Chapter 3
Captain Rajveer knocks the door of Brigadier Chandok's office and asks for his permission to get in,
"May I come in Sir?"
"Come in Captain",
permits Brigadier Chandok and sits straight, closing the file he had been reading before Captain Rajveer knocked the door. A smile, which justifies how much happy and proud he is on seeing Captain Rajveer back in KMA, comes on Brigadier Chandok's face as he looks at Captain Rajveer.
Standing in attention position, Captain Rajveer shows his respect like a true soldier, for his teacher, Brigadier Chandok. It swells Brigadier Chandok's heart to see Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat after such a long time but at the same time it pierces his heart too, to see his Captain in such a state! But being a soldier, that too the Principal of KMA, he understands, he ought to keep his emotions at a bay!
he permits him to sit, gesturing with his hand.
Captain Rajveer pulls the chair back,a little,in order to take his seat. But the unconsciously pulling of the chair, reminds him of the acute pain in his elbow. He hisses a little in pain, but keeps a check on his displaying of emotions. He, not at any cost, wants to come in front of anyone as a weak soldier, that too in front of his own teacher, Brigadier Chandok!
His hissing doesn't go unnoticed. And it does affect Brigadier Chandok! Brigadier Chandok smiles secretly on realizing how both of them are trying to keep their emotions at a bay. This is what a true soldier ought to be like. Thinking this Brigadier Chandok sits straight, smiling with all his heart and nods his head twice in a quick succession, feeling proud that they both are soldiers and are always ready for serving for their country.
"So Captain first thing first... Welcome back to KMA!",
greets Brigadier Chandok, proudly and happily. Smiling with joy and pride, Captain Rajveer replies,
"Thank you Sir! I accept your warm welcome, but Sir kindly address me as Rajveer Singh Shekhawat",
saying that he lowers his eyes.
"Main samjha nahi Rajveer, tum aisa kyun keh rahe ho? Aaj jab tumhe uniform pehn kar subke samne aane ko kaha gaya, tab bhi tumne uniform pehnne se inkaar kar dia! Kyun?",
Brigadier Chandok creases his brows, waiting eagerly for an answer.
Smiling, Captain Rajveer lowers his eyes, and says,
"Sir, I 'desire' to wear that uniform. Wo uniform, jo Rajveer ko Captain Rajveer banata hai; wo uniform, jo mujhey mere iss duniya mein aane ka maksat yaad dilata hai. Par Sir, ye uniform main tab tak nahi pehnunga jab tak main Naveen aur Major Shakti Chandra ke gunehgaron ko saza na dilwa dun!"
As he says that, his eyes turn tearful, out of hatred for all the traitors.
"Aur apne gunhegaron ko?",
asks Brigadier Chandok, concerned. Captain Rajveer looks at him, with sorrowful eyes.
"Captain I want to know kya hua tha tumhare saath? Humein to khabar mili thi ki tumhari jeep khai mein gir gayi hai aur blast hua tha. Aur...",
Brigadier Chandok could not continue further, he doesn't want to imagine all those stuffs that he has imagined all this time. He just wants the truth, the plain truth.
"Batao Captain, kya hua tha tumhare saath?"
Captain Rajveer takes his time before he starts with his narration. He stands up and walks towards the door of Brigadier Chandok's office, mustering the courage to tell Brigadier Chandok, the truth. He starts with the simple line,
"Mere car ka accident hua tha!"
He doesn't hurry up, and waits for Brigadier Chandok to feel what he felt when he met with that accident.
"Mere jeep mein kisi ne bomb plant kia tha!",
he adds further, with almost no emotion, what so ever! But the line does have it's affect on Brigadier Chandok, in exactly the way, Captain Rajveer had expected before uttering those words.
Out of anger, Brigadier Chandok says, raising his voice,
"Mujhey afsos hai Captain, ki humein iss baat ki koi jankari nahi thi. Kuch pata nahi chala humein. Aur jab pata chala..." ,
lowering his head, Brigadier Chandok continues,
"tab tak bohot der ho chuki thi!",
his hatred, his anger for Lala visible in his voice; and his guilt towards Captain Rajveer is also clearly visible.
Smirking, Captain Rajveer says,
"Kisne kaha ki mujhey iss barey mein nahi pata tha?"
This comes as a surprise for Brigadier Chandok. He stares Captain Rajveer, shocked.
"Matlab? Tum kehna kya chahte ho Captain?",
asks Brigadier Chandok, creasing his brows.
And hence starts the narration of his story...
*Flashback*
"Haye Rabba ye signal kahin milta hi nahi hai mujhey",
curses Pooja as she walks to and fro on the terrace of KMA, at night, trying to catch her mobile's signal.
She succeeds in getting the signal, only that, it is a cross connection. At first she curses her lucks that it is none other than Major Nayyer's voice and having her heart filled with too much hatred for him, she doesn't take much time to pull down the mobile phone in order to disconnect the call, but something catches her attention, the words of Major Nayyer,
"Aap fikar mat kijiye maine sara intazaam kar diya hai. Ab Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat, apke raaste ka subse bada kanta, humesha-humesha ke liye iss duniya se... out!"
