Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

The Peace Offering

Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the distinct sound of a hand against a cheek, instead they were graced with the stern and furious voice of their senior, “Cadet Rajput! Cadet Vyas!” raged Major Khan. Accompanying the Major were the two Captains.

On her right stood Captain Rathore, seemingly impressed, and on the left stood Captain Chahun with a deathly calm expression on his face, his eyes focused solely on the hand that belonged to Cadet Rajput and was only 3 or 4 inches away from Shambhavi’s face.

“Both of you report to my office,” Major Khan said in a voice that left no room for doubts and for good measure she added loudly “Now.”

She turned along with the captains and the Cadets were left to follow.

Outside Major Khan’s Office Cadet Rajput waited along with a few of his friends and the opposition consisted of Shambhavi, Anant, Anisha, Anthony, and Shreya. The doors to the office opened and both parties were fully aware. Captain Rathore and Captain Chauhan came out and asked both Shivanker and Shambhavi to go inside.

They both knocked and went in. Major Khan looked livid.

“Can either one of you explain what I witnessed, or shall I give the punishment right now without listening to any please?” she asked, looking at both of them with her eyebrows raised.

“Ma’am, I was just defending myself. She was the one who attacked first,” said Shivankar.

“Do I look like a fool to you Cadet Rajput? I was present from the moment you entered the mess, so do not make any excuses,” Major Khan shouted.

“I am sorry ,Ma’am, it was wrong of me to do what I did but I had warned him beforehand,” said Shambhavi.

“And that makes you humiliating me like that in front of the whole academy is a normal thing?” Shivankar questioned.

“And what exactly were you hoping to achieve, Cadet Rajput, by slapping a lady cadet in front of the entire mess?” inquired Major Khan. “Were you expecting a medal of honor? I have had several complaints about you, Cadet Rajput, and today I had two of them made by the Captains who came in and told me that you said to the girl’s face that, and I quote, ‘you were teaching the ladies their place in the academy’, ‘a bit of harmless fun’ you called it. Do you deny it, Cadet?

“I was coming to let you off with a warning because I had no solid proof, which I do not need, but after witnessing what you did today, I have to take strict action,” Major Khan was not shouting anymore but that did not mean that her fury had subsided.

“I think 24 hours in solitary confinement should give you plenty of time to think about what you will be saying to Brigadier Rajput and Major General Rathore tomorrow,” she had spoken with a finality in her tone.

Two orderlies came in to take Cadet Rajput to his solitary confinement, with whom he left but not before giving a look of contempt to Shambhavi.

“What can you say for yourself, Cadet Vyas?” asked Major Khan in a soft voice.

“He had been teasing me since lunch time, Ma’am. Also, this is not the first time either. I would not have done that had he not made the first move,” Shambhavi knew was also in the wrong but she had to say her part.

“As I said, Cadet, I saw the whole ordeal. I agree he made the first move, but you could have just come to me after tonight’s incident and with good reason. By doing what you did, you have just put yourself in the wrong too,” she explained to Shambhavi in a stern yet soft manner. “I have to take disciplinary action against you as well. You’ll be helping in the kitchen tomorrow for dinner and no games for a week and hard 5 of the ground right now,” she continued, eyeing Shambhavi.

Shambhavi was shocked at such an easy punishment. She left with the orderly readily for her hard 5 of the ground. Anisha and Anant were ecstatic to hear that she had been left off easy and Anisha promised to wait up for her.

Shambhavi had gotten a soft 10 as punishment but a hard 5 was much harder. A soft 10 meant 10 laps of the whole ground while hard 5 meant 5 laps of the ground while holding a rifle up in the air.

Her hands were screaming after 2 laps, but she pushed herself as much as she could. Approximately 40 minutes later, she had completed her punishment.

When she was told by the orderly to go back, she saw that Captain Chauhan was standing at the entrance of the building. She walked towards him. He was in casuals by now, a pair of track pants and a form-fitting shirt with his hands behind his back. He looked heartbroken and Shambhavi’s heart was breaking alright, though she attributed it to jogging around the ground.

“Captain Chauhan,” she greeted with a nod.

He moved his hands forward and held them in front of her with a hot water bottle in place. “A peace offering for those sore muscles,” said Aniket with his usual smile.

Shambhavi looked at the bottle and back at him and said, “You’re offering peace to my sore muscles? Not me?” she asked sassily but took the bottle, nonetheless.

Both of them had a smile on their faces, the first genuine smile that reached Shambhavi’s eyes.

“I have been handling such men since I was 16, Sir. I would have handled it when he got out of hand,” she spoke softly, a softness reserved only for him, noticed Aniket.

“I know. I saw the show, Shambhavi,” teased Aniket and continued on a more serious note. “I wish I had been there before today when you handled men like him, not because you needed the help but because I would have liked to cheer in the background while you handled them. Because I would have liked to see that flush you get from the thrill of it and to witness the pride in your eyes.”

Shambhavi was speechless. She saw a very soft smile playing on his lips, a smile she hadn’t seen before. There was something in his eyes, something akin to pride, and admiration maybe?

“And I must say, it would have been quite the show if tonight’s incident was an indicator. I mean it was a good move, he looked good on the floor,” Aniket spoke again in a playful manner to lighten the mood.

Both of them laughed and got lost in the moment of simplicity. Shambhavi bid Aniket good night with a smile and left while Aniket looked on with a soft smile which he had unknowingly reserved only for Shambhavi.

Both of them were blissfully unaware that they had reserved something for each other and that, for Shambhavi, Captain Chauhan had become just ‘Sir’ and ‘Aniket’ in her mind today while she had gone from Cadet Vyas to just ‘Shambhavi’ for him that evening.