Chapter 4: the one last time.

There were 15 people in my block. 3 in each room. I knew everyone in the block now. Most fascinating people were the trio of last room. room no.405.

The three beautiful bengoli girls. Tani, koel and barnali. Koel was the most beautiful girl i had ever seen. Fair girl with round cute face. Long hair. In perfect shape as they say it. She indeed had some charm in her face n her smiling face i liked the best. Her eyebrows were joined slightly and that added to her beauty. I had heard many girls speak about her in and around. They always asked her what shampoo she used, what fairness cream she applied, what scrub she used to wash her face etc. I recollected what I had heard in zoom bollywood gapshup that bengoli girls r natural beauties and had quoted examples of bipasha, kajol, rani mukharjee etc. Had they seen these three girls, list would have been longer by three.

Koel was also a computer science girl, like me, but from a different batch. We once in a while discussed about chapters being covered in our respective classes. Koel always had thousand doubts on simple things. Her favourite way of asking questions or doubts to me was, “why is this like this”? n i always replied with “why is wat like wat?” It was fun solving her doubts. she made me think at times. Her doubts were complex. But at the end of every session we both got some knowledge.

Barnali was from mechanical department. We smiled to each other on corridors it was nothing beyond that. N tani, her actual name sayantani, was from department of electrical engineering. She was here because she was sent. Coolest girl on this planet. Nothing ever worried her. I used to see her brushing her teeth with eyes closed at wash basin, at my 10 o clock break. “Screw those classes man” was her favourite dialogue.

One thing those three were fascinated or i must say obsessed with, was their favourite “machili”.. they loved fish as any other bengoli. They rushed to a bengoli restaurant in sikandrabad, about 10 kms from our hostel, just to have fish curry frequently.

There were nice people in my block.

I had friends in my class too. it became a custom to sit with two people i sat with, in my very first class. sandhya from Nagpur. And Rashmi mishra from Orissa. They made it to the top of my hatke characters list. Well... this “hatke character list” was my personal list of different funny interesting characters I would meet in Hydrabad. Typical maharashtrian girl with a ring like sania mirza on her left nostril , quick like mercury, n heartily best girl i had ever met, was sandhya. “Good morning appu bhai” was how she wished me every morning. It was she who woke me up if at all i fell for a nap during my class hours. I just simply loved the way she answered when boys in my class tried to flirt with her.

rashmi was late for an early morning class. Sandhya and I were sitting on our three seater bench. Place next to her was vacant. A boy called sachin came n asked her if seat next to her was free. She smiled back n said slowly and calmly “beta chup chap peeche jake baith, subah subah timepass nahi karneka! Samjha?”... i loved the way she talked like actor sanjay datt.. in Marathi type hindi. N boys of my class intentionally irritated her for fun. She never took anything seriously, even boys knew it. My class was the best of all other batches i felt. People were nice. Mostly we had people from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, and Gujarat etc. And it was nice to see us all befriend one another. There were always fights like my state is better but always on lighter side. It was a batch of serious people. Who wanted to make it well through GATE.

Though i was the most active girl in my engineering classes i kept myself low here. After that English lecture, i had not answered much in class. There were people who asked doubts just to grab attention. It was just another class. I was very comfortable in this class of ace academy in Hyderabad specially with sandhya and rashmi around.

Rashmi was the most serious girl in our solar system, 'Tension ki dukaan' as i called her. girl with nice square spects, who had missed her chance to get into her favourite medical college in bhuvaneshwar by 0.5 marks. N was joined to engineering college. She was the topper of her college every semester with more than 86 percent aggregate. I always said “jai Vivekananda” or “all is well” whenever i saw her study. She was about 2 years older than us. N with due respect to her age we called her rashmi mata at times. That always made her unhappy n she requested badly everytime-“ pls don’t say that to me.. please.” We loved teasing her. and she too forgave us. Matured is what i would call her not childish like me or sandhya.

I loved the time i spent in class. Everyone was super serious during lectures. But mood immediately switched at breaks. There were jokers in our class like every other class in this in this world. There was a boy from Punjab who gave alerts when sir entered the class... he used to shout from behind three time “sir aagaye sir aagaye sir aagaye..” and that immediately switched our moods back to classes with an ‘oh’ as an alert sound for few days which soon turned to ‘ohffo’.

Life was fun. But back in hostel there were few changes. Rinu was keepin to herself all the time. she had stopped calling me for lunch with her. When I called her, she just said politely –dear.. pls.. u go, I’ll have later. I asked her many times if she wanted to share something. She always said just one thing.. “no... u won’t like it kid. You will stop even talking to me. Leave me alone.”

I had to return with no choice.

That night her sobs by the window woke me up again. I just decided to talk once for all. After all she had stood by me when i was in ‘danger’. She was staring into the darkness with something in her hand. It wasn’t mobile. It was a container glass. She was drinking. I had seen a girl drinking for the first time. I had heard of it. I thought of walking my way back.

“So u came again han?” She asked me, she stopped in rather.

“U r drinking right? I have seen a girl drink first time. no one does it at my place.” I told her whatever came to my mind first.

“I can guess that.” She told ignoring me.

