Okay, then Oli might not have told her about my summon to the police station.
She saw me and her grin widened, which happens when she gets to share wonderful to someone.
-“ You are home. How did it go at Oli’s house?” She asked first.
-“ Don’t even ask.” I said and dropped my bag on the sofa.
Mom frowned, “ Then I really got to ask. But first I have some news to share.
“ Your dad is getting transferred to a place near Howrah, so he can stay with us and do daily passengery to work.”
-“ Really?” I squealed, “ When is he coming?”
-“ Tommorow.”
Now it was my turn to frown. “ When did he get his transfer letter ?”
-“ five days ago. He totally kept it from me all those days. He informed me when he was already on a train to Howrah. “
-“ Dad wanted to surprise us then.” I said through a smile. Mom shook her head at his childish behaviour.
-“ So now tell me what happened at Oli’s house. Did you not understand anything?”
-“ Like I got time to.” I murmured, then told mom, “ I have got a lot of words with you, but first I should go, change.”
After five minutes I came out from my room, wearing comfortable clothes and again sat beside mom. I explained everything that happened in the police station. And lastly how Lt. Col. Singh told me to not tell a lot of people about it.
-“ But why would he do that?” Mom asked after I was finished.
-“ Why would he do what?”
-“ Why would he directly come to you, isn’t he supposed to issue an official notice if he wants to include female soldiers in infantry? Why all the secrecy?”
-“ I don’t know. “ I frowned. It was a valid point though. “ But he came through Kunalda, can’t be completely fraud, right?”
Mom was silent for some time, “ So, you really want to give it a try?”her face seemed dark
-“ Hmm.” I said
-“ Are you sure, I mean you know it’s a risky department. What if something goes wrong?”
I looked into mom’s eyes, I could see the concern there. I am her only daughter, she would obviously not like me in any danger. “Look, I won’t lie. I know it’s risky. Either every thing would be fine, I would be fine with the job, or everything will go wrong. But mom, I still want to try.”
Mom smiled sadly, “ Nyssa, if you really want to do it, I won’t stop you. Just remember, do anything you like, I will always support you if you are happy with it.”
-“Thanks mom.” I said and wrapped my arms around her and She reciprocated the hug.
A few minutes later, she pulled away and said, “ Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, about that army officer directly asking you to join infantry. You said that since he came through your Kunalda, he can’t be completely fraud. I do trust Inspector Dhar, but me and your father are coming with you on this rally thing.”
-“Okay, done.”
-“ Now go study, job later second semesters first.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
- * * * *
I woke up the next morning at 5:30 a.m. and went out on the road to run
Last night before I went to bed I have been scrolling the internet for more information on Army bharti rally.
I found out that a rally is mainly a physical test. Here is what you have to qualify :-
- 1.6 km race needs to be completed in maximum 6 mins.
- minimum 6 to maximum 10 full pull ups.
- candidates should be able to do zigzag balance. They have to walk on a thin strip of wood.
- 9ft long jump.
- 10 push ups
Well, I can do push ups. And I think zigzag balance would not be very hard if practiced. Since I have practiced Taekwondo for some time, I have good balance.
Now pull ups, long jump and the run was worrying me. Pull ups are very hard, though 6 to 10 pull ups are not much, if you are out of practice, even completing a single full pull up is a challenge.
I had no idea how would I, or better to say where would I practice the long jumps. And 9ft is a huge distance.
Then comes the run. Running had always exhausted me. Though my stamina is quite good, and I have good agility because of my martial arts training, I can never get a hang at races. I have to work on time and my stamina.
I decided, that I will think about where to practice the long jumps later, but I should start practicing what I can.
So I started running. My target was to get to the local park, and practice pull ups there.
I reached the park in five minutes and was already exhausted much, since I had run quite fast. But I couldn’t stop there. I got inside the park and started running around the park. Inside were some people running and doing exercises. There was also a laughing club. I was doing the laps in a good pace, thus attracting attention. I was way faster than an average jogger. I heard bits of conversation about me from the other joggers around. Mostly middle aged women.
“ I have never seen her here!”
“ Why is she running this fast?”
“ Must have started dieting. “
“ But she looks completely fit.”
“Girls these days, they want to be so thin even wind can blow them away.”
“ Hey! Isn’t she that girl who was about to join mafias?”
Now hearing the last sentence, It was hard to control myself. I ran to the pull up bars to avoid starting any conflict. The place was empty. Very few people include pull ups in their morning exercises. And I was more than satisfied to have some privacy.
I dropped to the ground, and started doing push ups. 1. . .2. . .3. . . 9. . .10. . .11. . .23. . .24. . .31. . . 38. . .39. . .40.
