TWO WEEKS LATER:
The preparatory classes had long been over and the students had been divided into three sections... As luck would have it, Devyanshi and Sheena had been separated and put in different sections... A and C respectively. Luckily, Neel was with her but then so was Aniket. Ayush had ended up in the other section that is B and Devyanshi was grateful for the much needed distance between Sheena and Ayush.
She could not however pay much attention to her roommate. The work load was extensive and there was no time to catch her breath. The college functions were also looming on their head and it was becoming increasingly difficult to fend off the increasing attention of the seniors, the steadily increasing load of case studies, assignments, projects, group submissions and what not. Added to it, there were 8 subjects in the first semester and not even proper 6 months of classes. She felt like she was living in hell.
Sheena seemed so much distracted and often came back quite late in the evenings. The goofy smile on her face would be enough confirmation of where she had been. Time and again, Devyanshi had tried to stop her, to give her a pause, so that she could think. Too much was happening too fast. But Sheena seemed to have been taken in by the flood. After a while, Devyanshi had stopped interfering... Her duty was to warn her roommate but well, if she insisted on not listening to the voice of reason, who was she to say anything.
Besides, she didn't have much time to waste it on Sheena and her goofy, dreamy state. The first test of the semester was approaching quickly and as luck would have it, it was finance. She was doomed. Substituting on less than 4 hours of sleep per day was taking its toll on her. Added to it, the constant high handed of demeanour of Mr. Aniket in the class. She was ready to commit murder if need be just to stop that little idiot from speaking.
Things however took a turn for worse in one of the Business Communication classes. While the Professor was giving them pointers on public speaking, Aniket who was sitting behind her was busy humming a tune or talking with his neighbours completely disregarding the Professor. Added to it, he was sitting in the last bench and his reputation as one of the best students had the lecturer turning a blind eye towards him. Devyanshi was irritated. Even if he wanted to while away the time, he could atleast do it in silence. He had no right to disturb others in the class. And if he could not sit still, he was free to leave the class and go. Her temper was mounting with each passing second.
Here the Professor was done with her lecture and now she wanted two volunteers for a small demonstration. Aniket was the first person to raise his hand and seeing this Devyanshi simply chose to sit idle. No way was she going to work with this idiot if she had any say in it. It seemed that the class shared her view. Either they were too shy to speak in public or else were reluctant to work with Aniket. After much haggling, another boy Paresh joined Aniket on the stage.
While the teacher was busy explaining the situation to the two boys, Neelesh slipped in to the seat besides Devyanshi.
"Hey."
"Hi Neel." She greeted him back.
"What's wrong... you seem irritated."
"Yup... All thanks to Mr. Aniket." She muttered sourly.
"And what did he do?" Neelesh was smiling now.
She proceeded to tell him all that Aniket had done in the last half an hour and was surprised to see him trying to force back a laugh.
"Neeel..." she exclaimed. "... I don't expect you to understand why I am irritated but atleast have the decency to respect my frustration."
"I am sorry..." He immediately apologised, though the smile never left his lips. "... but you have to agree that all this is very funny."
"Oh really, and how so?"
"It is because you are irritated with a person who is the uncrowned clown of the class."
"DO stop joking. He doesn't have one funny bone in his body." She groused.
"But you have to agree that his antics make the entire class laugh. Have you forgotten his much dramatic personal introduction in the first class of Business Communication?"
That certainly brought a smile to her lips. The memory was really funny.
"Let us see what he does now." She remarked.
"Oh...!!! I wouldn't worry. Knowing Aniket, it is bound to be an entertainment. I would prefer to enjoy the show." With that he settled down comfortably in his chair.
"You get along well with him." She said softly.
"I get along with everybody, Dev. That doesn't mean I like him. There is a difference between being friendly and being friends."
That certainly shut her up. They settled down to watch the demonstration.
@*@*@*@*
"23 years back..." began the boy with an overdramatic swipe of his hands pointing towards his companion "... Mr and Mrs Chavan had the good fortune of making the acquaintance of a young angel..."
"Acquaintance????" Devyanshi stared at the performance in growing horror.
Neel stifled a laugh.
"Since when do parents make acquaintance of their children?" she muttered under her breath.
Neel softly put his palm over hers and gave a gentle squeeze. She understood and kept silent.
"They named their baby angel Paresh... Paresh Chavan. Paresh started his schooling in St. Josheph's Convet School in..."
"Baby angel...!!!"
She forced back another laugh bubbling inside her. Aniket moved here and there for a while as he continued introducing his so called friend.
And all throughout, poor Paresh was standing there rigid as an iron rod, feeling too awkward to even glance at others. His resigned expression told his tale and Devyanshi felt sorry for the boy.
It took Aniket about 6 to 7 minutes to finish the introduction. And when he did, he gave a dramatic bow in front of the class.
The class clapped out of obligation but Devyanshi noticed that it wasn't for long. And then Paresh took the centre stage.
The boy finished Aniket's introduction in a short but simple speech. And though he halted a lot atleast it was a try. And Devyanshi knew that even though Paresh was quite uncomfortable around Aniket, atleast he didn't back off.