Pooja gets tensed on listening to his words. Pulling down the receiver and covering the speaker, she mummers,
"Haye rabba! Ye log kya bol rahe hain? Ye log mere ShahRukh ko...! Nahi, main ye nahi hone dungi".
She puts the mobile back on her ear to listen further. But by the time she places the mobile on her ear, they had already completed with most parts of their conversation.
"Gadi dekh lena!",
were the last words that the person on the other end says, which Pooja hears.
To it, Major Nayyer replies in an affirmative,
"Theek hai Sir!",
and ends the call. By the sound of it, it is clear that the call was very professional. No personal touch such as greeting each other with 'hi'! 'bye'! were exchanged between the caller and the receiver.
"Mujhey Captain Rajveer ya Naina mein se kisi ko ye baat batani hi hogi!",
decides a tensed and terrified Pooja and runs for her room to meet Naina and tell her everything.
But as she reaches her room, she finds Naina asleep. She jerks her to wake her up, tensed and excited out of fear.
"Naina, Naina jaldi uth. Ye bohot zaruri hai",
she calls out to Naina.
Rubbing her eyes and switching on the table lamp at the corner of her bed, Naina sits up slowly,
"Kya hua Pooja? Tu iss waqt iss tarah se?"
Suddenly she realizes that something is amiss. She opens her eyes wide, fully awake now. She jerks Pooja and asks her,
"Bata Pooja kya hua? Tu theek to hai na?",
concerned, her brows creased, her heart thumping, as she waits for Pooja's answer.
Shaking her head thrice, in negative, in quick succession, she points towards the door, her eyes fixed on Naina and utters nervously,
"Wo... wo... Rajveer Sir..."
His name drains the blood out of Naina's face. She gets tensed, worried all over again, this time with a greater magnitude.
"Kya hua unhe?"
Jerking her, Naina shouts,
"Bata Pooja, Rajveer Sir... kya?"
Suddenly Pooja realizes that she should not disclose the truth in front of Naina, she should rather share it with someone else.
"Pooja bata...!",
shouts Naina, jerking her, getting impatient.
Using her presence of mind, Pooja tells Naina,
"Yaar main bahar mobile ka signal dhundh rahi thi, aur Captain Rajveer dikh gaye. Main jaise-taise unse bach kar yahan ayi hun".
Saying that Pooja holds her breath, waiting to know how much it worked! How much believable were her words!
After few moments Naina bursts out into a laugh,
"Pooja... Pooja tujhey pata hai tu jitni strong dikhti hai, ussey kayi zada tu darpok hai! Hahaha! Pagal, chal so ja. Dara dia mujhey bhi",
laughing at her best friend, Naina gets back to her bed.
On the other hand Pooja sighs in relief after getting the desired result. How much she desires to tell Naina the truth, but she knows it would be better to deal with it herself first, before telling it to Naina. She knows how disturbed and occupied Naina already is! She doesn't want to give her another reason to worry about. Rubbing her hand on Naina's head Pooja bends down and kisses Naina's forehead lovingly, plastering a smile on her face, just for Naina, otherwise smiling for her right now is just unimaginable, when she knows a horrific truth!
*Flashback Ends*
~*~*~*~
"Captain tum ye sub kaise jante ho?",
asks Brigadier Chandok. Smirking, Captain Rajveer continues,
"agli subah jab main ja raha tha, mere accident se theek pehle..."
*Flashback*
Captain Rajveer was getting ready to reach a particular destination, when Pooja comes running to him and knocks the door impatiently.
"Rajveer Sir, Sir please darwaza kholiye",
says Pooja.
Hearing the urgency in Pooja's voice, Captain Rajveer opens the door hurriedly. His expressions justify how worried he is on finding Pooja in that state, terrified.
"Kya hua Cadet Ghai sub theek to hai na? Aap iss tarah mere room mein?"
"Sir, mujhey apse kuch zaruri baat kehni hai"
"Sure Cadet, pehle aap theek se ander aa jayiye room ke",
offers Captain Rajveer.
"Abhi time nahi hai!",
says a worried Pooja.
"Sir, abhi mere phone ka cross-connection, Muchhad ke phone se lag gaya aur...",
in her anxiety she forgets to exchange the word 'Muchhad' with 'Major Nayyer'.
"Ek... Ek minute, 'Mucchad'?",
asks Captain Rajveer, creasing his brows unable to comprehend with her words.
"Mera... mera matlab Major Nayyer... Major Nayyer aur mere phone ka cross-connection lag gaya".
On hearing that she addresses Major Nayyer as'Muchhad', Captain Rajveer smiles a little, but ignores it and focuses on the main issue.
"Sir... Sir wo kuch galat kar rahe hain!"
Now that attracts Captain Rajveer's attention. Creasing his brows, all serious, he asks,
"What do you mean kuch galat kar rahe hain, Cadet Ghai?"
And she tells him what she heard Major Nayyer saying over the phone.
