The Town Of Chanlang

The process of adoption was pretty smooth and the higher ups in the military were very happy with Major Sharma's decision. Aviraj was related to a very sensitive case and the military did not know what to do with him. On one hand they couldn't just keep him in custody but on the other hand they were not comfortable with him going out in the open without being monitored. Major Sharma had a good reputation in the military and was valued by the higher ups for his loyalty and his leadership abilities. If the boy stayed with Major Sharma, the boy would be easy to monitor and it would be a win-win situation for everyone. So when Major Sharma informed his superiors about his decision to adopt Aviraj, they welcomed his decision with open arms and even praised him for being kind and generous. Even his application of vacation for one month was passed without a hitch.

Aviraj was a smart boy. The fact that he had managed to survive till the end in the orphanage with his big brother and even keep Old Kabir in the dark about their plans proved that he was much more mature and calculative than any other normal nine year old child. He was able guess that the higher ups in the military still had some doubts about him and wanted to monitor him. But he was completely fine with it.

'Its not like I plan to go out there and start a killing spree.' he thought. In fact, he was looking forward to his upcoming peaceful life. A few months ago, he had been living in a hell hole, in constant fear that he would die in the next moment. But suddenly he was given a new family and this gave birth to a new emotion in his heart.... He had started to hope for a happy future.

There was one time in the orphanage that Aviraj got seriously injured during combat. He had managed to kill a very strong opponent but as a result got a huge cut on his back. His big brother had managed to stop the bleeding by applying some locally available herbs but still he had lost too much blood. He eventually fell ill and and only survived because his brother was there to take care of him. When he was ill, he had spent many nights in unbearable pain, unable to sleep. It was at that time his big brother had asked him a question. His current situation made him remember that conversation.

That night, a six year old, pale faced boy was lying in the corner of the hall of the old orphanage. He was covered in a worn out blanket that hardly kept out the cold. The boy was suffering from high fever and the various scars on his body, both old and new, had started hurting as if all the wounds on his body had been opened simultaneously. There was a dark skinned boy around the age of eight sitting next to him. He had a piece of clean cloth in his hands. He would dip the cloth in cold water in the bowl next to him and then squeeze the excess water out of it. Then he would wipe the forehead and chest of the little boy trying to lower his fever. He continued doing this for hours, changing the water in the bowl multiple times. At one point in the night, the boy's fever reached its peak as he started muttering incoherently.

"I...........die.....I don't.......I don't wanna ... die" he kept repeating the sentence over and over again. The dark skinned boy had also started to feel panic. He didn't know what to do when the boy's fever refused to go down. The thought that his little brother might die had taken a root in his heart, leaving his mind in panic and his chest in great pain.

"Why.. Tell me why you don't want to die.. tell me... please talk to me", the dark skinned boy gently shook the little boy's shoulders as he talked to him in an attempt to keep him awake. By the end of the sentence, the boy had started sobbing. He didn't know why he had asked this question. Maybe it was just to keep his brother talking or maybe it was because he had been haunted by this very question for a long time.

"Because ...I...m....scared", in a moment of clarity the little boy had actually answered the question.

Was he really scared of death or was he scared of what came after death? Maybe he was scared of what came just before death? One can only speculate. After that, things took a turn for better as the boy's fever slowly subsided and he only had light fever by the time dawn arrived. The dark skinned boy sat beside him with a tired look on his face. But in his eyes, there was a little less confusion, as if he had been enlightened.

Aviraj did not have clear memories of the events of that night. He only knew what his big brother had later told him. He touched the scar on his back unconsciously as he thought about this incident. He had numerous scars on his body but the one on his back was the biggest. It started from his lower back and almost reached his neck.

Back then he didn't want to die because he was afraid of death. But if he was asked the same question now, his reply would be different.

'Its because I want to live', he had started to look forward to his life, he had started to look forward to the next day. He never felt this way when he was in the orphanage. But now that he came out of the bloody basement, he realized that the world is more than a dark room filled with killing. And he wanted to learn more about this world.

The newly formed father and son duo left the main camp together after a few days. The man carried a big travel bag on his back and the boy was empty handed. They had decided to do some shopping for the boy along the way.

