I learnt about your demise from the ticker tape on one of the news channels, last evening. It was a big encounter and a very fierce one at that. A feeling of deep saddness enveloped me as I reflected on your youth which had been sacrificed in Gurez Sector,in the line of duty. What does your death mean? By now your mortal body would be lying embalmed at the Base Hospital and will be flown out of Srinagar later in the day,on its final journey to the cremation ground in your native town or village. You were too young to die,far too young! For whom and for what did you die then? This question haunted me last night and I will attempt to answer you. You were probably from a village or a small town of India . You were perhaps the son of an army officer or JCO, or from an urban or rural civilian background. You could not be from one of the big cities where iron has entered the soul of our youth and where the only driving motivator is quest for money in the surreal env...