Volume 17 - 25 April 2007

This volume is dedicated to the memory of Tiran and countless, nameless people around the world who in their life and death bring difference in the lives of the people they touch… I call these real-life heroes nameless because most of them prefer to be this way… look around yourself, maybe you know some too…

In the early spring of 2000, five young and promising American hikers were on a trip to Kyrgyzstan to scale some of the most difficult rock-faces. The group comprised of 4 men and a woman. The oldest among them was 27 and the youngest 18 (the woman was then a young lady all of 19 years).

As they made their way through the countryside they came across and befriended a Kyrgyz Army Patrol. Among the troopers was a tall and calm person – Tiran. He was a shepherd from the steppes and his love for the mountains brought him closer to the tourists. He told them of the many passes that they could take and follow, the many sights that they could behold…

The hikers made started their ascent little knowing that they were being stalked by terrorists… when the Kyrgyz army were alerted about the threat to the tourists, they sent in a reconnaissance team of 3 men, one among them was Tiran… they walked straight into an ambush with only Tiran surviving the attack but captured…

Sudden and indiscriminate firing brought the hikers to a halt but before they could react they too were captured… now, getting caught is one thing… but being caught, being an infidel (as the Terrorists call everyone else), having a woman in team, and having huge potential to be held as hostages for ransom mean that you are in serious trouble…

At the terrorists camp they meet Tiran again… blood strewn across his face and yet he was incredibly calm and courageous… he cheered the Americans with hopes of freedom and life thereafter… the young lady had given him a chocolate in their previous meeting and seeing that she was scared, he pulled it out and gave it back to her…

By now the Kyrgyz army had sprung into action and helicopter gunships were patrolling the skies while the infantry began their manhunt… this led to the terrorists rapidly shifting their base and force-marched/-hiked the prisoners… eventually the army caught up and thus ensued a long and bloody gun-fight… when it became evident to the terrorists that they were all but lost they decided to execute the hostages…

All through this action Tiran was the big brother to the 5 hikers… he kept them alert and hopeful of a possible flight and safety… he told them where to run in case of a chance… all through he never showed any fear and even when the terrorists pulled him aside, he smiled back at the hikers… even in the end he delayed the executors enough to allow the army to launch a decisive offensive in the cover of which the Americans ran to safety of the wilderness…

After being lost for some days in the mountains the hikers found their way to a Kyrgyz army camp… they flew home once recovered.

The group went back to Kyrgyzstan two years later to Tiran's village… he was awarded (posthumously) by the Kyrgyz government and the US government… upon seeing the very people saving whom her son had died, Tiran's mother broke into tears…

Even today the hikers say that they can see Tiran's calm eyes looking at them and urging them on…

The world around us is surrounded by many such men and women…