Love Amidst Chaos

Chapter 5

The next day began with the grueling morning drills. The cadets were all assembled in the ground at 4 in the morning with their sleep-filled eyes. Only a few of them were attentive and were actually looking forward to the training.

"All right cadets. I want 5 laps of this ground. Now." Major Nair yelled from the top of his lungs.

The lazy cadets were startled by his choice. But soon they paled after processing what he had just ordered.

"Umm... Sir, I am sorry but I think I heard 5 laps..." Cadet Yaduvansh Sahni said, unsurely.

"Kya baat hai, cadet? Kya selection ke waqt apka medical thik se nahi hua jo itni tez awaz mein bhi aap order clearly nahi sun paa rahe hein." Major Nair glared at him and poor Cadet Sahni turned red with embarrassment.

All the others looked at him with pity.

"Move it. Or else I'll make it 10 laps. And as for girls... aap log 2 laps hi complete kar lenge to bahut badi baat hogi." He taunted the girls. Naina, Pooja and all others were offended by his comment but decided to stay mum as they didn't want any trouble on day one and all the cadets scattered with fear.

He just shook his head and taunted, "In logo se discipline mein chalte bhi nahi aata aur army training karne aa gaye hein."

"Oye... ye virus to mere system ki battery subah subah hi down kar dega." Pooja muttered.

Naina chuckled hearing her comment and the boys shook their head in amusement.

"Umm... hey guys. I am Yaduvansh Sahni and you both are?" Yaduvansh/Yudi said as ran side by side the girls.

"Hi, I am Naina Singh..." Then she paused. She believed that her brother was innocent. Then why was she trying to hide her real identity.

'Josh mein hosh mat gawa Naina. Sometimes, you need to take a step back to move forward. Kya pata kaun kitna bharose ke layak hai. Don't trust them blindly.' She reminded herself.

"Mere handset ka naam Pooja Ghai hai." Said Pooja in her usual cheery voice.

"Handset?" Yudi looked at her shocked.

"Don't worry. That's just how she talks, in mobile language." Naina laughed.

By now, they have already completed 2 laps which irritated Major Nair. Don't take him wrong... he was very considerate of the lady cadets... he cared for them so much that he believed that they should sit back home and do household chores... not join army and do 'men's work'.

Cadet Ali Baig almost reached them and whispered, "Are aap log baatein karna band kijiye. Agar sir ne dekh liya to bina matlab sabko punishment mil jayegi."

Naina smiled looking at him. He was so stressed and it was only their first day here.

"Thand rakh yar. Itna kyun dar raha hai. Itni door ka kaise dikhega use." Huda came and said in his chilled-out voice while simultaneously winking at other girls. The girls giggled in response.

Huda's attention was shifted towards Naina as he recognized her.

"Oye tu to din ujaale mein aur bhi sundar lag rahi hai kudiye." Huda smiled in a  flirtatious way which irritated Naina more.

"Naina Singh Ahluwalia... kya ladko se baatein karne ke liye raat kam pad gayi jo drills ke time bhi control nahi ho raha hai?" Major Nair yelled at her.

Naina was deeply hurt by his disgusting comment.

"Par sir, Naina ne message ka reply bhi nahi kiya..." Pooja tried to defend Naina.

"Ek kaam kijiye Cadet Ghai... since you know more than me... to aa kar aap hi meri jagah cadets ko train kar dijiye." He yelled and added, "Pata nahi ladkiyon academy mein allow karte hi kyun hain... poora mahoul bigad rakha hai in logo ne."

But this wasn't the end, Naina heard murmuring behind her.

"Naina Singh Ahluwalia?? Ye to wahi gaddar Naveen Singh Ahluwalia ki behen hai. Ise kisne aane diya?" One of them said.

"Just look at her. Itne sab ke baad bhi kitni daring se hum sab ke beech mein hai ye yahan." Another girl cadet said.

"Par... as far as I read, Captain Naveen ka record to outstanding tha. Maybe he was framed. Jaisa movies mein dikhate hein." One cadet, Alok said.

"Movies aur reality mein farq hota hai. Aur humein nahi lagta ki Indian Army se koi galti ho sakti hai." Cadet Ali countered.

"Ignore them, alright. We can't change what's already done but look... you here now. So just chill. Friends?" Yudi smiled at Naina and forwarded his hand towards her.

Naina smiled and shook it. But in her mind, she was really upset because of the entire fiasco.

Unknown to her, someone else was also reading her eyes like an open book. Cadet Alekh Sharma just shook his head and left.

The next was Captain Rajveer's lecture. Today was the first class of Captain with the first years and he was looking forward to it. 

All the cadets assembled in the classroom early as they had heard their seniors talking about the calm nature of the Captain.

Naina excused herself and went to canteen to grab some water as she forgot her bottle in the room. But truth to be told, she just needed a break from the glares and nasty remarks of fellow cadets.

She was lost in her thoughts, when Suriji came.

"Puttar, tussi late ho rahe ho class ke liye." He said. Naina turned to look at him scared and mentally prepared herself for another taunt but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she was met by his kind eyes, gesturing her to hurry.

She mumbled an apology and ran to her class.

'Kya beta Rajveer, pehle hi din late kaise ho sakta hai? Cadets kya sochenge...' He thought as he ran to his class. 

He was just about to enter when he collided with someone. He immediately held the person by their upper arm and put one hand behind their head to prevent it from hitting the wall behind.

He looked down to see almond-shaped, large chocolate pools staring at him in shock.

'Kya kar rahi hai Naina? Dhyan kahan hai tera? Ab to pakka pehle din hi punishment mil jayegi.' She thought to herself. 

Unknowingly, her nose scrunched up and she clenched her eyes shut, afraid of the scolding that was about to come.

Rajveer smiled kindly at her, seeing her so nervous on the first day itself. It was quite common actually. The cadets prior to joining the academy are used to live their life according to their lifestyle, their family, their liking etc. Therefore, it always took them always one month to get used to the strict academy schedule. This obviously meant that the nervousness and clumsiness was at the peak in the beginning days.

"Are you alright, Cadet?" Rajveer asked her with a smile, trying to calm the girl in front of him.

Naina, on recognizing the voice, looked up again, now looking at him carefully. He recognized him as the same faculty who she met on her first day. She just nodded her head.

"Good. Go and take your seat." He said to her as he bent down to pick up his notes for the day.

Naina again nodded in response. After taking a few steps, she again turned around to help Rajveer but he assured her that it was alright.

Naina took her seat beside Pooja, who saved a seat for her. She smiled at the girl, hoping that this lecture will end soon, without any trouble.

HERE IS ANOTHER UPDATE FOR YOU GUYS. HAPPY WEEKEND. TAKE CARE ❤️

NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ON : NOT DECIDED YET.

WORD COUNT : 1222 WORDS

DATE : APRIL 09,2023