I suddenly realised what i had said. She was sad n it was like i had mocked her. To my surprise it didn’t affect her at all.

But it was not common for me, being born n brought up in a strict Brahmin family. And about engineering, i studied at Shree Dharmathala Manjunatheshwara college of engineering and technology. It belonged to one of the most sacred temples in the state. One of the most strict and well behaved colleges in milkyway. It was just not common.

“I drink often. I smoke too. so stay away from me.” these were the words that came from rinu.

I at last decided to ask. “Who is it now finally- jai or max?” I wanted her to decide on it and back to be normal n leave drinking and etc.

“Oh.. u know jai too? girl i swear i’ll never call u kid again.”

“Ya i had warned u not to sob on phone by my window. Looks like u want me to listen to everything.”

“U really want to know?” rinu continued.” But u won’t like it. Max is my ex boyfriend. i really loved him. He ditched me for her. now that she has fucked him off, He wants me back. He is trying on me. i hate him. But i still love him. He is a fucking liar. Fucking idiot he is.”

I found no logic. I hate him but i still love him.?

... n what? I had read the ‘f’ word in chetan bhagat’s books. But had never heard it pronounced live and exclusive in real life. None of my friends used it. There was a boy in my class who used it indirectly.. he only said “wat the f”.. just f.. not the word... now i had heard it thrice in one go.

I was taken aback for a while. I was finding myself guilty. I was miles away from home to prepare for GATE. I had to get up at 4.30 n i was talking to a mad girl at the dead of the night. Rashmi worked for 16 hours a day. she revised everything the same day. but I never found enough energy in me at the end of the day even to open my bag. I was just banking on lectures. I listened to class with all my attention not to miss even a word. I needed sleep to keep me going next day. But here I was out of my bed, trying to find logic in a meaningless story coming out from a drunken girl. Why was I doing it I didn’t know. Why was I still there I wouldn’t know.

I finally found something to say. “So what is the matter? Jai is ur current boyfriend right. Sort it out. ur mind works so fast. U can do anything. So work it out. But don’t cry.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know who i am in love with. I am committed to jai now. But i can’t stop myself from thinking about max either.”

That was too much for me. It was insane n moreover had no logic in it. How could I understand anyway without logic?

I decided to call it a day. “Ok work it out. Let’s go.”

“Help me out appu” she said. “I don’t think it will work out with jai either... maybe I love max now. We had too wonderful times with each other to forget him. I don’t know what I am going to do. Jai is pathetic and doubts me.”

Another overdose for me!

She took out her mobile and pressed some keys before she showed it to me. It was a msg from max.

It read... “I can’t forget u... i just remember times when u and i.... i love u.”

She broke to tears again. Well this was more complicated love story than any movie i had seen.

“Wait. Don’t cry pls. I didn’t get it. When u n i wat?”

“What the hell!” She smiled... “when him and i? U r a kid... go n sleep.”

Now i was sure. She was completely mad. She was just crying few minutes, no seconds ago.

Most wrong part in it was I was not a kid. I understood every word of what she meant. I had realised wat sam meant when she said rinu was not a good girl. May be she knew. I too had observed rinu’s behaviour outside hostel. She was a flirt. But I asked my mind to ignore it every time. I had clear instructions from rinu not to talk to her outside hostel. And that was enough for me to convince myself that she cared for me. But now it was all over. She was mad. Completely mad. For the first time I was getting scared of her.

“What?” She started again. “i told u keep the hell out of it. It was u who wanted to know. n there is nothing wrong in sleeping with a guy alright? I loved him then. N I am going to do it again. I am slut u see. A bloody whore I am according to jai. Such a fucker!”

I was shivering from within. I ran to my room. I locked it from within. Sam n shikha were fast asleep. I broke to tears. I had thought she was like an elder sister. She woke me up every day. Never had her lunch without me! She had fought with shikha for me. No... it was not her. i had seen a completely different face of hers now. Jai had called her slut. N she was going to prove it to him. I searched for my phone. I wanted to talk to someone. Anyone. N directly called home, to dad, the person I trust the most in this world with my secrets.

Dad was scared to hear my voice at this time. what happened? U alright? What? speak...

I was not able to talk.

“Dad... i am alright. Its about rinu.” I said.

I earlier had told about rinu to my parents how she had solved my problem etc. they also knew about sam n few more of my friends.

“What about her? What happened?”

i was shivering again.

“Relax... what happened? Do u want us to come there? Relax... tell me what happened.”

I told dad everything. Word by word.

Long silence followed once i was done. “Now listen to me” said dad. “ur first priority is that u stay safe. She is not in her mind right now. She may try to do something to herself. U should have tried to understand what sam meant when she had told u rinu was not good. Or at least u would have talked about it with me. Now talk to sam, tell her all this as soon as possible. N if possible try to tell all this to vijaylakshmi aunty of urs if warden is not around. That girl is danger to herself. N keep it low... u know it.. i don’t have to tell u. ”

Vijaylakshmi aunty was one who prepared food for us. Women in her early fifties. She was nice to everyone. N I had told about her to my parents. Rinu’s roommates never knew anything about her this life. they were variants of shikha. Two tamil girls from same college. They neither understood hindi nor spoke much English.

