soma - i m sorry that must be a type error
heartfelt thanks to everyone.
chapter 2
As Arjun approached the teachers room he sensed a heated argument amongst the rest of the teachers ...which stopped immediately as he entered the room.yesterday it came to his ears there have been some dispute regarding his class schedule as it was coinciding with other classes.
tiny matter actually . the respective teacher could have just talked it out with arjun .but instead they assumed arjun's high handedness being Harvard return and all as he guessed .This happens..people has trouble accepting the change always..more to it the praises of his teaching style were spreading. Fellow teachers were talking about his ways with students .unorthodox teaching styles where students swallows every word he speaks perched up on one of their desks in stead of his place at the podium. their surrounding him everywhere even in the college canteen. him talking to them over the meals.
He was fully aware of it...but he intended to ignore and behave politely to everyone of them knowing time will take care of it. He didn't want any enemy while he was busy adjusting into a foreign atmosphere. But he needed to sort out the classes ,for what he needed geet being the class representative.
at the same time she was gen secretary as well as in charge of cultural events and as well any other important posts just name it .being grand daughter of anant raichanda has perks of it !! when does she get the time to study ? arjun scowled at the thought.
anyhow the problem is that ..he needed to talk to geet and get a quick rapport with the student body. But it won't be that easy given geet's attitude...although he thoroughly enjoyed the banter.That girl was always feisty!
He called the bell boy and asked him to ask geet to meet him immediately. And she didn't come as he expected ..he knew it wouldn't be easy to get her to co-operate. In the way to his first class for 1st year students he saw geet coming out of a building with two girls tagging along each side .. Pride and arrogance mirrored in her every steps..seemed in no hurry.he pushed back his glasses and entered his respective classroom dismissing geet from his head.
Arjun had a class of geet's batch in the afternoon which she didnt attend. after that he was busy with a tutorial . till then he waited for her but she didn't arrive. The anger was creeping up to him..on entering 2nd yr classroom he found geet behind a right side front desk engrossed in some papers. she didn't even bother to look up left alone stand to respect the teacher . he felt the vein on his temple throb in fury. But showing it will be the sign that she affected him. geet raichanda does not get to have any effect on him ..he collected himself and started with his lecture. He noticed geet didn't even budge or started taking notes.arjun stopped and put down the pencil frustrated.
"Miss geet raichanda ..may I please have your attention here...!!"he asked in sugary voice laced with a taunt..
"sure sir you certainly do ..!" her voice matched his own .she put down the papers and looked at him with a ghost of a smirk on her lips.it was evident she was waiting for him to do it ...arjun's attention to her.. "you do have my attention " she finished after a tiny pause .arjun wished he could wipe off the smirk from her face .
That girl was such a ...!!! arjun took few seconds to compose himself and again continue with the lecture..
Tack tack tack...the constant irritating sound ..made arjun stop his lecture midway. Who else had the guts to disturb an ongoing class.!! how obvious !
geet looked straight in his eyes and continued rattling the pencil on the hard bind book indifferent to the hint of annoyance in arjun's eyes.
"Do you mind ..!"
no i dont .! geet answered with a cheeky smile.."but "
hell with her pretenses , arjun cursed under his breath and bristled cutting her off.
can you please put down that damn pencil.?
"Oh this one...i was so deeply engrossed in your exquisite narration of the poem that didn't even realize!"
That girl has some nerves to taunt him in the middle of the class.The blatant response seethed arjun..blood rushing to his face..this girl had the capability to infuriate him in so many ways !
he was about to enlighten her that tic generally comes out in boredom . and ask her if the class was boring her , then he realised she was just waiting for him to ask that . she wanted to prove he was a boring teacher.
He took a long pause to calm himself down. Not now...every plans he made till now will go in ashtray.
Geet raichanda must be tamed not alienated.
He continued with his lecture totally ignoring her antiques ..
"Thank you..that's all for today..!" he put down the papers and slouched back in chair .The pupils started walking out while geet took her own time to gather her staffs ...Arjun gaped her sharply .
"wait..!"
"speaking to me sir..?"
