Dawn is approaching, the scene is set in a remote village in Giri. Ramesh wakes up rubbing his eyes and stretching his body, he glances to his left where is wife Maya is sitting up and breast feeding their baby. It was a chilly morning and the silence is interrupted by roosting roosters and singing birds. Ramesh sits up and looks at his wife who hasnt said a word, he peeks at his little son who they have named Kumar. " Today I have to answer them you know that right? askes Ramesh. "You do whatever you feel right" a quick reply from Maya. "Well Im going to join them, what else can I do? I can even feed you well, I am sick of this hunger and poverty, I dont have any hope and I cant see this anymore so I have decided I will join" Ramesh speaks with his head hung low. "So you want to be a Maoist?" Go ahead" says Maya " but remember your fathers spirit wont be happy". " Happy? and you think how we live will appease him?" I know he was a soldier back in the days and had faith in our Nepal and even if he was alive now he would see what has become of this country he sacrificed his life for." Ramesh gently takes his baby and looks at his son ," look at him, how peaceful and beautiful he is, I cant let him grow up in a world full of hardship, hunger and no hope, thats why I will fight for his future".  Mid morning two people come by the house, they are wearing military outfits and they ask Ramesh if he decided. Ramesh had packed his bags, Maya has prepared a ceremonial farewell with tika and a garland.He says good bye to his wife and baby and leaves. And as he is leaving Maya closes her tearful eyes and prays" God please protect my husband and my sindur".
                   Dinesh  Gurung comes home from his duty , He is a sepoy in the Nepalese Army.  His wife Usha greets him at the door. He enters his room when his two kids Mera 9 and keshav 5 runs to their dad and he picks them both. "Daddy Keshav pulled my hair" complains Meera, " well she wouldnt let me play with her so I pulled her hair", replies Keshav. " You both need to get along more", chuckles Dinesh. "Enough, now get ready for dinner and go wash your hands, Meera help your brother and no fighting" Usha yells out. " "its like this all day long" . Dinesh freshens up and they all eat dinner.Later that night  " Are they asleep?" asks Dinesh. "Yes finally, you seem very quite today, is everything  alright?" Usha looks concerned. "Well thats what I want to talk to you about". Dinesh takes a long breath." I have been transferred to Giri, its a new strong hold of  Maoists, yesterday they attacked a police post and killed everyone there, Dhurva dai was there, he is no more" Ramesh tears up. " What   Dhurva dai is dead?" Usha starts crying. "what will happen to his wife and four kids now? who will take care of his old sick parents? Oh god what is happening to this country?" Usha cant stop crying and Dinesh tries to comfort her. and now Usha is terrified that her husband is leaving for Giri. "Please dont go, leave this job we will manage anyhow". " No Usha I cant" replies Dinesh, "I have to, its my duty, I dont want to live the rest of my life as a coward". "I leave early tomorrow morning." Its dawn and Usha hasnt blinked, Dinesh is getting ready as Usha prepares his traditional farewell. After he puts on his tika and garland Dinesh says good bye to Usha and his two kids. Usha closes her eyes and in tears prays" God please protect my Husband and my Sindur".
                  Ramesh has been training for the last 5 months and is now ready for combat. He misses his family very much but he also believes that his fight will bring a better future for his wife and son. " Today we will attack an army convoy, we have information that there is a big army convoy heading towards Giri with lots of weapons". Says a short stocky man with glasses, he is the commander of this small armed out fit of the Maoists. they are 900 strong, But only 300 of them have Guns and riflers. So they had planned to attack the Army convoy and take all their weapons. " We will ambush them at the hils end where we will have an advantage, everyone with a rifle will make the first attack, the rest will then rush and kill the remaining ones with your khukuries, then grab all their weapons, supplies, Do not shoot at the supply trucks and damage the goods, do i make my self clear?" I want all the platoon leaders at my camp." demands the commander also known as Jwala. Hills end is a perfect tactical ambush place with thick jungle on oneside and open fields on the other.