Dad asked me to act sane.. “Troubles find u so easily rite? Anyway.. talk to sam. N be wise. I’ll leave for Hyderabad tomorrow morning.”

“No no..” I shouted suddenly.. “i am fine. It’s okay.. i’ll be safe. I assure u.” All in a single breath.. “If there is a need I assure u dad i’ll ask u to come. I am ok now. Not scared anymore. Bye dad. I’ll call u in the morning. Good night.” I ended the call.

Sam was up. My “no nos” must have woken her up. What happened she asked. Everything alright?

I reiterated entire story to her again.

“I had told u rite.? My boyfriend had told me about her, he got to know from his friend n he had warned me to stay away from her, n i had warned u too.” said sam.

“Yes. She has lost control completely. She is using slangs on herself. She is drinking. She is a danger to herself. What if she... ?” I started crying. I never wanted to see rinu’s face again. But i still wanted her to be safe.

Shikha was sound asleep.

“What to do now. Let’s go and inform vj aunty. Or let’s call warden? I have her number. What if rinu does something really stupid?”

I broke to tears again. “Listen aparna. She is mad. n thats wat she is. Don’t cry for her. i understand she was good to u. only u n I know in this hostel about rinu. n rinu has never let anyone know u are her friend outside this block. So... Don’t worry.”

“We will go to mam. Please come with me.” i requested her.

“Not now yaar. It will be an issue now. We will talk in the morning.” Said sam.

“Please sam what if something happens. She is acting strange. She is drunk.”

“Nothing will happen. Trust me. Sleep.” She went back to bed.

N i was locked in the room of three people but all alone. i had no guts to go out of room.

Hostel was up again in the morning. Everyone was busy getting ready. I got up from my bed. I had not slept even for a single second. I passed through rinu’s room n tried to see if she was on her bed. She was fast asleep. I saw her from the door. Hardly i knew, that was the last time i was seeing her.

chapter 5 comming up next!

Chapter 3: another facet of rinu

The day moved on... we had different classes to let us know about GATE as an examination. We had sessions on how should we proceed with our study. We had introduction to subjects etc.

End of the day i was too tired. i threw my bag on the bed just like I did at home. I in no time realised i had decided to follow good practices, work out on my lazy behaviour. so I lifted my bag, kept it, for the first time in life, neatly in my little allotted space on the shelf. I had stopped myself from going back to my old self. I said welldone to myself.

N without a second thought, without bothering to fresh up, n without bothering to revise what was taught in classes, i threw myself on the bed. I was back to my old self in no time. i had no clue when i fell to sleep.

rinu woke me up for the dinner. First thing i saw as i opened my eyes was the tarrring fan. that told shikha was back in room.

Rinu said all this in one breath to me- “Wats up wit u girl? Its just first day here n u look exhausted already. Classes will run from morning 6 to evening 8 in sometime. Gear up! Have ur dinner now. Its 9.30. get that? N wy the hell is fan so slow?”

She walked to switch board and turned the fan to it max speed. shikha had pulled herself out from her books now. N she had started staring rinu as though she would eat her up.

This was my chance now.

I told to rinu.. “Its too hot i know. But shikha has some problem with fan.”

I turned to shikha to execute my plan... i started. “ shikha there is something i have to tell u.”

“What is it? Tell fast i have hell lot to revise.” She said without bothering to look at me. ok. No issues may be she was just scanning her book in the mean time.

I continued. “Listen. I understand it creates problem for u. But lets see some logic here. Any normal person would need fan in this weather right? I couldn’t sleep at all last night. N my head was kind of heavy all day, may be because of lack of sleep. N look at me, all so exhausted. This is not going to work this way shikha. i need the fan. may be u should use another blanket or something.???”

I just said everything in a single breath. I wanted to finish it all before she spoke. I wanted her not to feel bad, and understand the logic behind. I was not sure if i had put up my case in right way. I had no preparation. But i did it well i thought.

“Why the hell should i do that? Can’t u adjust a little?” she was back in conversation now.

Now it was my turn to answer why the hell she should adjust. I don’t think her mom told her to adjust. Anyway. I was supposed to speak now. I said... “I did try yesterday shikha. N u know i tried. If i am going to feel drowsy all day like today, how am i going to survive here?”

And our conversation n so my plan ended in flop with her next reply. “U r so selfish aparna.”

Now that hurt. I had not expected someone would ever say that to me. i had mostly sacrificed every time since my childhood because of my inability to express to people that they r wrong. I always waited for them to realize their mistakes. In some cases people came back with sorries. N others never did. But I had never used bad words for anyone all my life even if they were not fair on their side. I knew i wasn’t selfish. But even if i was, she was selfish too as part of logic. I had at least considered her request. She was just not ready to listen to my side of it. And i was declared selfish straight away. I realised i was not able to speak now. It did really hurt. I didn’t say anything back. My way out had no way out.and all my plans turned flop with my silence.

She walked to switch board, lowered its speed n carried on with her studies as though nothing had happened.

Rinu was still in the room. “Come with me aparna” she said.

“Leave it i am fine in my room.”

“I am not asking u to come to my room. Lets go to warden. Lets have it cleared. We r in hydrabad next hottest in india after rajsthan.” Said my rinu.

