‘People discriminate against us because they are not familiar with us. They are familiar with the culture of a Punjabi and a Tamilian but aren’t that familiar with ours. And some would also argue, rightly so, that why cluster our states as North-east? Why not remember our states with their own names? But to arrive at that level, the country should first know about us. The sad truth is that we are for sure legal citizens of India, but unfortunately, we are not accepted as cultural citizens of India,’ Tenzing sighed.
His words echoed in Arjun’s ears. He was stunned to understand the gravity of the issue. Every word he had said was an eye-opener for Rupali. It definitely influenced the way she looked at the issue. The in-depth insights that Tenzing had provided and, especially, the way he had delivered that little speech had left Arjun thinking. The impact of it was such that Arjun requested Tenzing to consider his invitation to hold an interactive session with the rest of his party members at the next meeting. He also insisted on inviting a few of his friends from the North-east.
‘I can do so, but not in the capacity of a music club member, but as a student from the North-east who is fighting for our identity in DU,’ Tenzing said.
‘Yes. I understand that,’ Arjun replied.
Even after that intense meeting, the interactions of that long day were not yet over for Rupali and Arjun. They had to meet again on the campus lawns for Madhab’s shoot. But before that, Rupali had to fulfil the wish Arjun had made.
As decided, they had all gathered on the college lawns. In walked a young girl in a stunning white lacey sleeveless top and brown leggings. Her hair had been blow-dried to fall in soft curls around her face and from under the big black sunglasses you could only see a soft mouth with pink gloss. She was wearing long silver earrings and brown high-heeled shoes. She walked slowly towards them.
Instantly, all eyes were on her. When the boys in the group saw this glamorous young woman walking towards them, they began to wonder who she was.
Only when Rupali joined them and took off her sunglasses, did their jaws drop.
‘I don’t believe this!’ Madhab said.
‘Yeah . . . we don’t either . . .’ murmured others with eyes and mouths wide open in disbelief.
Arjun stared at her and then walked closer—his eyes looking at her admiringly. It was clear that he wasn’t able to say anything.
‘My goodness, Rupali! You look hot!’ Shipra, one of the party members, complimented.
‘What are you guys up to? Giving us surprises! First Arjun appeared like a different person and now you in this glam avatar?’ Prosonjeet said loudly.
‘I had to keep my promise!’ Rupali smiled seductively and looked at Arjun, who still seemed shocked.
‘But your transformation is far bigger than that of Arjun’s. Straight from the . . . uh, sorry, but behenji type . . . to a Delhi girl. What do you say, guys?’ Prosonjeet shouted.
There was a loud cheer all around them. A lot of hooting and whistling. Rupali smiled shyly as she stood next to Arjun, who was now beaming, looking quite proud of his girlfriend. She received a lot of compliments on how she was able to carry off the western look. Rupali secretly thanked Saloni for this. Had it not been for her, she wouldn’t have been able to put this look together.
Meanwhile, Arjun kept happily staring at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her in that body-hugging, figure-revealing, top. Through the strappy neckline he could see her chiselled neck and collarbones. He gazed at the smooth skin and the delicacy of her shoulders that were otherwise always hidden behind the suits that she wore. He didn’t forget to notice that Rupali was still wearing the pendant that he had gifted her on New Year’s Eve. She never took it off.
He wanted to touch her, feel her skin. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, soak in the heady aroma of her perfume. He wondered how a girl, whom he had till then admired for being a mature intelligent person with a good heart, could also have such a sensual side to her! And how powerful was his attraction to her. Arjun tried to control his thoughts but couldn’t. Rupali had ignited something else in his heart.
