Anyone Else But You...

by Mallik, Ritwik; Verma, Ananya

  they were entering. It was the Newspaper division of DNN-IGN, which was where Runjhun worked.

  The Big Stand was a hugely popular show which aired at 8 pm every weekday. Hosted by famous journalist, Vikki Chandra, the guests who were invited to speak on various motions comprised of the crème de la crème of the society. That specific day, a special motion for a moderated debate on Siddhant Dalvi’s life and death was chosen after a lot of cajoling and coaxing by Runjhun, in front of the Ed-in-Chief, Dilip Desai. Although, the TV people were pretty tightlipped on the names on the guest list, Rishav had a fair idea of whom to expect and who not to. Bindu would be there for sure, he thought. It was a live event that would reach over 250 towns and cities all over India. The article on Dalvi’s death had already created enough of a furor in the city. The Live telecast of this debate would feed more flame to the already blazing fire, driving the nail straight into the coffins of the DHS management.

  Rishav and Vanya were part of the ‘interactive audience’. The organisers of the show had decided to put them in the audience instead of having them as a part of the panel since they were only students. But they knew what an integral part both of them would play in this controversial debate hence they put them in the front row of the audience. The assistant producer of the show was there to greet Rishav and Vanya with a big smile. Fakeness, Rishav thought. He warmly escorted both of them around and showed them their production and editing units.

  Rishav and Vanya sat there in silence in the dimly lit, empty studio of The Big Stand. Some spot boys kept moving things from here to there, apart from that there was no activity whatsoever. Rishav could

  see the five podiums that were arranged on the stage, the centre one was obviously for the host, Vikki Chandra. The other four were yet to have name plates on them and apart from the obvious choice of expecting to see Kalsi there; he raked his brain to think who else could be invited that day. There was a good hour left for the telecast to begin and Rishav had started to feel a little uncomfortable sitting

  there with now-so-silent Vanya, all alone. He forced himself to not think of Sahana. To be near Vanya and not have Sahana around was making him restless. Both of them were always together. And now that

  she wasn’t there, Rishav was finding it difficult to talk to Vanya. He thought about whether Sahana would be watching the show or not. Vanya had told him that Sahana knew about the live telecast and she had told her to watch it. He wondered if she would care to listen about what he had to say. Hell, I am going to make her listen to me and the rest of the bastards, Rishav resolved. For you Siddhant, this is for you.

  *

  “We will be on air in …three, two, one…!” the producer said it out loud in the background.

  There was a red signal that flashed ‘Applause’ as everyone other than Rishav started clapping while the host Vikki Chandra, impeccably dressed made his way through the audience and positioned himself right

  at the centre of the stage and smiled.

  “Good evening all my viewers, welcome to another edition of DNN-IGN Big Stand,” the line followed another round of applause as it was directed on the large screen right in front of the audience.

  Chandra in his composed self, started speaking as the cameras rolled –not even a hint of nervousness in his voice. “It has truly been a sad week for the people of this city, if not the country. 17 year old Siddhant Dalvi decided to end his life as a result of the alleged harsh treatment that he had been meted out at school. The big question here today is and that is exactly what we’ll be discussing for the next hour or so – Who killed Siddhant Dalvi?” He paused to let the question sink in to the minds of the audience.”It’s popular belief that schools are becoming institutes of commerce rather than education and the casual, unaccountable nature of its’ managements. Is there any truth to it? We’ll find out in this hour.”

  This time around, no ‘Applause’ sign flashed.

  “To begin with today’s show; I’d like to introduce four very involved and eminent names in this controversy. We have the Honorable Education Minister of India, Mr. Chris D’Souza.” There was a loud round of applause as a short heighted, white haired man in his seventies, walked up to the stage with measured steps. He folded his hands in Namaste as he received the applause. He walked up to the podium and stood behind it.

  The camera focused on the next guest.

