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Chapter 3 Nayi shuruaat, Naya Safar...nayi takraar?
"Thakur Vidya Mandir-this name evokes a variety of reactions. Some say it sounds boring, some think it is traditional and old school but having been here for a couple of years, we seniors can promise you it is a cool, happening place to be and you will never get bored. And this evening, guys and girls, marks the beginning of that. So, welcome aboard and lets have loads of fun", Rohan finished with a smile amid cheers and applause. Soon, the crowd split into smaller groups. There were some bunches of seniors surrounding a few juniors at a time to tease them. The more popular seniors were having a mini fan following of starry-eyed juniors hanging on to their every word. Rohan and Sanjay were in the middle of such circles while Batuk was having his fill at the refreshment stand. He was also helping to manage the small crowd there as Himanshu, who had been allocated to be incharge there, was having a slightly tough time managing the queue. "What else can I do anyway?" wondered Batuk. Sanjay was busy as he was also part of the Social and Cultural Committee and Amit had refused to be part of what he considered a waste of time.
There were strict instructions from the Dean to the security to lock classrooms on all floors except the ones opening out into the Quadrangle as he did not want to take the risk of any seniors
cornering the juniors in seclusion and ragging them. Amit was highly irritated by this and grumbling to himself, he had picked out the far end of one of the classrooms and was studiously completing journal entries for an Accounting assignment that was due the following Monday. Rohan had tried convincing him to do it over the weekend but Amit never put off till tomorrow what could be done today. Just his luck that Rohan's car had gone for servicing and he had to wait around here to take him along to go home in the evening.
Preeti was proving to be popular with the seniors with her sweet modest nature apart from being pretty. She was sweetly answering questions that the bunch of senior boys and girls surrounding her
were posing that ranged from the latest movies she watched to her favorite subjects in school. Jigna needn't have worried as she found her groove among a bunch of senior girls and was busy gossiping about television shows and Bollywood star couples. Aarthi, on the other hand, had instantly hit it off with a group of cool guys and tomboyish girls and was comfortably cracking jokes and laughing with them. Amita tried being part of each of these groups but she kept feeling out of place and eventually walked off from each one of them. She wandered and looked around with a tentative smile wondering to herself what to do next. The DJ was playing some of the latest trendy songs and she stood against a pole humming the tune to herself.
Something along the periphery of her vision intrigued her and she looked back and saw someone sitting at the far corner and opposite end of the classroom outside which she was standing. Since it was sunny putside, the inside of the classroom seemed darker and she was barely able to make out the silhouette of the person. She anyway had nothing else to do, she thought she could chat with this person. "Hello..." she started tentatively. "If you are looking for directions, please ask one of the volunteers. Please dont bother me, I am trying to study here." the guy cut her off without looking up and even before she could say anything further. The voice seemed vaguely familiar but Amita did not dare say anything further and exited the classroom with a quick "Ok, sorry!" The "Sorry!" sounded familiar and Amit jerked his head up from his notes but she had gone. "Arre, Ammu, tu kahaan reh gayi? I was looking for you. Shall we go get some fruit juice? Am really thirsty", Preeti spotted and came over to Amita and dragged her away.
Rohan and Sanjay were at the refreshment stand when Rohan caught Sanjay staring at the tall, slim, pretty girl walking towards them chatting with a short, slightly plump girl. "Ahem, ahem...", Rohan pretended to clear his throat which broke Sanjay's train of thoughts,"Kya baat hai, miyaan! Looks like someone caught your fancy finally! For 2 long years, I had tried introducing you to so many of Riya's friends but you never even gave them a second glance. Do you know who she is?" "No, I don't. I wish I could get introduced and talk to her alone...",Sanjay said wistfully. "Leave that to me, mere bhai. In fact, I can hit two birds with one stone. Amit is playing a spoilsport again. I really want to get him to come out, loosen up and have some fun. So, let me rag the short girl and send her to call Amit while you can get to know Ms. Pretty" Rohan offered grinning. Sanjay smiled, "Sounds like a plan." Rohan walked up to Preeti and Amita and addressed Amita pleasantly,"Hello, who do I have the pleasure of talking to, today?"
Amita, who had, for a moment, assumed he was talking to Preeti, was taken aback when Preeti nudged her to respond. "Sir..", she stammered. One of the first ground rules that had been set was that
juniors would address seniors as Sir or Ma'am in the first month of college. Rohan slightly turned to look at Sanjay and gave him a quick wink indicating that he should start making his move. Sanjay took the cue and said a cheerful "Hi!" to Preeti who responded equally sunnily and they started talking.
