Chapter 2
September 2010, Delhi
RK and Sultan arrived at the lecture theatre they were supposed to have their introductory class. There were about 10-12 folks already sitting around, and few entered after them. Habitually both of them sauntered to the last row of the gallery and took the corner seats. After another 5 minutes a dignified gentleman entered the room with a couple of books and a register. Everyone stood up to greet him.
"Good morning everyone! Please take your seat."
RK was about to sit when he was pushed inside the bench.
"Move, move inside!" whispered Madhu and made a seat for herself at the end of the desk.
RK looked at her with astonishment. At first he could not recognise her. She looked very different in her pale yellow cotton t-shirt, no-kohl eyes, and most importantly a pair of glasses.
"I am Shamsher Malik, your course director. I am going to give you an introduction to this special programme for which you people have been specially selected from the premier institutes of India," continued Shamsher, addressing the whole class.
"What?" asked Madhu in a hushed tone, seeing RK still staring at her.
"I could not recognise you in this non-Gothic attire," whispered RK.
Madhu rolled her eyes.
"That was my Rockbala avatar. Of course I am not going to come to the class like that!"
Sultan nudged RK with his elbow, as he saw Shamsher getting distracted by their hushed conversation.
"Is there any problem at the back?"
"No Sir. Sorry Sir," replied Rishabh and glared at Madhu.
Madhu pressed her lips to stop laughing and looked ahead as if nothing happened.
"OK. So, as I was telling you, you are the brightest 20 students from the different premier science and technology institutes all over India. This is supposed to be your Master's final year 6 months internship or dissertation, as you may call it. But unlike other general internships, this is different. This is a special government aided programme where you will be trained as intelligence agents. I believe all of you have signed the confidentiality agreement before joining this programme?"
Everyone nodded his or her head.
"First 4 months all of you will get intensive training of analytics and field operations. Then the following two months would be on specialisation. Based on your performance as well as personal preference you will be given independent live projects to work on as analysts or field agents. And as stated in your agreement, no one, absolutely no one should know about the objective and contents of this programme. Not your family, not your lover, not anyone!"
Shamsher paused for a moment and looked around to scrutinise individual reactions.
"Once this programme is over, you will go back to your institute to collect your degrees. You will always have the option to join back as full-time Indian Intelligence agents, but no one will be forced to do so. But, as I mentioned already, no one will be allowed to divulge any information about this programme either. It will have dire consequences."
His voice turned graver with the last sentence. Sounds of muffled coughs or deep breaths could be heard around the class.
"Anyway, I believe you all are matured enough to understand the gravity of this programme requirement. I do not want to stress you all further on the first day itself. Observe, learn and of course enjoy your time in the programme. And feel proud that you have been given the opportunity to give back to your motherland."
With his last words, the class burst into a loud applause. All the scared and apprehensive faces brightened up with joy and pride.
There were a couple of lectures by other analytics experts. At lunch time RK and Sultan headed towards the canteen.
"Hey, wait for me," shouted Madhu as she came running towards them.
They all queued up before the counter where the food was being served on the plates.
"What is there today, Beyraji?" asked Madhu trying to peep in the big serving bowls.
"Rajma chawal, madam," replied the old man serving the food.
"Yuck!!" replied Madhu and made a puke-face.
"Aur kuch nahi hai? Chicken? Anda?" Madhu asked again after a moment.
RK was standing in queue after her followed by many others.
"Jaldi karo. People are waiting for their turn," spoke RK with agitation.
"What jaldi karo? There is nothing to eat for me!"
"You can't expect to be served maachli-bhaat (fish curry and rice) everywhere!" replied RK with rolling eyes.
"FYI, it is maach-bhaat, not maachli-bhaat! And I am not asking for that! I am looking for something edible!" Madhu shouted back with her hands on her hips.
"Rajma-chawal is a perfectly edible and nutritious meal for a normal human being," retorted RK with equal vehemence.