“Oh is it?” i opened my mouth to ask. yes.. i told to myself.. it was normal if it was next to rajasthan. I was not selfish i thought again.

“You stay out of this girl.” Shikha warned rinu.

“I am a citizen of india u know. N it got freedm in 1947.” Said rinu calmly. She was the coolest girl i had ever seen. I liked her. “Are u coming aparna?”

“ Ya.. right away” i said almost getting up. “Ur statistics are so brilliant rinu.”

“Wait we can work it out.” shikha stopped us.

“No.. we r too selfish. Sorry..” rinu gave me a big smile... now it struck to me what actually was happening in my room.

Shikha was searching for words first time since i talked to her. “I ll change my room” she said finally.

I was shocked.

“Listen i.. i...” i had just opened my mouth to speak. Rinu had finished her sentence.

She had said... “U can leave room this week, next week, or right away u know.. we can go to mam right now n help her find u a new room. But fan shall be on u see.”

“Ya.. not now.. i’ll do it soon..” she said to us...

Selfish people. She muttered to herself n sunk back into her books.

Wow. rinu had done it. Fan was running so beautifully at its highest speed now :D it kind of looked beautiful... the fan...

Rinu said finally with a proud smile on her face... “Come on get ur plate, lets go for dinner.” We went to get our food.

“Thanks rinu. That was really nice of u. But what if she really changes room?” i asked her on the way to hostel kitchen.

“Do u think she is going to change her room? She has got best bakras for roommates. She was playing so easily with u there. Let her be my roommate she ll know. Cramming git!”

“Wat? Did u just say bakra?” i was angrily staring at her.

“Oh kid!i have no idea how u r going to survive here! Now stop staring n finish ur food. And i don’t know if hyd in next hottest place after rajasthan... alrite..” :P

And we both were giggling... happy day end!!!

Days passed. My classes were going brilliant. Aptitude and English classes were over. Now we had started with core subjects of computer science. Operating system and computer networks were my favourite classes. The teachers who taught them were one of the best lecturers i had known in my life. Lectures of 3 hours duration were nothing but fun. I was literally enjoying the classes. The way they taught things was very different. Computer networks for me was just 7 osi layers and their functionalities. But now i was learning from the start. Right from how ip address are allotted. How internet actually works. I knew i was at right place.

Everything back in the hostel was fine too. Sam was good friend to me. She was never in room most of the time. She was always on phone i found out. N rinu was like a big sister. She always literally took care of me. she used to call me for lunch every day on time. Reserve bathrooms after her for me. she would give missed call in the morning so that i woke up. I talked to my parents everyday. I told them it was nice here. Indeed i was adjusting myself. Things were getting comfortable.

But shikha had stopped talking to me. we were in same room but never talked. It was something i didn’t like. She started using monkey cap. i felt sorry for her. But i had no other way out. What was striking was none of these were affecting her. Only thing she wanted was to study. I was kind of jealous of her ability to study all day. my maximum was an hour a day.

My priorities were changing slowly. I had started talking to people in hostel. i was making friends. I tried to talk to shikha couple of times but it didn’t work. I left it god now.

Rinu was bossing on me at a rate more than required now. I had adjusted to hostel. For first few days it did look nice being taken care of. But now it had crossed the limits. i suggested her to go for lunch alone at times. But she wanted to be around me in a way or other. I found out no one ever talked to her. She was alone. She just wanted someone to be nice to her. she had a boy friend i had guessed because she talked on phone late into nights. But that was not my business. sam told me not to get too close to rinu. N when i asked why? She just waved her hand n said leave it.

Rinu was a good girl i knew. just little demanding. She was so nice to me after all. wat was sam’s problem? I wouldn’t find out.

It was about two weeks in hostel. every Sunday they prepared something they called vegetable pulao. It was a change after routine week course which included rice, sambar, dal, n some thing they named as sabji. It was a Sunday. rinu I and were enjoying our pulao.

I started the conversation. “Hey i saw u yesterday in canteen. I smiled at u may be u didn’t see.”

“I saw u.” said rinu.

“Wat?? n u didn’t return even my smile? Bad..” i tried to make funny angry face. But it was true she had purposely ignored me in the canteen.

“Listen don’t smile or talk to me outside this hostel. if u want anything tell me in hostel itself.”

“Wy would i tell u if i want something. I can take care of myself rinu. Who was the boy with u?”

“My friend.”

“Ah boyfriend? I smiled back.. its Max?”

“How the hell do u know the name max? U read my messages?”

“Come on. I don’t do such things. Have I ever touched ur phone?”

“No.. then how do u know.”

I was teasing her know. i had come to know about her secret. I said “Thats the secret u see.” I winked at her. “i know few things, u cant even imagine of happening in this hostel... n u call me kid? Say sorry and u’ll know..”

But i realised she was not in mood of joke.

“Tell me please” she begged.

“The only window in the corridor u know is next to my room. Next to my side of wall. U guys come for network there n shout at the top of ur voices, n it pierces through my ears.”

