Fruitcake - Volume 1: The Chapter 12 12: Journal: The Training

Today is the fourth day and there has been no change in Geeta’s condition. I saw Master da coming to the hospital today and meeting with the doctor. I called Vikash up and we both entered the doctor’s chamber.

The doctor on seeing me replied “Oh well, I was about to call you two. It’s good that all 3 of you are gathered here at the same time. I have some important news to share with you.”

Master da sternly looked at the doctor and asked “What is the matter?”

The doctor replied “We have been keeping a close tab on the child, but there seems to be some issue. We went through the child’s medical condition and had a word with the Aunt when she was first admitted, about medical history.”

Vikash asked the doctor what was he trying to imply.

The Doctor replied “I believe this is not the first time the child has been through such serious trauma. Looking at the child’s condition, I am willing to bet my career that this child has been in coma previously too.”

Master Da asked “How sure are you? What exactly makes you come to this conclusion?”

The Doctor replied “I am absolutely sure. MRI scans reveal the extent of trauma or injuries borne by the child’s body in the past, most of which are still healing. But the problem is when I asked for the medical history of the child from the guardians, they outrightly denied. As a matter of fact, it feels like the Aunt is suffering from denial syndrome.”

“I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?” I replied.

Master Da explained to me that “It is a defense mechanism implemented by a person, in which they suppress the existence or memory of an incident or the event which is extremely painful or traumatic for the individual. This is mostly treated through medications or hypnosis.”

He replied that “Every now and then she keeps talking about someone and keeps saying that you were dead once, and you came back to life, you cannot die again. I tried to coerce the truth out of her but every time she tries revealing something it does not make sense. What I have come to infer from her gibberish is that she is probably trying to communicate about the child being in a coma once before and having survived it.”

We left the doctor’s chamber and I turned to Master Da and Vikash, “The only thing I can think of right now is that all these gibberish being an act by aunty to cover up whatever she has done to Geeta. No matter how much she pretends to love her, after what I saw the other night, I am never going to trust her.”

Master Da also agreed to what I said and left for home. Vikash and I went back to Geeta’s room and found uncle and aunty sitting next to her. I told uncle that I am going home and will be back later in the evening. Saying this we left Hospital.

As I reached home I thought about catching up on the journal a bit more. However, it dawned on me that I will have to spend the night in the hospital again so I opted for a nap instead. I woke up late in the evening and had a late lunch again. I reached the hospital at 6 o’clock.

Aunty didn’t say much and left the hospital once I reached there.

Uncle asked me “Son you have done enough for Geeta. I think you should go home and take rest.”

I replied “It’s a fine uncle. I am just doing this for a friend and besides, in another week I will have to report to the boarding school. Until then, I will try to help you as much as I can. You should also rest uncle.”

He didn’t say much, he went to the corner of the room and sat on the couch. I took out the diary and continued reading the next entries.

10th March 1992

Today we had our last exam and it was my favorite subject Social Science. I was excited because the day after tomorrow my dad is coming to see me and we are going to Purulia for a vacation. It has been 2 months since I’ve seen dad. After the exam, I saw Monica in a very happy mood. I asked her how was her exam and she replied that Aarohi has guided her very well and she was able to answer all the questions. I was happy at Monika’s answer. After our exam, there was an announcement in our class. It was our principal who announced that on the 26th of March there is going to be a selection for the school sub-junior basketball team. A team of 10 players would be selected who will be trained by our PT instructor. We will be representing the school at the district level and if we win, our school will be one of the top 3 teams representing the district at the state level. During this whole tournament, we will be headhunted by sports agents from the Sports Authority of India, and the talented players will get the opportunity to train with the professionals in S.A.I. Training School and will represent the nation for Youth Olympics which will be taking place in Space Coast Florida 2 years from now in 1994. I was very thrilled by this news and wanted to go for the tryouts. But that would mean cutting short the vacations my dad had planned for us.

11th March 1992

I was woken up at 4 o’clock by Aarohi. She told me that we were going out to Dakshineshwar Kali Maa temple to offer prayers. We left home at 6 o’clock, it was a 1-hour drive and by 7 o’clock we reached our destination. Uncle and aunty went ahead to the temple to offer prayers. While talking to Aarohi, I came to know from her that they come to this temple every year to offer prayers for their youngest brother who died during childbirth. She also told me that her brother would have been still alive had their grandmother not constantly bullied and taunted aunty for a male heir. I was not sure what she meant by that, so she explained that after Aamaya didi, Garima and Darika were born, grandma started pestering aunty for a male child. Her continuous taunts and rebukes when aunty was expecting really, did a number on Aunty’s mental health and due to stress, they lost their brother. It was a very difficult time for the entire family.

