"As the son of Maqbir, a retired shiqdar, I Shailya am honoured to serve the Royal Malwai Army" Shailya announced and took his military certificate from Bakshi Shaturga.
Bakshi Shaturga steps on the stage and starts speaking, "I the Bakshi of Royal Malwai Army, congratulate all the new military cadets of the Rajmahal Regiment. However, the drill is not over yet. All of the newly enrolled cadets will show up at Marinabad military base the day after tomorrow. You all need training, therefore I announced the military training at Marinabad for a week starting the day after tomorrow. Good Luck."
"We are honoured to have Bakshi Shaturga here leading the young minds to a rightful path. You all can go to your hometown but return before day after tomorrow evening. Event dismissed." former military commander of Sahanabad Regiment and trainer in charge of Royal Army"s new cadets enrollment Ganitvadev spoke.
Everyone was tired at the moment, going to their respective dorms and packing their luggage. The atmosphere was full of excitement driven by exhaustion.
Shailya took his luggage and sat on the cart with another guy from the event, Sukheer. Shailya only had a few bucks which were not enough for a cab ride so he took a horse-drawn cart and went towards the railway station.
"What is your name?" Sukheer spoke up first
"Why do you wanna know?" Shailya answered showing no interest in him.
"C"mon I saw you at the event"
"Oh, I see" Shailya was holding back his emotions of excitement that someone recognized him.
"So who are you and what is your name"
"I"m Shailya, son of Maqbir the shiqdar and grandchild of former commander of Rajmahal Regiment, Anbir." Shailya spoke up finally with a straight face.
"Oh, I see. Call me Sukheer, I am not the son of a government official. I am the son of Edwin, an ordinary man."
"Edwin? Are you from abroad." Shailya asked genuinely.
"Oh! Nope. I"m not a foreigner but my grandfather was from Britain." Sukheer laughed.
"You have a different name from your dad. At first, you seemed a little of different descent than us."
"Was I? Actually my dad didn"t want me to feel different from others so he named me Sukheer, that was a common name at that time, but I am still a Christian."
"I see. I don"t mind you being a Christian or a Muslim."
"You"re one of those secular beings, right?"
"You can say"
"People who believe in secularism are rare these days. I hope that in the future changes will come
"It sure will. I promise you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I think the station has came"
"Uhm yes!"
Both stepped down from the cart paid to the cart driver and started chatting while going inside the station.
"Where are you headed, Shailya?"
"Bikkan Station"
"You are from Bikkan, it is a big city."
"Indeed, but I am not from Bikkan I am from Diwankula. There are no direct trains to Diwankula so I need to stop at Bikkan and wait for the train going to Diwankula."
"Diwankula! It is an amazing town, I"ve heard of it from my dad"
"Where are you going to, Sukheer?"
"Veerni"
"That is the next stop from Bikkan"
"I know"
"Let"s take tickets"
"Sure"
Both went to the ticket counter and purchased two tickets, one for Veerni and the other for Bikkan.
"Passengers the train from Saba to Indunagar, Train No. 765801 will arrive at platform no.3 in 28 minutes." The announcement was made by a lady announcer.
"Shailya, I think that was our train"s announcement"
"Indeed, it was. Sukheer"
"Let"s wait at the platform"
"Sure"
They both went to their designated platform and sat on a bench nearby waiting for the train to arrive, looking at the clocks.
"I think we should meet at the training camp" Sukheer asked Shailya
"Sure"
"But the thing is how can we contact each other"
"We can write letters but it is just a mere two days, so I will let check destiny"
"Destiny?"
"Yeah! If destiny wants us to meet we will meet if not then some other day"
"Sure as you say" Sukheer was feeling embarrassed for absolutely no reason.
Three hours passed
"I think that the next stop is mine, Sukheer"
"Oh is it then my stop is near too"
"Indeed"
The train stopped at Bikkan Station
"Goodbye Sukheer. Had a great day talking to you
"Bye I"m sure that we will meet again."
Shailya stepped down from the train and took a local train from the station towards Dinki station in Diwankula District. He finally arrived at his hometown. Everyone was waiting for Shailya at the station, his father, mother, sister and many more. It was a night of celebration to welcome the new cadate Shailya.
"The celebration was good wasn"t it brother." Shailya"s sister Tanii asked Shailya.
"It was, after a long time."
"It has been months since the day our grandfather died in a war, and finally we all the townfolks are able to celebrate something."
"Yeah! It has been a long time since all of the townfolks celebrated together."
"That makes you responsible for their happiness, brother."
"Uhm true"
"Promise me you"ll always keep us and yourself happy. You need to work hard just like Sheena and her brother."
"I will and I promise you."
"Thank You brother for everything"
"Oh my little sister"
Shailya seemed happy after a long time. Tanii hugged Shailya and both seemed happy. It was midnight already everyone went to sleep but Shailya was still awake.
"Why can"t I sleep?" Shailya speak out loud in his mind
Shailya put on his cloak and went outside, he was wandering in the town alone. As it was midnight, the town was dark and the streets were empty. Shailya paved his way towards the Sacred Banyan Tree. He loved it since his childhood. Its long roots, huge trunk, its leaves, fruits, branches, and even the plants under it mesmerized him always.
"Who is that guy? At this time." He questioned himself looking at a man in his middle-ages.
That man was wearing a long black cloak with black clothes on inside, he had long hairs and mesmerizing eyes of a God. He was wandering near the river that was 400 m far from the tree in the east.
"Hey! Old man" Shailya shouted in the middle of the night
The man unheard him and ignored him. He was in his own world, walking around with no destination just from river to tree then back from tree to the river. He didn"t seem to have any interest in talking to Shailya, but he still rushed towards him to evoke him.
"Hey, old man wait I"m coming" Shailya shouted
"Huff-Huff-Huff" Shailya ran towards him faster than anyone.
"Old Man, why aren"t you talking?" Shailya asked him, but he was still tired.
"Just go away"the old man said in frustration
"I won"t"
"How annoying can children be these days?"
"More than me old man. By the way, who are you, never saw you in this town?"
"Before that tell me who are you?"
"Me" Shailya pointed at himself and asked
"Yes"
"Weren"t you at the celebration last night."
"Nope. What celebration"
"Celebration that I returned home"
"What is good in it, everyone returns home after working?"
"I got my military certificate and now I"m cadet Shailya of the Royal Malwai Army."
"I see. I"m Vahal, call me Vahalla."
"Va-Vahalla"
"Indeed."
"Isn"t that name different from ours. Do you happen to be Norse or any foreign European lineage"
"No son." he laughed for the very first time during the conversation.
"I"m from somewhere that not just you everyone on this planet is unaware of."
"So you"re from some village aren"t you"
"Nope. I will tell you about myself when I will too. How many days you living in here?"
"Uhm…for two days"
"Fine then we will meet tomorrow in the early morning"
"Say it today at dawn, old man"
Both of them left the place and went to their own houses. Shailya finally went to bed and slept.
[To be continued in Chapter 2]