The nearest town was around three kilometers away from the main base and a military truck drove to the town every second day to collect provisions. The man and the boy boarded the truck to get to the nearest town of Chanlang. The driver was also a soldier serving in the army and he saluted Major Sharma when they were getting on the truck. Major Sharma gave a light salute in response and made small talks with the driver along the journey. The driver looked very enthusiastic along the way and answered all the questions asked to him excitedly. It was natural that he acted in this manner as he was only a low ranking soldier while Major Sharma was a high ranking officer. Apparently, the man was quite familiar with the town that they were heading towards and Major Sharma wanted to know about the markets and inns in the town.

It took them twenty minutes to finish a journey of three kilometers because of how bad the roads were. But the conditions of road improved as they got closer to the town. They got off the truck at the entrance of the town and the driver saluted Major Sharma one last time before driving off .

Aviraj had stayed silent along the way. It was not because he was rude or an introvert, but because he was not much of a talker. He only spoke when he really needed to. His father had already grown accustomed to this habit of his son.

First thing they needed to do was look for a bus stop where they could get a bus to the city of Naharkatai. The city was around sixty kilometers away from the town. It took them half an hour to navigate through the crowded streets before they reached the bus stop.His father brought the tickets for the earliest bus to Naharkatai. The bus was scheduled to depart on the morning of the next day. His father decided show him around the market in the mean time.

It was Aviraj's first time seeing so many people. Initially he was a little uncomfortable but eventually he got used to it. Along the way, he was quite fascinated by the site of loud vegetable vendors who attracted the attention of people by singing out the name of the vegetables they were selling. The beautiful and fragrant flowers at the small flower shop at the edge of the road lifted his mood and he gawked at the strange plastic toys at the stall of the plastics seller. His father asked him if he wanted to buy something but he just shook his head. He knew that money was hard to earn and he wouldn't let his father spend money on useless things. He even encountered a fight between two men on the streets. They were fighting because of some woman named Kiki. He didn't really understand the reason for their fight but he wanted to see the action nonetheless. People had started to crowd around the two men and his father lifted him on his shoulders so that Aviraj could get a good view. But after seeing them randomly swing some punches, he lost interest.

"They can't even punch properly", he muttered as he signaled his father to put him down.

His father gave a wry smile as they went ahead exploring the rest of the market.

They had lunch in a small restaurant. It was a completely new experience for Aviraj as he had only ever eaten boiled food before this. But what really made him fall in love was the ice cream his father ordered after the meal. Aviraj just closed his eyes in pleasure as the sweet and cold vanilla melted in his mouth. Seeing such expression on his son's face Major Sharma smiled from cheek to cheek.

After the meal, they went to buy some clothes, shoes and other necessary things like toothbrush for Aviraj. Shopping for things like toothbrush and shoes did not take as much time as buying clothes for him. Apparently, his father wanted to buy him some good clothes so that he could look dashing in front of his mother. But seeing so many options in the stores made him see stars in daylight. The fancy clothes that his father selected made him look like a clown.

'So embarrassing', he thought as quite a few ladies and little girls in the store giggled while pointing at him. After trying on few of his father's selections, Aviraj finally realized that his father had no skill in these matters. He had to take matters in his own hands. But when he started trying out clothes of his own choice, he was shocked to find that his own skills in these matters were even worse than his father!! The clothes that he thought looked good on the hanger, magically looked funny when he put them on. Now he finally understood his father's plight. With some irritation, the duo ended up buying a plain grey T-shirt and blue jeans for him.

'Atleast I look normal in these', Aviraj consoled himself with such thoughts.

It was already dark when the left the clothing store and they decided to end their shopping spree and look for a inn where they could spend the night. After having a light dinner and ice cream, they decided to retire for the day.

That night Aviraj found it hard to sleep. He felt excited and nervous to meet his mother. His mind was continuously thinking of ideas to impress her on their first meeting.

'No, No.. I shouldn't dance. It'll probably scare her away', he rejected quite a few of his stupid plans before tiredness took over and he fell asleep.