Chapter 7

Raj pulled up the jeep outside Naina's new college, glad that he had decided to dress in casuals this morning. He figured that she didn't need any of the extra attention that she would get if she turned up with a man in army uniform. If he knew Naina even a little bit now, then he was guessing that she would prefer to blend in as much as possible, and not attract too much notice.

Naina grabs her bag with her books and they walk up the steps together, before entering the college to search for the registration office. They've arrived an hour before class starts, just to make sure that her registration is completed successfully and that there are no obstacles to her starting today.

Finally they find the correct room and enter through the open door.

"Yes?" The woman at the desk asks, looking up from some papers she's reading.

"I'm Naina Singh Shekawat," Naina told her, "I've just transferred here and today is my first day."

"We wanted to make sure that everything was in order and find out about Naina's timetable and all other details." Raj continued for her.

"And you are?" The woman asks, looking at him appraisingly.

"Captain Rajveer Singh Shekawat, her husband."

The woman smiles, "Well now I understand why you've transferred in the middle of the year." She says, "I know that life as an army wife can be difficult, always moving around from place to place. However it's good to see that your husband is so supportive of your studies."

Naina nods mutely, and Raj decides that he should reply. "I think it's important that women continue to study or work after marriage." He tells the registrar, "If their husbands don't have to give up their dreams then why should their wives."

"Well said," The registrar agrees with him, "Well, I'll just find your transfer records and check that everything is in order." She looks through the filing cabinet before pulling out the correct folder and then quickly checks it. "I see that you've topped your class for the past two years," she remarks, "Very impressive. I hope that you'll continue to perform so just as well here."

"I'll do my best, ma'am." Naina tells her sincerely and the registrar smiles at her kindly.

"In that case here's your timetable along with a list of your subjects and teachers. I would suggest that you try and catch up with as many of them as possible before class starts so that you can find out if there's anything you need to catch up with."

"I'll definitely do that, ma'am. Thank you very much for your help."

"Best of luck for your studies," The registrar told her, and they exited the room.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Raj asked her, unsure whether he should leave just yet or not. He had no idea why he was feeling so anxious about leaving her here, but he was worried about her being in a new place alone.

"No, I'll be fine." Naina told him, a small smile on her face as if she was amused by something. "I've done this before, remember? I changed colleges when we moved after Baba's death."

"Of course," Raj said, feeling a bit ridiculous for thinking that she wouldn't be able to handle talking to her professors by herself. "I'll come and pick you up in the afternoon then. 4pm, right?"

Naina nodded in confirmation. "Make sure you have your breakfast when you get back to the academy," she told him, "You shouldn't skip it just because you had to drop me here."

Raj finds himself smiling at this comment and realizes that it's definitely time to leave. "I'll see you this afternoon then," he tells her, and Naina nods. He stands there awkwardly for a second, not sure if he should be saying something else or not. Finally he settles for "Have a good first day at college," deciding that it's one of the safest things he can tell her.

"Thank you, I'll tell you about it when I see you this afternoon." Naina tells him, not quite looking into his eyes but more gazing at his shoulder.

"I'll look forward to it." Raj tells her warmly, and then decides it's time for him to leave, otherwise he'll never make it back to the academy in time for his first class on communication and strategy.

And after all, he has to eat his breakfast as well.

**

Raj makes it back to the academy just in time for his first class, this time with the second year cadets. He can't afford to be late because he's in the middle of teaching them about some very complicated codes and he doesn't want to lose any class time. Raj feels a little bit guilty about not taking his breakfast, but decides that it's alright if he does so after his class instead.

The bell rings and he has an hour spare so he heads to the mess.

"Suriji, is it too late to get something to eat?" Raj asks him, "I had to leave early this morning since it was Naina's first day, and I didn't get a chance to take my breakfast."

"So it's Naina putar's first day at her college today?" Suriji asks affectionately, "I hope that she settles in well."

"I think that she'll be fine." Raj tells him, "You know she's been the top of her class for the last two years." He can't hide the pride in his voice, and he knows that Navin would've been proud too if he was here with them today. He had always talked about how smart his sister was, and how she could become anything that she wanted to in life.

