THE REVOLUTIONISTS

Chapter Three

The night passed; it passed with a restless amount of thinking and insomnia. I got up quite early; and was pacing around the yard. Vijay was supposed to come and take me to their 'playground'; a very pretty way to name some place where people used to practice battle strategies. Tough I could manage on my own, he decided to make sure that I didn't get lost.

Vijay came a few moments later. All the other members of the house were still asleep. I followed him to the forest without asking any question; he was not talking either. It really seemed like the time was running faster; it didn't take much time to get there.

Watching those men practicing with their guns and all the stuffs; it seemed like they didn't sleep the whole night. I felt I was quite late though the sun was still not up properly. Just an enough amount of light was illuminating the sky. Vijay left me with a group of very young boys; I didn't ever think that boys of that age could handle firearms. But they seemed like quite professionals. I looked like a fool in front of them. In the mean time a dark skinned man came towards me, and shouted. His voice almost made me jump and all the boys were trying hard to hide their chuckles.

- What the hell are you doing here?' He juggled his cane with his fingers. It reminded me of my old head teacher of our school. He continued his huge intimidating voice spitting all over the place. 'You can't even stand near a gun; you are frightened like a girl.' His cane hit me like a sward slashing my flesh. 'Even girls here are more educated than you.'

May be there education means how to handle terrorism or a gun. I stood there and said nothing. My thigh was screaming with a slashing pain. I had no idea what to do; the man (we are addressing him as commander) gave me a handgun and started teaching me how to hold a gun. The gun he gave me was a Glock30. Well, I could recognize the gun because, when I was younger I had a real interest in guns, or maybe I was watching too much action movies in that age and spent a whole lot of time playing video games.

He was telling me to always point the gun to down range; even if it's not loaded, for safety precautions. But I didn't worry about that too much. They were training me to kill people anyway. I tried to listen to the other things he was saying very carefully and was trying to sink in those ideas. He taught me about the dominant hand grip, and how to properly hold the handgun with two hands. I didn't really understand about the recoil force part; it took a several more hits of that cane slash to get it through my thick skull. My ideas about the guns were all based upon those video games; so it was frustrating to make those corrections.

I shot for the first time; I was surprised by the sound; it was nothing like the effects in those movies I watched or the games I played. The real life experience was far different than the fictional world. It was not all fun anymore.

But I managed to get some interest in this subject; I continued practicing. And it really surprised me that I was enjoying the practice session after a sudden time.

I was allowed to take rest. And I noticed the others. The kids were doing their practices. They were firing with more accuracy, even the beginner ones. Maybe the craft was in their blood.

I couldn't find Uncle ji anywhere; but in the middle of the day, he appeared in the corner of the playground. I was still trying to play around with the gun I was given. So I moved my eyes from him. He came over and said in his friendly tone;

- Ah... Prateek...? You've practiced enough today. I have been watching you the whole day.' How could he watch me without looking at me or not being present? Whatever, he continued. 'You are a fast learner. But now you should take rest; take it easy in your first day.'

- I don't know how am I enjoying these?' I was looking at my gun. It looked like just an innocent advanced toy.

- I told you; you've got potential;' He said. 'You are destined to do great things m'boy.'