June 2015, Newtown, Kolkata
Life was going well for me. I had come to enjoy my job at the office, and things were going smoothly. My close friend Nimrit and I were having a marvellous time as always. But there was a new addition to my life – a Para Commando friend named Vikrant.
We started talking quite frequently, usually setting our conversation time for 10 to 11 pm Each conversation left me pleasantly surprised and excited. We even made it a tradition to meet up every Sunday to catch up on the events of the past week.
Vikrant was a busy person with a packed schedule, but he always managed to find time for his family and friends, including me. It was always a joy to spend time with him.
One day at the office, things took an interesting turn. When Nimrit and I arrived, our colleagues Shivam and Sonal were already hard at work. We exchanged morning greetings, but
something seemed off with Sonal. She looked furious, and her eyes were practically on fire as she pounded the keyboard keys aggressively. Her face was flushed red, and it was clear that something was bothered her. One person was notably absent that day – our colleague Pratik.
I took a seat and asked Sonal, ‘By the way, where is Pratik?’
She remained silent. I was instructed to gaze to my right by Shivam. I twisted. That idiot was busy making out with a new employee in our workplace.
‘Oh, so that’s why Sonal is so irate today,’ I guessed. Pratik had to pay for it, I was aware of that. Sonal won’t abandon him.
Sonal was already very enraged when Pratik did something that fanned the flames even further. He continued to put his palm on the newcomer’s shoulder. By the way, her name is Divya.
Sonal declared, ‘That’s enough,’ and stood up. She marched enraged in the direction of Pratik. As Sonal approached him, Pratik abruptly withdrew his hand from Divya’s shoulder. ‘Pratik is going to die,’ Nimrit declared.
We didn’t hear anything Sonal said to Pratik or Divya. She took hold of his hand and led him over to team 7’s desk. ‘What’s wrong with you Sonal?’, Pratik asked.
‘What’s wrong with me, you ask? How are you doing, Pratik? Why can’t you restrain yourself?’ Sonal asked angrily,
‘Is it necessary to flirt with every girl you meet’ The atmosphere was strained. We had the impression that there would be a major spectacle. Nimrit and Shivam silently examined them. Their disagreement involved maturing. Pratik was making an effort to fight back, but Sonal was in the driver’s seat.
Finally, Sonal yelled, ‘Leave Pratik, you will never understand my feelings,’ and she ran towards the balcony area while sobbing.
Yes, she was crying as she made that statement. I felt stunned, because she has never before been seen weeping. Nimrit called Pratik a ‘duffer’ and followed Sonal to the balcony. Pratik was bewildered.
‘What happened’, Pratik inquired. It was now my time. I commanded him to follow me and led him to a part of the foyer where there was less of a crowd. Shivam also came after us.
‘Do you have any common sense?’ I questioned Pratik with concern.
‘What occurred?’ he seemed puzzled.
I asked, ‘Don’t you see tears in her eyes?’
He admitted, ‘I noticed, but for what purpose?’
‘Seriously?’ I couldn’t believe it.
‘What?’ he remained perplexed.
‘Are you oblivious, she loves you. Don’t you understand such a simple thing?’
‘What? Really?’
I affirmed, ‘Yes.’
‘I never knew it,’ he confessed.
I couldn’t help but express my frustration, ‘Because you are an idiot. And right now, you will talk to Sonal. Make her smile.’
He was uncertain, ‘Who, me?’
‘No, your ghost, you fool,’ I couldn’t resist a sarcastic reply.
‘All right, I’ll do that,’ he replied.
I, Pratik and Shivam, we three went to the balcony where Nimrit and Sonal were already there. As I pushed Pratik towards Sonal, I beckoned Nimrit our way. To offer them privacy, we only stood there while partially closing the balcony door. We wished to know what would happen, after all.
Softly, Pratik said, ‘Sona.’ Sonal remained silent. Once more, he hailed her, ‘Oye Sona.’
‘What?’ she angrily retorted.
Pratik questioned ‘Sona, what happened, why are you crying?’
Sonal swung around to face Pratik.
She again retorted rudely, ‘Because I love it, that’s why.’ From behind the door, we chuckled.
‘Can I share something with you?’
‘What would you like to inform me? How wonderful is your new friend? How stunning is she?’
‘No, you already know it,’ the idiot said, adding more gasoline to the blaze.
‘I just wanted to let you know that.’
‘What?’
‘That I love.’ Sonal questioned startlingly,
‘What?’ like Sonal , we too were taken aback. I never imagined Pratik would have the courage to tell Sonal that.
‘I love you, that’s true. But I never said it because, well, I always felt like I wouldn’t measure up to you. You’re such an accomplished and diligent woman, good at everything, like Miss Perfection. Now, let’s take a look at me. I do my job because I have to, no big dreams, no seriousness about life. In simple terms, you can call me a “bade baap ki bigdi aulad.”