Rinu gave a surprised but a scared look. It was just next to my wall where people opened all their secrets and thought they were safe. Of course they were safe. I never wanted to know anything about anyone nor forward it. But if u cracked out ur throat that loud, what was i to do? It was common sense. N i observed many lacked that in the hostel. But it did help me to know about people. I had glimpses of what were private lives of other girls of my age. I observed they were far far different from mine. First thing i didn’t have a boyfriend. I had very well observed the side effects of love in and around me in the colg. i had many of my friends both boys n girls in love. I had noticed it was something very fascinating for them in the beginning and always ended up with complaints ,expectations, disappointments and cries. I had kept myself safe from having a boyfriend. I didn’t want that extra headache with so much to handle already. But other girls at hostel had. Most of them.

But now the window had started becoming a nuisance. It was irritating. Few most irritating of them were when a girl started teaching ABCD on phone. Few cartoons told every single details of the day on phone. I just walked out of the room one day when a girl started teaching all telagu words she had learnt on phone to someone. I knew bit of telagu by watching movies. She was literally murdering the language in most cruel way possible. I understood nothing of it was love. Neither for girl nor for boy. It was just time pass. Give it a break man. Sit and study! I gave them advices in my mind, and let people in my room study was my personal request, again slow in my mind! it was more torture when People came n spoke in different languages and i was forced to hear it. I had started using my earphones all day now.

But previous night it was about 2 am. Something woke me up. Someone was crying by the window. It was rinu, i reckoned immediately. She was on phone. I wanted to go to her and ask what had happened. She was trying to convince someone but it was not clear because of her sobs. I decided to leave her alone. i thought i would ask her when she was calm.

“It was him u were talking to last night? Max?” I asked.

“How do u know the name?”

“U were using the word max so many times in between ur sobs rinu. I know ppl say max for word maximum, but if it appears too many times i don’t think it refered to maximum. Simple logic u see.”

“U and ur logic.” She smiled.

“So wy were u crying rinu? Tell me. he said something bad to u?”

I was asking not because I was curious to know, but I was concerned about her. I had heard so many ppl cry by the window in different languages. But it was rinu now. A girl I thought was toughest.

She seriously said leave it in first go. I carried on with my food. But I wanted to know what made girl so strong cry. Love is a termite which eats u up from within. I remembered this line i had read somewhere suddenly, not sure why.

Chaper 2: there is always a way out!

It was my first dinner at the hostel. i had sworn to myself i would not complain about anything in hostel. i would ignore all bad things n just concentrate on my studies. I survived the dinner.

After my dinner, i looked through my timetable for next day, my first day in academy. N it scared the hell out of me.

First class was at 6am, n it was English. I made quick plans like i would sleep immediately. N get up at 4.30 am. N i had decided i wouldn’t go late for classes like i did all my life. i kept all things ready, my books, bag, pen, id card. Everything.

I caught glimpse of sam staring at me smiling.

“what are u staring at?” i asked her.

“Nothing” she said, “i too did what u r doing now for first few days.. :P now i run to class with a book i catch first! Hope this lasts for at least a week with u.”

I smiled back. "I too hope so... I was pathetic with all this in engineering. So what time you have class tomorrow?” i asked her.

“I have at 6 am. Software engineering. May be i won’t attend. That sir puts u off to doze anyway. So maybe i’ll attend my next class.”

Shikha was busy reading. I found out she didn’t mingle up with anyone. She just stayed to herself. it was good for her n me too in a way. I too didn’t want a person who would blabber all the time for a roommate. Everything was perfect, i thought, except fan of course. I stared at it again. Come on it was really hot. The fan had its speed more reduced because all other rooms were having their fans running at full speed at that time.

I finally said. “Its really hot shikha. Can we have fan run little faster?”

She looked up at me n said.. “pls aparna i can adjust to anything u say. But pls help me out with fan. it blocks my nose i can’t concentrate next day in class.”

They say it is difficult to beat someone at his/her politeness. And i understood the meaning of the verse perfectly that day.

Hmm.. I said good night to both n then to fan. sam giggled. Her phone rang again.

It was just 10.30 pm. Light was on in the room. I could feel it with even my eyes closed. i felt i was not getting sleep. I tried to sleep... i told myself i need to get up early. but sleep was just so far away. I remembered my home again.

It was 11.30 pm. Lights were off in my room. I had not yet slept. It was so damn hot. I was swetting. I thought, i have had it! i am goin to speed the fan up. i saw shikha was sleeping nicely shooing away my sleep. I remembered what my mom had said – adjust, be nice to people. I tried to sleep back. I saw sam was still on phone. She was talking slowly trying not to disturb us. How on the earth she is surviving without fan???? For split of a second i wished if i too was in love, if that was the reason behind sam’s ability to survive without fan...

It was 1 am. I was still awake. Sam was messaging i saw. I checked my mobile. I had no messages to reply.

I heard some voices. distant voices. someone was shouting my name. Was there an earthquake in hostel, i mean in hydrabad.? what was it? I heard voices again. This time more vividly. Aparna.... aparna... GET UP!

It was sam. she shouted. "Ur alarm!! its 4.30 get up. else u won’t get bathroom n u ll be late for very first day."

"No no.. i am getting up." i was up rubbing my eyes. I remembered how gently my parents woke me up at home. i was missing it already.