  “Now, we have the lady who is at the centre of this entire controversy, her actions have been much dissected and spoken about. But one must commend her bravery to decide to come on National

  television and clear the air, ladies and gentlemen, please let’s warmly welcome Mrs. Bindu Kalsi, Principal, Delhi High School,” Chandra concluded as there was another round of applause. Although it

  died down far quickly than it had for D’Souza. Rishav scowled as the people applauded seeing the sign on a huge black screen above that said “Applaud”.

  Fat-ass, Rishav thought, as Bindu positioned herself behind the podium.

  Nothing ever seemed to have an effect on her self confidence. “Welcome ma’am,” Chandra said as Kalsi smirked and took her place behind her podium.

  “Kutti,” Vanya whispered in Rishav’s ear.

  Rishav smiled at her. Chandra took a deep breath, “Okay then, we have two other people who’d have a lot to say about the education system in India and especially about the running of Delhi High School in general. Please welcome the award winning ex-Principal of DHS, Mrs. Meena Singhal and ex-Vice Principal of DHS, Dr. Madhuri Singh.” There was a thunderous reception for both of them as Rishav and Vanya exchanged confident glances. They weren’t expecting this, but surely the arrival of two of Kalsi’s arch nemesis could never be bad. Rishav smiled slyly as he knew how mindfucked Kalsi would get at the end of the show.

  Good luck with that, he thought

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  The countdown had begun…

  THIRTY

  “Dalvi’s death was tragic and it can rightly be called an accident, considering how drunk he was,” Kalsi’s words echoed on national television.

  “Okay, tragic and accident, agreed but where is the whole accountability of the school here? What about a certain Physics teacher who assaulted Siddhant?” Chandra raised a question.

  “Who? Which Physics teacher are you talking about? I think at this point of time it’s better not to allege things at random persons. If they are certain people who are involved in this case their names should be taken clearly,” she said in slow motion.

  “There had been reports of an incident in the Commerce section relating to Mr. Suraj Singh assaulting Siddhant,” said Chandra.

  “Suraj Singh is an honourable person and I refute all these allegations, they are baseless…”

  “That’s not true,” Rishav shouted as his echoed in the studio, loudly enough. Chandra glanced at the boy sitting in front. Trying not to show his irritation in his voice, he looked at him and said, “Audience, be

  informed that you shall get your chance to speak later.”

  “I think it is important at this point of time for him to speak since it is directly related to what has been just said by the eminent Principal of DHS,” Vanya said with contempt in her voice.

  “Thank you, Vanya,” Rishav said, getting up from his seat and walking towards the brightly lit stage.

  The earpiece in Chandra’s ear, gave him all sorts of instructions, which he wasn’t really following. Some spot boys tried to politely refuse Rishav entry onto the stage.

  “Please let him come,” Chandra said, as he heard his producer tell him to invite the boy on stage and let him speak. It would just heat up things and increase their TRPs.

  Kalsi’s throat had gone dry. Had she known that he would become such a pain in the ass, she would’ve rusticated him long time ago.

  “Get the boy up here, let us hear what he has to say,” Mr. D’Souza said politely.

  The cameras were still rolling when
Vikki Chandra directed the assistants to plug up Rishav as fast as they could. “We’ll get into a quick commercial break now,” he said. “And when we are back, we shall

  have Rishav Sen talk about Siddhant Dalvi.”

  /div> “We’ll go off air in one two three..!” said the producer as they went off air.

  D’Souza, Singhal and Madhuri went into a small discussion as Kalsi used the opportunity to wipe the smeared kajal off her face. Vikki Chandra smartly walked up to Rishav who was getting the microphone

  installed. “Kid, you might not want to do that. It kills the program,” he said.

  “I am really sorry, Sir. I had no intention of disrupting your program but she was outright lying about my friend’s death. He was my best friend,” Rishav asked.

  “I’m really sorry for your loss but we are also here for your friend.” Chandra said with his hand on Rishav’s back.

  “Yes, sir. It won’t happen again. So do I get to speak what I want?”

