First Impressions
First Impressions
"Why are you here? Who do you want to meet?" he asked unafraid.
A small smile exposed the stranger's stained teeth. He closed the distance and loomed over Abhirath.
Immediately, the four of them closed in, forming an arc surrounding him.
"Impressive! Is the ratio of 5:1 giving you a sense of false bravado?" challenged the stranger.
Despite his languid posture, there was an aura of danger radiating from him, similar to the one which emanated from Prithvi.
"Don't scare them, Shauyra," admonished Ramanujam.
He had emerged noiselessly from the room into the reception area and taken in the tableau in front of him. The students adopted a deferential posture and bowed to him, immediately.
"I see that you have already met your new teacher. He is your senior by four years, his name is Shauryaveer and you would be training under him henceforth," he instructed in his usual unflappable manner.
All the children looked up at him in surprise. Despite the curiosity nearly bursting out of them, they all held in their tongues and waited for Ramanujam to elaborate further.
"Starting today, you will be training off-campus with Shauryaveer till the end of this month. The evaluation of your performance will be done at that time and if any of you want to quit this department, you shall need to inform us about it at that time. You have half hour to go to your rooms, pack a bag and report at the Gurukul gate. Latecomers shouldn't bother showing up," he uttered the last line, looking pointedly at Vandit and Mrignayani.
They both looked down shamefacedly.
"Haven't you heard the teacher? What are you waiting for," Shaurya raised his voice slightly.
The room emptied in a matter of seconds with all five of them spilling hastily out of the room.
"Don't be too harsh on them else we won't have even a single volunteer left by the end of these three weeks," Ramanujam chided his ex-student.
"Guruji, you are getting soft in your old age. Have you forgotten the fear that you had instilled in me and the others on the first day of our joining in?" Shaurya tut-tutted.
They started to walk slowly towards the meeting point.
"How is the situation at the border? Any new developments?" Ramanujam asked him quietly.
"No news is good news but my gut says that it has been peaceful and quiet for too long now. We are expecting a report from our spies stationed at the Saptsindhu coast. Maybe, that will contain some update," Shaurya mused.
"So, tell me about these new trainees. Is there anyone in particular that I should lookout for?" he asked his teacher.
"Well, as is the norm, at least one parent of each of them has been a part of our network in the past. Abhirath, the tallest guy, is the only one whose both parents were spies and are now part of the Defence ministry. As for each one's potential, it's too soon to make any judgement and you know that I don't like to make hasty impressions about anyone. They usually prove to be wrong," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Originally, Prithvi sir wanted them to finish the physical training at Gurukul during this month before sending them to you for the actual skill test. But last night, he asked me to reverse it. Since you were coming here anyways to observe them, he asked me to tell you to first check if they possess the necessary aptitude required before we torture them with the physical training. Do you have the action plan ready?" enquired Ramanujam.
Nodding his head, Shaurya began to outlay the schedule for the next few weeks.
Mriga was panting hard yet again by the time she reached the Gurukul gate. Everyone else was present already.
"Had you come a minute later, you would have managed to escape the misery that lies ahead for all of you," Shaurya smirked at Mriga.
Mriga had been a good athlete since a tender age. If not higher, her skills had been at par with the people whom she had competed with, in various athletic meets. This was the first time in her fourteen years of existence that she was nearly failing at every point.
All five of them bowed down to Ramanujam before following Shaurya out of the Gurukul. They reached the marketplace and entered a nondescript looking store. Shaurya asked them to explore their surroundings before disappearing through a door located at the back of the store.
A man entered the store few minutes later. Ignoring the five of them, he browsed through myriad stuff kept in the dusty cabinets.
Unsure of what to do, Mriga stepped ahead and asked, "are you looking for something in particular?"
The guy looked at her and said, "what do you sell her? What is the specialty of this shop? Show me the best that there is."
Abhirath was miffed with Mriga for walking up to the customer without any know-how of the place. She was always running into situations headlong. He wouldn't allow her to embarrass him along with herself.
"I am afraid that the store's owner is currently unavailable. If you could wait or come back in sometime, he would be able to help you," he said apologetically to the stranger.
As soon as the man was out of earshot, Abhirath let verbal volleys loose at Mriga.
"What is your problem? You are always proceeding ahead without thinking twice. Do you even know why we are here? No wonder you are the worst performer in the group till date. I don't care about your reasons for joining this team but I won't let you impact my performance," he towered over her.
Mriga shoved him back with her full might and retorted, "did I ask you to intervene in the conversation? First, you butted in without permission and then you have the audacity to lecture me?"