Hostel was already up. shikha was reading again. Yuccckkk! Was the only thing i could say. I hated those who read day n night.

I reached in time to the class. I walked slowly and found myself a decent bench. I sat next to two girls. We smiled at one other. i just looked around. This was a fresh batch that had started just that day. People were introducing themselves to each other. There were not many people in the class. And i was told another batch would join this class soon after English, making the strength around 150.

Sir entered the class. The class went to pin drop silence state by the time sir reached the podium. He was a man may be in his early forties. He was balding already. Hullo every one! A thumping voice echoed from mike. N slightest of my sleep left in me ran away.

"Good morning every one. It is nice to see another fresh batch of youngsters with so much energy oozing out. I am ur English teacher!"

He reminded me of physical education teacher at school.

“They left us 62 years ago, but still we are here to learn their language. British.” He started.

“But mind u! We cannot ignore English ANYMORE. Its an international language. And good communication, good vocabulary and presentation skills today are must for survival.” He stressed further on it. He finally said he would try to get us learn or improve these skills in a more enjoyable way.

The class went on nicely. He talked about grammar, common mistakes made in day today life etc. I was on my best attention for about 20 minutes. Then my mind started wondering. I had hardly slept last night. My head was kind of heavy. This was not going to work without fan. i was sympathetic to shikha, call it even empathetic. But somebody think about me too, scorching hydrabad heat n i am asked to live without fan.

everyday sacrificing my sleep! it was not worth leaving two jobs n leaving home. i had to do something. Well i had tried all my ways of convincing her. n for my nature, i couldn’t fight with anyone either. it was mission impossible. N i was not in love too, like sam. it was really impossible. I was searching for options of leaving room now.

Sir was throwing interesting questions on English and whoever answered won a pen for prize. Sir had brought a pack of them with him. Nothing was interesting me. i was in my own world. I was worried. He said it was an early morning class n if he went on with the grammar for some more time some of us would fall for a nap. “i’ll tell u a story. hows that?” he said.

Whole class cheered up.

His story began. I told myself lets listen to story we ll worry later..

Once upon a time on a bank of a river in Punjab lived a karate hero called dhara singh. He was champion of all martial arts. Everyone got scared of him in the village. He won all championships, all medals, every game. he was invincible, unconquerable.

There was a boy called ramu in that village. He had grown up seeing, listening to dhara singhs triumphs. He too wanted to be like him. But whenever he looked at himself his own body of only skeleton and skin, it disappointed him. To add on he didn’t have his right arm. Poor boy... sir sighed.

I was engrossed in the story. sir went on...

His only dream in life was to beat dhara singh. And it was too difficult for him to give this dream up. so he decided to visit a “khusti” teacher. All well known teachers in the town made fun of him when he put forth his wish. They mocked at his inability, they all ridiculed him.

I noticed sir was using new or less often used words now and then. I noted few of them here and there. I was back in class. More than that i wanted to know what happened to ramu. I had forgotten shikha and also the fan.

Ramu finally went to the last teacher in the town. And to his surprise he was accepted as student with due repect to his wish of defeating dhara singh. Ramu was grateful. He started his practice in full rigour. He practised day and night tirelessly for two years, when finally his master declared him ready for the battle with dhara singh.

The whole village turned up that day. Everyone wanted to see ramu beaten up badly for his insanity. Whole village was on one side. Ramu n his master were on the other. The game began. There were five rounds. N to everyone’s shock, ramu won all 5 rounds. Every one stood speechless. What was going on.?

Dhara singh left the court horrified. Ramu was declared the winner.

Ramu broke to tears. He couldn’t believe it. He had lived his dream. How had that happened? He runs to his master.

“Master what did u do? How did u do this? I won.” Ramu asked his master with teas f gratitude, a choking voice.

Master said calmy... "yes ramu u won. I applied a trick."

"What was it master?"

There is a trick in kusti called “mallabandha” when u apply it on ur opponent, only way he can overcome u is by holding ur right hand. And u don’t have a right arm. So he could never work out of it.

"And u won."

The whole class was silent as sir finished his last sentence of story.

Now that was a story!!! i thought... Nice one. Really refreshing one! Early in the morning.

Sir continued... "Now my dear friends just tell me in one sentence what u got from the story." I noticed so many hands shot up in the air.

A boy said. Hard work and intelligence is the way to success.

"Not bad! Anyone else?" sir asked.

"If u really wish something u can achieve it."

"Correct... next..?"

Some boy stud up n said. Sir something we wish really in life, something we desire truly, something we want from bottom of our heart, we should never leave hopes on it sir. It will come true one or the other day sir!

"Oh sir. I asked in one line... anyway... sit-down good attempt. Anyone from girls?"

I said it... not to sir but to me, to myself... but it came out little louder than I had intended.

“There is always a way out”

What? Sir had heard me... I was in second bench. "Louder please..."

This was it..! this was it..! i had got my solution to the fan problem. I had got my way out... I suddenly knew what i should do.

I said louder this time. With full confidence and a smile to entire class.. “there is always a way out.. sir.."

"Excellent! excellent kid! Come here n take this.."

i walked to sir, he gave me a 50 rupees note..

