"Bharat ke mitti mei janam liya hai, issi mitti ke liye mar mitenge." (Born in the soil of India, we shall lay down our lives for this very soil.)
A handsome man said in a deep voice, with fair skin, veiny hands, and a crew haircut, wearing the uniform of the Indian Army and Liberty Warrior jungle boots. There was a smile on his face and his eyes seemed to hold a quiet strength and unwavering resolve—like a beacon in the darkest of nights.
This happened during training, where he was instructing his juniors (those who had just joined the Indian Army). The team repeated the sentence together, from the heart.
Suddenly, the phone of the man who was teaching started ringing. His junior, Naveen (who was sent with him to the Indian Army training center), said to him-
"Sir, we should arrive at the border now. Devansh Sir (their senior officer) is calling you."
After listening to this, the man said,
"Enough for today. It's already ten p.m. now. You all can go."
All the juniors who were learning from him saluted him and said,
"Jai Hind, Sir."
Then they left and went to their respective rooms. He took his phone from his junior, Naveen, picked up the call, and said, "Jai Hind, Sir." A voice came from the phone,"Jai Hind, Master Bhuwan. Your application for leave is approved. So, from tomorrow onwards until 20th September—for 17 days—you may go and meet your parents. Your joining date is the 21st of September."
"Thank you, Sir," said Bhuwan. After a second, he ended the call.
Two hours later, both Bhuwan and Naveen reached the India-Bangladesh border. Bhuwan dropped his junior Naveen off.
The next morning at 5 a.m., after taking a shower, he packed his bag and got ready—wearing a white shirt with folded sleeves, black pants, and a wristwatch. He went to the Malda Town Railway Station at 8 a.m.
He stood at platform number 3. After waiting for an hour, finally, a voice announced: "Train No. 03427, Malda Town to Haridwar Special Fare Special, will leave the station at its scheduled departure time of 9:05 a.m. from platform number 5. Passengers are requested to reach platform number 5 and board their train. Thank you."
He lifted his bag with his veiny hands and started walking toward the stairs of the foot overbridge to change platforms. When he reached platform number 5, he started looking for his coach number: S4.
"S1... S2... S3... and here we go... S4," he said while finding his coach.
He entered the train and called one of his closest friends. When his friend didn't answer the call, he texted him: "Aarsh... I am on the train now, so please don't worry. I'll reach our village by tomorrow, around 3–4 p.m. Please take care of yourself. Have a great time. See you soon."
Then he started looking for his seat (seat number 47).
When he found it, he saw a woman already sitting there. He was standing to her left. The woman was wearing a purple kurti, purple trousers, and a dupatta around her neck, covering her shoulders to her waist. She was looking outside the train window, brushing her bangs from her face with her left hand, which had a silver-colored wristwatch with a black dial.
"Excuse me, miss," he said.
She said nothing.
"Hello... miss, you're sitting in my seat," said Bhuwan.
Suddenly, her phone started ringing. The name 'Dr. (Prof.) Tushar' appeared on her phone screen. She picked up the call and said in a melodious voice,
"Hello, Sir."
After a pause of approximately five seconds, she said, "Yes Sir, I've collected the reports from the hospitals related to cardio surgeries done over the past two years. And now I'm going to Dehradun to collect more reports."
She continued, "After collecting the reports from Dehradun hospitals, I'll return to Delhi."
After two seconds, she said, "Okay, Sir," and ended the call.
He saw her phone's lock screen wallpaper. It showed a woman, around 22 years old, holding a photo frame with a picture of a man inside.
After seeing her lock screen wallpaper, he immediately said, "That's... that's my picture! Where did you get it from?"
She turned to face him. She had fair skin, and her cheeks were a natural shade of light pink, as if touched by blush. She had hooded, blackish-brown eyes, pink lips, and a beauty mark in the center of her chin, just below her lips.
"Which one...?" she said, paused for a second, then added,
"Wa... wait, wait... that's you?"
Write a comment ...