Suddenly, Madhab shouted and brought Arjun out of his daze. He wanted to shoot in natural light before the evening got darker. It was a nukkad naatak, a street play, that he had thought about and wanted to capture on his handycam. The scene was that of a guy and a girl in love who had just got admitted to the same college in DU. He chose three couples from his team. Rupali and Arjun became his final choice for their real-life love story. He explained the first scene to everyone. The couple was supposed to lie down on the lawn and look into each other’s eyes as they talked about how they visualized spending the next few years of their lives in college. In the next portion of the video he wanted to showcase the contrast between their dreams and the ground reality. However, today was about the first part. The second part he had planned to shoot on another day, in another setting.
Madhab asked everyone to take their positions and perform the act together. He said they should keep talking normally while he walked a full circle with his camera to capture the scene. Everyone, including those who were going to act, was excited.
Most couples wondered what they would talk about. Only Rupali and Arjun weren’t too bothered about it. Madhab had given them all a few lines. He was not going to record the voices that evening. There was a voice-over he planned to do while editing the video.
‘Thank you for keeping your promise,’ Arjun whispered as he looked into Rupali’s eyes.
Rupali smiled.
They were lying on the slightly prickly grass of the lawns. The gentle sunlight was streaming through the clouds and on their bright faces. Rupali’s pendant intermittently flashed the falling sunlight and playfully blinded Arjun’s eyes.
‘Gosh! You look beautiful!’
Rupali glowed with happiness. Finally, her Arjun had said what she wanted to hear. She found it difficult to continue looking into his eyes. She knew it was a different moment, different from the times they had met before. She knew that Arjun was looking at her in a way that he had never done before. Secretly, she wanted him to notice more of her and not her clothes.
Suddenly, she realized Madhab was saying something. He had been shouting at Arjun initially and when the lost-inhis-girlfriend-guy didn’t hear him for the third time, Madhab called out Rupali’s name. She heard it the second time.
‘Thank you so much, Rupali, for finally listening to me. What are you guys up to?’ Madhab shouted. The others continued to make fun of Arjun who had completely missed the point.
When Arjun turned and looked at Madhab, the latter asked him, ‘You are lost, my friend! What are you up to? Please turn towards your left and be aware that I am here!’
‘Alright! Alright! Here we are trying to give you a realistic shot and you are shouting at us!’ Arjun said, following his instructions. He was taking the whole thing quite lightly.
‘Yes, this is fine now. Look at Rupali and continue talking,’ Madhab shouted, looking at the screen of his handycam.
Madhab continued to shoot them for the next few minutes. After the entire shoot was done and while reviewing his recording he looked at Arjun and Rupali and said, ‘You guys have an amazing chemistry!’
‘No! Hold me like this. Yes. This way. Perfect!’
It’s the third and final night of the college annual fest. The lawns outside the administrative block bustle with students enjoying and cheering a live band of Bollywood singers. About half an hour back, the college’s music club had received a phenomenal response when Tenzing and Rupali had sung a peppy number ‘Masti ki Paatshaala’—a song that had unofficially become DU’s anthem. Even though the original number didn’t have a female singer, Tenzing’s idea of experimenting with a female voice had worked brilliantly. It was the final number and they had dedicated it to the students and life at DU in general. The boys and girls in the audience had loved it and they showed their enthusiasm for it by clapping their hands in the air, in sync with the rhythm of the song. Since almost eve
ryone knew the catchy lyrics, the crowd sang along. It was fun and they ended the song to loud cheers of, ‘Once more!’
But that was half an hour back. Now that the star attraction of the night, the Bollywood band, had begun its show, she slipped out of the gathering to enjoy Arjun’s company. Evenings like these, ones full of festivities, enhances the feeling of being in love and makes it even more joyful. Along with the celebrations with friends, giving them the slip to catch a few private moments with that special someone makes the experience delightfully adventurous.
From behind her, Arjun slips his hands around Rupali’s waist, just the way she suggested a second back. He interlocks them around her naval. She is wearing a white V-neck cardigan over a white-collared top. A pair of blue denims complete the look. That’s her music club’s dress code for the night’s performance.