Madhu narrowed her eyes and her nostrils started flaring up. Before she could open her mouth to vent out her rage, Sultan came running leaving his meal and pulled her back.
"BongB, relax! Cool down! You don't want to eat rajma chawal, no problem. We will go out and have something at the Nescafe outlet. Now let others have their lunch peacefully. You come with me."
Madhu glared at RK one last time before leaving the queue with Sultan and heading out of the canteen. RK did not budge and forwarded his plate for the food to be served.
RK finished his meal and then headed towards his hostel. There was one class scheduled for the late afternoon. He had a couple of hours, so he thought he would go and take a look at the small library next to his hostel building.
"Hey RK, wait!" shouted Sultan as RK passed the Nescafe.
RK looked around to see Sultan and Madhu sitting at a table, with a sandwich and juice bottle. On seeing RK coming towards them, Madhu glared at Sultan and stood up.
"What BongB? Why are you behaving like a kindergarten kid? Forget what happened at the canteen! Now sit down and finish your lunch," spoke Sultan with a huff.
Madhu turned her face away so that she would not have to see RK.
RK pulled one chair and sat beside Sultan.
"Wow! Looks like you had a super sumptuous lunch here," smirked RK.
Sultan pleaded him with his eyes not to start it again, but Madhu had already picked up the cue.
"Listen you, Mr. I-know-everything! No one gets to decide what I eat or what I say other than me. So keep your smartass comments to yourself."
"All this while I thought Bengalis are just pretentious, but you do not need to pretend; you are an item, inside out," said RK with a wide grin.
Madhu stood up with a jerk and faced him squarely.
"You know what, you are absolutely right. I do not need to pretend to be nice. You have seen my Rockbala and Bongbala avatars, now get to see my Vampbala avatar!"
Saying this she suddenly pushed RK with so much force that he fell backwards with his chair and hit the ground. He was so shocked with the suddenness of the push that it took him few seconds to realise that he was lying on the ground with dust all over his face. Sultan was also stunned with the whole incident, and it took him some time to realise his friend lying on the ground needed his hand to get up. Madhu flashed a devilish grin at RK and turned on her heels to walk away.
RK and Sultan came back to their hostel room. No one spoke about the Vampbala incident any further. RK went to the washroom to wash his face. Sultan felt very bad for RK, as he was the one to introduce Madhu to him. He did not know how to start a normal conversation with RK again. So he took out his DSLR camera from his bag and started checking the pictures in it.
RK came out of the washroom and changed his shirt which was spoilt by the dust as well. Then he looked at the camera in Sultan's hand.
"Wow! That is quite a hi-tech camera you have got."
"Yes, my father gave it to me on my last birthday. I am yet to learn about all the modes and functionalities," replied Sultan with a shrug.
"May I have a look?" asked RK.
"Yes, of course," replied Sultan with a smile and handed him the camera.
RK looked at it closely, then started changing the settings and clicking some random shots.
"Whoa! This is an absolutely pro-shot man! I have never looked so good in any photograph before," exclaimed Sultan as RK showed him one of his clicked shots.
"You have the knack, man! You should pursue this hobby!"
RK smiled at Sultan's compliment and handed him back his camera.
"Would you mind if I borrow it sometimes and take some photographs?" asked RK.
"Of course not, buddy! But promise me, you will click my pictures as well," replied Sultan with a broad smile.
Somehow he felt very relieved seeing RK diverted from the early scuffle with his camera.
Next few weeks passed without any more trouble. RK kept a distance from Madhu in the class and stayed at the library mostly after class hours. Madhu, on the other hand was busy making more friends around the campus with people from other programmes. She was quite popular because of her girl band and often in the evening they would arrange a gig at the amphitheatre.
On the fourth week of the programme they were introduced to the gun shooting and basic martial arts. Madhu was super excited from the moment they were asked to practice at the shooting range.
