Author's Note

This is my take on the scene during Mentorship programme, when Major Bhargava taunts Captain Rajveer and Cadet Naina in front of all! The initial story would be same as shown in the serial, where I'll lay stress on the feelings of the characters, i.e. on the narration. Later part would be my addition.

Happy reading. 😊

~*~*~

As all the cadets and faculty member gather, Major Bhargava says,

"Mentorship programme ka ek hi udeshya hota hai, har cadet ke ander, apne senior, apne commander ke prati aadar ki bhawna jagana aur saath-saath commander ko apne cadet ko achi tarah pehchane ka mauka dena. But unfortunately aap sub ne iss exercise ko apne-apne dhang se liya. Isliye, iss progress ke first step ko yahin pe abode kia jata hai",

as he declares this, Captain Rajveer stares at him, shocked.

"Main dekh raha hun ke mentor or protege ke beech mein bonding develop ho rahi hai".

All the teams look at their partners.

"Lekin ye bonding itni nazuk hai ki , kisi teesre ke aatey hi disrupt ho jaati hai. Iska example aap dekh chuke hain. Iss dangerous exercise ke liye humne Dr. Mishra aur Cadet Alekh ko chuna tha, lekin Captain Rajveer ne beech mein aakar iss bonding ko disrupt karne ki koshish ki! Aur mujhey pura yakeen hai, ki inki koshish ke peechey aisa koi bhi ulterior motive nahi tha".

Captain Rajveer and Cadet Naina look at each other. Captain Rajveer with creased brows and Cadet Naina, nervous on realizing that he is angry. She again senses the discomfort in Captain Rajveer's eyes, as Major Bhargava speaks to all, and blames Captain Rajveer.

"Agar Captain Mishra, Cadet Alekh ki help nahi karti, aur Captain Rajveer ko help karne se na rokti, to kya Cadet Alekh apni mentor ki itni respect karta?",

asks Major Bhargava.

At this Dr. Mishra stares at Captain Rajveer and Alekh stares at Naina.

"No! Never!",

says Major Bhargava.

At this Captain Rajveer breaks his silence,

"Excuse me Sir, lekin mujhey lagta hai, humein ye dikhawa yahin rok dena chahiye"!

All stare at Captain Rajveer. Major Bhargava walks to him and says,

"Dikhawa? Captain Rajveer aap to abhi se nervous lag rahe hain. Apki rules todne ki list to maine abhi tak kholi hi nahi".

Naina gets restless and anger surges through her on listening to this.

"Exercise ke naam par kisi ko maut ke kagar mein dhakelna, kya ye rules hain Sir?",

retorts Captain Rajveer.

Standing quietly at her place, Naina's eyes glitter as she feels proud of her mentor for showing guts and talking straightforward with Major Bhargava.

"Teaching method pe main kisi se training nahi lunga, specially you Captain!",

warns Major Bhargava.

"Aur training ke naam par kisi faculty, kisi Cadet ki zindagi ko khatre mein dalne ka ye khel, mujhey bhi bardasht nahi hai Sir. Aaj jo kuch bhi hua uske liye apko apologize karna chahiye Cadet Alekh se aur Dr. Mishra se. Kisi ko training karane ka ye koi tareeka nahi hai Sir!",

bursts out Captain Rajveer in anger.

"To konsa tareeka sahi hai Captain, apka?",

asks Major Bhargava,

"Jahan mentor, protegee aur protegee, mentor ki jaan bachata hai aur dono itne kareeb aa jate hain ki, ek dusre ke secrets tak chupane lagte hain",

continues Major Bhargava, taunting Captain Rajveer's on going chemistry with his protegee Cadet Naina Singh.