‘Aren’t you afraid that someone might turn up here and see us?’ Arjun gently asks as he rests his chin over her shoulder.
They are looking down at the gathering that is enjoying the live band.
‘No,’ she says and turns her head to face him.
From the rooftop, the view of the ground is electrifying and spectacular.
‘Are you?’ she asks, wondering if he is scared that someone might see them.
The music, the songs and the thumping of the crowd continues in the background of what looks like a relaxed conversation.
A smile erupts at the corner of his lips and takes sufficient time to flourish further. He shakes his head to brush away Rupali’s concern and then kisses her forehead. She looks into his eyes. She trusts him and turns her head back to the gathering five levels below them.
No one speaks for a while. They are enjoying the music. They are enjoying being together in that moment.
‘It’s a beautiful night. Isn’t it?’ Rupali says.
‘Yes, it is,’ Arjun replies in a half whisper. He kisses her neck while he speaks, it tickles her and she giggles. Then he nuzzles her neck and he can feel her suddenly tense up. They are so close . . .
He looks up at the sky to distract himself.
‘What happened?’ Rupali asks. She can sense that he has moved away a bit.
He takes a moment and then softly says, ‘Winters are bidding goodbye. You noticed?’ Strangely, he sounds sad when he says so.
Rupali smiles, ‘Yes they are.’
Arjun doesn’t say anything and rests his chin back on her shoulder. In response, she puts her hand on his cheek and pats it affectionately. ‘And you don’t want them to end?’
Arjun knows that it doesn’t matter what he wishes for and that seasons will change when their time comes. Yet half-heartedly he says, ‘I wish they wouldn’t . . .’ and then adds, ‘But how does it matter?’
Rupali smiles at his response. She turns her head for the second time, this time to look at Arjun’s unhappy face. Her hand is still over his cheek.
‘It matters to me,’ she says, holding out a smile. ‘But why don’t you want them to end?’
Arjun takes another moment to frame his thoughts. ‘These winters are special. Our love story began with them.’ He says and slips his hands in between her cardigan and her top. Then he sighs and Rupali can feel his breath behind her ear. It makes her feel warm. She runs her hands over her cardigan to feel Arjun’s hand inside it.
‘True, these winters are special and I will never forget them,’ she slowly begins. ‘But Arjun, just like these winters, I want to see and enjoy other seasons with you. I look forward to them.’
‘Hmm. You’re right again,’ Arjun says. Suddenly he’s looking at things differently—just like she showed him to. He realizes that he isn’t sad about the ebbing winters any more. And just like Rupali, he too is looking forward to the spring that’s about to surround their love.
Twenty-Three
It was Abbaas Hanif, an MLA from the ruling party in Delhi, who moved Mahajan’s bail plea. Mahajan’s aunt, a distant relative, had passed away in a remote village near the Delhi– Haryana border. Using his political muscle and through the able services of his advocate, Hanif had filed a plea that Mahajan should get bail to grieve the loss of his dear aunt.
In many ways Hanif was Mahajan’s godfather. Under his nose and with his blessings, Mahajan had gained power and flourished in DU. In return, Mahajan worked for Hanif and focused on building and empowering the youth wing of the party. But that was a few months back, before Mahajan was caught in a disgraceful act and was locked in jail. Back then, other politicians had broken all contact with Mahajan because being seen with a tainted professor would be inviting trouble. Hanif had told him to have patience.
‘Let the dust settle and I will do something for your escape,’ he had said.
Hanif kept his word, more so because he needed Mahajan. He needed him to revive the dying students’ union. He needed him because, besides Mahajan, there was no one to control the functions of the union. He had traded his escape to bring things to an order in DU politics for Hanif. Hanif knew that in Mahajan’s absence, his party’s youth wing was on the verge of collapse. And this meant trouble for Hanif’s party. As Indian politics was moving towards wooing the youth of this country, losing their hold in DU was not something they could afford at that time. Not limiting it to a bail of two weeks, Hanif had planned to keep Mahajan out of the prison for a longer time on the fake grounds of ill-health.