"Oh, I am going to enjoy this so much! Especially imagining someone's face on the bull's eye," giggled Madhu, clapping her hands.
Sultan nodded his head slightly at her immature behaviour and turned to look at RK, who was standing still, with his eyes fixed on the target. One by one they picked up the arms and other gears and started firing. The first shot was difficult for everyone, as the recoil was quite sudden and unexpected. But then they started picking up the techniques to adapt to it and focus more on the target.
No matter how much enthusiasm Madhu had showed in the beginning, her confidence started going down with every shot farther away from the target. Sultan also struggled to get anywhere closer to the target. After about 15 minutes most of the shots died down, as most of them ran out of the bullets. Only one shooting range kept on making the booming sound, with longer pauses in between. Everyone turned to see RK shooting at the target, with almost all of the shots hitting the centre. He had an extremely determined look on his face and with every shot, his face hardened even more. Once he was done, he carefully kept the gun down and walked out where everyone else was waiting.
"Brilliant shots, man!"
"You should be in the army, RK!"
RK smiled a little before turning to Sultan.
"Let's go for a tea, Sultan. I am dead thirsty."
Sultan just nodded his head in agreement and as he followed RK out of the shooting range, he noticed a fuming Madhu standing at a distance.
"I guess he was imagining you on the target," whispered Sultan as he passed near her and winked.
Madhu slapped him hard on his arm and stomped away.
Next week they were in an analytics class when the trainer gave them some assignments.
"This is a group assignment. You will be divided into 5 groups of 4. The group lists are as indicated on the board. I want the assignment report by the end of this week," announced the trainer and left the classroom.
Madhu's face fell as she saw her group members' names on the list. It was her, RK, Sultan and Mukund in the group. She first contemplated to request the trainer to change her group. Then giving it a second thought she decided to go ahead with it. She did not care about any RK-Warke. She was here to complete her assignment and get good grades. She was least bothered about some over-smart small town bloke.
That evening they met at the Nescafe to divide their job on the assignment. RK stayed mum throughout the discussion and agreed to do whichever part he was asked to do. Madhu was half-expecting him to intervene in whatever she says, but on seeing him silent, she felt more confident and put forth her opinions. Finally they were all on board and decided to start working on the assignment immediately.
On the day of the assignment submission, Madhu and Sultan met at the Nescafe. Mukund was supposed to compile all the inferences and write down the conclusion, before submitting the report. RK was nowhere to be seen, so they waited for either RK or Mukund to come back and inform them after the submission.
"Something is bothering me for few days. I am not sure if I should talk to you about that," commented Madhu while sipping her cold coffee.
"What is it?" asked Sultan.
"Your roomie. Doesn't seem as simple as he pretends to be."
"BongB, he is just a simple guy like us. You two caught on the wrong foot from the beginning. That's why you are so suspicious about anything related to him!" replied Sultan a bit agitatedly.
"That is exactly my point, Tanz! How much do you know about him? Did he share anything about himself to you? Once when I visited your room to get the class notes, I noticed on your table you have pictures of Uncle and Aunty, and things related to your family as remembrance. But his table, it has absolutely no trace of his family or his life whatsoever!"
"Because you and I have been friends for quite many years now, BongB. No wonder we know much more about each other than RK. He is a bit reserved, and I do not find anything wrong in that!" answered Sultan exasperated.
Madhu made a face and looked away. Suddenly she saw RK walking towards them with fast and heavy strides. As he came closer, his face seemed seething with rage.
"What's your problem Madhubala Bose?" roared RK as he stood in front of her.
Madhu glared at him hearing her full name and shrugged her shoulders implying what he was talking about.
"Why did you tamper my results to match yours?" demanded RK.
"I have not done anything with your part of the assignment. I have enough brains to work on my own part!" retorted Madhu.
"Then what is this?" asked RK holding a bunch of graphs and tables on Madhu's face.
Madhu snatched those sheets from his hand and looked at them closely.
