A Ballad of Two Soldiers- new updates page 13 - Page 4

III

Captain Das left Naina at the Military stables and drove towards the barracks. Naina stood there alone. The morning sun caressed her cheeks and made them glisten. Two strands of hair came out of her uniform cap and were slightly fluttering in the fresh breeze. She squinted to look properly at the horses roaming about in the far-away field. One was a magnificent stallion with shiny black body. It had an aura of royalty surrounding it. The other was a chestnut brown mare, smaller and leaner.

"Naina aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Naina almost tripped over as she heard her name and looked around.

A young teenaged boy wearing stable uniform was running towards the mare which seemed to have started trotting towards the mountains.

"Nainaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, come back"

The boy climbed on the back of the mare with ease and natural deft and cantered it back to the stable path.

"Ma'am, are you the new officer Lt. Singh ?"

"Yes, my name is Naina Singh. But why are you calling the horse by my name?"

Smiling the boy replied, "Coz, her name is Naina too, Raju chacha calls her Naina and we also call her the same "

"Who is Raju Chacha?" And why does he call her Naina?

"Raju Chacha is Raju Chacha. He lives in the village and loves all children. He knows everything. This horse was earlier called Queen. She got lost in the hills and hurt herself very badly. No one could heal her wounds. Then one day Raju Chacha came and applied some herbs to the wound."

"But, how did Queen become Naina?" Naina was still quizzical.

"Raju Chacha used to lovingly call her Naina while dressing her wound, since then her name has become Naina and she responds well to it. "

Naina thanked the boy and went into the stables to find the instructor.

While Naina was busy with her riding lessons, Rajveer was still in deep sleep. He was dreaming that he was back in KMA ( The part in red was written by Ashi in 2008 Valentine RP FC Pg 128 , Bahon ki darmiya) He wonders how she can look so sexy even in the old fashioned army uniform.Drenched in sweat , covered in mud and dirt ,Naina singh Ahluwaliya looks more beautiful than any other girl can in her best attire! As she applies the medicine on his wound stealing petite glances at him, Rajveer cannot help but think how hopelessly he is in love with her. He reaches out to touch her cheek slightly. His touch is gentle yet powerful enough to burn her. She closes her eyes at the thought of what will come next. Rajveer gently brushes off the mud on her cheek, smiles and slowly and unwillingly withdraws his hand. Naina opens her eyes and to her utter dismay finds Rajveer examining the bandage that she has tied on his leg. "Naina, theek se nahin bandha, soldier ban gayi and dressing karna bhi nahi aata" A Shocked, disppointed and fuming Naina got up. "Khud kar lijiye, im sure ur brilliant in this too just like everything else" As she turns around, Rajveer tightly clasps her hand and spins her around so fast that she trips over a bag and falls on him. They had never been this close before.Naina had held onto him tightly and Rajveer's arms were around her waist. As they both immediately looked at each other, they felt a sense of urgency, a sense of desperation to take their relationship to the next level. It was high time they gave their relationship a name, a shape. Rajveer, once again touched her cheek and Naina closed her eyes. This time he was not going to brush off the mud. This time he was not going to withdraw his hand!!! Then suddenly Lolitaji and Major Bhargav rushed in and were dragging Naina away from him , she was screaming "Rajveer sir.....'" Major Nair's face came up smiling in an evil way. Rajveer was running hard to catch up with Naina but Col Shaktis hand was pulling him from behind. He wanted to run fast but could not ........

He woke up from his dream all sweating and panting and stared blankly around the room. A pause of a couple of minutes brought him back to reality - his fugitive life, his devotion and secret service for the Indian army, his love for Naina and last, but not least - physical presence of Naina, herself in and around his immediate neighbourhood.

He jumped out of his bed and got himself a glass of water from the earthen pot.

"To be or Not to Be?" - The eternal question put forward by the great bard through the lips of a prince of Denmark.

"To surrender or Not to surrender before Naina ?" - was the decision Rajveer had to take.

He did not know whether she was single or married, he did not know what were her present feelings for him. he did not even know whether his second invasion in her life would bring her misery or joy.

But then again, his passion for her, his love for her seemed to override his thinking process. He wanted her. Period. Each and every cell in his body wanted her. All these few years - there were hardly any moments in his life when he did not think about her, there was hardly any action he had taken which he did not start with her name, there was not a single night when he did not dream about her.

Destiny will decide who would be the winner - heart or brain?

He looked at his watch. It was time for him to go to the military stables to look after the horses. Though he was not a vet, he had good knowledge of horses and their temperaments and rendered the care-giving service in exchange of meagre pay-checks, but enough to sustain him in this hilly place. He quickly had some tea and toasts and left for the stables.

It was late afternoon; the air was filled with the hum of children playing on the streets, the sun was about to set and the western sky between the mountains was as colourful as the flames of a fire. The streets of the hilly township, paved with stones, shined under the orange hue of the sun. Naina was feeling fresh after a brief afternoon nap and decided to just roam about the place and walk through the streets lined with interesting houses and cottages. She wanted to know more about Rajuchacha who had named a horse by her name.

As she passed a group of children playing, she decided to ask them about him. At first the children were frightened seeing her military uniform and ran away from her, but her pleasant countenance and sweet smile brought a few brave ones back to her .

" Tum sabko malum hai kahan Rajuchacha rehte hai?| "

"Zaroor, officerji , aap sidhe yahan se jaiye aur phir baen jake ,'.. thehriye, hum aapko le jaate hai."

And the procession proceeded towards Rajuchaha's humble abode, Naina, surrounded by some 8-10 kids jumping around her and asking her simple questions about battles and guns.

"Aap ko gun chalana aata hai?|

"Hume sikhaiye na "

"Aap aadmiyon ke saath kaise ladte hai?|

Naina did not even notice when the procession reached his house.

Rajveer was returning from the stables and walking slowly towards his house when he looked at front.

He froze where he was.