After 40, my arms started to ache and sweat covered my back. So I got up and saw that 40 push ups took me around 5 minutes. Okay, that’s slow. Got to work on speed.
I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, and jumped up to catch the pull up bar. I caught it in the first jump, but then my hands slipped, and I nearly fell on my back.
Oops! Sweaty palms.
I took out the handkerchief from my pocket and dried my palms as much as possible. Then again jumped to hold the pull up bar and held tight.
I put all the strength in my hands, and pulled my body up. 1. .2 . .
See, I had practiced pull ups before, when I was preparing for a Karate tournament. I had practiced so hard, that I could even do 10 pull ups under 30 seconds. But then I broke my ribs in the tournament, so I could not do any kind of exercise for 2 whole months. Then my boards came. After that I barely ever practiced pull ups, for they were hard and exhausting. Who knew, that those pull ups are needed for me to get a job.
I somehow managed to complete 10 pull ups, and my arms felt like I had done 50. I soo wanted to stop and drink a big glass of cold water. But I did not stop, I again pulled my body up, then slowly dropped it, hanging on my hands, then repeat.
I reached 20 soon, and looked up to find a group of joggers staring at me with their mouths hanging open. Most of them were chubby college students, and a few health conscious men of 30. I instantly released my grip on the bar, and dropped to the ground.
Who knows how long they had been watching me. I was so occupied with completing 20 pull ups, I didn’t notice anything that was going on around me. Just the thought that a group of people were staring at me for an unknown amount of time, gave me the creeps.
One of them started to walk towards me, as if to say something. But before he could, I picked up my water bottle from the ground, and sprinted in the direction of my home.
I reached home to find mom getting ready to go pick dad up from the railway station.
-“ What made you sweat so much?” She asked as I entered.
-“ 40 push ups, 20 pull ups, 4 laps around the park. And I ran to and from there.”
-“ Hmph. “ She nodded, “ Now go take a bath, you are stenching. And I want to see you studying hard when I come back with your dad.”
-“ Okay.”
Look, I am not that bad a student. In fact, both my 10th and 12th board exam results were over 78%. My knowledge is way more than an Average student, and I used to regularly give answers of the teachers’ questions in class when I was in high school. But when it comes to exams, I always get nervous. Either I write too much for a 2 marks question and run out of time, or I write too less for a 10 marks question. I know academics are all we have in middle class families; And I don’t give a lot of time to studies. But when I do, I study hard. Mom thinks that if I work a little harder on my studies, I can result better. That’s why she is always telling me to study. She thinks I just need a push. She says, “ In exams it doesn’t matter how much you know, it matters how much you can show on the paper.”
So anyway, I locked the door after mom left and took a good shower. After that I went to the kitchen, and filled the saucepan with water, sugar and tea leaves. Lit the oven, and put the saucepan on the flame to make tea. While the tea boiled, I lit the other oven, and put a tawa on it. Taking out the butter from the fridge, I put a bit of it on the heated tawa. Then took a slice of bread and put it over the molten butter, covering it with that. I made similar 2 pairs and sprinkled some sugar on it. The tea was ready by then. I poured it in a cup and placed all the items on a plate. Breakfast ready!
Then coming to my room with my breakfast, I placed it at one side, then took out books, copies, sample question papers, and started revision. I have long mastered the art of eating and studying alongside each other.
By the time mom arrived with dad I have solved one sample question paper of maths already.
I open the door and expected dad to give me a big hug. But he frowned at me and rightaway said,” You are going to Army?”
-“ Umm, yeah.” I said. Mom must have told him about my plans on the way home. And he did not seem to like it a lot, because I barely ever see him this serious.
-“ Sit, we need to talk.” He said.
-“ Umm, Dad, I was doing this complicated math so can I finish first and then we can talk?”
Dad was about to say something but mom stopped him. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, “ Deep, she is studying now, I think we should talk about it after her exams are over.”
-“ Okay, but I am not letting my daughter do a job that can take away her life.”
I was taken aback by those words. I tried to come up with something to calm him down, but failed. Because he was right. He was right that in army there is no guarantee of life. He was right that lots of soldiers die protecting their beloved nation.
I took a step aback and almost ran to my room.
I took in deep breaths, and tried to concentrate on maths. I would deal with that later. Exams first.
What I realised was that as much as it is hard to get a job, it is harder to determine what job to try for.
It’s easy for me to say, that I want to join army. But my parents certainly would not appreciate if I go do a job from where I can return dead. The Idea of me dying didn’t scare as much as the image of my parents crying over my coffined body scared me.
But still despite that fear, when I close my eyes I could only see the mesmerising and well respected camoflage uniform of the Indian Army.