**** For once, I felt sorry for aunty. It was nearing the 21st century and there are some people who still think that only having a male heir would mean the continuation of a stupid bloodline. I am really lucky that my parents were evolved and never harbored such illogical norms. But does that justify what aunty was doing to Geeta every day? I had no answer to this. ****

12th March 1992

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and was eagerly waiting for dad to arrive. Uncle told me to keep my bags ready as I have to leave for Purulia with dad once he arrived. At around 11 o’clock dad arrived with his usual Army convoy. Uncle told me that Aarohi and Aamaya didi would also be going with us to Purulia for vacation. I was overjoyed by the news that my sisters would also be going with me on this vacation. I would be missing Monica. During our journey, I told dad about the basketball selection that is going to happen on the 25th of March. Dad got very enthusiastic about these tryouts and encouraged the three of us to go for it. I told dad that although I was very much interested, I didn’t know how to play basketball. As we were sitting on the back seat, Dad turned around and said if that’s what’ bothering us then we need not worry. He will ask Lt. Sagar to train us. He plays basketball for the national team and has just been Commissioned to the Indian Army. I voiced my doubt that whether Sagar sir would be able to prepare us before the tryouts, and dad replied that if we follow everything that he tells us to do we can be the best. We reached Purulia at 9:00 p.m.

13th March 1992

I was in for a surprise today morning. After we had a hearty breakfast, dad picked up the phone and made a few calls. Dad told us that there are two surprises in store for us. And one of them was especially for The Three Musketeers. I ask how did he know that we call ourselves “The Three Musketeers” and got the reply that he is my dad and he will always know everything. At around 9 o’clock I saw someone entering our house through the main gate. It was a boy and along with him was Monica. When she came near she introduced me to her brother Joe, about whom she mentioned in her speech and who was studying in Sainik school. Her brother didn’t wait much, he shook hands with dad, and left saying that he had some work to do and would come later in the day to pick up Monica. I told his brother that he need not worry and that we will drop her home in the evening. Monika told me that her dad owns the house next door and during the vacations, all the family members gather here for a week. After half an hour Lt. Sagar came and started training us.

***** Oh My God !!! I don’t believe this, I had actually met Lt. Col. Banerjee. The man whom I desperately wished to meet was actually in front of me and I was so busy with my selfish stuff that I didn’t bother to talk or get to know him. How can you be so stupid Joe? You are an idiot. I could not help but feel extremely frustrated with myself at my stupidity and had the urge to bang my head against the wall in remorse. I actually met all of them for real and now I don’t recall anyone because I didn’t pay attention at that time. But I definitely recall not seeing Aunty or any of the girls that day. ******

14th March 1992

Lt. Sagar ordered us to be on the basketball court by 6:30 in the morning. Monica also wanted to get trained by him so she was also on the field at that time. The first thing Sagar sir did was to order his orderly to treat the four of us with a glass of milk each. He said that this is special and will help us get strong. As I took a sip, it felt like raw eggs were mixed with the milk and we nearly puked. When I asked him about my suspicion, he confirmed it. We had to finish the glass of milk, which we did pinching our noses and then our training began. We had 3 breaks and training continued till 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We were very exhausted. Aamaya didi got angry at Sagar sir for his harsh training and retaliated by saying “We are not in the army and we are normal human beings.” In reply, Sagar sir calmly questioned, “So you mean to say that the people who join the Army are some kind of superheroes? We are not, we are normal human beings just like you or anybody else, and besides what training you underwent today is nothing compared to the training the coaches at the Sports Authority of India would be giving you. If you really want to get selected for the tournament and make your parents proud, you need to put your heart and soul into this training and your chances will be better with this strict regime. You are not just participating in the tryouts, you want to make it to the team. Do not forget your goal.”

*****I liked the way Sagar sir gave these kids structure and plan for their dreams. I remember going through a similar regime during my training days too. I continued reading the next entries. *****

20th March 1992

As usual, our training continued. Our extraordinary diet of milk with the raw eggs continued too. Sagar sir told us that he is going to teach us a very important lesson today. We came to know that he has asked 2 of his colleagues from the army to come and play a match with us. Dad also joined the match. One of them was a tall fair guy who was probably 5’10” and the other was a well-built guy of similar height as my father. The well-built guy kept using a word which I figured might be a slang. Later on, I asked dad about it and he told me the literal word meant ‘greasy’. However, I should not be saying that word in front of others lest they would consider it offensive. Sagar sir told us that the four of us will be playing against the 4 of them. We were shocked, considering that the 4 of them were much bigger, faster and better than us. We stood no chance against them. We played with them for about 45 minutes, and we lost. After the game, Dad asked the 4 of us to sit down on the field and asked us what did we learn from the match, and Aamaya di replied that we were hopeless. My father replied, that he doesn’t think we were hopeless, considering the fact that Aarohi and Monika were the only 2 members of our team who scored, and the reason they could score was that they were fast and they had moves. Always remember something, basketball is a game of speed and skill.

*****I continued reading through the chapters. Over the remaining days, Lt. Sagar trains them extensively and one of the entries also stated that he taught the 4 children how to score a point from the central line.

Even though it was a difficult task, among the four of them, Monica and Arohi had been his favorites and has shown great promise. Both of them could score the three-pointers with as much ease as professionals.

Wow!!! I never knew Monica knew how to score a 3 pointer. This officer had also taught them a few good habits.

Abhinu writes that whenever they start a match they were taught to go the center of the field, touch the central line with both their hands and bow down and touch their forehead to the ground to seek blessings from Mother Earth and pay their respects to the game. This was a very nice and very familiar practice he taught them all.

Wow!!! now I remember, this was the same move, Geeta did the day we played basketball. Does that mean this Aarohi and Geeta are the same person. *****