"That's wonderful," Suriji tells him happily, "You're lucky to have found such a good life partner, it can make all the difference in somebody's life. I sometimes think that if Navin putar…" he stops abruptly, unwilling to say anything else.

"If Navin what?" Raj asks him, desperately wanting to hear what Suriji was going to say next. It might just help the mystery to unfold.

"Never mind, Raj putar." Suriji tells him sadly, "What is in the past is better left in the past, I'll go and get your breakfast now."

Raj curses under his breath once Suriji is gone, not able to believe that he's lost such a good opportunity. He has to find some way to get the truth out of him. He would return Navin's lost honour to him, he would make sure that Naina never had to hide who her brother was again.

**

Raj's last class of the day was hand to hand combat instruction with the first years cadets and it was due to end at exactly three thirty. He made sure that he adjusted the drill for Yudi, so that he wouldn't strain his injured ankle too much, teaching them creative ways of fighting off an enemy at close quarters. As soon as his watch beeped to tell him that it was three thirty he dismissed them quickly and rushed off, leaving the cadets staring after them. Usually Captain Rajveer would wait around after classes to speak to anybody who had any queries or give them some extra pointers but today he had left right on the dot.

"What's gotten into him?" Yudi asked, "How come he left so fast?"

Pooja sighed, not able to believe how thick boys were. "Don't you know that he's got an important outgoing call, Yudi? He has to pick Naina up from her college."

The rest of her friends nodded in sudden understanding, while her room mate Vishali looked at her curiously.

"Since when did Mrs Shekawat become Naina?" she asked them, "Don't you think you're being a little bit informal about a teacher's wife?" Vishali was almost the complete opposite to Pooja in attitude, much more concerned about rules and discipline.

"Well if you'd sat with us at breakfast this morning, then you would've known that she asked us to call her Naina." Pooja told her room mate, "You should divert your calls to us more often."

Vishali just shrugged, she had own set of friends within the academy who she hung out with.

"Well Captain Rajveer has left the academy, but we still have to get to our study session in the library." Ali reminded them, and everybody groaned before setting off.

**

Raj arrived at the college by five to four, and sat in the jeep to wait, glad that he hadn't arrived late on the first day.

Finally the clock struck four and he watched the other students emerge, searching for her face in the crowd.

Naina walked out with a group of other girls, chatting to them. As a new arrival she had been welcomed by the class and had been happy to get to know her new classmates, although as always she was a bit reserved with them, unwilling to reveal too much about herself.

She stopped talking as soon as she reached the exit, looking for the face that she knew would be there waiting for her. Finally spotting him waiting near the army jeep she raised a hand to let him know where she was, and he returned the gesture then sat back down inside the jeep, waiting for her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Naina told the girls that she had been talking to and turned to go.

"Who's that you were waving at?" One asked her curiously, "Is he in the army?"

"That's my husband," Naina told her quietly, "And yes, he's a Captain in the army." She smiled at them and then walked down to join Raj. He waited until she was settled comfortably in the jeep and then they drove off.

"Well no wonder she transferred mid way through the year," One of the girls remarked, "If he was my husband, then I would follow him anywhere."

**

"So how was your first day?" Raj asked her, "It looked as if you managed to make friends with some of your class mates."

"They were nice," Naina told him, "You know how it is, it's the same everywhere. They're interested in me because I'm new, but at least they seem as if they work hard in their studies?"

"And do you have much to catch up on?" he asked, this was the main thing that he had been worried about when he had asked her to join him there.

"I'm behind in two subjects, ahead in three, and exactly on target with one." Naina told him, and Raj was relieved. Two subjects wasn't too much to catch up on and he knew that Naina could handle it.

"You know I was talking to Suriji today when I went for breakfast," he told her, "I'm sure that he was going to tell me something about Navin but he stopped himself at the last minute."

"What do you think it was?" Naina asks, a tone of hope in her voice, any information about her brother's case at all has to be helpful.

"I'm not sure," Raj told her, "He was telling me that I was lucky to have found a good life partner and then suddenly mentioned Navin's name. But he stopped himself before I could find out anything."

He can't believe how much of a relief it is to finally be able to discuss Navin's case with somebody, share his progress and his disappointments with them. For the past four years he's been fighting this battle alone, never able to talk to anybody about it or let them know about his involvement.

