rajveer naina - fated

chapter 2

Chapter 2

Year 2033

Asha Dutt awoke from a nightmare that she wasn't able to remember, a scream dying on her lips as she sat up, sweat dripping down from her forehead.She just hoped that it wasn't a bad sign on the day that she was finally going to be joining her first duty station in the army, the day she has dreamed of for more years than she can count.Asha has always been different.She had been born the youngest of two boys and three girls, the children of a rich businessman living in Kolkata.

Ever since she was young she had felt like an outsider, different to the rest of her family. Even her mother had sometimes worriedly confided to friends about Asha's strangeness.As a child she had had the most terrible nightmares, wakingin the middle of the night screaming, her clothes wet with sweat. Asha could never remember what she had dreamed of and all of the doctors and psychiatrists her parents consulted had been unable to say what was causing it.

As Asha had grown older, the nightmares had gradually stopped, occurring only rarely, and Asha's parents had hoped that the worst was over and that their daughter would become like the rest of the family. Their other children had all happily accepted the roles decided for them. Their two sons had joined the family business and both of their older daughters had completed undergraduatestudies before getting married to the sons of wealthy family friends.

Asha had had different dreams.Always fiercely independent and quite stubborn, at the age of five she had announced that she wanted to join the army when she grew up. Her parents had hoped that it was a passing phase she would grow out of, but Asha had remained determined. Her family had no idea where the desire had come from. None of her relatives were in the army, and neither were any of their friends. Her parents, her brothers and sisters, all tried to convince Asha to change her mind but she stood firm.When she was 19 years old she had gained admission to Barrackpore Military Academy. Her parents had agreed to let her go as they had hoped that she would change her mind after realizing how difficult military training really was. Asha, however, didn't find it difficult at all, she excelled at everything. All of the teachers there were amazed by her ability, she was a fast learner and was able tocomplete even the most difficult of drills easily. It was no surprise to anybody when she won the best cadet award.

Now after a month on leave, Asha was about to join her newregiment at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. While India was not formally at war with China, there had been increased tensions lately between the two super-powers. Now that the United States was a less powerful player in world affairs, India, China and the European Union had a far greater influence. While China hadn't made any aggressive moves towards India yet, the population was quite worried now that the neighbouring country had invaded and conquered Burma.

As she got ready for the day ahead, a message arrived on Asha's phone, and pausing to read it she smiled, seeing thatit was from her best friend Amiya Chatterjee. The two of them had been roommates at the Academy and had soon become inseparable. It had been a relief for both of them todiscover they were being deployed to the same posting as at least they would have each other while they were so far away from home.Asha quickly sent Amiya a message back, reassuring her that she had gotten up on time and would be meeting her at the troop pick up point on schedule. It had been Amiya's last comment about dealing with their parents' rhona dhonaroutines that had really made Asha smile.

Her parents had never been happy about her joining the military, and now when she was finally about to be posted for the first time, they seemed to be in denial about it happening and kept thinking of new reasons why she shouldn't be going.The latest one was that she could actually serve her country much better by starting up a business instead, by helping toincrease its prosperity. Asha had really rolled her eyes at that one. "Think of it this way, Baba," she told him, "I'll be protecting the people who are increasing the prosperity."Today was the day that she would join the army properly as a trained soldier and protect the borders and Asha couldn't wait. It was what she had wanted her whole life and today her dream would finally be true.

Asha wasn't taking much with her, their uniforms would be provided once they arrived so all she had to pack was some casual clothes for their time off and some small mementos, photos of her family, friends and batchmates.Finally it was time to bid farewell to her family. She had asked them to say goodbye to her at home instead of at thepickup point, knowing that they were all likely to make a scene, especially her mother. Sure enough, her mother was already crying, and Asha embraced her gently."Ma, don't cry," she told her, "I'm going to be perfectly fine, we're not at war right now.""But what if war breaks out?" her mother asks emotionally,"You're our youngest child, Asha, I couldn't stand it if we lost you. Can't you change your mind?""No, Ma." Asha replies seriously, "You know that this is what I want. There's no greater duty than serving your country, you should be proud that you're sending a daughter to do it."One by one, her brothers, their wives, her sisters, and her nieces and nephews came forward to hug her goodbye.

All of them knew that there was no use arguing with Asha, eversince she was born she had never given up until she got what she wanted. The last of all to say goodbye was her father, who hugged her briefly and then looked at her seriously."Be safe, Asha, and make sure that you keep in contact withus often. You know Rajesh will be up there reporting on the situation so at least there'll be somebody there to look afteryou."Asha feels like groaning, the last thing she wants on her first assignment is to have to see Rajesh. She has to see him often enough at her parents' stupid parties anyway. She knows that their families are expecting them to get married eventually, that in fact it is all but arranged already but Asha isn't one to give in easily and she certainly isn't about to marry someone that she can barely stand."Baba, I'll know Amiya there, remember?" Asha reminds him, "I don't need Rajesh or anybody else to look after me, I'm an officer in the Indian Army."Her father nods, "Yes, yes, I know you don't need anybody to look after you." He sayas reassuringly, but Asha just knows that he will tell Rajesh to look in on her anyway.At last they said their final goodbyes and the driver dropped Asha and her bag off at the pick up point, where she quickly makes sure that her name is crossed off the list before going in search for Amiya.

It wasn't as easy to find her friend as she had hoped, with more women joining these days, almost a third of the soldiers waiting to be transferred were female. Finally, Ashafinds Amiya chatting to some of the other new pass outs, these ones from a different academy.As soon as she sees Asha, she gives her a warm hug."We're finally on our way!" Amiya exclaims, "This is what wetrained for two years for, and now we get to prove ourselves." She winks at the girls in front of them, "We'll bring glory to Barrackpore Academy's name!"Asha laughs at Amiya's enthusiasm. Her friend came from a very patriotic family and was the third of four daughters. Amiya's father had initially been disappointed that he had no son to send to the army, but he had soon realized that he didn't need one when he had a daughter like her."Calm down, Amiya." Asha tells her, "We haven't even reached the border yet. Let's at least see what the situationis before we start thinking about bringing glory to our academy's name.""Now that's spoken like the best cadet passout of 2033." Amiya replies with a grin, slinging her arm around Asha's shoulders.

Within half an hour the signal to leave was given and they climbed onto the troop transport aircraft which would be taking them. The journey passed quickly enough chatting tothe other soldiers and speculating on what the situation would be once they arrived.The moment that the aircraft touches down, and Asha steps off, she has a strong feeling that she is now exactly where she is meant to be. Everything she has done in her life so far, every decision she has made, has been driven by a strong sense of destiny.

There is one thing that Asha believes in life.

Everything that happens is fated.

For new readers

In this new life naina is asha and rajveer is dheeraj