‘So, I kept all my feelings for you hidden deep inside my heart because of this. And there’s one more thing, though you might not believe it. When I first laid eyes on you, I fell in love. But, that’s about it.’
We were surprised because we had no idea Pratik could talk in a way that made sense. Sonal approached Pratik cautiously. Both of her palms remained on his shoulder. Pratik grinned.
Nimrit exclaimed with enthusiasm, ‘Kiss him.’ Shivam gave her a startled and peculiar-looking look as he gazed.
As Sonal drew even closer to Pratik, imagine what happened?
Sonal kicked the most tender and painful area of Pratik’s body.
Sonal kicked Pratik’s testicles, to be exact.
Pratik yelled, ‘Aaaaa...’
We liked it, but Sonal felt bad.
52 In the Arms of a Soldier Shivam also cried out in agony.
‘Where you kicked jaaneman? At least, you should have considered our babies.’
‘Pratik, I’m so sorry. I had no intention of doing it. Does it hurt?’ Sonal questioned Pratik.
She received a very odd and amusing glance from Pratik.
‘Who told you that? No, no, of course not. Actually, I liked it.
I really liked it.’ He again made a comedic face and said, ‘Look how happy I am after having my balls crushed by you.’
‘Okay’.
‘What’s up, you idiot?’ He cried out, ‘Don’t you see my condition,’ as if it was a baby.
‘Wait, I’ll help you,’
‘No, no, this…. after we got married. Please control your feelings.’
‘Idiot, extend your palm to me.’ Sonal said, ‘I’ll help you stand up.’
‘Oh, okay,’ said Pratik. Sonal assisted him in standing. They exchanged glances for a moment before starting to smile—no, laugh. They gave each other hugs. Nimrit embraced me. ‘Yes,’
Shivam replied.
We were still curious as to what would occur next. So we were the only ones there. From behind, someone suddenly taped my arm. I mistook her for Nimrit. ‘Wait no,’ I commanded. I felt a touch on my shoulder from behind once more. I turned around and irritably asked, ‘What yaar?’ It was, indeed, Mr. Khanna’s palm.
He was in front of us. He appeared enraged.
‘What are you three doing in this place?’ he inquired, ‘Are you spying on something?’
Nimrit responded, ‘Nothing, sir.’ To see what was happening on the balcony, he cautiously opened the door. Oh, dear. We believed that Mr. Khanna would not permit this in his workplace.
However, out of the blue, he gently grinned and said, ‘So finally.’
I suppose he hoped to see them all together as well.
‘He isn’t really that obnoxious,’ my inner voice said.
‘You three, have you ever heard the term ‘privacy’
pronounced?’
‘Yes, sir,’ we shamelessly replied.
‘You are aware of the definition of that word?’ he inquired once more.
Once more, we shamelessly respond, ‘Yes sir.’
‘Oh, that was really, really excellent.’
We broke all standards for shamelessness when we uttered the words ‘thank you, sir.’
‘Go back and finish your work now.’ We went back to the place of work. After a while, Sonal and Pratik also came back.
Now they were ecstatic. Nimrit departed for submitting some documents to Mr. Khanna.
Shivam went by the name ‘Pranali.’
‘Yes’
‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘Of course,’
‘Something of.... Nimrit?’ he exclaimed, surprised and delighted.
‘What information about Nimrit did he want to seek out?’ I said in mind.
‘Yes sure, ask’.
‘Does Nimrit have a boyfriend?’
‘What?’ There was a burst of laughter coming from my lips as I said, ‘Ha ha ha.’ I disturbed everyone. Everyone shushed me as they turned to face me. I said, ‘Sorry,’ to everyone.
‘Tell me, does she have a partner,’ he softly enquired again.
‘She doesn’t have a partner, so no.’
He questioned, ‘Seriously?’ with a wise expression.
‘Yes, but why do you ask me all this?’ I excitedly questioned.
‘Because…. Since I love her.’
‘What? Ha ha ha,’ another fit of laughter erupted from my lips.
I irritated everyone once more. Once more, everyone silenced me.
And I apologised once more.
‘Are you serious?’, I asked him. mainly because it was absurd.
In other words, I knew Shivam felt something for Nimrit, but I never imagined it would be this.
‘Yes, I love her dearly.’
‘Do you know something, though?’
‘What?’
Her sibling is a member of the ‘Para Special Force.’
‘What?’ This time it was Shivam who startled everyone, not me.
Sonal questioned, ‘What’s wrong with you guys?’
‘No nothing,’ I apologised.
His eyes clearly displayed his dread. His lips were closed tight. He appeared to be very naive. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll assist you,’
I assured him while grinning.
‘Thank you,’ he said, his visage displaying both fear and a smile. Two members of ‘Team 7’ made their affection known on that day. But the real issue was whether Nimrit truly loved Shivam.
