Sunday, April 25, 2010

Story of a real Man
















Being brought up in West Bengal….one of the few states in India with a communist stronghold….there was always an easy availability of Russian books (translated in Bengali of course)…mostly with an inclination towards Marxism!! Although all books were not like that…..some were just Russian books…with no touch of Marx!! One of those was a noble named…. “A Story about a real man” by Boris Polevoy…..in Bengali “Manusher moto manush”……!! I used to hate nobles…… wondered how the hell people finish them?...but the title of this one somehow made me curious enough to give it a try….& that become one of my rare successful tries…when I was in standard V!! In fact I liked it so much…I read the full noble in one day …with only one break!! Later I read it again!! I was totally submerged in the protagonist Alexey (means: defender of mankind)….his never-say-die attitude which for the first time made me feel proud to be a human being…another rare thing in my life!!
The story starts in some remote German occupied Russian territory during WW II…..with a severely wounded Russian pilot……Alexei ….whose I-16 fighter jet was shot down by the German anti-aircrafts…!! His two feet were heavily injured & needed immediate medical attention…..he can barely crawl, writhing In Pain…..with no food or water….in the very backyard of the enemy…who will shoot him at sight!! The first thing he need to do was to get away from the plane & hide himself….as the enemy will reach for the crashed aircraft to find him!! Then he started his unimaginable journey to reach the friendly side of the border……almost crawling….with only a knife and a pistol to save himself from the Nazi army….killing wolfs….eating rats….and grabbing the most valuable asset he possessed….”hope”!! Not one day…not two days….he crawled through the heart of the Nazis…hiding himself in jungles…..for 18 days (can you believe??)…..almost starving to death….his body turned into a skeleton wrapped in human skin….!! His legs stopped bleeding….turned green & started smelling bad….it was so much pain that it was not feeling anymore….yet there was much spirit left in this champ to drag himself for days to reach the border……and he made it at last!!! When he was finally admitted to a hospital…..the doctors couldn’t believe that he survived for 18 days in that condition, without food & water (almost none in the later days)….it was just not possible in medical logic….Alexey broke all theories in their medical book!! …..but that’s what men are born to do…to make the impossible possible….and create their own laws!!











But this was just half of the story……..even greater challenges were waiting for this soldier….which he fought with even more courage!! The doctors found that his two legs were gangrened & to save his life…they were amputated below the knee!! The fearless young pilot was now sitting in a wheel chair instead of the cockpit ….and was never supposed to walk again!! But instead of believing what others predicted…..he believed in himself…..they said you can’t walk….he tried & tried & tried…and at last walked with artificial legs…..then he wanted to dance….they said it’s impossible….he practiced for months with enormous pain & failure…..but never quitted the fight & finally he did became a graceful dancer!! But as it seems…all was his plan to prepare himself for a bigger & outrageous dream…of returning to the cockpit from the wheelchair…….& fight for his country again!!! A dream only a fighter can dare to dream!!! It seems impossible for him to control many functions in the WWII fighter planes….specially those which were operated with the foot!! He made mental, physical & mechanical adjustments & shocking the whole bunch of doctors as well as the well-wishers he regained his post of a fighter pilot!!! And fought as bravely as before & shot down many German planes to prove his heroic return!!

Wikipedia: “During a dog fight in August 1943, he downed three German FW-190 fighters. In total, he completed 86 combat flights and shot down 11 German warplanes. He was awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union (August 24, 1943), the highest military decoration of the USSR. In 1944, Maresyev joined the CPSU and two years later retired from the army.
In 1952, Maresyev graduated from the Higher Party School. In 1956, he obtained a Ph.D. in History, and started working in the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Eventually he became a member of Supreme Soviet. Maresyev was awarded the Order of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Order of the Red Star, and numerous medals.
He died of a heart attack May 19, 2001, just an hour ahead of his official 85th birthday celebration.”


Later in his life…..whenever he was praised for his achievements….he repeatedly insisted the praise was exaggerated. "There's nothing extraordinary in what I did," he said in a newspaper interview. "The fact that I've been turned into a legend irritates me.” In another interview he was asked if he believed in fate or not………his reply was…”I believe in climate”….once when he passed a medical examination & was leaving for the far east…he was approached by a lady doctor & she told him “Alyosha, you certainly cannot go. But remember…if you have one foot on the land, all your sickness will pass”….so he thought that….If I can recover, then the pilot shall….And so it was…since then he believed in climate!!!
….so don’t know about others…but for me…..he will always be one of the most influential heroes in my life….always taught me in tough situations….to ”fight hard” & never give up hope!!!






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1 comment:

  1. Do you by any chance have a copy of it? In Bengali. I found it in English but want to read it in Bengali just as I did in my childhood.

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