The Game

‘Are you ready for it, COAS’, asked the Prime Minister.

‘Yes Sir’. Pat came the reply in his trademark hoarse voice.  

‘Very well, then. Let the action begin sharp at 0000 hours’, whispered the PM as they shook hands. The COAS marched back to his base with a renewed sense of vigour and a gleam in his eyes.

Wasting no time, he ordered the movement of the troops.

‘Politics can make one do things one has never dreamt of. And of course there is money – huge money as a motivational factor.’ He sighed and left a sinister laugh which echoed for minutes inside his closed chamber.

‘A military coup has been attempted and all the national leaders of the ruling and opposition parties are under house arrest including the PM’- read the television headline, the next morning.

Baffled at the turn of events, the PM called the COAS after finding army men with guns, surrounding his government bungalow. ‘What the hell is this? ‘I had asked you to only take the leader of opposition under house arrest and you took the entire country under house arrest? PM blurted out in astonishment.

The COAS replied calmly to his anguish. ‘I don’t understand the language of politics. I only understand the language of money. You offered me 100 crores to take the leader of opposition out whereas the leader of opposition offered me 150 crores to take you out. And mind you it is me who leaked out the secret to the opposition.’

‘I trusted you the most, COAS. What about our talks of being the best buddies, sharing each and every damn thing, be it personal or professional since our college days?

‘The people of India have trusted you the most and hence elected your government to rule this country and you are making a mockery of it’, said the COAS in his most menacing tone his friend has ever heard and went off the line.

The news channels went bonkers with the sudden turn of events highlighting the COAS and his address to the nation, the pros, and cons of a democracy versus a military ruled state and the future of this country.

The following night was the night of reckoning. It came to the intelligence notice a month back about a movement in a terrorist module along the LOC. But when the encrypted code was decoded and studied meticulously the army was left red faced. It was the time to have a final laugh.

The secret attack that the enemy had planned and almost executed to perfection was foiled at the last minute. Fighter jets attacked from the dusk leaving no trace of the enemy.

‘Welcome Ajay’. The PM greeted the COAS with a huge victorious smile on his face as he handed him a drink. ‘So, what next after retirement or should I say after you’re court marshalled ’?

‘Probably your back door strategist.’  He replied with a wide grin on his face. The only solace being,the secret remained within the four corners of the wall.

‘There is politics anywhere and everywhere and then there are some who rise above politics and greed for the betterment of the nation.’

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.