The Khan Brothers

       The Khan Brothers

Year 1941
A dry, flat area in the region of Rekistan, Afghanistan. A desert where even the meaning of greenery is unknown. A barren land filled with small reddish hills. These hills are mostly between fifty to one hundred feet high. Houses and huts are scattered across the hills.

There, Abdul Khan's family lived. Abdul Khan led his life with ten cattle. He would wake up early in the morning, around five, to let the cattle graze and would set out with them. As he grew older, he became frustrated that his two sons didn't help him with the work. His eldest son, Ahmad Khan, was fifteen, and his youngest son, Umar Khan, had just turned fourteen last week. Despite their size, they spent their days roaming around the village and indulging in their whims with the women, which angered Abdul Khan. He felt disgusted as he recalled the forty years he had spent working tirelessly.

That morning, when he woke up, he looked for his sons. His wife was busy preparing something in the kitchen. In the corner, his daughter, Haseena, was curled up and still sleeping. His sons were nowhere to be seen. Angry, he gathered the cattle and went down the hill in search of them.

Umar Khan and Ahmad Khan were standing in front of a woman named Kathija’s house, debating with each other.
Umar: "Should we go inside today?"
Ahmad: "Alright, let's go. Should I go first or will you?"
Umar: "You go."
Ahmad: "No, let's go together."

They hesitated but eventually knocked on the door. Since the door was slightly open, they slowly went inside. Kathija was in the inner room.

Seeing the two young men, she smiled slyly in astonishment.
Kathija: "Do you have any experience?"
The brothers shook their heads.
Kathija: "You need to offer money to get anything. How much do you have?"
Ahmad and Umar replied, "We don’t have any money."
Kathija: "Without money, how can you get anything? Come back with money tomorrow."

The two of them walked out, disappointed.

Umar: "She looks like she's made of gold."
Ahmad: "We can finish the work today if we want, Umar."
Umar: "With money, it seems she demands a lot."
Ahmad: "Let’s go home now."

At home, Abdul Khan was having his meal. When he saw his sons, he pulled them out angrily while still eating.

The next morning, after Abdul Khan had taken the cattle out, Ahmad Khan woke Umar. Both of them slowly went to the inner room. There was a rifle in a box inside.
Umar: "Are we going to threaten her with this rifle?"
Ahmad: "First, let’s tell her to take it. If she refuses, then we can threaten her."

They reached Kathija's house and showed her the rifle. Kathija looked at them in surprise.
Kathija: "Don’t be afraid. Keep it with you."

She laughed in a flirtatious manner.
Kathija: "I don’t need anything from you. You can come anytime. You will not have to pay a price for anything."

Kathija removed her outer garment and posed in a seductive way. The two brothers approached her. Suddenly, the door was knocked on quickly. Before they could react, Abdul Khan entered the room. Seeing his sons, he angrily rushed towards them.

The brothers grabbed the rifle and ran away. Abdul Khan spat on Kathija and followed the brothers. They hid somewhere.

For a week, Abdul Khan searched tirelessly for his sons. Exhausted, he gave up and resigned to the fact that the cattle had likely been lost.

The brothers had hidden in a cave in another village, in the mountainous area. They killed and cooked some of the stray cattle and ate them.
Umar: "We can't stay here for long. Should we go back home?"
Ahmad: "The old man will kill us. I can’t take another beating from him."
Umar: "I have a doubt. How did the old man figure out we were at Kathija’s house? Did he come to look for us, or did he come to see Kathija?"
Ahmad: "The old man is always sneezing in the kitchen. Where else would he go?"
Umar: "What did we have to give Kathija? What money did we have?"
Ahmad fell silent.
Umar: "I have another question."
Ahmad: "Don’t ask questions that might get us killed. Go check if any cattle are coming."
Umar: "No, I need to ask this. Why didn’t Kathija take the money from us?"