Naina and Rajveer get shocked on hearing this. All others present there lower their eyes. Where on one hand Huda for the first time feels disgusted towards his Rajveer Sir and his Phoolan there on the other hand Alekh shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm his anger towards Major Bhargava. He realizes that for the first time may be, Major Bhargava is not wrong, but his attitude towards Captain Rajveer and Naina is certainly wrong! He has no right to humiliate them in front of all. But the prevailing tensed environment takes a toll on Alekh and he decides to stay calm as he is already exhausted for today.

"Major Bhargava, aap apne hadd se bahar ja rahe hain!",

warns Captain Rajveer as he finds this humiliating. And he realizes it's not just about himself but about Naina too! Captain Rajveer shoots daggers through his eyes towards Major Bhargava.

The way Captain Rajveer uttered his words, suddenly all so calmly, makes Naina to realize the increased level of Captain Rajveer's anger towards Major Bhargava. She knows it very well, how much Captain Rajveer is particular about his reputation amongst his students. Being humiliated in front of his own students, certainly is an off limit for him. This gets her tensed. The realization that still his anger is under control relaxes Naina a wee bit. She gets desperate to be with him, and adding a few more words to make Major Bharagava to realize how wrong he is and how shameful of him it is for doing this. But Naina chooses the better of it and remains quiet. She understands that now is not the right time to say anything. Not that she is scared of her reputation, to hell with her reputation at this moment. It is rather Captain Rajveer's reputation she cared for and decided to stay quiet and let Captain Rajveer deal with the situation. And also she knows Captain Rajveer wouldn't like her intervening and the after effects won't be a welcoming one. She of course doesn't want to deal with an angry Captain Rajveer!

"Aur aap kab se apni hadd paar kar chukey hain Captain!"

Naina looks at Major Bhargava, who is looking straight into Captain Rajveer's eyes, then lowers her eyes.

"Ye batayenge, ki ab tak apne iss programme mein apni protege Cadet Naina ko kya sikhaya hai?"

Captain Rajveer lowers his eyes and turns to look at his left side, unable to look at Major Bhargava's eyes. The feeling of guilt and anger towards Major Bhargava mingles together and reflects through his eyes.

Sometimes by turning away, we tend to bring a question to an end, answer of which we get scared to reveal even to ourselves, this is exactly what Rajveer does. But what's that hesitation and scare for? He hasn't done anything unethical! Or has he?

"Sharmayiye mat Captain, please... apni teaching methods aap humare saath bhi share karein",

taunts Major Bhargava.

The sound of his taunt sends shiver down Naina's spine. She feels disgusted.

Captain Rajveer again glares at him, while Naina keeps her eyes lowered. All other pairs stare at each other, not happy at witnessing everything that is going on.

"One more favour Captain, agar apko kasht na ho to aap humein batayenge ki ab tak iss mentorship programme mein apka aur apki protege ka 'relation' kitna strong hua? Kis level tak strong hua?",

Major Bhargava focuses on the last two lines, emphasizing on the word 'relation'.

Naina glares at Major Bhargava, then she stares at Captain Rajveer, who looks at her and shakes his head indicating her to remain quiet.

"Well I am not blaming you, agar beautiful protege miley to aksar aisa hi hota hai".

As Major Bhargava says this, it breaks all his self control and Captain Rajveer grabs Major Bhargava by his collar,

"Major Bhargava".

Naina looks at Captain Rajveer's angry face, worried. His actions make her to stare at him, tensed. On the other hand all other cadets also get worried about what might happen next, apart from Alekh, who waits for Captain Rajveer to take the first step and swears under his breath, that if required then he'll also join him!

Suddenly Rajveer's eyes fall on Naina, standing in front of him, her worried face makes him to realize that he should not do what he is thinking of doing next. Controlling his anger, he stares at Major Bhargava for the last time and looses his hold on his collar. Getting back, he looks elsewhere.

"Well done Captain! Records ke liye itna kafi hoga!",

Major Bhargava gives him a sarcastic smile.

Then turning towards others, he announces,

"agli instruction milne tak, dismiss!",

and leaves.