Aniket and Paresh took their place and the teacher came back to the stage. The rest of the class was spent in small bursts of demonstrations and occasional lectures.
@*@*@*@*@
"Gosh... Acquaintance...!!!" Devyanshi laughed.
This was Vihaan's fourth enactment of Aniket which had the entire group in splits. And every time a new student joined the discussion, Vihaan would again enact the entire sequence. By now, everyone was clutching his or her stomach. Shaking her head, Devyanshi got up from her seat.
"Ab kahan chali?" Neel queried.
"To get a cup of coffee. Do you want one?"
"Yes please. And ask Manju bhaiya to make it strong."
"Don't worry. I will make it."
With a smile, she pushed back her chair and walked towards the tea stall.
"Bhaiya... Two coffee please..."
"Sure Madam. Do you want to make it...??"
"If you are free, else I won't impose it on you."
"Go ahead Madam. I don't have any more children coming up until the next half an hour."
With a smile, she opened the gate and went inside the stall. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a packet of milk and poured it into a pan. And just then someone commented.
"Manju Bhaiya, have you recruited a helper? At last...!!! I always did say you were overburdened."
Devyanshi turned towards the person and was surprised to see Umang standing at the stall. Oh god...!!! Not again. Hiding her irritation at having to face a senior again, she smiled a bit and turned back to her work.
Needless to say, Umang was speechless, but it was only for a second. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Well, if you are making coffee, can I get a cup of it as well??"
"Sure." she nodded.
She listened to Umang conversing with Manju bhaiya while she waited for the milk to boil.
Cutting four sachets of Nescafe, she poured them into one cup each. She was tired of these seniors. Why couldn't they leave her alone? Their questions were unending and she was frustrated with it. She had no interest in answering their endless stream of questions.
Just then, a fresh burst of laughter echoed in the canteen and she looked back to see Vihaan entertaining his audience.
With a small smile on her lips, she turned back towards the now boiling milk. As she poured the milk into the cups, Umang finally addressed her.
Suppressing an irritated sigh, for this was the fifth time someone had accosted her in the last two days, she plastered a smile on her face and turned towards him.
"What actually is happening over there??? You guys seem to be having fun."
She handed him a steaming cup of coffee while she pushed another towards Manju bhaiya.
"Vihaan is entertaining us with his acting skills." she smiled
"What is the topic of his act?" Umang asked with genuine interest.
Picking up the remaining cups, she came out of the stall and replied sweetly,
"Nothing special. He is just copying various film stars. That is his forte."
With a smile, she left the place and walked towards her group, cursing Umang and the seniors under her breath.
She didn't turn back even once or she would have seen the enigmatic smile playing on the face of the object of her irritation.
~ ~ ~ ~
"What was Umang Bhai telling you?" Neel enquired on their way to the next class.
"He wasn't telling me anything. He was asking me." she replied.
"Asking you what?"
"About why we were laughing so much."
"That's so very strange." muttered Neel to himself.
"I guess, given the way how loud we were, his curiosity was natural." Devyanshi replied thoughtfully.
"His curiosity isn't strange Dev..." Neel trailed off.
"Then what is strange?"
"Strange is the fact that he knew exactly why we were laughing, he had joined us after you left and Vihaan had enacted the scene for him. Still he went and asked you... That's strange."
"Whattt...???? Bloody Hell..." Devyanshi was stumped. Umang knew the reason, even then he had asked her. Why? Was he testing her? But what was he testing? Why?
It took Neel shaking her shoulders to raise her from her stupor.
"Wh... What??"
"I asked why bloody hell. What happened? Where are you lost...?"
"Oh Neel... Why didn't you tell me before that he knew?"
"I told you as soon as I got a chance to talk to you, Dev." He pointed out reasonably.
Devyanshi bobbed her head once. She knew Neel was right. But well, she was caught now.
"Kindly enlighten me as to the reason of your shock Madam." Neel was irritable.
"Oh Neel... He asked me why we were laughing and..."
"And...???"
"And... I said that Vihaan was enacting the film stars..."
Neel stared at her in surprise.
"You lied... Why??"
"I was just trying to keep the matter of Aniket's mistake to ourselves, Neel. I didn't want others to know that Aniket had dug himself into a hole. I just..."
He understood. "...wanted to protect a fellow batchmate."
She nodded her head miserably.
He understood the purity of her intentions and suppressed his laughter. Truth be told, the situation was too hilarious. But he could see that she was already miserable. He didn't want to hurt her any further.
"It's all right. You can laugh. I won't feel bad. I know the situation is..."
He didn't deny it. "Truth be told it is hilarious. But then, it was Umang Bhai. He won't hold it against you."
"Don't you dare go explaining to him, Neel."
"But Dev..."
"No, Neel. Absolutely not. It is bad enough that I lied to him. I don't want to complicate matters by making you my lawyer. If he cannot understand my intentions, he is free to come and ask me. But I absolutely refuse to make you a bridge. Do you get that?" she asked him a little sternly.
"I do, madam." he mock saluted her. And his expression was so funny that all her misgivings dissolved and she burst out laughing.