This certainly was opportunistic politics, but then there was no other way for Hanif and Mahajan. With the second semester due to end in just two months and the approaching final exams, they had little time left in their hands. Mahajan knew that if he didn’t act fast, he would not be of any use to the party he was loyal to. Then, he would be back in the jail. He, therefore, had no other option but to deliver results to Hanif at any cost.
Out of the jail, he assessed the ground realities and the students’ inclination towards the political parties. He also gauged the teacher association’s mindset on campus politics. He didn’t need to visit the campus for his little research. His trustworthy sources reached his house on getting the first call from him. The situation was grim, he analysed. The fact that there was not much time left in their hands, made matters worse.
Amidst all this, Arjun’s party was gaining a strong momentum in the entire university. In the past three months their campaign, based on issues like the anti-quota movement, inclusivity of students of all ethnicity—with a special focus on North-eastern students, betterment of hostels and the life of students on campus, had got the support of numerous students’ groups. The online social networking campaign had played a major role in this movement. More than 50,000 students in DU, across various colleges, had joined their Facebook page. One of the reasons behind gaining a huge number of followers in such a short time was their crowd-sourced online events that had gone viral. It was Rupali’s idea to host a tab on their page where people could report what they saw as a problem on their campus. It started as a fun activity with photographs of stray dogs having sex in the courtyard of their hostel being uploaded, but soon became an important forum. From unhygienic kitchen areas in messes, to poor Wi-Fisignal in the hostel floors, everything made its way to this page. People not only wrote about their problems, they also clicked and posted pictures as proof. While the party volunteers commented on the valid problems and included them in their agenda, the page also invited the interests of the Einsteins and Newtons of DU. They offered low-cost yet good-quality solutions to problems mentioned by other students. Time and again they reminded the students that, if the party comes to power, they should be given the first chance to fix the problems they had brought under the scanner. They asked for an opportunity to prove their mettle.
Such was the influence of this Facebook page that even the students’ union in power had started picking up on problems highlighted on the page and tried to fix them. However, they only focused on the really small issues to gain brownie points.
The page became so famous that it also grabbed the attention of the a
lumni of DU. This led to a new idea among the party workers—connecting with alumni and holding alumni-gyan sessions closer to the placement season.
Not only did Rupali bridge the gap between the cultural club and the party, she also brought in fresh faces to join the party; many of them were girls from her batch. She felt that their party’s gender ratio was completely skewed in favour of the boys and that there wasn’t enough representation from the girls. With her positive image, the party managed to register more than 35 per cent of girls as active members. Initially, the older party volunteers were bothered to see so many first year students joining them. They had raised the point that the lack of experience in campus politics that the first year batch would bring would dilute the party’s core team. To that, Rupali pointed out that lack of prior experience would also mean that their vision would not be clouded by the baggage of past politics.
‘Fresh minds will bring fresh ideas with them,’ she had said.
Despite all the good work she had done, Rupali never got carried away. She was clear from the first day that she didn’t want to stand for any post in the elections, even though many of her party workers suggested her name as a candidate. Her motto was clear. She wanted to work for a party that promised to make DU a better place to live in and study.
‘But what about our core issue, the fight against the reservation system?’ Madhab questioned.
The party members had gathered to refine the points on their agenda.
‘I understand that reservation is a problematic area in our admission process,’ Rupali replied to Madhab and to everyone who had gathered.
A few volunteers were already in favour of what Rupali was saying.
‘Then why are you not giving it the due importance?’ a voice in the gathering asked.
‘Because I feel the issue also has room for a healthy discussion. On our Facebook page, a number of sportspersons from this university have written about why we should not be anti-sports quota while we fight to abolish other quotas and promote meritocracy,’ she reasoned.
Your Dreams Are Mine Now Page 17