"this is ur prize! Brilliant answer! whats ur name?"

"Aparna bhat sir..." And i took the note with gratitude. I was grateful for the story!

"Yes friends there is always a way out! Nice way to say it aparna congratualtions. Buy a book of swami vivekanada!"

Thank you sir was all i could say! About 10 cello maxwriters were already distributed for winners in class but this was the first 50 rupees note. :P i was happy to see few jealous faces..

Sir went on. "friends vivekanada has been one person who had immense influence on my life. so many problems floated across. But i survived. I was a hopeless kid of my parents. a hopeless student at school. But today i am somebody. I take English classes for this institution, i prepare students for many entrance exams across the world, i give talks, i am called at iits and nits all over india as guest lecturer. I am a recognised man in the society today. Just remember one mantra. Jai Vivekananda”.

A wave of laughter was up in class.

"No dear friends it works. Whenever u r scared just say this. Be fearless. As Vivekananda said there is no word called fear in his dictionary. Tell to urself.. all is well.. or as this girl said now.." “there got to be a way out”

Fearless.. be fearless... it was like,the word had hit us like a thunder..

This was it! I had got my solution to the problem called “shikha”... i was fearless now... i knew wat was my way out now... J

I literally don’t have any work to do. So this is what i love doing i.e scribbling. But question is what to scribble? I cant go out of home as i have broken my leg out of my own stupidity. So all i’m thinking now is to write my hostel story with little masala added into it.

Wow! Hostel life!! Now that was something. It’s a long story, too long to be put into a single article. So i’m thinking to post this in terms of chapters. Yeah got that rite! Kinda mini novel. Inspiration is of course THE Chetan Bhagat, i assure u this story won’t be even 0.01 percent of his stories. But i do want to write about my hostel life. Because experiences i have had there are worth sharing. May be its a chance to improve my writing. Let’s see how it goes. I promise to make it as interesting as i can.

Well all characters here are imaginary. But well they have been influenced by characters i met at siri residency-my hostel!

I met different kinds of people, few of whom i could understand n others i still don’t know “wat” they were. Lemme try n write down this story of 7 months as interesting as i can make it so that u can yawn little less while reading it! :P so here i begin. It is basically what it is like being in girls hostel! it includes struggle to survive in hostel, emotional dramas, study at India’s No. 1 GATE coaching academy, the lessons i learnt, lessons i taught to others, successful and flop love stories here and there and so on...

Chapter 1: “the decision!”

It was like a bee in bonnet, i was just not ready to listen to any one. I was thankfully placed in infy and Accenture. But i knew this was not something i wanted. I had no guts to leave the job, but on the other hand i was not ready to accept it either. I wanted to go for my higher studies. People told me a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, don’t act stupid!

But i wanted to join India’s No.1 gate coaching academy. The ACE institute. It was just some stupid gut feeling that was leading me. i had heard the news that iit-chennai is going to set paper this time and it is expected to be tougher than we have seen in recent years. But for me nothing of these worked. I just wanted to go to Hyderabad. Thank god my parents supported me because they knew I would not listen anyway. N dad arranged for best hostel around. My luggage was sent too. Only i was left to be sent!

It was hard leaving home. Mom suddenly stopped talking to me that morning. I knew if she talked she would cry. I was no stronger! I too was on a precarious edge. I didn’t want to cry. I just left quietly. Mom hugged me n asked me to take care of myself. She told- “be safe. N try to adjust at hostel, it won’t be home to be listened to whatever u said or to be done whatever u wanted. Have some patience and let others live”. Alright!

My hostel was on the fourth floor of academy. Dad and I got into the lift.

“So we are here finally”, dad said.

I felt there was a sudden lump in my throat. I wasn’t sure i would be able to speak. I just nodded. i thought- What did i do. Why am i here?? Crap!

Take me home. I didn’t want anything I felt but didn’t dare to say it. Everywhere around there were so many students of my age, moving here and there. I caught glimpse of them as lift stopped at every floor. Finally lift stopped at fourth floor. I was supposed to get out.

"Okay all the best!" Dad said.

i wasn’t able to speak. Lift man was smiling to dad and then at me. He must have seen that scene countless times. It was common scene for him. But damn! Not for me.

"Thanks dad" i said as i walked out slowly.

"Take care kid."

"Yes dad."

I watched the lift go down, hoping it would come back and take me home. Nothing happened. I turned around to see my hostel. Warden was a dark lady may be in her forties. My eyes weren’t very dry. She had noticed it.

"Ayyo amma, idhr aawo"

she said as though she was speaking hindi in telgu.

"Hello"

"Tumhara naam aparna hai na.?"

Yes maam i said politely.

"Okk tumhara room dikhata aawo."

She asked a woman to get my luggage to room no. 402.

402? Thank god, just saved by position of digits. Not a bad start I thought. I followed her quietly.

Geez! It was not even half the size of my room at home. n there were three beds to three walls of the room. There was a shelf by the wall. There was so less space in the room. Rooms were like bogies of train. There was a small corridor. With just one window, thankfully window was just in front of my (i mean our) room. This was the only good news i had since morning. Warden pointed to three doors at the end of corridor and i was informed they were bathrooms. She told me my roommates had gone to class and they shall be back by evening. She told (warned i can say) me to use less water, not to posses any electric heater or kind in room, and to put of lights when not in room.