Glaring at him, Captain Rajveer leaves in anger in another direction, and others leave in an opposite direction. Naina was the last one to leave, who chooses to follow Rajveer.

Reaching to a certain place, Captain Rajveer picks up an axe and starts axing a log of wood, as a medium of releasing his anger. Naina reaches him,

"Sir... Sir please rukiye... Sir... Sir... Sir!",

she scolds, holding his hand, stopping him from continuing,

"Ruk jaiye".

"Ab tak aur kya kar raha hun Naina main?",

shouts Rajveer,

"Khud ko rok hi to raha hun. Har bar, har baat par apne gussey ko daba hi to raha hun",

looking at Naina.

"System ki kamiyan, seniors ki injustice, sub kuch dekh kar sehn hi to kar raha hun"!

Pointing a finger towards Naina,

"Lekin bus Naina, bus",

he shouts and lowers his finger.

Turning towards right he says,

"Mere bardasht ki hadd ab, hadd paar hoti ja rahi hai".

"I will not tolerate this anymore",

he shouts.

"You know Naina, main achi tarah se janta hun, ye log kya kar rahe hain. Unhone directly pehle tum pe apna target banaya, jab wo kamyab nahi hue, to wo ab tumhare support system ko todna chahte hain. Tumhare support system ko! Subse pehle wo tumhe, tumhare doston se alag karenge, uske baad mujhey!"

Then pointing towards her, he continues,

"Taki tum akeli parh jao. Aur tum par wo dubara attack kar sakey. He is a..."

"Nahi Sir, Major Bhargava kabhi mujhey mere doston se alag nahi kar payenge. Aur na hi kabhi aap se!",

intervenes Naina, confidently.

"Naina you know confident hona achi baat hai, lekin jung mein dushman ko underestimate karna bewakufi hoti hai! Bewakufi!"

But nothing could shake Naina's confidence,

"Nahi Sir, Major Bhargava apko aur mujhey kabhi alag nahi kar payenge. Aap bataiye Sir, kya kar payenge?",

she asks this to her mentor Captain Rajveer, who is standing in front of her, resting his right foot on a big rock, such that his knee is popped up and he rests his right elbow on it, while his right hand is touching the center of his forehead, his every reaction radiating his anger for Major Bhargava.

But as he hears this, he looks up to her, weighing the potential in her words.

Then he replies,

"Naina mera dil kehta hai ki koi takat humein alag nahi kar payegi, lekin mera dimag kehta hai ke Major Bhargava kuch na kuch zarur karenge humein todne ke liye",

says Captain Rajveer, knitting his brows.

"Kya hum itne kamzor hain Sir ke kisi ke todne se hum tut jayein?",

asks Naina, smiling politely.

Rajveer looks towards Naina, his eyes radiating his pride mixed with a certain new feeling for her. Naina's smile widens as she realizes that he is understanding what she is saying.

Looking straight towards him, she says,

"Aap bilkul chinta mat kariye, hum Major Bhargava ko bilkul underestimate nahi karenge".

"Unke har chaal ka hum jawab denge!"

as she says this, a fresh anger replaces the shyness, mixed with something else, which was there in her eyes, a few seconds ago. Now she is ready to face any obstacle that Major Bhargava might plant on the way of her and her dear Rajveer Sir!

She was not only convincing him that they are prepared for anything and everything, but also reminding herself that whatever might be the circumstances, she won't let her mentor, her Rajveer 'Sir' to lose.

"You know what Sir, aap yahin rukiye, main abhi unse jakar baat karke aati hun!",

says Naina, a fresh anger surges inside her as it becomes unbearable for her to accept the way Major Bhargava humiliated Captain Rajveer. More than her, it's about her mentor that she is angry about.

At first Rajveer doesn't stop her, too much indulged in thinking about what step should he take to give Major Bhargava a good answer. Sometimes, more than words, actions become the better answer. But suddenly Major Bhargava's words ring in his ears,

'Well I am not blaming you, agar beautiful protege miley to aksar aisa hi hota hai'.