Amita was confused but Rohan was in his charming mode, the one which had made him so popular in college both among the staff and classmates. In fact, he could even get away with pranks at home when
he turned it on, no one including Falguni Kaki and Dadi could resist it.
"I was asking your name" Rohan said with a smile. "Ji sir, Amm..Amita" Amita was still nervous. She had never been addressed directly especially by cute guys and that too, important seniors like the College Cultural Secretary. She knew that from his speech earlier that evening. It was usually Preeti, Kajal or someone else who would be the talked to, by popular guys and when she was with them, they would graciously albeit halfheartedly, try to include her in the conversation. "So, Amm Amita, which course are you pursuing?",Rohan wanted to make the scapegoat comfortable before he sent her to "khadoos sher Amit". "Sir, first year commerce" Amita was more confident now that the conversation seemed like a more formal one abut general introductions. "Hey, thats good. So, Amita, do you know what was the purpose of this function?" Rohan coolly continued. Amita was confused and thought to herself,"Heh? Why is he asking me? Wasn't he the organiser of it?" "She doesn't seem to be very smart, bright or talkative. Must be the studious type. Perfect target for the task" Rohan thought and decided to answer his question himself as she seemed lost in thoughts, "Its the Freshers' Welcome Party know where seniors and juniors get to know each other. Since you mentioned you are in Commerce, I would like to help you by pointing you out to our class topper. He will be able to help with any doubts you may have in the coming months. Believe me, first year is very tough and you can use all the help you get", Rohan lied glibly. He could see Riya's curious eyes on him from the corner of his eye. "She must be wondering what I am doing, talking to a junior girl who is so...not my type" thought Rohan. "So, do you see that classroom over there on the right? There is a guy sitting inside there. Go in, introduce yourself and probably take his number too. Doubts poochne mein kaam aayega",Rohan knew she could get into big trouble but he had to get this conversation over with quickly as he could see Riya getting annoyed and starting to walk up to them. He didn't want a scene created here and he knew Riya could be very rude when jealous or annoyed or suspicious. Hell, she was rude almost always except to staff and to him as she fancied him! He smiled slightly at that thought. Amita meekly tried denying, "But sir, he doesn't..." but Rohan
didn't let her complete. "Oh, come on, be a sport! Main tumhaare faayde ki hi baat kar raha hoon. Go, go", he gently nudged her by the shoulder towards the classroom. As soon as Amita was at the classroom entrance, Rohan turned back to Riya who had reached him now, with his charming smile back on, "Riya! I was looking for you..."
Amita was unsure but "Didnt the Cultural Secretary himself tell me this was a good thing to do?", a small voice in her head reasoned. She took a deep breath and entered the classroom. She slowly walked to the far corner thinking how to start the conversation. "Hi again!", she tried a cheerful start though she was scared. "What?" Amit looked up irritatedly. He heard the "Hi again" and knew it was the same girl who had come in a few minutes ago. He stood up and crossed his arms across his chest and looked down at her. The first thing he noticed was that she was short and did not even reach upto his shoulder. "Big annoyances come in small packets" he mentally rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?" he was annoyed and he didnt keep it out of his voice. Amita who was already unsure if this was a good idea was now almost sure it was not. "This is probably not a good time to get introduced. I must make a quick escape." she was thinking. "Woh...umm.." "I told you whom to ask for help. I told you not to bother me. You think this is funny?" the decibel of Amit's voice was rising with every word."The fun is outside in the quadrangle. But you decide that is not enough and so, lets trouble that weird guy who is studying." He was at his sarcastic best. He was annoyed that she was now looking down and not even meeting his eyes when he was addressing her. She was not even responding with any excuse and that ticked him off further. "People like you do not understand the value of studies or time. I really wonder why you even bother coming to college" Amita winced at his rising volume but the last words really hurt. Her eyes started welling up and clouding her vision. Her mind had stopped trying to come up with a response and had started thinking
where she had heard this voice. Wasn't this the same guy who had told her the directions to the class on the first day? It had to be, it was the same kind of taunt. He seemed to be a master of it."Sorry, sir!" she mumbled and quickly started walking towards the exit of the class. Amit did feel sorry for a moment when he saw tears starting to flow down her cheeks but was annoyed the next moment when she mumbled a vague apology without even looking at him and walked off. "You should be! And dont you dare come back!" he finished as her back disappeared just outside the door.
"Are you more annoyed that she disturbed you or that she didn't even look at you while talking?", the stupid voice in his head spoke up like it does at the most inopportune moments. "Oh, shut up!" he chided it mentally and taking a deep breath to calm himself, sat down and started flipping his notes back to the problem he was working on.