"Yes mam."

"Happy staying" she said to me as though she was telling- i would be watching u.

It was a steel bed, with an old mattress torn at different places. I opened a bedspread from my bag and covered it best way i could. I tried arranging things on an empty rack on the shelf. My roommates were kind enough to make space for me before leaving for their classes. Warden might have told them that someone was arriving. I was feeling sick. Tears rolled down from my eyes as i sat on my bed. Some girl was at the door. I looked at her. She was kind of good looking. She was in her night dress. It looked like she was sleeping and warden’s voice must have woken her up. I don’t know.

She smiled from door. She had noticed my tears. She came closer to me n put her hands on my shoulders.

"Ohh dear! First time at hostel?"

crap! how did she know. “Yes” i said.

“Oh kiddo..It will be alright. You ll have fun.”

“Yeah thanks.” Why kiddo i thought? Yes.. i agree i do look like an overgrown baby because of my weight n Fatso, kungfu panda, lord ganesha were few of the names by which i was famous amidst my friends. But common she couldn’t call me kiddo right away!!

“My name is rinu.” She said and sat on my bed beside me.

“Hi my name is aparna. M from Karnataka.”

“Cool. M from goa. I stay in next room. Department of electrical engineering. U?”

“Well... computer science. Nice to meet u.”

“You are a fresher?”

“Yeah. Just wrote 8^th semester exams about 15 days ago. Waiting for results.”

“Yeah i guessed so.”

“how can u guess that? its written on my face??” I was not so happy now!

“Haha.. i just guessed. i was working at Infosys for last 3 years. Now i want to peruse my masters may be in an iit. So m hear honey.”

“Ya u can call me aparna.”

“Sure kiddo.” she winked. she was really enjoying teasing me. “Chalo U get fresh. cya around.” she said.

Thank god. All through journey i had been telling myself, that m 21 now. I should be strong. N such a welcome from fellow hostelmate was depressing. Anyway

"yup."I closed the door behind her. N suddenly i couldn’t control myself anymore. N i realised i was really crying finally. I wanted to cry from the moment i had left home. it had mounted up. This was the time i just wanted to leave everything n run away. This was not the place i wanted to be. I looked into a small mirror which was on the wall. My eyes were red. I had cried a lot. I thought of washing my face, this wasn’t the face i wanted my roommates to see. I walked towards bathroom. I languidly pushed the door.

Trrrr.. it made sound that was no less than a cacophony. Bathroom was clean. Ah... that was a relief. I was starring at the tap. It was some old tap that I had thought they had stopped manufacturing after 1970s. I tried to turn it. Ice chill water came running through it to wet my hands. I took back my hands suddenly. I realised warm water running down through my cheeks. I wanted to go home badly now... it was finally enough. I don’t know why i kept staring at the tap... i don’t have a logical reason to explain this, but maybe i was just hoping following the laws of thermal equilibrium, the water might get warm if i cried more.

There was a bang on the door. A sharp voice came piercing through it.

“How long on the earth will u take?? I have a class to attend.”

It was hardly 5 minutes i was in.

“Ya i’m coming out” i said.

i heard her bang the next bathroom and repeat same sentence. Girl inside shouted. “Ask me after 15 minutes. I’m just in.” I made a mental note to say the same thing next time. It was not necessary to hurry up.

I was back in my room, arranging things. It was damn hot. I put the fan to its fullest capacity. Still it wasn’t making me any comfortable. Hydrabad was famous for its temperature. And now i was witnessing it. One of my roommates was back. She gave me a warm smile.

“Hello m samudhyata from uttarakhand. Call me sam. U?”

“I’m aprana. From Karnataka.”

she is a nice girl, i thought. Her phone rang. And she started talking on phone.

Other girl was back too. She threw her bag, and did something that scared the hell out of me. Damn she slowed down the fan.

“I have sinus problem u know. So we ll keep the fan low if u don’t mind. It makes my head heavy and i can’t breathe.”

Well... what she just did had made me breathless. I looked at other girl. She was busy on phone. I remembered what mom had said- adjust.

My 2^nd roommates name was shikha. I had thought she was from Rajasthan. But later i got to know that she hails from Madhya Pradesh. Fine. We had a small intro session before she left the room. Sam had finally finished with her phone. I was staring at the fan.

Sam smiled at me. “yes she doesn’t like fan much. She suffers with sinus. It gets bad with fan.”

“Ok we ll adjust.” I said.

I was sad, angry i don’t know what.

“Don’t u feel the need of fan?” I asked her.

She smiled back. “I do. But I’m out almost all day. My friends from college are here. So that’s ok for me.”

Her phone rang again. She smiled at the phone. And then at me . “can we talk later..? its..”

“Ah somebody special?” I smiled as i asked.

“Yep. He proposed me just a week ago.. J”

“Ah.. cool.. congrats”.

She left the room with phone. I saw a pretty smiling girl leave the room. N then i stared again at something which was in my room, which was made to rotate with a speed i could measure myself using the formula of speed=distance /time... the FAN..

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chapter 2 comming soon :P