"Naina...",

he calls from behind as she turns to leave for Major Bhargava.

She turns to know what does he want to say.

"Ahmm... tum... rehne do... kahin jane ki zarurat nahi hai!",

he says, lowering his eyes out of shyness.

"But kyun Sir? Mujhey unhe samjhana hai that he shouldn't always mess with you! With us!",

says a determined Naina, raising her voice out of anger towards Major Bhargava. She turns to leave again, only to get stopped by him again, this time his tone is harsh.

"Tumhe ek baat ek baar mein samjh nahi aati Naina? When I said 'no' so that means 'no'!"

Naina stares him, knitting her brows, unable to understand why is he refraining her from going to Major Bhargava.

"Sir, mujhe nahi pata apne kya strategy banayi hai iss situation se deal karne ki",

she says, her each word reflecting her anger.

Pointing her index finger towards Rajveer, she says,

"But let me make one thing very clear, agar koi mere apno ke saath kuch galat kare, to I never spare that person".

Getting pissed off by her child like behavior, Rajveer scolds her mildly,

"Naina josh mein hosh khona kahin ki samajhdari nahi hai".

Holding her by her shoulders, he explains her,

"Tum samjh kyun nahi rahi ho? Wo yahi to chahte hain, ke hum unke bhadkane se bhadke and revolt kare".

"Ye... ye waqt josh se kaam karne ka nahi; hosh se kaam karne ka hai!",

he says, leaving her free.

"I won't get trapped in the dirty games of his",

she says, blazing with anger.

Rajveer lowers his eyes as he realizes that she understands too.

"Wo aur main jab ek team mein hote the, tab bhi yahi hota tha. Sub bus hum dono ko tease karne ke peeche hi parh jate the!",

says Naina, looking away, not realizing what is she saying and that too in front of whom.

Her words catch Rajveer's attention and wake up his every nerve ending. Cautiously, he asks,

"Wo? Wo kon?"

(Rajveer-Naina revolt tune begins)

Now his words wake up her every nerve ending. She hasn't told Rajveer about him yet! How could she forget? Previously it was Rajveer who was regretting coming here for the mentorship programme, that too when he was completely aware of the fact that Major Bhargava is going to supervise it. Why didn't he give it a second thought? Ahmm.... probably because of Naina! But now after having no option left other than coming for the mentorship programme, at this moment deep down, Rajveer is feeling it right by joining this mentorship programme. He needs to know her better, may be this is the right way!

As for Naina she regrets what she blurted out. But why? Is she ashamed of something? Or is it the fact that she didn't want to disclose this in front of Rajveer? May be! Or may be it's just that she didn't want to disclose it this way.

Rajveer doesn't realize when his hands turn into fists - a gesture of controlling his anxiety and anger. But what's that anxiety for? What's that anger for?

"Ahmm... Shantanu!",

Naina says hesitantly, ignoring to meet his eyes.

"Shantanu?",

prompts Rajveer, knitting his brows a little.

By the gestures of Naina, Rajveer anticipates where might this story lead to. But he remains adament about Naina's telling him about Shantanu herself rather than him pushing her to do so. And why would he do that anyways, he has no rights to do that!

(Slow Rajveer-Naina guitar tune begins)

"Ahmm... dost tha mera!",

says Naina in hoarse whisper.

Her heartbeat picks up pace. She doesn't realize when she starts getting nervous about Rajveer's reaction to all this.

"Dost!",

prompts Rajveer, looking at her, almost taunting.

Naina lowers her eyes as she reads his eyes and realizes how this is affecting him. Closing her eyes, she shakes her head into negative.

"Wo to janta bhi nahi tha meri feelings ke barey mein!",

says Naina, regretting the fact.

Rajveer feels yet another kinship with Naina. He could feel, Naina had been at his place once! Even she has gone through the feeling about - your feelings not getting acknowledged.

