Naveen had only meant to joke, but fate played along. His hands nearly dropped the phone.

“What’s going on?” Sangram asked in his deep, intimidating voice.

Naveen stumbled for words.

And miles away, Nandini heard that voice too—like a thunderclap in her ears.

Startled, she hung up in sheer panic.

“Had a good chat with your son, Amma?” Rani Devi walked into the room, smiling.

“Chat? I nearly died of fright today!” Nandini clutched her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Why? What happened?”

“He had the audacity to crack jokes in front of his Sangram Sir!”

“That’s his senior officer, right? Naveen really respects him.”

“Respects him? That boy worships him! As if his precious Sangram Sir isn’t a man, but a god walking the earth! Its like his own sister doesnt exist for him anymore. He gave me a heart attack this morning! Fool!" Nandini huffed in frustration.

“Admit it—you’re just jealous he listens to someone else now,” her mother teased with a chuckle.

“Why would I be jealous?” Nandini laughed, the sound clearly forced. But the truth? It burned. Oh, how deeply it burned.

“Yes, yes. Why would you be jealous? I know everything,” Rani Devi grinned.

“Oh, stop it now. Aren’t you supposed to go to the temple? Come with me before I leave for school. And it’s time for Baba’s breakfast—he’ll be heading to the fields soon.”

She turned to leave.

“Go on, go on. Change the subject,” her mother muttered playfully.

“Maa!” she shot back with mock indignation.

“Fine, fine! Not saying another word,” her mother said, breaking into laughter once more.

---

Back at the barracks…

“What’s going on, Lance Naik Naveen Pandey? Who were you calling?” Sangram had suddenly appeared before him, his presence sharp and unwavering.

Naveen fumbled. Words wouldn’t form. But from Sangram’s calm tone, he guessed that his fearsome Sangram Sir hadn't realized that....the joke was about him!

“Just my sister, sir. I was talking to my sister.”

“Your sister, huh? Not a girlfriend?”

“Oh no, sir! You know me—”

“Yes. You shouldn’t have a girlfriend, Pandey. There are greater things waiting for you in life. You better not go down that lane of becoming a Majnu type. I hate that kind" Sangram said coldly.

"Yes, Sir...." Naveen felt as if someone had stolen the only light of his life. And just like that, his smile died. Sometimes he truly wished this man would just get married already. If only to stop enforcing celibacy on everyone like a grumpy monk with too much authority.

“Report after PT at 0800 hours,” Sangram ordered, and strode off.

Naveen exhaled heavily, as if his life had just been handed back to him.

By 8 AM, the men of the team that had gone on the practice mission stood at attention in the barracks, rigid and alert. Sangram stood before them, arms clasped behind his back, a storm brewing in his eyes. Subedar Upadhyay stood by his side.

“Where did the team go wrong in today’s mission, Commandos?” Sangram’s voice cracked through the silence like a whip.

“Sir! We fired too early at the target,” Naveen replied crisply.

“And you people lost the element of surprise! Focus on the word—surprise! What’s the word?”

“Surprise!” they all shouted in unison, nerves stretched taut.

“Surprise the enemies—and finish them off! That’s our motto! And bloody stick to it. One mistake in an operation doesn’t cost a man—it costs every man. One soldier’s failure can bring death for the whole team.”

“It won’t happen again, sir!” Naveen declared, voice steady, eyes straight ahead.

“It better not. I know you’re brave, Pandey. But don’t let bravery cloud your judgment. It’s about teamwork. Each one of us is responsible for every one of us. No team, no mission. No mission, the enemy wins. And if the enemy wins—our nation bleeds. One more slip-up, and you people are getting shipped back to your home regiments. Dismissed!”

With that, Sangram turned and walked away. Subedar Upadhyay followed.

Naveen rushed behind them.

“It won’t happen again, sir. I promise!” he called out.

Sangram’s steps halted. He turned slightly, just enough to glance at the young soldier. Naveen was standing tall, gaze firm—full of faith.

Something softened in Sangram’s eyes. The kind of softness a father reserves for a son seeking forgiveness.

“See me this evening,” Sangram said quietly.

“Basketball match? Or chess?” Naveen asked, hope flickering in his voice.

“That’s your choice,” Sangram replied with a rare smile, and walked away.

“Sir!” Naveen saluted sharply and didn’t look away until his hero disappeared from sight.

The entire unit feared Major Sangram Singh Sanger. But not Naveen. Never.

When he had first joined the army—wide-eyed and poor, driven by nothing but raw patriotism—he had no connections, no mentor, no road map. Just a burning desire to serve. Like many young men from rural India, that desire was all he had.

He had met Sangram during a cross-country athletic event, shortly after his basic training. His performance had turned heads. But more importantly, it had caught 'his' attention—the man they called “The Devil” in hushed reverence, the iron-willed officer of the Indian Army’s elite Parachute Regiment—Major Sangram Singh Sanger.

From that moment on, Naveen was awestruck.

Inspired, he applied for the Parachute Regiment under Sangram’s guidance. Out of nearly a hundred soldiers in the course, he was the only one who made the cut. And every night, he’d whispered prayers to Chandi Maa, the goddess near his village in Nariyapur, asking - no - begging—for his regiment to be Sangram’s.

Fate, it seemed, had already decided.

After completing commando training, he was placed in Sangram’s regiment. From then on, it felt like something deeper bound them—something more than duty.

Ten years older, Sangram was more than a mentor to him. He was a father figure. He scolded him when he failed, praised him when he excelled. He literally took Naveen under his wings.

For Naveen, Sangram wasn’t just a part of his life. He was the reason that life had direction. He had put him so high on a pedestal that no one could have reach upto that position in his eyes.

Though their personalities were poles apart—Naveen, the cheerful jokes teller; Sangram, the quiet force of discipline—everyone knew that the Major was different around him. With Naveen, he even smiled. He listened.

Maybe because… Naveen reminded him of his late younger brother!

---

Later that day…

Nandini was walking home from school when she spotted some of her students ahead. The moment they saw her, they shouted in glee, “Bye, Nandini Ma’am!”

She laughed, waving cheerfully at them.

One little boy pointed longingly at an ice cream vendor by the roadside, lips drooping in hope.

Nandini gave him a knowing nod and smile. Who else but a teacher understands these silent wishes—the kind children won’t voice, but dream of?

Moments later, a group of happy children had gathered around the cart, eagerly shouting out their favorite flavors. Ice cream, courtesy of Ma’am.

Nandini stood nearby, heart full, simply watching them.

Not far away, two men observed her. One of them was Jagjeevan Sharma, who had come just to catch a glimpse of her—for his son, Raman Sharma, a Havildar in the Indian Army.

“So this is Pandey Ji’s daughter?” Jagjeevan asked the shopkeeper beside him.

“Yes, yes, that’s her. Don’t delay. Send the proposal soon. She’s a gem. Beautiful, kind, respectful—and from a very good family. Our Nandini is just… perfect.”

“Hmmm…” Jagjeevan murmured, watching her.

The faint smile on his face said it all.

The decision was already made.