At the Crossroads

“Kick him hard”, shouted the leader of the boy’s gang. 

They heard the security guard whistle and ran immediately to their classes.

Ajay picked himself up and wiped the dust over his clothes.

These incidents became the order of the day. He was being continuously bullied by his classmates.

Ajay, a 12year old kid, was brought up in a family which was not economically sound. His parents were trying to make their ends meet while sending their kid to a school which was very costly and the best in the town.

By nature, Ajay was an introvert and had a small circle of friends (two to be precise).

Despite all the difficulties, he was good at his studies and demonstrated showed considerable

improvement lately. This added fuel to fire to the bullying he had to deal with.

He also had a secret crush in the class but was unable to open up with that girl.

Ajay was somehow convinced by his friends to present a small play at the annual day function.

His motivation to accept this also came from the fact that he would be able to see the same girl in the auditorium while preparing and rehearsing for the play.

Days passed but there was no improvement in Ajay’s treatment by his classmates.

“I am a proud alumnus and sincerely hope that you all will take our school to new heights “, said the district magistrate who was invited to inaugurate the annual day function. 

After this, the principal signalled to start the events with the national anthem. subsequently, some short plays were lined up as the chief quest had to leave early.

This year the whole food catering services for the function were outsourced to a new agency.

Snacks distribution process had started and so had Ajay’s team play.

The play had a central plot, twist and a good message for which everyone applauded.

Now it was time for the second play and everyone was waiting for the actors on the stage. 

Curtains came off and they were only two persons on the stage who were not at all distinguishable.

One of them came near the mic and started to speak.

“You all are instructed to not leave your places until further notice. This school has been hijacked and we are in charge now”

People turned around and could see many men, with covered faces, holding guns. They had also taken the security guard a hostage.

Twelve fully armed terrorists on the campus possibly entered disguised as the caterers.

This was something people have seen in movies but never witnessed in person.

There was stress and panic all around. No one was prepared for this and was clueless as to what to do next.

Ajay, unaware of this, was in the changing room which was at one corner of the school building.

The terrorists started gathering everyone in the central assembly area. They started searching classrooms, libraries, staircases, terraces and toilets.

Ajay saw this from the window and was alarmed after seeing armed men who neither looked like army nor police.

The room in which he has currently had a window which opened towards the fields. The panels had been left open by someone.

As a knee-jerk reaction, he went up to the window to exit. 

A sudden thought, mixed with guilt, came across his mind. 

Is it right to abandon his friends and run away?

He was at that juncture where he needs to take a decision.

His family would be waiting for him and so would his friends and everyone else.

He didn’t have that much time to decide on this. He could hear footsteps approaching the room.

He jumped out of the window!!!

Then he climbed on the 1st-floor window shade using the vertical pipeline. He could remember that on the first floor they had a pantry.

He entered it through the window.

He started Searching for things which could help.

The first thing that came to his mind was to collect the chili powder. He collected some in his handkerchief.

He could hear some footsteps approaching the kitchen. He switched off the lights and hid behind the kitchen and waited eagerly for the entrant.

Just when the door opened and a man peeped through, he threw chili powder on his face.

Though his face was fully covered his eyes being exposed, he was short of vision immediately. 

Ajay then took out a frying pan and hit him hard on his head. The guy fell. 

He took his all weapons and kept them aside. Tied his hands to a column and stuffed his mouth with tissue paper so that he could not make noise.

Ajay had seen a lot of movies and played video games as well but holding a real weapon in hand and operating it was a different challenge.

What if it doesn’t fire when required?

He took with him the side arm as the rifle was too heavy for him. 

It seemed they had distributed their men in all zones of the school to gather everyone. 

Therefore, it would take time for another terrorist to reach this area.

With this thought, he immediately climbed out of the window into the fields to the nearby shop which had a telephone facility.

Called up the police and gave all the details. 

The terrorists intended to demand something in exchange for the life of many people including the magistrate.

After this Ajay climbed back into the same room and started searching for his friends. Instead of that, he encountered his classmates who used to bully him.

They were hiding under a desk in one of the classrooms.

He showed them the way to exit through the pantry. 

Meanwhile, police and action forces surrounded the school.

This diverted the attention of the terrorists. 

Ajay took advantage of this and started guiding more people including teachers.

He was also able to guide the commandos to enter the building from the southern face.

The terrorists were confused and finally had to surrender.

Not a single casualty and the big incident was averted because of Ajay’s bravery and presence of mind.

After this incident, he gained huge respect in the school.

He was also given a bravery award by the prime minister on republic day.

©rkc