Heaven in Hell

FIRST DAY (CONTD.)

DAY 1 (CONTD.)

0810 hours

SIDDHARTH MISHRA:

Freshly showered and cleaned up, I enter Roshesh's room, "Come on, let me have at it and please don't tell anybody else about it, I'll ..."

Before I could offer anything he asked, he cuts me off with a devilish grin, "I think it is too late for that. Everybody knows. In fact, you are about to receive a grand slogging at breakfast. Come, let's eat"

Eat what? Me. But I reluctantly follow him to the Officer's mess accepting my fate.

(At the Officer's Mess)

The moment I enter, I'm greeted with loud hoots and cheers of all men. Roshesh commands, "Down" and every fucking person in that room demonstrates being knocked off.

I can merely keep my head down and walk to my table.

Officer Akshat tries to trip me on the way to my table. When I manage to evade his leg, he pulls me in a headlock saying "Oh, you can see? Because I thought, looking was not meant for you."

Everybody erupts into laughter at that. I think my face is never coming back from a permanent red after this.

After he releases me, Roshesh holds a plate on both sides of my heads and bonks them, "Look, his head is not made of plastic. And it seems to be filled because it did not collapse."

A few people choke on their tea while Roshesh keeps bonking my head a few more times. To put an end to my misery, I take a hard-boiled egg and smash it on my head making everybody howl in laughter. Seeming satisfied for now, everybody gets back to their meals, except Roshesh who hasn't been able to stop laughing long enough to gulp down food.

0828 hours

KYRA IRANI:

My arms are just ready to fall off. Judging from Arjun's constipated voice counting '857', he doesn't seem to be doing any better. Officer Siddharth comes carrying something in his hands and squats at Arjun's eye level.

"Update, Arjun"

"860 sir"

"Did I say 'it should not be less than 1000'?"

"Yes sir"

"And you decided that it was ok to do 140 less?"

"No sir"

"You mind repeating that?"

"I mean negative sir"

"So not only did you find it acceptable to do 140 less but you also forgot the basic jargons even known to the civilian world and cannot follow the basic order of repeating your answer. GET YOUR FUCKING KNEES OFF THE GROUND AND STOP SHAKING YOUR ARMS. WHO THE FUCK GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO STOP PUSHING WHILE YOU GIVE AN UPDATE?"

Before Arjun could starting pushing, I'm pulled up by my hairs, followed with a harsher pull at Arjun and Ashwin. A cold packet is shoved in our faces before Officer Siddharth barks "1 MINUTE IS LEFT FOR THE REST OF CLASS TO ASSEMBLE. SHOVE YOUR MREs DOWN YOUR THROAT FAST"

Knowing military customs, I waste no time in opening all packets of my MRE and mixing them before scooping as much as I can inside my mouth. Without waiting to chew it properly, I gulp it down. Besides me, Ashwin seems to be doing the same while Arjun is taking his sweet time in chewing and eating a packet.

0830 hours:

ARJUN NANVATI:

Before I could complete the eggs, the MRE was snatched. I looked up to see the rest of the class running back to the ground after breakfast. The eggs were barely a mouthful and I'm still hungry. Damn it.

I look at Ashwin and Kyra to see that they resemble chipmunks with food-filled mouths. Their MREs are almost over and their hands and faces dirty. Sir throws a bottle of water at us. Ashwin and Kyra waste no time in gulping the water to ease the swallowing of food and then washing their face and hands. I gulps as much of water as I can to ensure that I can survive the lack of proper breakfast. I ate quite clean and hence, my hands or mouth is not dirty.

Once the rest of the class was assembled, the next 0430 hours were spent doing sit-ups, running across terrains, getting wet and rolling in the sand, leg crunches and anything sir could think of. My stomach had long started rumbling and hence I was made the official 'Count Master' ordered to 'Count louder than my stomach' for each damn exercise.

Lunch break was spent the same way as breakfast-  doing push-ups and gobbling down MRE. Learning my lesson, this time, I ate like a man eating his first meal in years.

2200 hours:

ASHWIN SAHNI:

All I want to do is snuggle in my bed and sleep. My arms feel ready to fall off but thankfully I am much better than Kyra and Arjun who have dipped in the cold water more times than I have showered in my life. Each time they slow down on the push-ups or try resting their arms using their knees, Officer Siddharth has them taking a dip in the water. Thankfully, I had to take a dip only five times and I'm happy my labour days have helped me hold myself up during the push-ups.

"UP"

Releasing a sigh, I thank God that the push-ups are done for the day. I don't think I have anything for tomorrow.

"Next time you think of playing something like this, I'll bring in some heat. The push-ups would be starters of the day and each of you would go to your bed crawling or in a stretcher. Are we clear?"

A unanimous "Yes sir" and "Yes Officer Siddharth" were heard across the grinder before we were dismissed for the day.

2230 hours:

ROSHESH VAZA:

Siddharth entered my room when I was nursing a beer in one hand and a dumbbell in another. Like a true friend, he started, "Ok, time for news. Who did you have to inform? Why? And the consequences?"

"I informed Agent Prescott. He is the one I report to for such matters. He was pissed enough to hit, curse and shout at me, preferably in front of juniors. He said he would call back"

"You report to him!"

I could see the astonishment in his eyes. I have heard the legendary tales too. Tales of his merciless behaviour and his bravery. How I wish I could say they weren't true, especially the first part!

"Yes, I do." I curtly replied. The less he knows, the better.

"So, he decides what to do here and not you or a committee or my reporting officer."

"I believe so."

"Well, then I'm screwed. Aren't I?"

Yes, my friend, you are. He is quite merciless when he has set his sights. "Not yet. We don't know the consequences of your ummm..."

"Stupid, incompetent, being late, not seeing incident"

"Yes, incident"

"Are the tales of his umm training true?"

Yes, but only in part. Worse have never been told. "I don't know"

I hand a cold beer to Siddharth who looks lost deep in his thoughts. Knowing him, he would do anything to retain his instructor badge. What he doesn't know is that Agent Prescott would never kick him out. He is most likely going to 'toughen' him up. What that entails depends entirely on his mood.