Ahmad laughed loudly. Umar joined in.
Umar: "We can’t stay here any longer. Do you have any ideas?"
Ahmad: "We can go to Kabul and survive."
Umar: "Will we earn a lot of money in Kabul? How much will we earn?"
Ahmad: "We can earn several lakhs."
Umar: "What will we do with that much money?"
Ahmad: "I’ll marry Kathija. Don’t look at me like that. I’ll find a beautiful girl for you and marry her too."
Umar: "Then the old man and the old woman..."
Ahmad: "Let them go to hell."
Umar: "How do we get to Kabul?"
Ahmad: "Look at the hill. From the top of that hill, you can see the way to Kabul. Only the military vehicles travel that way, I’ve seen it. We need to hijack one of those vehicles."

Umar: "This sounds like a terrible idea. We will be hunted down and killed."
Ahmad: "If you’re scared, stay here and die. I’m going."
Ahmad grabbed the rifle and left. Umar reluctantly followed him.

They lay on top of the hill, watching for any vehicle, with the rifle ready.
After a long wait, Umar lost his patience.

"I’m going back home. If the old man beats me, it doesn’t matter. This dog doesn’t need much to survive."
Umar walked a little distance when suddenly, the sound of a gunshot echoed. Umar quickly ran back to Ahmad. Ahmad pointed towards the road. A jeep was parked there. The people in the jeep were likely dead from gunshot wounds.

Both of them ran towards the road. In the jeep were two dead British soldiers, their bodies riddled with bullets. Ahmad and Umar pushed their bodies aside and got into the jeep. The vehicle wouldn’t start because one of the tires was flat. Ahmad told Umar to stay while he went to fetch another tire from the village.

Time passed, but Ahmad didn’t return. Night slowly descended and winds began to stir up dust. Fear gripped Umar as he curled up in the jeep, closing his eyes.

By dawn, Umar got up and set off towards the village to find Ahmad. He soon heard another vehicle approaching. He hid in the jeep again. When the vehicle approached, it stopped, and three men got out. They looked like Indians.

After seeing the bodies of the dead soldiers, they spoke amongst themselves.
"Are these Englishmen?"
One of them, who appeared to be their leader, had a stern face and piercing eyes.
The other man examined the bodies and said,
"From the documents and identification tags, these seem to be Russians."

The leader went deep into thought for a moment, then approached the jeep. When he saw Umar hiding inside, he asked,
"Boy, don’t be afraid. Do you know how these men died?"

One of the men translated the question into a language Umar understood. Umar, terrified, said nothing.
"Did you kill them?"
They asked relentlessly, but Umar remained silent.

The leader turned to the others and said,
"We should arrest him and hand him over to the Russians. They’ll interrogate him."

Just then, gunshots rang out from the distance. The three men quickly hid behind the jeep for cover.

Ahmad appeared, standing with a rifle. After a brief silence, the leader walked towards Ahmad without fear. As soon as he saw Ahmad, his hands began to tremble. All the bullets missed their target.

The leader snatched the rifle from Ahmad’s hands and threw it to the ground. He then tied the hands of both Umar and Ahmad and took them away in their jeep.

From their conversation, Umar guessed the names of the three men. The leader was called Talwar, and the other two were called Abad and Bahram. He realized they weren’t Indians but were Pathans.

The leader didn't reveal his name. He was simply referred to as the "leader."

Talwar: "Who’s in control of the land we’re in now?"
Abad: "We’ll cross the British line in a little while. Before that, the territory is controlled by the Afghan tribes."
Bahram: "The road is only passable for about ten more kilometers. After that, we’ll have to walk through rough terrain."

The journey continued through mountainous terrain, where the group had to walk uphill and downhill with heavy loads. The weather was sweltering, and the sun beat down on them relentlessly. The brothers felt the oppressive heat and their exhaustion mounting.

Abad instructed the two young boys to descend using their legs. He ordered them to carry all the boxes they had brought on their heads.
The leader said, "Don’t be harsh on the boys. We will carry the boxes ourselves according to our strength."
The boys were allowed to walk ahead, and the other three followed them. The sun was scorching. They had to climb and descend small hills.

At one point, Abad struck Umar with a stick. "Hurry up, you son of a dog!"
The leader quickly moved forward and scolded Abad harshly.
Since the leader’s body was very large, he could not walk fast. He seemed to have lived a life of great comfort, and his body was drenched in sweat. Occasionally, he would sit down, gasping for air.

