After the next period of drill, the soldiers had a break. When the break was ended, Guruswamy gruffly told Devaya, "Take the recruits to the parade field."
Devaya called out the orders and the soldiers marched smartly away toward the parade field. Between the parade field and the ground where the soldiers had their smoking break were several buildings, and when the soldiers were out of Guruswamy's view , some of them began talking and laughing. Initially, they had acknowledged Devaya's authority, but he was after all just another teenager.
"Be quiet," cried Devaya, vainly attempting to emulate Guruswamy's bark.
"Choop rao (be quiet)" mimicked one of the recruits in an exaggerated falsetto.
" What will you do if we aren't quiet, Devaya?" cried out Ramesh mockingly.
"I will report you for punishment drill," hissed Devaya.
"Oh my I am sooo scared. Please sahib; oh please Devaya don't report us for punishment drill," cried out Ramesh in exaggerated terror.
Though he liked Devaya, Venugopal couldn't help joining in the general laughter. Not only was Ramesh a charming clown, it was refreshing after having been cowed so long by brutal authority figures to have a chance to be insolent without fearing the crack of the swagger stick.
Devaya blushed, and the blush was clearly visible on the golden brown skin of the Coorgi. He wished he had the courage to actually write up Ramesh, but he was not yet used to power, and he could not actually see himself punishing one of his barrack mates.
Just at that moment, Deshpande an NCO from another unit came up the road on his cycle. Deshpande was in a black mood because he had heard that he would have to delay his leave to train a recruit who was joining the Pioneer Training Regiment late. As he cycled up, he at once noted the disorder in the ranks of the squad and spotted the grinning boys and even caught the last titter of one hapless recruit who had not seen him.
"Aalt," he screamed.
The squad halted smartly, and the boys straightened up, stomachs fluttering with sudden panic, knees weak at the sudden prospect of punishment. But Deshapnde didn't have the time to punish them.
"Who is the banchooth supposed to be in charge of this squad?" demanded Deshpande.
" I am sir, " said Devaya stepping forward.
"What sort of _f_u_c_k_ing leader are you?" screamed Deshpande, his nose inches away from Devaya's. "You are willing to have the extra pay but not do the work, _f_u_c_k_er."
"Sahib, they wouldn't listen" protested Devaya.
That was his big mistake. Excuses are not tolerated in the Indian military any more than they are in any other military. The correct response would have been "Ha sahib," or "No excuse, sahib."
" OH, I AM SO SORRY FOR YOU CHOOTHYA," shrieked Deshpande, spittle flying across Devaya's face. Then, the NCO swung his hand back and whapped Devaya across the face. There was an audible cracking sound as the Marathi's fair white palm met Devaya's golden Coorgi skin, and the Coorgi's blush mingled with an angry red flush from contact with the NCO's open palm.
Devaya gasped, and clenched his fists at his side to resist throwing up a defending hand. He was filled with furious resentment, and if he had not clenched his fists by his side, he might have even tried to hit Deshpande. It was not that Deshpande's punishment was worse than anything any of the recruits had received from their own NCOs, but unlike their own NCOs, Deshpande had not been a constant presence in the recruits' lives, and so his sudden assumption of authority over them was resented more.
Deshpande's palm stung from contact with Devaya's face, and he unreasonably resented the pain caused by his own punishment. Still half perched on his bike, Deshpande raised his boot and not very hard kicked Devaya in the shin.
"Keep them quiet _f_u_c_k_er," he screeched .
"Ha sahib," yelled Devaya.
Desphande cycled on, but then unfortunately for Venugopal's squad, he passed Guruswamy and Jayachandra.
Jayachandra couldn't resist calling out mockingly, "Good to see you, Deshapnde. But what is your poor sick mother going to do without you by her side to hold her aged hand and tend to her sagging cunt?"
Deshpande grinned even though he was not amused at all. "I'm glad to see you have a sense of humor, Jayachandra. Of course you and Guruswamy have time to joke, given the fact that your squad is completely out of control. When I passed them, they were not paying any attention to that Coorgi ladki (girl) you have put in charge. Maybe they need some real NCO, eh?"