9.IN THE JOURNEY:
Then one day I went to the canteen with my friend Ram. I actually accompanied him (with pocket filled with emptiness). He bought some puffs and asked me,
“Do you want anything?”
Most would just ask that for formality, especially at the times when our pockets were empty, but he was not like that and thus he compelled me to eat. Nevertheless, as a gentleman, I replied no to his offer, as we were not that much familiar then. But what to do friendship never tires in breaking those barricades. By the time he once again compelled me, half of the puffs had already gone inside of my tummy.
Hope God. He did not think,
“I should have asked him, at least shouldn’t have compelled him…”
Since, he had only a quarter of what he had bought left to eat.
As I turned, I saw her approaching the canteen with her friends. She came near us; but ignored us. She and her friends bought one chocolate each, after looking at all those six flavours. Most were very talented like that. They would choose the best only after looking at all the available options. Then after sometime they regret and incur themselves with the bewilderment that,
“Have I missed the best?”
I had been buying the chocolates for the past six weeks but that was the first day I actually noticed those flavours because most of them were bought not to be eaten by me. Yet I could take pride that at least I hadn’t troubled the shop keeper.
I understood that she was the one looking for the best among the available ones. So I decided to do my best in order to impress her and be her best.
How can I be her best, what would impress her? The only thing that came to my mind was to get good marks and surpass her rank.
Sometimes when we missed our bus, which we routinely took for our home, Syed and I would go to a small Pani Puri barrow. We would eat something for our stomach and with the remaining of the money we had left after spending during the recess. Syed and I spent the money in alternative days, but mostly he paid, because some days, I would have spent all my money in the canteen itself. Sometimes we purposely came late from the school such that we missed our bus, for we didn’t want to miss our Pani Puri. In a similar kind of day when we were standing near the barrow, she came to the bus stop. I was shocked because it was tangibly she who came over that place, as she was a rich queen, who always came only by her father’s luxurious scooter.
I understood that either her father or his scooter must be under repair. Then she took the bus that went to the other place, in the opposite of the road where our bus stopped. Our bus headed from North to South while the bus she took went in the opposite direction.
During that time, I was standing there still, waiting for my bus, oblivious of other things. If that happened now, then I would also have taken the same bus she took and I would have travelled with her irrespective of the distance the bus covers and the place it destines.
That day was the teachers’ day. As no classes were conducted that day I went on time to the school. All the teachers would be busy in greeting themselves and enjoying their day.
She came to the class. I saw the whole class become lively as soon as she entered like the crowd getting lively while a chief guest enters the function after the delay.
There was a huge discussion on what was to be done in those leisure hours, after that they reached a conclusion. She said that she would be arranging something new and at last she organized a game to be played in our class. She started the game of singing competition between the boys and girls. According to that game, every team member had to begin a song with the last letter with which the opponent had ended the song.
This game, which she boasted to be novel, had existed since from the days of our great great grandma’s periods. Though I loved her she was not an exception to a normal girl it was the nature of the girls. They think themselves of doing something new and great and at last end up with something old and boring, which had been in existence for years.
Though many boys suggested some other interesting games, as usual boys’ hearts only ended up supporting the opposite community than their own. It was the nature of boys.
So we had no option other than playing that old game because it was better than sitting idle. As she started singing, I really began to admire her. Not on the way she sang, but I wondered
“How could she know so many songs?”
After a few minutes, the other girls started to sing as if they really belonged to some great musical community. This musical saga caused a continuous blood flow in our boys’ ears.
“We should record those songs they sing and should replay it to them. Then at least they would realise the greatest sin they were committing…” we discussed with each other.
The competition went on. Other boys of my class, who were little close to her because of the acquaintance over the past years of studying in the same school, sung against her i.e. against the girls’ team.
As they sang, I realised that other than humans I was also having some donkeys as my friends because their voices were impeccable in comparison with a donkey’s bray.
I sat in one of the corners of the benches and watched others singing the songs. Though I knew many songs, I kept quiet because of shyness. At the end of the game, as usual the girls won and like every time we denied that, cheated and proclaimed ourselves as the winners.
10.JUDGEMENT DAY:
In my school days, my only aim was to get good marks. So I always concentrated on my studies, but even then, I still sometimes wished to talk with her, see her and become a friend to her. But, I gave very less importance to those things as I was interested getting good marks.
I sometimes regret and think that why I had been so foolish and yearn for those little things to happen while ignoring the gift of being near her. I now realise that I have actually missed some diamonds while I was busy collecting the stones.
Mostly we regret and hate ourselves when we think that why we were once so much stupid? Why did we think that those silly things were the most important and long for some little things to happen. We always forget that, during that time those were the things we wanted the most.
During that time, all I wished was to get a second rank badge at least once. So that I could carry it, near my heart flaunting myself and displaying the capacity of my brain. It mattered so much to a nerd, especially to a one still at school.
But the fact was that, Syed and she coveted much for this second rank badge much more than me. So I am cheering for what I had wished for that day, because in our human lives, in everyday the previous days appear better.
This was the only thought that kept me away from her during that time.
Who knows I might someday regret for loving her this much. But I hope this wouldn’t happen, because our hopes to live happily never changes in spite of the ages we attain and the years we live.
That day was said to be our judgement day… judgment for all the mischievous and naughty things we had done so far. It was parents and teacher's meeting day. For me, that month didn’t hold much except that I was caught once while copying others’ papers and coming in late for four or five days. Those were more than enough for my teachers; they could even paste my photograph on the most wanted terrorist list with the things they had gotten.
I was much more worried that the day actually fell on one of my father’s working day. If it had been my father, he would simply listen to the laments of my teacher. Then he would forget them, there itself. Finally, we would be reaching home with an ice-cream. On the other hand, my mother would be asking everything voluntarily from my teacher even though she intends to say a little…
On that day, every student feared that all the teachers only by using their words would be telecasting the movie that they had filmed with their eyes. We were afraid because that movie had compr
ised all our mischievous and corrupt actions that we had committed up to that day.
I asked my mother to come as late as possible because I knew teachers would be too tired of lamenting about all the students to their parents. Therefore, I could end this meeting with the less trouble. We all said to one another that,
“Today in our home we are going to get various critics and scolding for the movie, which we played in the lead and supporting roles”
But on that day, what happened was something entirely different. The teachers dumped the release of our films, as they were busy with releasing their blockbuster of our friend Pradeep.
The first half of the film was full of romance, and second half comprised of action sequences, lively performed by his father….
The script of the film was:
He had actually proposed to a girl in our class whom he loved. As soon as he proposed she ran to the staff room as fast as if she was running the 100 m race in the Olympics. After seeing her running, our teachers had decided to give the gold medal to Pradeep because he was the one who caused her to run…
In that day of parents meeting when his father came to know about this, he started to beat him immediately in front of everyone. After a few minutes in front of our awaiting eyes, the interesting sequence began. His father and her father started to quarrel with each other.
As all the theatres were busy enough to
In Love : Once & Forever Page 6