* Dialogues in green, thoughts in blue above
Chapter 4
"Thakur Vidya Mandir-this name evokes a variety of reactions. Some say it sounds boring, some think it is traditional and old school but having been here for a couple of years, we seniors can promise you it is a cool, happening place to be and you will never get bored. And this evening, guys and girls, marks the beginning of that. So, welcome aboard and lets have loads of fun", Rohan finished with a smile amid cheers and applause. Soon, the crowd split into smaller groups. There were some bunches of seniors surrounding a few juniors at a time to tease them. The more popular seniors were having a mini fan following of starry-eyed juniors hanging on to their every word. Rohan and Sanjay were in the middle of such circles while Batuk was having his fill at the refreshment stand. He was also helping to manage the small crowd there as Himanshu, who had been allocated to be incharge there, was having a slightly tough time managing the queue. "What else can I do anyway?" wondered Batuk. Sanjay was busy as he was also part of the Social and Cultural Committee and Amit had refused to be part of what he considered a waste of time.
There were strict instructions from the Dean to the security to lock classrooms on all floors except the ones opening out into the Quadrangle as he did not want to take the risk of any seniors
cornering the juniors in seclusion and ragging them. Amit was highly irritated by this and grumbling to himself, he had picked out the far end of one of the classrooms and was studiously completing journal entries for an Accounting assignment that was due the following Monday. Rohan had tried convincing him to do it over the weekend but Amit never put off till tomorrow what could be done today. Just his luck that Rohan's car had gone for servicing and he had to wait around here to take him along to go home in the evening.
Preeti was proving to be popular with the seniors with her sweet modest nature apart from being pretty. She was sweetly answering questions that the bunch of senior boys and girls surrounding her
were posing that ranged from the latest movies she watched to her favorite subjects in school. Jigna needn't have worried as she found her groove among a bunch of senior girls and was busy gossiping about television shows and Bollywood star couples. Aarthi, on the other hand, had instantly hit it off with a group of cool guys and tomboyish girls and was comfortably cracking jokes and laughing with them. Amita tried being part of each of these groups but she kept feeling out of place and eventually walked off from each one of them. She wandered and looked around with a tentative smile wondering to herself what to do next. The DJ was playing some of the latest trendy songs and she stood against a pole humming the tune to herself.
Something along the periphery of her vision intrigued her and she looked back and saw someone sitting at the far corner and opposite end of the classroom outside which she was standing. Since it was sunny putside, the inside of the classroom seemed darker and she was barely able to make out the silhouette of the person. She anyway had nothing else to do, she thought she could chat with this person. "Hello..." she started tentatively. "If you are looking for directions, please ask one of the volunteers. Please dont bother me, I am trying to study here." the guy cut her off without looking up and even before she could say anything further. The voice seemed vaguely familiar but Amita did not dare say anything further and exited the classroom with a quick "Ok, sorry!" The "Sorry!" sounded familiar and Amit jerked his head up from his notes but she had gone. "Arre, Ammu, tu kahaan reh gayi? I was looking for you. Shall we go get some fruit juice? Am really thirsty", Preeti spotted and came over to Amita and dragged her away.
Rohan and Sanjay were at the refreshment stand when Rohan caught Sanjay staring at the tall, slim, pretty girl walking towards them chatting with a short, slightly plump girl. "Ahem, ahem...", Rohan pretended to clear his throat which broke Sanjay's train of thoughts,"Kya baat hai, miyaan! Looks like someone caught your fancy finally! For 2 long years, I had tried introducing you to so many of Riya's friends but you never even gave them a second glance. Do you know who she is?" "No, I don't. I wish I could get introduced and talk to her alone...",Sanjay said wistfully. "Leave that to me, mere bhai. In fact, I can hit two birds with one stone. Amit is playing a spoilsport again. I really want to get him to come out, loosen up and have some fun. So, let me rag the short girl and send her to call Amit while you can get to know Ms. Pretty" Rohan offered grinning. Sanjay smiled, "Sounds like a plan." Rohan walked up to Preeti and Amita and addressed Amita pleasantly,"Hello, who do I have the pleasure of talking to, today?"
Amita, who had, for a moment, assumed he was talking to Preeti, was taken aback when Preeti nudged her to respond. "Sir..", she stammered. One of the first ground rules that had been set was that
juniors would address seniors as Sir or Ma'am in the first month of college. Rohan slightly turned to look at Sanjay and gave him a quick wink indicating that he should start making his move. Sanjay took the cue and said a cheerful "Hi!" to Preeti who responded equally sunnily and they started talking.