Together, they went towards their classroom. And although they were five minutes late but they didn't care. And their late entrance attracted a few eyes, but Devyanshi simply glared at her classmates and they went back to their work.
The teacher entered precisely at that moment and the lecture on risks and returns began in earnest.
*@*@*@*
"What is so amusing, Umang?" Neeshi closed her book with a snap and fixed her best friend with one of her trademark glares.
Umang knew that look very well. It was the "spill-your-secret" glare and he had no way of escaping it. He cursed himself for being distracted but then the damage was already done.
"Nothing much, Neeshi." he tried to hedge.
"Out with it Umang." she cut his explanations in between.
Umang finally told her about his encounter with Vihaan and his acting and his conversation with Devyanshi.
"You thought she was Manjunath bhaiyya's helper?"
Trust Neeshi to catch his error. He scowled and Neeshi started laughing. It took her sometime to regain her composure and by then Umang was looking at her angrily.
"Done for now??"
"Yes..." she wiped the tear tracks which were running down her cheeks.
"Thanks." he muttered."... Now kindly let me study. I have to finish this chapter."
Angrily he went back to his books.
Neeshi was silent for some time, then she asked. "Devyanshi lied to you.???"
Umang sighed and closed his text. "No Neeshi. She did not."
"Then why did she say that Vihaan was enacting the film stars?"
"It is because she was trying to protect Aniket." he smiled softly.
"Protect him? Why?"
"It is not so difficult to understand Neeshi. Devyanshi is fiercely loyal to her batch. And at this juncture, when she hardly knows us she was just trying to keep the matter to themselves. She had no idea I had talked to Vihaan."
"Ohh..."
Umang smiled at her. "Happy now??"
Neeshi smiled at him and went back to her book. But this small, unintentional experiment with Devyanshi had made a few things easier for them.
~ ~ ~ ~
It was very late in the evenig when Sheena came back to her room. She had just made it in the nick of time. If she had been late by 5 mins, then the gates would have been closed.
Thanking her stars for her lucky escape, she quickly climbed the stairs still lost in her thoughts and did not see her room mate approaching from the other end till she heard her name.
"Sheena...!!!"
"Oh...haan... Hey Dev...!" she smiled.
Her friend did not have the customary smile on her face. Instead, if anything,
Devyanshi was surveying her with a small frown on her face.
"Had you dinner?"
"Yeah... I had it in the dhaba behind the college. You do know how crowded it is, don't you? That's why I was so late."
Her explanation did nothing to ease the frown from Devyanshi's features.
If anything, her forehead creased even more as Devyanshi narrowed her eyes at Sheena.
"You sure???"
"Yeah Dev... I am."
"All right." And without a word, Devyanshi made her way towards the water cooler placed at the end of the corridor.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Sheena quickly went up to her room. She hated lying to anyone, but then this was her matter. Not that she would not have shared it with Dev but for the fact that Devyanshi had a deep mistrust for Aayush and she would not have liked Sheena's spending so much time with the boy.
*@*@*@*
Devyanshi waited till the two bottles were filled with chilled water and then she carried the bottles to her room. Handing one to Sheena, she picked up her cell phone and came out to the small balcony overlooking the back garden of the college.
She waited for some time till she saw Sheena leave their room to finish of her group project with her team mates. Luckily for her, they were assembled on the third floor. The rest of the girls were at dinner. It certainly made her task easier.
She quickly dialled a number and waited desperately for the person at the other end to pick up her call.
"Hey beautiful...!!!"
She had never been so thankful at the quick response.
"Neel... I want you to do something for me."
She outlined her demand as Neel listened patiently at the other end. When she had finished, he asked her the question which had been dancing at the tip of his tongue.
"You do realize that it is none of you business, don't you?"
"I do,Neel."
"Then why are you so..."
"Curious???" she supplied helpfully.
"Umm... I would have said worried."
"Simple. Coz she is my friend. And I know she is running her head into danger. I can feel it in my bones."
"What do you plan to do if your suspicions are proved worthless?"
"I will let the matter rest."
"And if they are proved right."
"I don't act hastily, Neel." she replied softly. "I just want Sheena to be safe. That doesn't mean I will confront her with it. You find out the details and then only can I decide what to do and what not to do."
"You care too much about others, Dev." His voice was tired. She suppressed a smile. For all his big talks, it was Neel who cared so much for others. And well, in this college, she was top most on his CARE List.
"I can't help it, Neel. And you know it." her voice was equally soft.
"Yes, I know. Manufacturing Defect." He quipped and Devyanshi burst out laughing.
"No silly, software out-dated."
The laughter which followed this pronouncement was ear splitting and she was forced to put the cell away from her ear till he stopped laughing.
"All right. I will see what I can find out." he replied once he had a reasonable control on his laughter.
She smiled at that. "Yeah, sure Neel. And thanks."
"Oh to hell with your thanks. Go to sleep Miss Universe. Good Night."
"Good Night Devil. See you tomorrow"
And she disconnected the call.
*@*@*@*
PS: Done for now. Next update in a week. 😉 Do read and review.
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Aami Daakini
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