"I think that he definitely knows something," Naina agrees with Raj, "If he talks about it then it might give us a valuable clue."

"I'll keep trying," Raj promises her, "But I can't be too obvious about it or he'll suspect that I'm investigating."

"I trust you to do the right thing." Naina tells him, "I know you'll be able to find out."

Raj is stunned by her trust in him, her confidence that he will be able to solve whatever problems come along.

He won't let her down. He won't betray her trust no matter what.

"So how was your day?" Naina asks him, "What classes did you have?"

"Well I had communication and strategy to teach in the morning and then the hand to hand combat drills in the afternoon." Raj tells her.

"Was Yudi's ankle okay for the drill?" Naina asks, "He didn't put too much pressure onto it did he?"

Raj smiles at her question, thinking that she sounds exactly at a doctor already.

"No, I made sure that Yudi was only using his upper body for the exercise." He tells her, "He did fine, he just needs a bit more confidence that's all."

Naina nods, and then wonders whether it's the right time to ask him a question that she's been thinking about since morning.

"This morning Alekh mentioned that he had been sent here by a judge, and that otherwise he would've been sent to jail…" she says, trailing off to leave it as a question.

"Alekh has had a very hard life," Raj tells her, and the sympathy is evident in his voice. "I don't know much about his father, except that he was an alcoholic and not a good man. Alekh lost his mother at an early age, and grew up in orphanages. He started drinking, got into fights and was eventually sent to a remand home. It was from there that the judge made the decision to send him to KMA. If anyone knows what pain in life is, then it's Alekh."

Naina nods in understanding, because she also knows what pain is and how difficult it is to bear it without breaking down. She was lucky that she had her mother's support, and that they had gotten her married at the right time, otherwise… she could've been in a similar situation to Alekh today.

And she wonders, whether the look of understanding that she saw in his eyes at the breakfast table today was because he had recognized somebody else who had suffered just as he had suffered.

She wondered whether he had seen beneath her disguise, whether he had realized the truth about her.

If so then it could prove to be very dangerous.

Naina wasn't sure why, but she wasn't worry. She didn't think that he would expose her even if he found out the truth.

Because surely a person who has suffered so much would not betray somebody who had experienced the same pain.

They arrived back to the academy and Raj walked her to the room.

"I know you'll need to study now so that you can catch up," he told her, "Most of the students choose to study either in the mess or in the library, or you can stay here in the room. I'll be preparing my lesson plan for tomorrow, but let me know if you need anything."

Naina nodded, "I might go to the mess," she told him, "I wouldn't mind some of Suriji's chai to wake me up after a long day."

"Suriji's chai really is magic, isn't it?" Raj grinned, "I think it's the only reason any of us managed to pass our exams. I'll come and meet you there after I'm done with my preparations."

Naina nodded, and then hesitated near the door.

"What is it?" Raj asked her gently, knowing that there was something that was stopping her from going.

"I don't know what it is… But Dr Mishra makes me feel really nervous," she admitted to him, hoping that he wouldn't think she was silly. "I don't know how to act when I'm around her, I feel as if she's trying to see inside of me."

Raj nods in understanding, and Naina is relieved that he doesn't think she's being ridiculous. "As a psychiatrist she wants to find out what makes people tick," he tells Naina, "Don't worry too much about her, and if she asks you anything just stick to simple answers that you can't be tricked up on. Don't worry Naina, you'll be fine."

Naina nods and finally leaves the room with some of her books.

Raj wishes that he could protect her, that he could keep her away from everyone that makes her nervous, but he knows that that won't really help Naina. She needs to build her confidence and her courage and she can only do that by venturing into unfamiliar situations and facing her fears.

Sighing, Raj sits down to prepare his lesson plan for the next day.

He just has to trust that everything will turn out alright.

**

Naina arrived in the mess to find it mainly empty except for Suriji and a few orderlies.

"Naina putar, how was your first day at college?" Suriji asked her warmly.

"First class, Suriji." Naina told him with a smile, she really did like the friendly older man, he was so fatherly that he made her feel safe here. "But I have a bit of catching up to do."

"Well you'll be needing some of my special chai then!" he declared, "Sit down and I'll bring some for you."

"Thanks Suriji!" Naina told him, and chose a quiet table in a corner to do her reading at. Half an hour later the cadets entered.

