Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Conversations Aboard The Train

Everything was ready for the Cadets to leave. They had been briefed on how to behave there at IMA and they had been told what the schedule would be like. They would be continuing their drills and classes with the IMA cadets. Anant seemed to be heartbroken at that.

Also, additional activities like games and fairs would be arranged every day and then on the sixth day, the function would be held along with IMA Alumni being present. So, it was going to be interesting to say the least.

They had to leave at 9 o'clock in the morning and they would reach at 9 a.m. the following day. The day after they had been told about the visit, was spent in the preparation, packing and getting a proper confirmation from IMA and everything.

It was the day for the Cadets to leave and they were ready wearing casuals, perks of having MG Rathore as a guardian. They all were supposed to meet at the entrance. When they reached there, Captain Chauhan and Captain Rathore were already waiting, looking as handsome as ever in Jeans and Mufti shirts though they both had their jackets on. Major General Rathore and Sanyukta ma'am were also waiting with them.

Sanyukta ma'am had a mischievous look in her eyes. She looked at Shreya and then at Anant and then at the girls with a sly smile. The girls knew that Anant was going to get a good dose of embarrassing, motherly love.

"Hay, my sweet little boy is going to be all alone. How are you going to survive in this cruel world? I promise I will call you daily to sing to you till I reach there," Sanyukta Ma'am said, hugging Anant tightly.

Shambhavi and Anisha had burst out laughing, turning around to hide their faces from the rest.

"And, don't worry if you have a nightmare. Go and sleep with Advith or Aniket," Sanyukta ma'am continued.
Shreya, having never met her, was thinking that Anant was actually scared of being alone but everyone else knew that she was just embarrassing Anant in front of Shreya.

"I won't let him sleep with me," Advith said, catching up with his mother's scheme.

Shreya was not sure if she should laugh or not, or if she should be alarmed at the Rathore family's behavior. Anisha was thoroughly enjoying the expressions adorning Shreya's face, swinging between scared to low-key embarrassment, to being alarmed, all within the span of a minute of meeting the only female Rathore.

Shambhavi could not stop herself and she burst out laughing who was followed by Aniket and then one by one all of them guffawed. If Anant were to blush any more, he would have resembled a red, hot chili. He scowled at his family and that prompted a harder laughter.

"Yes, please go ahead and make fun of me. I am the youngest and that's why you all say whatever you want," Anant said with a cute pout.

Shambhavi and Anisha hugged Anant and said, "Haye mera chaand ka tukda, are you angry?"

Even Anant had a smile on his face now, which he was trying very hard to stop from appearing, but alas, he also started laughing and Shreya was surprised to see him like this. She had always seen the not serious, flirtatious side of Anant's personality and never even imagined him to be shy or family oriented.

The jokes were over, and the group said goodbye to the Rathore Parents. They caught the train and departed on time. All along the way Anant and Shreya bickered over small things like the seating arrangement, the sleeping arrangement and what they were going to eat, etc. while Anisha and Advith tried to resolve those issues and calm both of them down. Shambhavi and Aniket enjoyed watching the fight and sometimes Shambhavi would instigate them more, earning a stern look from Aniket.

It was nighttime and Advith and Anisha were just lying down, staring at each other. Anant was trying to sleep while Shreya was fast asleep. Aniket and Shambhavi were talking about IMA and the training there along with some light flirting when Anant said, "Guys, please! Could you two, like, flirt tomorrow morning? I am trying to sleep here."

Shambhavi blushed and Aniket said, "Tell that to your brother."

Advith also replied, "He is saying that to his brother, you idiot."

Anant replied, "I am saying that to both my brothers, not just one of them," the elder two boys smiled and Aniket got off the middle bunk. He took Shambhavi's hand helping her down and they left the compartment, while both Anant and Advith exclaimed, 'Aye Haye!'

"Why are we here?" asked Shambhavi, trying to sound normal and trying to suppress her intensifying blush.

"Didn't you hear my little brother? He wanted quiet and I was not going to stop talking to you," Aniket replied.

Shambhavi looked at him with a smile, pride and respect in her eyes. She was completely smitten by this fun, family loving, caring side of Aniket that was reserved for a select few in his life. She kept looking at him as he was telling her some story about Anant and his love for sleeping. She could hear his words but not make any sense of it as she was busy gazing at his handsome face.

Aniket looked at her and saw her in a daze looking at him with admiration, "Shambhavi?" he called her with a tender voice that he only ever used to address her.

"I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be as good a friend as you are to Advith Sir and Anant. I want to be like that, like you," she said, voicing the cause behind her admiration filled eyes. "They mean a lot to you, don't they?" she asked him.

"They do. I was an orphan when I joined NDA. Advith was my roommate, always being quiet and rude was his nature. Meanwhile, I was always joking around, never serious. One day he had gotten angry at a prank I did on him and he questioned my non-serious approach to life, me being a prince and still so nonchalant about life had him irked and he questioned if that is what my parents taught me. That day I got so angry at him that I shouted at him and told him about how I had lost my parents when I was fifteen," Aniket narrated the story with a small smile on his face.

"He was shocked. He didn't apologize right away, but he eventually did. That term, he took me to his home and just like that I had a family again. They might not be my blood, but sometimes the relations made by hearts are much stronger than those made by blood," Aniket said, and Shambhavi could see the love he had for the Rathore family, swirling in his eyes.

"I don't know what I would do in life if they were not a part of it. They're my anchor, and, while I might be funny and not so serious for the world, only a few people truly know me. The Rathores are at the top of the list. I would never be able to live peacefully if I did not have them with me," Aniket had said in such a heartfelt way that Shambhavi was on the verge of giving him a hug.

"And now, you know. I am positive that nobody else really knows my story," Aniket said.

Shambhavi smiled at this. It felt like she had been offered a great treasure and not just Aniket's trust.

"So, that means, I am one of your anchors now?" she asked in a playful manner, trying to lighten the heavy mood.

"Oh no, Miss Vyas. You are not my anchor. Anchor would be too small a word to describe your place in my life," he went towards her, her back hitting the wall of the corridor they were standing in.

He was mere inches from her. She could see his brown eyes turn a darker shade of deep brown, almost looking black, "You are my purpose of living, my need to be a better man, my lifeline," Aniket said, taking Shambhavi by surprise.

"How do you do that?" she asked in a whisper, "How do you always say such words with so little effort as if they were easy to say?"

"Because they are easy. Everything in my life has been difficult. I hide that difficulty behind the quick-witted persona but the one thing that has never been difficult, is you. When it comes to you, everything for me is as easy as breathing. Everything I feel is as if it's a need, not a feeling, almost like the beating of my heart. I could not stop it even if I wanted to. It's involuntary, yet, I don't want it to stop," Aniket said, with a conviction and ease that Shambhavi did not possess.

Aniket could see her struggling to give words to her feelings "I know you can't express your feelings. It's not easy for you to voice what you think and feel. I do not know why you are so closed off, why you don't share your emotions, but I don't want you to think that you need to tell me either. Your eyes speak much more than you do. They tell me everything I need to know," Aniket said, putting his hand on her cheek.

If Shambhavi could express her feelings aloud, she would have screamed that she was in love with Aniket Rai Chauhan.