And if she is certain, will Vikrant approve of their love marriage?
Nimrit and I came back to our room from the workplace. Whether Nimrit loves Shivam back or not was the one question that kept coming up in my head. I had to locate it. I then took on the task.
As usual, we began chatting about silly inconsequential topics after dinner. Even though I now consider those topics to be nonsense, at the time, they seemed more significant than anything
else in the universe. I made the decision to find out Nimrit’s opinion of Shivam.
‘What do you think of Pratik, Nimrit?’
‘Pratik? Although he occasionally acts foolishly, he is generally decent.’
‘And Sonal?’
‘She is a contemporary diva, kind-hearted, and model-like,’
‘Shivam,’ I asked. She hesitated before saying, ‘Aa.’ I’m not sure why. Then she added, ‘He’s a really nice person. A true gentleman,’
‘And?’
‘And he is charming too,’
‘Really?’ She blushed as she said, ‘Yes.’
‘Hey, why did your face turn red?’ I made fun of her.
‘Anything Prana,’
I said, ‘You know what, I think he likes you.’
‘What?’ she exclaimed startlingly. ‘Did he say anything to you?’ she questioned.
I responded, ‘No no, not at all.’
‘So don’t say foolish things,’ she said. ‘Why would he care about me? He is younger than I am.’
‘But when you genuinely love someone, age doesn’t matter.’
‘He is also very introverted’.
‘So tell me something straight. What if he were to ask you out?’
She replied with a sweet smile, ‘Um... To be honest, I don’t have any reason to refuse him.’
‘Really?’
I’m not sure, but I believe she attempted to hide her feelings when she said, ‘I feel fast asleep, I’m going.’ She obviously still
56 In the Arms of a Soldier loves Shivam, as was now evident. The only remaining query concerned Vikrant. How will he react to it?
‘Hello Prana, what are you doing’, It was message from Mr.
Men in Olive Green, Captain Vikrant Shergil.
‘He will survive for 100 years,’ I told myself.
‘Just relaxing. You?’ I typed.
‘Same.’
‘Yes. Do you know what happened in my workplace today?’
‘You know, I’m not the Himalayan Tapasvi, and I still haven’t attained enlightenment. Therefore, regrettably, I am unsure of what happened at your workplace today.’
‘Very funny,’ I retorted.
‘Thank you,’
‘Listen, Vikrant,’
‘Ok. Call me.’
‘Ok’. I called his cell phone number. His caller song ran.
He answered a call.
‘Go ahead,’ and I proceeded to narrate the entire tale of Pratik and Sonal. He was listening it, I mean reading it very eagerly.
‘How did you know?,’ you ask? because he responded quickly and used that particular emoticon. He was overjoyed for them both.
The narration is done.
I said, ‘I have a question I want to ask you.’
‘Go ahead’
‘What do you think of love, Vikrant?’
‘Well, to be honest, I never gave it any consideration. However, while truly loving someone is not wrong, being fulfilled is more crucial. In the universe, there are two types of couples. First, someone who enters a relationship solely for sexual fulfilment.
Their bond is like raindrops dropping. It initially feels nice, but
as time goes on, it gradually begins to feel gloomy and ugly. As a consequence, this relationship is kept up for a short while. Then, as the divisions widen, the relationship ends.
‘They truly love each other, which is the second type of relationship. They have a pickle-like relationship. As time passes, it gets tastier. Here, disagreements might also occur. But they manage it because they have mutual confidence. As a result, the relationship is eternal. As a result, we should truly adore, respect, and care for our partner. We have no right to love anyone if we are incapable of doing it. Believe that.’
Following its hearing, I was in awe. Literally every single phrase touched my heart. I never imagined that any man could hold these opinions. Wasn’t every word he spoke heartfelt and true?
I re-asked, ‘What do you think about love marriage?’
‘It’s not about affection or planning, you see. Does your companion really deserve your trust? Do you truly adore your partner? Will he or she look after you for the rest of your life? If the response is ‘yes,’ you may continue.’
My inner voice warned, ‘This man is going to kill you with his words.’
Then, with all my confidence, I inquired, ‘Will you allow Nimrit to have a love marriage if she so chooses?’ Such bravery on my part. He did not reply. He hung up on the conversation.
I assumed he was enraged. After waited for thirty minutes. He didn’t contact or message me.
I got a call.
Vikrant’s was it.
‘Mummy’s call, I’m sorry.’
I retorted, ‘No problem.’
‘Look, it is entirely up to her to choose whom she will love or wed. Yet as you are aware, I am her older sibling. My main duty is to secure her future. Therefore, I will undoubtedly put
58 In the Arms of a Soldier that individual to the test; if he truly cares about my sister, he can become my beloved ‘Jijaji.’
‘What a loving and caring brother he is. God ought to have given me a sibling like him.’ I argued in my head, ‘I mean, like him, not him.’