"Yeh Lolita ma'am bhi na… she gives us so much work that we never get a chance to recharge." Pooja complained.

"This isn't a civilian college, Pooja." Ali told her, "Of course it's going to be difficult to become soldiers."

"Well you know that I've got no lifetime plan here," Pooja told him, a bit annoyed that he wasn't more sympathetic to her complaining. "Once I find my Ranjha then it's back to my old University and hockey team."

Ali looked a bit upset about this but didn't say anything else.

Naina took the scene in, noticing the look on Ali's face. It was obvious to her that the shy cadet liked Pooja, but she doubted that he would say anything about it or even pursue it. It was a pity really, but Naina decided that she shouldn't interfere, it was up to them to work it out.

Pooja peered over Naina's shoulder at the book she was reading.

"Arre bapre," she exclaimed, "This looks much worse than Lolita ma'am's history assignment."

Naina smiled, "It makes more sense to me because I've been doing it for four years already." She tells her, "I'm sure your history assignment would make as little sense to me as this does to you."

"It's just a matter of studying." Yudi says sensibly, "If you all kept your notes as organized as I do, then you wouldn't have any trouble."

"Yudio, we're not all nerds like you are." Huda told him a bit arrogantly, "Some of us have better things to do than keep our notes organized." As if to prove his point, he watched as a female cadet walked past, and then started following her.

"Yeh Hudabhai bhi na… Kabhi nahi sudrege." Ali said, shaking his head.

"Well would you like us to leave you to your study?" Pooja asked Naina, "It does look difficult."

"It's okay," Naina told her, "You're not disturbing me. Come sit down at the table and you can work on your history assignment while I catch up on what I've missed."

The four remaining cadets sat down in the available seats and reluctantly pulled out their books. Pooja groaned, and put her head down on the desk instead.

"Suriji, I think we need four more of your special chais over here!" Naina called out, and Suriji smiled at her thoughtfulness, before beginning to prepare the drinks.

Alekh stared at his book as if it was written in an alien language. "Can somebody tell me what it says?" he asks them, "The light's a bit weak."

"The light's weak or your English is?" Yudi asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Alekh glared, giving Yudi his answer.

"You have problems with English?" Naina asked him a little hesitantly, not wanting to offend him.

"What use do orphans ever have for English?" Alekh asked rhetorically, "So there was no point in them teaching us."

"I could help you with your English if you like," Naina offered impulsively, "We could start after a few days when I've caught up on my own studies. I'm sure that even if you learnt for an hour a day it would make a difference."

Alekh stared at her in surprise, as if it was the last thing that he had ever expected. "That would be… good." He finally replied, still looking as if he wondered why she had offered.

Naina realized that he probably hadn't had too many offers of help in his life, or much kindness shown to him. It was for that reason that she felt a kind of kinship with him, a connection.

"Arre wah, Qaidi." Huda remarked, having just returned back to the table, his flirting finished. "You'll be an Angrez in no time now."

"So we'll start on Friday then," Naina said, wanting to set a time then. "An hour a day after your classes."

Alekh nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.

After that they all returned to their own studies, the rest of the cadets helping to translate the text book for Alekh as they worked on their history assignments.

After an hour Naina decided that she had done enough for the day and needed a break, so she headed back to the room to find Rajveer still making notes.

He smiled at her as she walked in, and she sat down on the couch opposite him, placing her text books onto the table.

"I've offered to tutor Cadet Alekh in English," she tells him, "I hope that's alright."

Raj smiled at her, affection and pride obvious in his eyes. "That was a very kind thing for you to do, Naina." He tells her, "I know that it will help him a lot with his studies."

Naina smiles back, because after just two days here she's beginning to feel that just maybe, she belongs here. That she could make friends here… even be happy here.

And as Rajveer smiles at her, and then looks down at his own work again in order to finish off the notes he's making, Naina thinks about the decision that her father had made two years ago.

He had chosen to marry her to a stranger, hoping that Rajveer would look after her, that he would keep her safe.

And considering her husband thoughtfully, Naina realizes that her father had made exactly the right decision.

She knows that he'll look after her, that he'll keep support her no matter what.

She doesn't need to worry about that ever again.