After a while, they reached a village. The villagers, though unaware of who they were, gave them food and a place to stay.

The leader and the companion stayed in one room, while the boys stayed in another.
Abad sat outside on guard.

Up until then, the two brothers had been silent, but now that they were alone, they began talking.

Umar: "What do you think these foreign men will do to us?"
Ahmad: "I suspect they will hand us over to the Russians from Kabul."
Umar: "What will the Russians do to us?"
Ahmad: "There is a place called Serbia in Russia. The cold there is unlike anywhere else. They will make us work very hard and keep us as prisoners. No one who has gone there has survived."
Umar: "We never fell for the trick of these three Indians. So why should we be handed over to the Russians?"
Ahmad: "I think they are running away from the British and seeking refuge with the Russians. We have killed Russian soldiers. They think the Russians will easily accept their request if they hand us over."

Umar: "I am scared. I cannot go to Serbia and die there. I will die here."
Ahmad thought silently for a moment.

Umar: "Ahmad, what do you think of this leader?"
Ahmad: "He has only flesh and bones in his body. He is out of breath after walking ten feet. I am amazed how he became the leader."
Umar: "He has some magnetic power. When you held the rifle, he walked with such courage and composure. Your hands were trembling. I have never seen you so cowardly before."
Ahmad kicked Umar in the legs.
"Stop your nonsense. Now listen to me. I will kill that dog. I will bury him along with you."

Umar turned his face and lay down. Ahmad did not sleep. He was deep in thought.

The next day, their journey continued. Unlike the previous day, the leader walked quickly and without any sign of exhaustion. The boys realized that despite his lack of physical strength, his mental strength was enough to achieve anything.

They rested and had food in a village at noon. At that time, a British military group passed by. Ahmad raised a finger and signaled that they should move quickly. "Hurry up, don’t waste time," Abad urged.

Soon, Ahmad came back with a few British soldiers. Abad ran inside. The owner of the house was arguing loudly with the soldiers, but the soldiers shoved him aside and entered the hut. When they saw that no one else was inside, they quickly left, searching for Ahmad.

"They have escaped. Follow me, I will show you where they went," Ahmad shouted in excitement, but the soldiers ignored him and left.
Once the British soldiers had left, Ahmad ran, shouting, "Umar! Umar!"
On the paths of the hills, Ahmad searched everywhere for Umar and the others, but could not find them.

After a short while, he sat crying under a rock. He felt faint, as if he was going to collapse.
Umar appeared before him.
"Umar, is that you?"
Umar ran up and slapped him on the cheek. He picked up a large stone to strike Ahmad.
"You wretched one. If you leave me and go anywhere, I will strike you with this stone."
Ahmad hugged Umar.
The leader urged them to leave, warning Abad not to harm the boys. Reluctantly, Abad continued ahead.

They walked the whole day and stayed in a hut in a village that night. In the middle of the night, Ahmad woke Umar. Afraid, Umar tried to shout, but Ahmad covered his mouth.
"Go outside and wait. I will come back after killing these three men."
"How will you kill them?"
Ahmad showed him a sharp knife.
"I stole it from the British soldiers. I will first kill their leader, then finish off the other two and come back. Go outside."

Ahmad silently walked towards the room where the leader was resting. The leader was in a deep sleep, breathing evenly. Ahmad moved swiftly, aiming the knife at his eyes. In a split second, the leader grabbed Ahmad’s hand.
He gestured for him to sit beside him.
"Why did you kill the two Russian soldiers?"
"We planned to work in Kabul and earn a living. We had to kill them because we needed a cart."
"You have committed a crime. You killed two soldiers. You must face the consequences."
"This is our land. What business do the British, Russians, or Indians have here?"
"Why do you have an issue with the Russians? Your enemy is the British."
"Whoever they are, we will kill anyone who burns our land or tries to impose their foreign ideas on us. Indians living under British rule do not understand our dignity. No foreigner has ever stayed here permanently."

