The setting for this story is the bizarre Iran-Iraq war in the 80s. A shocking and surprise message that my father who is posted in war-torn Sunni Iraq is dead(it seems he died in an Iranian missile raid) sees me pack off my bags and leave for war-torn Iran-Iraq. I don't even know if I would return to India alive or follow in my father's foot steps and die in Iraq. Those were shortly after the Shah of Persia at the cusp of the Shah of Persia and the Islamic Revolution in Iran days. On December 1 Iraqi jets struck at targets across Iran. The next day's papers were full of photos of broken nose cones of Iranian American made Phantom jets. I am unwillingly drawn into the war and am an unwilling participator in the war on Iraq's side in its battle with Shia Iran. I am forced to conscript into the Iraqi Air Force and soon find myself piloting an Iraqi Russian made Mig-27 on a bombing run to Isfahan in Iran. After launching missiles from my Mig-27 onto the air base at Isfahan I return to my air base at Al-Sharqat in Iraq hoping for an early end to the insane war. India always has had friendly relations with both Iraq(3rd largest oil producer and exporter after Saudi Arabia and Iran) and Iran(2nd largest oil producer and exporter next only to Saudi Arabia) and former Indian Foreign Minister Bali Ram Bhagat even paid a friendly, state visit to Iraq and both nations have been major oil suppliers to India always. Now I know Bali Ram Bhagat personally through a mutual friend and I decide to use his good offices to bring an end to the unfortunate and tragic war which killed thousands. This mutual friend, Shyam, had a beautiful sister, Radha, and as luck would have it they too landed in Kirkuk, Iraq's second largest city next only to Baghdad. They commute by bus and reach Al-Sharqat and I go to the local bus stand to pick them up. I pick them up and all of us, a tired lot, reach my quarters in Al-Sharqat. Next day morning all of us refreshed by a night's sleep over coffee discuss the war. I have had enough of the war and partly propelled by war fatigue and partly because Shyam and Radha convinced me I decide to quit the war into which I was forcibly conscripted. In the process of all this I had fallen in love with Radha and we marry with Shyam's approval at a local ISCKON temple in Al-Sharqat. Now Bali Ram Bhagat was again on a visit to Iraq and through Shyam I arrange for a meeting with him in Al-Sharqat. In the meeting I convince him to bring an early end to the war in which though distant I was drawn and my father had tragically died. Bali Ram Bhagat used his friendship with Saddam Hussein and the then Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, a moderate, who thankfully had emerged at the time in those charged times and all these leaders decide to bring an end to the war and so soon the mad war ended. I decide to plan my return to India and taking a few Tomans[Iran's new currency(author's note:Iran introduced the Toman much later but this being a fictional account I tweaked the story a bit)] I take my wife Radha and brother-in-law Shyam and reach Parchin in Iran where Iran's new nuclear facility is coming up. From Parchin we take a bus and reach the port city of Bandar-e-Abbas in Hormozgan. From Bandar-e-Abbas we arrive by ship in Mumbai. Unknown to me I had become a hero in India for my role in mediating the peace deal in Iran-Iraq and the next day's papers were full of us and our minor adventure in Iran-Iraq. Bali Ram Bhagat was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. All this might seem like grandstanding but its easy to be modest for me. We, me, Shyam and my wife Radha while basking in the new found fame also were getting a little uneasy and fed up of being in the spotlight and we decide to shun the spotlight and settle in our cosy apartment in Bangalore. But, it seems fame would not leave us alone and so soon we learnt that we were nominated for and what's more won both Iran and Iraq's highest civilian honor, the Order of Islamic Revolution and the Iraq Commitment Medal for our role in arranging for the peace deal in Iran-Iraq along with Bali Ram Bhagat!. While delighted and accepting the honors gracefully we were beginning to understand what Charles Lindbergh and Buzz Aldrin meant when Lindbergh unable to cope with the intense fame and Buzz Aldrin said "I was unable to cope with the fame"!. Of course, seriously, were delighted and happy at the unexpected outcome and unable to travel back to Iran-Iraq we arranged to receive the awards by post. We were also mentioned in the President of India's scroll of honor and as a added bonus got the Padma Vibhushan in good measure!. We were all celebrities!. So a story which started off tragically ended happily.
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