Hesitantly, not meeting her eyes, he asks her, holding his breath,

"Tumne kabhi koshish nahi ki usse batane ki?"

His eyes burns possessively, as gradually an anger and jealousy surge through him.

Smirking, Naina says,

"Hawa se baatein karta tha wo".

Rajveer knits his brows a little as he gets intruged to know further about him.

"Apni duniya mein mast rehta tha".

Rajveer listens to her, trying to understand her by understanding Shantanu. He notices how her eyes glitter while speaking about Shantanu.

"Bilkul...",

Naina tries to think about someone who matches or resembles Shantanu's personality.

"Bilkul Huda ki tarah!"

(Rajveer-Naina revolt tune begins)

After staring Naina for moments, out of shock, Rajveer lowers his eyes, smiling sarcastically, he asks,

"Fir kya hota tha?"

Naina drowns into the pool of memories and unconsciously a smile stretches on her lips,

"Main chup chap usse dekhti thi chup-chup kar".

Rajveer looks towards her sheepishly, he feels he has been caught red handed, as he too stares her secretly!

"Aur kayi... kayi baar to he used to catch me staring him!",

says an excited Naina.

Blushing, she shuts her eyes tight and continues,

"Sir it used to be so embarrassing".

But whom is she saying all this? He knows exactly how embarrassing it must have been after all he too has been caught by Naina, staring her, on several occassions!

"Naina...",

Rajveer pauses and lowers his eyes out of hesitation before continuing further,

"Agar wo Huda ki tarah tha to fir to tumhe Shantanu se bhi irritation hoti hogi? Just like tumhe Huda se hoti hai! Aur agar nahi hoti thi...",

he pauses again and silently gains strength before continuing,

"To... to fir to iska matlab tumhe Huda bhi...",

he trails off the sentence, knowing that she would understand, and looks towards her.

(Rajveer-Naina revolt tune begins)

After staring him for sometime out of shock, Naina lowers her eyes out of hesitation. Rajveer follows the suit. Naina replies ignoring to look towards him,

"Bachpana tha mera!",

her voice hoarse whisper.

Her words as if rejuvenates him, he asks out of excitement, if not face but his voice reflects his excitement as he asks,

"Matlab ab tum usse pyar nahi karti?"

Naina looks at him, knitting her brows. Why would he think that?

This in turn makes Rajveer to lower his eyes out of shyness.

"Although I never regretted that I loved him once but still sometimes I do feel embarrassed!",

blushes Naina.

Rajveer smiles secretly, enjoying seeing a blushing Naina.

"Of course I have no feelings for him today, what so ever! Isliye to main yahan hun KMA mein, apke paas!",

smiles Naina, broadly.

Her words skip Rajveer's heartbeat, while Naina doesn't realize how much her words mean to Rajveer. And together they don't realize that their regrets - Rajveer's coming for mentorship programme and Naina's sharing about Shantanu with Rajveer, has brought them closer to each other. Made their bond stronger. Sometimes regrets turn out to be boon, don't they?

(Slow Rajveer-Naina guitar tune begins)

Hesitantly, Rajveer lowers his eyes before saying, very slowly, hesitantly,

"Waise... Major Bhargava ne ek baat zarur sahi kahi!"

"Kya?",

asks Naina politely, her voice low, smiling doubtly on seeing her mentor smiling.

"I do have a beautiful protegee!",

he blushes saying that, as it took all his self confidence and courage to say that to her.

Blushing, Naina lowers her eyes. Then looking back towards him again after sometime, Naina says,

"And about Huda I have never loved him. I don't love him still. I won't love him ever, I promise",

she says, smiling, although she fails to understand why did she promise it to him.

But this she is sure, she doesn't regret promising him. Won't regret ever. And about Rajveer, he is sure that if they both stay together, they won't regret spending any moment together!

(Rajveer-Naina tune continues as they stare each other lovingly)

-THE END-

(26.3.2018)