  “The moment we are back on air.”

  “Thank you, sir. I am a huge fan. Sir, can I ask for a favor?”

  Chandra laughed, “Yeah, sure.”

  “My friend Vanya saw Siddhant being ragged. I think it would be really good for the show if you have a witness,” Rishav said.

  Chandra nodded, “Of course. I’ll talk to the producer.” He said and walked towards the assistant producer.

  ‘Back in 120 seconds’ – the large screen read. The producer and his assistants started calling everyone back to their places.

  “All the best,” Chandra gave a parting comment to both Vanya and Rishav after they had been plugged in.

  “Thanks,” They said in unison.

  They were back on air.

  “Right before the break, we had little drama as Siddhant’s best friend, Rishav made his way to the stage. He has some really scathing remarks. But before we tread that part, let me ask you Mrs. Singhal, are you really satisfied with what you see of the school right now? The very school you took to greatness?”

  Singhal looked at the camera with a straight face, “Honestly speaking, no. I am highly disappointed of what I see today. Like over-emphasis on music events and shaking off all responsibility and accountability is not something I’d promote. It sets precedence and it acts as a deterrent for growth of schools in the society.”

  “Point well noted. Dr. Singh, assuming the allegations against Suraj Singh are true, how would you dissect the man and his actions?”

  “Let me point this out Vikki, that I regret and condemn Suraj’s actions. Working with him closely has exposed to me the rogue nature of his character. C’mon, having connections with X, Y, Z political

  parties shouldn’t be criteria for holding on to your jobs…”

  Kalsi butted in, “With all due respect Dr. Singh, you have no right to make such comments that have no proof.”

  “Bindu, I have every right to point these out. I have been part of that institution and I feel ashamed of the fact that I was. And Suraj Singh’s political affiliations are not secrets of the Incas.”

  “Can I say something?” Rishav asked.

  “Yes, Rishav, we’ll come to you in just a second. Mrs. Kalsi, you have a chance to respond to that before we move to Mrs. Singhal and then Rishav.”

  “See, Vikki. I don’t want to get into denying these baseless allegations. If at all there were issues with Suraj, someone would have pointed it by now.”

  “No they won’t,” shouted Rishav. “That’s the whole point, don’t you see? They are scared. They don’t want to get involved in something as murky as this.”

  Kalsi shook her head vehemently, “No No.”

  Singhal butt in, “I complete concur with what Rishav has to say. During my stay as the Principal, I had judged the amount of fear students had for Suraj Singh.”

  Kalsi rebutted, “Meena dear, Suraj was appointed under your regime. If you so doubted his character, why did you do it in the first place?”

  “We are digressing from the issue slightly,” said Chandra. “The point here is whether Suraj Singh was to blame or not. No-one is going into the deeper understandings of his character and if at all Suraj Singh

  was to be blamed, where is the proof?”

  “We have proof right here, sir,” Rishav said with a sarcastic smile on his face. “Vanya, would you like to say something?”

  “Yes of course, Rishav,” Vanya said sweetly. “I am in the Commerce section of 11th grade and on November 29th, Mr. Suraj Singh came as the substitution teacher. He assaulted Siddhanth Dalvi right in front of my eyes and twenty others. I think there is no more of proof required to prove that indeed Mr. Suraj Singh, the physics HOD, had committed a heinous offence of ragging and humiliating a student.”

  If one were to say that Kalsi was humiliated, it would’ve been the understatement of the century.

  “Is the silence worth a thousand words, Mrs. Kalsi?” asked Chandra.

  “Moving on, Mrs. Singhal, being an educationist, can you delve into the mind of this teenager?”

  “As Rishav said, Siddhant Dalvi was an introvert. He kept to himself and he had a lot of acceptance issues. Why not rake the issue of alcoholism in today’s youth? Had he not been pressured by his peer’s

  to take up drinking that fateful day, Dalvi might have lived. Where is the role of the schools here? Why is alcohol available in the hostel?”