"My data seems all right. I don't know what you have done with your analysis."
"Exactly! You are such a maniac that you did not stop from sabotaging the whole assignment just to piss me off! How could you stoop so low?" spat RK.
Madhu felt very humiliated by his allegations. She had been angry with RK for a long time, but she would never undertake such lowly measures to get even with him. Her eyes almost brimmed with tears in spite of her attempt to check them.
"For the final time I am saying this, I did not touch your part of the assignment. Go check your own work before accusing others," uttered Madhu through grinding teeth and threw the sheets on RK's face before walking away.
"That was not nice RK," commented Sultan softly, after Madhu's figure vanished from their sight.
RK did not reply. He sat down on a chair with a thud and stared at the sheets in his hand.
"Mukund was the one responsible for the compilation. You should have asked him before accusing BongB of spoiling your inference."
RK covered his face and shook his head in frustration.
"Let's go to our room and call Mukund as well. We still have a few hours before the deadline. We will complete the task," said Sultan and stood up.
Eventually they realised that Mukund had indeed mixed up some of the datasheets by mistake and the analysis had come contrary to their expectation. RK, with help from Sultan and Mukund, redid his part and managed to finish the assignment in time.
That night RK could not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he could see two doe eyes, full of painful tears, silently questioning his undue allegations. He tossed and turned on his bed for quite some time, then sat up.
"Sultan, are you awake?"
"Huhhmmm?..."
"Sultan, I must apologise to her."
"Hhmmm..."
"Wake up, Sultan!" said RK and pushed him in his sleep.
Sultan woke up with a jolt and looked around in shock.
"What? What happened?"
"Nothing. It's just that I need to apologise to Madhu. Please help me."
Sultan looked at his alarm clock which showed 2.30 in the morning. Then he sighed loudly and picked up his phone.
"I am texting her to meet me at the fort ruins at the back of the campus in the morning. You come there with my camera. Let's see if we can get something done," said Sultan while yawning and texting to Madhu.
"Thanks a lot, bro!" exclaimed RK and hugged him tight.
Next morning they walked to the back of the campus, where there was the relicts of an old Sultanate era fort, now completely covered in thick trees and creepers. In spite of its decrepit state, it offered some beautiful locations and subjects for photographers. After waiting for about 45 minutes, when they were convinced that Madhu was not going to come, they noticed a slim figure, clad in a white top and a red long skirt walking towards them from behind the foliage. RK hid behind a thick tree trunk, as he did not want her to leave as soon as she noticed him.
Sultan smiled at her as she came closer.
"Good morning, BongB."
"Morning, Tanz."
"How are you doing?"
"I am fine. Why did you want to meet me here?"
Sultan held her hand and signalled RK with his other hand at his back.
"Someone felt very sorry after yesterday and wants to apologise."
Madhu looked at him with a frown when she noticed RK walking from behind, with a camera in his hand focussed on her face.
"How dare you?" shouted Madhu and was about to pick up a stone to throw at the camera, when Sultan held her more tightly and stopped her.
"Wait! That is my camera, before you want to break it. And for god's sake both of you for once behave like civilised people and sort out your problems," spoke Sultan.
RK came closer and handed over the camera to Sultan.
"I am very sorry Madhu. For all the stupid things I have done all these days. But the way I behaved last evening is not pardonable. But trust me, I will never forgive myself for all those harsh words I said. I wish I had the power to take back those words and lessen your pain. I am very, very sorry," said RK and held his ears.
Madhu was astounded by his apology, as her eyes again started filling up with heavy breaths. She just looked away to save herself from further embarrassment.
"Can we be friends and start again?" said RK with his hand extended towards her.
Madhu looked at his hand and then at his face. A lone tear rolled down her cheek which was wiped away by the same extended hand.
"Ab maan bhi jao, BongB,"hollered Sultan from her back.
Madhu smiled with tears glistening in her eyes and pulled both RK and Sultan for a warm friendly hug
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