The leader looked at Ahmad in astonishment.
"Go. Sleep with your brother."
The next day, the journey became more difficult. The hills were surrounded by thorns and thistles. The leader had now become accustomed to walking. He moved swiftly ahead of the others.
The midday sun burned intensely. No matter how much they drank, their mouths remained dry. Their bodies were scratched by the thorns. The leader continued walking slowly, while Umar struggled to keep up. Abad urged the boys to walk faster.

Suddenly, Ahmad collapsed, fainting. The leader quickly went to him and checked his condition. He was suffering from a high fever and had lost a lot of fluids.
The companion said, "We should leave him here. At this rate, we won’t be able to reach Jalalabad by tomorrow night. We should get a cart from there and head to Kabul. It’s not possible for us to carry him this far."
The leader ignored this suggestion and, despite Ahmad’s condition, lifted him onto his shoulder and walked ahead. Abad, in a panic, picked up one of the boys and carried him on his shoulder.

They walked for a long time, but everyone was exhausted. They stopped by a rock to rest Ahmad, and poured water into his mouth. Ahmad regained some consciousness.
"I am going to die. Leave me here. Umar, go to Kabul and work hard. Earn money. Take the old man and woman with you. The old man is a good person. Tell him to forgive me."
Ahmad wept bitterly. Abad, now tired, lifted Ahmad and continued walking. After a short distance, Abad put Ahmad on his shoulder again.

That night, as usual, they stayed in a village. The next day, the path was easier, and their pace quickened.

Finally, they reached Jalalabad and stayed at a guesthouse. Abad called for a doctor. Ahmad had a severe headache. After being given medicine, the doctor advised three days of complete rest.
The leader decided to stay in the guesthouse for three days. The companion disagreed and argued with the leader.
The companion said, "Every moment we delay here is a risk. The British troops pass by here frequently. Their spies are everywhere. If we get caught, it will be disastrous. All this suffering will be in vain."

The leader replied, "I don’t care what happens. I will not leave the boys here. I promised them I would take them to safety."
The companion said, "You have waited a day for freedom. Will you waste it for the sake of two boys?"
The leader responded, "If I cannot save these two boys, how can I save the millions of people in my country?"

The leader’s stubbornness angered the companion, who left without another word.

Three days passed. Ahmad’s health improved, and he was able to speak and walk again.

Abad arranged a cart, and that night, they set off for Kabul. They reached Kabul by 4:00 AM.

The leader turned to the boys and said, "What you did was wrong. However, I will ask the Russian ambassador to forgive you. If I do not get a favorable response, I will not leave Kabul."

The leader and his companion went to meet the Russian ambassador, but they were blocked at the entrance. Despite their best efforts, they were not allowed to meet him. After a week of fruitless attempts, the situation remained unchanged.

One day, the Russian ambassador’s car got stuck in the sand. The companion approached him and pointed to the leader, explaining that he had escaped from India and wished to meet Stalin in Moscow.

The ambassador, suspicious, looked at the leader and concluded that they were British spies. He quickly got into his car and left.

The companion had a drastic idea. He took the leader to the German embassy. Upon learning who the leader was, the staff greeted him with great respect. The German ambassador assured them that a favorable response would come from Berlin soon.

When the leader returned to the guesthouse, both Umar and Ahmad were anxiously waiting for him.
"The talks with the Russians didn’t go well. From now on, you are free. You may leave here."
The two brothers were relieved.
"Where will you go?"
"I came seeking Stalin's help, but I have found a door to help through Hitler. I will soon be going to Berlin. I will send word before I leave. We can meet again then."
The leader gave the boys a bag containing gold coins and money, wishing them well on their future path.

  A week passed. The brothers came to meet the leader. A car was parked in front of the lodge. The leader was ready to leave for Berlin.

When the brothers saw him, they approached with smiles and greeted him warmly. As he was walking toward the car, Ahmad called out to him.

"Leader! Until now, we did not know your name."

"Subhas Chandra Bose."

Netaji (the leader) walked toward the car with a lion-like demeanor, and the brothers watched him in awe, unable to take their eyes off him.