  “Mrs. Kalsi, you’d want to respond to that?”

  “Those photographs had been doctored,” she said bluntly, shaking nonetheless.

  “Doctored you say, okay then what about the statements of senior clerks in the hostel? I am talking of a certain peon fondly called bhau. He admitted to DNN-IGN reporters that indeed he accepted consignments of alcohol,” Chandra had mastered his art pretty well.

  A flustered Kalsi thought of what to say, “I have no comments on that.”

  “No comments? Are you sure Mrs. Kalsi? The reputation of your school is at stake here?”

  “It is an internal matter and I shall look into it.”

  “I am sorry to say, Sir but “looking into the matter” is a euphemism for ‘we won’t do anything’,” added Rishav disdainfully. “Strict action needs to be taken and that too now. In a few days everyone would

  forget what happened to an innocent boy. Next week you would be discussing about another disaster in this very show. The time is now. And I think that principal ma’am should resolve to solve this issue by

  setting up an enquiry into this matter.”

  “We will take strict action, Rishav.” Bindu Kalsi said as she glared at Rishav. “And as for Siddhant, we will not forget him and ensure that justice is served. There is no bigger loss than having lost a son. And

  I offer my condolences to Siddhant’s family.”

  “You shouldn’t even say that,” came Madhuri’s response. “You had the audacity to host Socialact Wave and splurge lakhs of rupees.”

  “We had certain commitments to our sponsors…”

  “Sponsors? You didn’t even have a clue about what went on. You tried to hush up the matter,” Madhuri shot back.

  “We absolutely did not. We had to honor our commitments. And we did our best.”

  “Your best wasn’t enough, sadly. I think it would be in the best interest of the school if instead of focusing on organising shows and fetes, the school management focuses on the students and their

  holistic development.” added Singhal.

  “I think you have finished your term in DHS Mrs. Singhal and you have no right whatsoever to interfere now," Bindu Kalsi retorted.

  Singhal wanted to respond but Chandra intervened, “Digressing again. We have limited time really but what is the solution madam Kalsi? There is a growing rage in the public over your running of the school.

  They seek answers, its their children, their money, their faith that you are playing with.”

  The soft spoken D’Souza who was clearly outnumbered by the ladies, raised his hand to speak.
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  “Yes, Mr.D’Souza, you want to say anything?” Vikki asked.

  “Vikki, I want to use this unofficial platform to request madam Kalsi and Shri Chandrashekhar saab to give this matter a serious thought and really delve deep into this problem.”

  “Mrs. Kalsi, a direct request from the education minister himself, before we wrap up, I’d be requiring your response to this.” Vikki Chandra directed his statement at Bindu Kalsi who had by now drunk

  three glasses of water.

  Kalsi went into deep thought; she was caught between the devil and deep seas. She had evaded enough of tricky questions that day and had denied continuously. Snubbing the Minister’s requests could have dire

  consequences and in a way affect the ministry’s patronage of DHS. She summed up all her courage and weighed her words before she spoke on the mike, “I shall look into the matter personally and put up an

  enquiry into these unfortunate events. And I assure the family of Siddhant that he will get justice.

  *

  In about fifteen minutes, Rishav got out of the studio with a sense of accomplishment. Just about then, his mobile beeped the arrival of a new message. It was a text from Sahana, You were good – it read. Rishav smiled and put the mobile back into his pocket.

  THIRTY-ONE

  “Glad that things worked out between us,” Rishav said.

  “You really think it has?” Sahana replied, still engrossed in packing her bag.

  The noise of students moving out of the classroom and the clatter of desks hitting chairs gradually started receding in the background.

  “It hasn’t? Haven’t I redeemed myself already?” he asked, deliberately slowing down the pace at which he packed his own bag.

  “Umm…you have, kind of but uh, I’m not too sure, you know? Like, I really doubt how long this part of you will exist. Who knows this might just be one of the faces of a success crazy Rishav, after all?”