That was indeed alarming for Captain Rajveer. Creasing his brows, thinking, pondering the situation, Captain Rajveer asks Pooja,
"Cadet apne ye baat kisi aur ko to nahi kahi na?"
"Nahi Sir. Naina ko kehna tha par..."
"Par?",
asks Captain Rajveer, turning to look at her.
"Par maine ussey kuch nahi kaha!"
Captain Rajveer takes a sigh of relief as he hears that she hasn't told anything to Naina. Smiling, he says,
"Good! Cadet ye baat sirf apke aur mere beech rahegi am I clear?"
asks Captain Rajveer, turning to face her directly. Cadet Pooja shakes her head twice in a quick succession.
Walking to his left, thinking about the matter, his left hand resting under his right elbow and her index finger touching his chin, Captain Rajveer utters the words,
"Ab iss 'mucchadd' se main deal karunga!"
He realizes what how he has addressed Major Nayyer, only after addressing him! Remembering that he is not alone, he quickly rectifies his word...
"Mera matlab Major Nayyer!"
But it's late, Pooja has already heard him. And is trying to hide her amusement on hearing her not so favorite word from her favorite teacher!
"Ab aap jaiye aur don't forget to act normal!",
smiles Captain Rajveer for two reasons, first, to assure her that everything will be perfectly okay and second, out of embarrassment on addressing his senior in such a way in front of his own student. Whatever it is he would never teach his students to bully a teacher, a senior! Nodding her head twice, Pooja leaves after giving him a concerned look. Smiling, Captain Rajveer reassures her,
"Trust me Cadet, you have done a great job!".
In a state of nervousness and concern, Pooja leaves.
As she leaves, Captain Rajveer brings out his cellphone and dials a number, and says,
"Chaubey, meri baat dhyan se suno..."
*Flashback ends*
"Aur fir maine Chaubey ko apna plan bataya!",
says Captain Rajveer, proudly, with a smile on his face.
"Kaisa plan?",
asks Brigadier Chandok, curious to know the further story. Arching an eyebrow, swirling his chair to the right, he crosses his hands in front of his nose, thinking.
"Plan ye tha ki...",
as he was about to continue, he gets interrupted by the ringing of Brigadier Chandok's phone.
"Excuse me Captain, this is urgent!",
he apologizes, looking at the caller's name. Captain Rajveer shakes his head in an affirmative.
On receiving the call, Brigadier Chandok replies seriously,
"Alright main abhi aata hun!"
Ending the call, he apologizes again to Captain Rajveer,
"Rajveer, kuch delegates aye hain. I'll have to go".
"It's okay Sir, I can understand",
smiles Captain Rajveer.
"Thank you! Tum yahan ruk sakte ho, main jald sub kuch wrap up karke ata hun",
smiles Brigadier Chandok.
"Sure Sir, main kuch der wait karunga, agar mujhey laga ki late ho raha hai, I'll leave",
smiles Captain Rajveer.
"Sure Captain!",
smiles Brigadier Chandok, extending his right hand to him. Accepting it, Captain Rajveer reminds Brigadier Chandok,
"Rajveer! Rajveer... without the prefix! Raj would also be fine!",
smiles Captain Rajveer. Smiling, shaking his head to a negative, Brigadier Chandok leaves.
As Brigadier Chandok leaves, Rajveer sighs and looks heavenwards and says, smiling sarcastically,
"I am sorry Sir, iss kahani ka ek hissa apse chupane ke liye..."
And he remembers Pooja's reply, when he asked her,
"Cadet Singh! Naina! Naina to theek hai na?"
*Flashback*
Shaking her head vigorously, out of utter disbelief, she asks,
"aap dono ka pehla connection humesha ek dusre se hi lagta hai na?",
her voice raised, out of anger, frustration.
"Kya matlab?",
asks Captain Rajveer, creasing his brows, unable to comprehend with her words.
"Heer ko apne Ranjhe ki fikar hai, aur Ranjhe ko apne Heer ki!",
says an utterly pissed off Pooja.
"Heer-Ranjha? What are you talking about Cadet?",
asks Captain Rajveer, frustrated that he is unable to understand her.
"Wait a minute...",
Captain Rajveer points his index finger to her, then getting closer to her, he asks in a hushed voice,
"Kya ye koi code hai? Do you want my help in cracking it or something?"
Listening to this, Pooja roles her eyes and slaps her forehead, uttering curses out of irritation,
"Haye rabba. Such inn teachers ke paas parhai ke alwa aur koi topic nahi hota. Bechari Naina!"
Her last two words succeed in skipping his heartbeat. He fumbles as he asks,
"Kya... kya matlab? What about Naina?"
and lowers his eyes, unable to meet Pooja's eyes as if he has been caught red handed, doing something shameful!
Pooja blushes, shaking her head, seeing him blushed too! Then suddenly she remembers that she has a serious issue in hand to deal with. The sudden remembrance changes her mood anticlockwise. She again becomes tensed and serious and dictates him the whole conversation that she heard between Major Nayyer and the unknown person on the other end of the call!
*Flashback ends*
Smiling, Captain Rajveer closes his eyes and rests his head back.
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