Amita was confused but Rohan was in his charming mode, the one which had made him so popular in college both among the staff and classmates. In fact, he could even get away with pranks at home when
he turned it on, no one including Falguni Kaki and Dadi could resist it.
"I was asking your name" Rohan said with a smile. "Ji sir, Amm..Amita" Amita was still nervous. She had never been addressed directly especially by cute guys and that too, important seniors like the College Cultural Secretary. She knew that from his speech earlier that evening. It was usually Preeti, Kajal or someone else who would be the talked to, by popular guys and when she was with them, they would graciously albeit halfheartedly, try to include her in the conversation. "So, Amm Amita, which course are you pursuing?",Rohan wanted to make the scapegoat comfortable before he sent her to "khadoos sher Amit". "Sir, first year commerce" Amita was more confident now that the conversation seemed like a more formal one abut general introductions. "Hey, thats good. So, Amita, do you know what was the purpose of this function?" Rohan coolly continued. Amita was confused and thought to herself,"Heh? Why is he asking me? Wasn't he the organiser of it?" "She doesn't seem to be very smart, bright or talkative. Must be the studious type. Perfect target for the task" Rohan thought and decided to answer his question himself as she seemed lost in thoughts, "Its the Freshers' Welcome Party know where seniors and juniors get to know each other. Since you mentioned you are in Commerce, I would like to help you by pointing you out to our class topper. He will be able to help with any doubts you may have in the coming months. Believe me, first year is very tough and you can use all the help you get", Rohan lied glibly. He could see Riya's curious eyes on him from the corner of his eye. "She must be wondering what I am doing, talking to a junior girl who is so...not my type" thought Rohan. "So, do you see that classroom over there on the right? There is a guy sitting inside there. Go in, introduce yourself and probably take his number too. Doubts poochne mein kaam aayega",Rohan knew she could get into big trouble but he had to get this conversation over with quickly as he could see Riya getting annoyed and starting to walk up to them. He didn't want a scene created here and he knew Riya could be very rude when jealous or annoyed or suspicious. Hell, she was rude almost always except to staff and to him as she fancied him! He smiled slightly at that thought. Amita meekly tried denying, "But sir, he doesn't..." but Rohan
didn't let her complete. "Oh, come on, be a sport! Main tumhaare faayde ki hi baat kar raha hoon. Go, go", he gently nudged her by the shoulder towards the classroom. As soon as Amita was at the classroom entrance, Rohan turned back to Riya who had reached him now, with his charming smile back on, "Riya! I was looking for you..."
Amita was unsure but "Didnt the Cultural Secretary himself tell me this was a good thing to do?", a small voice in her head reasoned. She took a deep breath and entered the classroom. She slowly walked to the far corner thinking how to start the conversation. "Hi again!", she tried a cheerful start though she was scared. "What?" Amit looked up irritatedly. He heard the "Hi again" and knew it was the same girl who had come in a few minutes ago. He stood up and crossed his arms across his chest and looked down at her. The first thing he noticed was that she was short and did not even reach upto his shoulder. "Big annoyances come in small packets" he mentally rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?" he was annoyed and he didnt keep it out of his voice. Amita who was already unsure if this was a good idea was now almost sure it was not. "This is probably not a good time to get introduced. I must make a quick escape." she was thinking. "Woh...umm.." "I told you whom to ask for help. I told you not to bother me. You think this is funny?" the decibel of Amit's voice was rising with every word."The fun is outside in the quadrangle. But you decide that is not enough and so, lets trouble that weird guy who is studying." He was at his sarcastic best. He was annoyed that she was now looking down and not even meeting his eyes when he was addressing her. She was not even responding with any excuse and that ticked him off further. "People like you do not understand the value of studies or time. I really wonder why you even bother coming to college" Amita winced at his rising volume but the last words really hurt. Her eyes started welling up and clouding her vision. Her mind had stopped trying to come up with a response and had started thinking
where she had heard this voice. Wasn't this the same guy who had told her the directions to the class on the first day? It had to be, it was the same kind of taunt. He seemed to be a master of it."Sorry, sir!" she mumbled and quickly started walking towards the exit of the class. Amit did feel sorry for a moment when he saw tears starting to flow down her cheeks but was annoyed the next moment when she mumbled a vague apology without even looking at him and walked off. "You should be! And dont you dare come back!" he finished as her back disappeared just outside the door.
"Are you more annoyed that she disturbed you or that she didn't even look at you while talking?", the stupid voice in his head spoke up like it does at the most inopportune moments. "Oh, shut up!" he chided it mentally and taking a deep breath to calm himself, sat down and started flipping his notes back to the problem he was working on.
* Dialogues in green, thoughts in blue above
Chapter 4
