Dawning

Chapter 1

<<Laltu, 1998>>

The train screeched to a halt at a semi abandoned railway station. Laltu, was a small town in Chandigarh with a head count of roughly 50K people. The railway station, even smaller. It only had one platform, and twice a day, the train would drop and pickup passengers from the town.

Major Hardayal Singh Dhillon stepped out of the train, his army friends preferred to call him "Hardy". He was finally here. He didn't have much with him, a big rucksack over his back, an old tape recorder in one hand and couple of bags of sweets and snacks in the other. He wasn't planning on staying for long. He just had to find the guy, thank him, return the tape recorder and return back home to Pathankot by the evening train.

He walked a little further and found the station master, checking some paperwork at the counter.

"Hello ji, myself Major Hardayal Singh Dhillon." He introduced himself.

"So?" The middle aged man, who looked rather tired of the world, adjusted his glasses and looked up.

"Ji, I was searching for a man, with cheetah tattoo on his arm. I've come to know he lives in Laltu. Do you by any chance know anyone here with that description?"  Hardy explained.

"You can go into the village and find for yourself. I don't have time to answer your silly questions." The station master immediately dismissed him and got back to his work.

Hardy opened his mouth again to say something but decided to leave it at it. He'd go the local watering whole or a dhaba and find out for himself. He walked into the small town. Places were not difficult to find here, after walking on the worn down road for couple of minutes he spotted the local dhaba. He took a seat at a table and ordered a cup of tea. After some time, a young boy returned with his tea. Hardy thought of trying his luck again. He called the boy as he was leaving,

"Hey listen, I'm searching for a man with Cheetah tattoo on his right arm. He runs just like one. Do you know anyone here in the village who has the tattoo?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh! You must be looking for Sukhi bhaiyya." The boy remarked and relief washed over Hardy's face.

"Yes. Yes Sukhi. Do you know where his house is?"

"Take the next right from here and you'll find a wine shop, next to it is a PCO. Sukhi bhaiyya's house is right opposite to it." The boy pointed in the general direction of the said shop.

Hardy paid for the tea, thanked the boy again and set out to find Sukhi.

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"Hello! Is anyone home?" Hardy called out from the front stoop.

There was no sign of life in the yard but he could hear someone coughing inside. When he didn't get a response, he decided to go inside and apologize later. Once he was inside, he saw an old man sat on his rocking chair coughing. Hardy rushed to help him. He dropped his bags and gave the man some water.

"Who are you son?" The man inquired once he had regained balance.

"Ji uncle, myself Major Hardayal Singh Dhillon. I've come all the way from Pathankot-" Hardy had just started when he got interrupted by an angry rant.

"Oh the neighbouring village? I remember my son had gone for a run there last year and had found some injured soldier. He nursed that guy back to life apparently and left my beloved tape recorder with him. People are so ungrateful these days! It's been over six months and the man hasn't even said thank you."

Hardy pulled the bag with tape recorder from the floor with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Uncle ji, the culprit would be me. Your son Sukhi had found me in the field after I was attacked and left for the dead by the enemy. He took me to the hospital and made sure I concious before leaving. He left the tape recorder playing old cassettes near my bed. It helped me a lot during recovery, taking my mind off the pain."

He handed the tape recorder to Sukhi's father and continued,

"Sorry it took me so long to return it. But my jaw was broken and it took a while to set. Neither did I know the name or the address of the person who saved me."
"Where is your son by the way? I would like to thank him myself. I got some sweets with me as well." Hardy pulled the other bag closer.

"Oh dear.. he must be at the English speaking classes. He's set his mind to run off to England for a girl. I don't know how to talk him out that. He's already sold half of our belongings to pay for it." Sukhi's father replied wearily.

For the first time since setting his foot inside, Hardy noticed how scarce the house was. The walls had cracked in multiple places. The roof in the back corner had almost caved in.

"Let me try to talk to him. I'll persuade him. I want to help uncle ji."

Hardy found himself speaking even before he could think it through.

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Author's note: I promise, you just have to hold on.