             Dinesh is finally on his way to Giri. He is a part of a convoy of 300 soldiers, They are stopped at a junction at Dhulikhel when the captain calls for a meeting with his platoon leaders. " We just received an information about the Maoist, they are planning to ambush us at the hills end in Giri, So we are going to counter ambush them with ground and air attack, this is our plan and advise everyone from your respective platoons on our new directives."  Dinesh listens to his platoon leader as they got debriefed on their new plans. There is a very uncanny silence in the men as everyone is lost in their own thoughts. Dinesh cant help to think of the worst. He looks around and feels the strong brotherhood and feels confident but the picture of his wife and kids keep flashing before his eyes. The convoy starts moving again.
               At the narrow road at the hills end the maoist starts to set up ambush positions. Ramesh is among those who dont have a gun but just a khukuri, his task is to rush in after the attack and seize the supplies. He looks around, its a beautiful day, just below the road are  beautifully ploughed fields and farmer tending his crops. A couple of kids walk by with women carrying loads of firewood. they are heading home as the sun starts its descend down the beautiful mountains. " They are to be here in an hour so everyone needs to be in place and do directly as told again do not attack the supply trucks" yells all the platoon leaders in all the direction.
              Just down the road the Army convoys stop and platoon leaders ready their men for combat. The captain radio calls the airstrike and helicopters are at stand by. Once everything is in place they slowly move forward.  The supply truck leads the way followed by army armored trucks in a long line.
                Once they reach the hills end everyone holds their breath, the supply trucks passes the danger zone and comes the army personal carrier trucks, then all hell breaks loose. Loud blasts and sound of machine guns rattles and echoes. The Maoist focus their attacks on the army personal carriers but that was a mistake because all the army soldiers were in the supply trucks that they had let pass. Now all the army had got out of the vehicle and half of them entered the jungle and surrounded the Maoists while the remaining moved towards the rushers. Then the Army opened fire and its was hell. The Maoists realized the trick and moved out of the jungle and started to fire at the advancing army soldiers. Soon the helicopter armed with 50 Cal started shooting fleeing Maoists. A hasty retreat was given by the Maoist as the dead were piling up. Ramesh picked up a rifle and started to retreat but shooting. The Army had won although they suffered many causalities. In the mayhem many soldiers and Maoists were lying on the floor crying with pain, Mother, mother, some were begging for water. The fight was continuing in the jungle as a group of Maoist were being chased by a group of Army soldiers.  They reached a dead end where the Maoist made their last stand. Both groups started to shoot at each other with equal causalties, the injured cries filled the jungle but one couldn't tell who it was because the cries from both were same calling out " Mare ni Ammmaa, ye Aamaa." soon both parties exhausted their ammunition but in the mayham Dinesh was left alone, he didnt know if his friends made it or died unfortunately he was shot in his arm,  just couple of meters away in the thick bushes Ramesh  was holding his heavily injured  friend and crying his heart out. Dinesh hears this cry and heads towards this sound with only his khukuri . " brother dont die now, think about you wife and kids, they need you, Your  family needs you, please dont die, please."If I die promise me  look after my family" shudders Ramesh's friend. " Did you hear the dying army soldiers and our comrades? they are no different from us, Ramesh you need to go back to your wife and kid. This is not right I thought different but Nepali killing another Nepali is wrong, you shouldnt stain your self more, go back. Dinesh sees and hears this all, he walks out of the bush and stands right in front of Ramesh and his friend. There is a long silence as Ramesh tries to remember where his khukuri is, Dinesh looks at them, all bloody and breathing hard. He slowly says" I agree what your friend just said, Its my first battle and Its horrible , I never realized how bad it feels when one Nepali kills another, I never felt this much guilt in my life. "WE are all Nepali and its wrong to fight like this. Go back to your family because from today I will never pick up any weapon against any Nepali". Dinesh turns around and starts to walk slowly further away. "dai, I dont know whats the purpose of this all but you are right, wether I die or live, i will never participate in such a conspiracy,, hami ek hau dai hami Ek hau." Ramesh watches as Dinesh disappears into the thick bushes.
                                  16 thousand dead and thousands missing and still unaccounted for. Our country has never seen so much bloodshed when it involved Nepali killing another Nepali.