She wrapped up cleaning the kitchen while Sandeep was busy preparing the bed. The couple was together after a long gap of about 8 odd months when Sandeep had just returned home after serving his duty at the national forces and had been deployed at one of the highest altitudes of the country.

The couple had missed out so much since their marriage three years ago because Sandeep was mostly away in his assignments. Sandeep was one of the chosen few of their community who had the pride of serving in the army. His entire family and his village felt proud of him and each one who had decided to serve their motherland . Bindiya had agreed to marry Sandeep solely due to the pride that her husband’s service promised. And yes, she had to pay a huge price for that as well. Long days of separation filled with anxiety and longing for her beloved was what she had to go through. Sandeep fought at the border while his better half fought it out at the domestic front. She knew very well since the beginning that when they would have kids, it would be purely her responsibility to build the family singlehandedly. However, she was mentally ready for this. She had always admired men in uniform since her younger days. There was nothing braver than men fighting out the enemies at the battlefront for her. And marrying Sandeep was as if a dream come true for her!

 When Sandeep came home during his holidays, both the husband and wife seemed inseparable and tried their best to make up for the lost days of togetherness. The mornings seemed more magical, the days seemed brighter and the evenings were like ephemeral symphonies. The short periods of their conjugal life were filled with a strong desire to give each other the best of the time; unlike couples who spend most of the time together and take each other for granted. Sometimes, absence makes us realize that we should treasure what we already have with us .So, even though Bindiya and Sandeep had long days of hiatus between them, they were at least not in a loveless marriage, like many couples! 

Bindiya made sure to provide the affection & warmth that Sandeep craved for during his hard days on the field, while Sandeep complimented providing her with the safety, love, and excitement that a woman desires from her man.  

 “Are you done with your cleaning? Do you need any help?”, asked Sandeep.

“No, No, I am done just five more minutes and I will be there”, Bindiya announced from the kitchen.

 She came to the bedroom and sat beside Sandeep with legs folded on the bed.

 “So, what is it today that I will hear?”

 “What? Nothing today.” Sandeep said with a wink.

“Nothing doing, you have promised that you will tell me everything about your heroic acts that you do when you are away. I am not letting you off the hook at any cost.”

 Sandeep looked at her and knew that there was no escape now. He began narrating.

” We had an emergency assignment to undertake and I had to tag along the on this top secret mission. I had to fly the plane and reach the designated place as per the directions. The plane took off without incident. After some time, the incessant rains and the turbulent weather made me little nervous. As I and the lieutenant approached the clouds over the snow-filled mountains, I saw the weather had graduated to a thunderstorm. I pulled the aircraft up, attempting to fly over the clouds, but could not avoid them. As the clouds enveloped the aircraft, I kept it on an incline hoping to break through the clouds in a few seconds.

That’s when suddenly the lightning bolt struck the engine. It almost roasted the control panels. Nothing worked. With the plane gliding down in a slow decline, I quickly grabbed the emergency kit and rushed out of the cabin to warn the senior. When I saw him, he had the same panic and terror in his eyes that I had. I groped under his seat for his emergency kit and pulled it out. I handed him the orange lifejacket and wore my own. I put on my parachute pack and turned to him. Even if he was the senior officer, he had almost frozen. I told him to wear the lifejacket one more time and then repeated it when he did not respond.”

“Then …. what happened then?”, asked a terrified Bindiya with curiosity-filled eyes.

“I then grabbed his arms and forced him through the opening in the lifejacket. He did the same with the parachute pack and pulled himself towards the door. He kept fighting against me and pulling me back. I pulled harder. I opened the door which let in a blast of chilled, moist wind. The plane had begun to vibrate. I pulled him closer to the door and told him what I was going to do. I do not know if he heard me over the sound of the wind, but he started screaming which I had interpreted as the reaction to my instructions. Without warning, I pushed him out and after a few seconds, I jumped out myself.”

“Oh my God, you just jumped into the open sky! Just like that! I have goosebumps now,” said a thrilled Bindya.

“I saw him tumbling through the air for a few moments after which the parachute self-deployed and shielded him from my eyes as a white canopy opened up. My own parachute deployed and took me in a different direction. By the time I turned back towards him, I could not see a thing. All I saw was multiple layers of clouds and the occasional lightning bolt splitting them. Luckily, I landed on the ground which was an elevated plateau covered with snow. I landed on my feet and instantly collapsed on my back. I was so exhausted that I fell into a tired sleep right there.”

 “What you fell asleep there… Haha haha …” She laughed out loud. “Then what happened?”

“The next thing I know was when my teammates had located me and brought me to the army medical outpost. The captain was traced only the next day. Thankfully, he too was safe and we both made it safely at the end.”

“You are my hero, you know that. More than those celebrities that come and say Taste the thunder! You actually defeat the thunderstorms. You do so much more than the other soldiers apart from your regular duty. I am so proud of you and I wish to be your wife in every single birth.”Bindiya said this beaming with pride and clapped her hands in appreciation. She then cozied up herself in Sandeep’s arms, kissed him on his forehead, while Sandeep enveloped her in his embrace. She fell asleep instantly and then quietly Sandeep took out his mobile phone and typed a WhatsApp message:

 Namaste Lieutenant Sahab,

 I managed to trick my wife to believe that the parachute stunt that you had narrated to us was actually done by me. I wish the thrill in her eyes could be captured! I would have just kept it safe somewhere. Had it not been for all the heroic acts that you share with us in great detail, I would not have been able to become the real hero that my wife constantly dreams about. Of course, she will get to know everything eventually. But till then, let me enjoy being her superhero. Thank you 🙂

Yours,

Favorite cook,

Lance Naik Sandeep Dhyani.

Have you ever been tricked to be thrilled by your friends or family?

I have decided to take up an emotional joy ride with this year’s A2Z challenge where my focus is to showcase different aspects of human behavior . I will be penning down pieces of fiction centered around emotions in alphabetical manner. I have a title for my theme and it is : A little bit of you; A little bit of me . 

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z -2021

You can click on the alphabets below to read the stories that have been published so far.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Love,

Chinmayee