herself like a boy and left for the army camp. Within four hours, she reached the army camp. She found the General of the Indian Army standing there. She managed to meet with him and asked very humbly, “Sir, may I join the Army?’ Then the general said, “I’m not sure. First, tell me your name”. But, Sahiba didn’t knew that what to tell, if she told the truth, then she would not get the job. Therefore, she completely concealed her real personal details and told that her name was Asif Khan. Then, the general said, “You can join the army, but before that you have to undergo very difficult trainings”. As commanded by the General, she completed the trainings very sincerely and bravely. After six months, she joined the Indian Army.

Suddenly, a war was announced between India and China. Sahiba was sent to the battle field and she fought more bravely than other soldiers. While she was fighting, suddenly she found that Colonel Sharma of their team was going to be killed by the enemy. She ran to the spot and very tactfully saved his life from all the Chinese Soldiers around him. Everybody praised Sahiba for her heroic deed.

 After coming back to the camp, one day Col. Sharma lost his gun. While searching for it hither and thither, he found a card with a picture of a girl. The Colonel was very surprised to see that the Girl’s picture was completely looked alike Asif Khan. Immediately, he rushed to Sahiba and asked her if she could recognize the girl in the picture. Sahiba suddenly burst into tears and disclosed everything to Col. Sharma. Instead of punishing her, Col. Sharma said – “I should salute your bravery. Now, as you have disclosed your true identity, you can’t be with the Indian Army. But as a reward of your undaunted exceptional bravery, I’ll personally appeal to Govt. of India to appoint you as a police officer”. Indian government gladly agreed to the proposal of Col. Sharma and even without any written examination of the candidate. Sahiba gladly accepted her responsibility. She along with her mother and sister lived happily ever after.

MORAL: Every heroic deed should always be awarded