"there's only us as far I can see.." he retorted in a clipped voice... "I assume you have been informed to meet me this morning which might have slipped your busy mind .. But the class schedule needed to be discussed."
"Okay sir..not a problem. I am free tomorrow second half..we can talk about it."
"So the discussion will be according to your free time not mine..I see..!!"
"Sir...both of our routines should match" or else i have to bunk other important classes .she said with a polite smile tight on her lips, stressing on important
how obnoxious or her to blatantly say that , she didnt find his class important so she frequently bunked it.
"No...the class schedule comes first .your business second...if you can't afford to discuss.. I will manage it myself...but being in that post it's your duty to help me rescheduling not for me but for the sake of entire batch...you should reconsider keeping the post as you no longer have time to do the duties it demands .and give the post to someone who actually deserves !.." he said after a pause watching geet's cheeks turn brightest shade of red.
"whatever ..!thanks for your assistance.." last bit added extra sweetly. Without waiting for her response he walked straight out of the class.
Geet stood there ...mum by the cold dismissal.
"Sir ...wait ...!" arjun could hear her light footsteps behind him , but pretended to ignore..
"Arjun sir...wait."
the word arjun ricocheted in the large corridor.His legs came to an halt their own accord ..his own name never sounded more rich to himself ..
"Speaking to me...!!" he used her tone swallowing the tumbling feelings.
Exasperated geet retorted... "i don't see another arjun here by ..."
Arjun tried hard not to chuckle..
"I was saying..we can discuss it now umm...if you are not busy..!"
"Of course ..my pleasure.!"
After a few minutes discussion classes were sorted out .
***
At evening geet was caught by zaria and sunanda ...who were intrigued by the constant exchange from the very first day..
"So whats the matter ...?"
"Whats what?"
"Why are you so mean to arjun sir...u took special interest irritating him !" zaria couldn't not help it.. "sir is so cool..so handsome ..like a movie star ..!! i would say the most handsome guy i have seen in my life.
ditto ..!! sunanda chirped.
then i would say your life is too small ...geet replied flipping through the pages of the book in her lap with eyes fixed on it.
Don't be a snob ..! and sir tutors so well...i have never had class of such a good teacher sunanda commented .
"May be..so what..!" even geet couldnt confront that. he was an excellent teacher, but that didnt mean he wasnt obnoxious
"But geet...you are the one who was late that day."
"No I was not.the class was not scheduled..remember..! he took it without any prior notice.at least he should have let me enter the class.. " her voice shook with repressed anger even the memory of it.
Zaria and sunanda stopped by the heat..they have known it well not to altercate with an angry geet.They quickly changed the topic..
***
"Othello by Shakespeare...students please open Act2 scene 2 ..."
Arjuns strident voice spread in the gigantic lecture theatre..
Lay thy finger thus, and let thy soul be instructed. Mark me with what violence she first loved the Moor, but for bragging, and telling her fantastical lies: and will she love him still for prating? Let not thy discreet heart think it. Her eye must be fed; and what delight shall she have to look on the devil?
After half n hours lecture he was stopped in the middle by a increasing murmur spreading in the class.. bored looking students squirming here n there but nobody dared to talk acquainted with his stringent attitude..this never happened in his class where students practically swallowed every word he spoke in a class.
"What happened...? you ." he pointed out a girl on his front..."stand up ..! what's your name...? what's the problem..!"
"Its dia singhania sir...well ..actually sir...we had finished reading Othello in the last class.." the girl in a beige shirt and black jeans replied standing up . her hair swept up behind her in a sleek ponytail.she was the only one who didnot utter a syllable when the rumble broke into the glass with her attention fixed on arjun.
He immediately understood the deliberate and stupid attempt of geet for his inconvenience .
"Thank you dia...i know...i was repeating to see if you had any problems...if you are clear on it we can arrange a debate... what do you say..?"
Another round of murmur spread through. before anyone could say anything arjun's voice again roared in the room.
"Othello a villain / victim or whether iago was completely responsible for the whole tragedy...! geet ...u would lead one group and dia...you must lead the other ...Let me see how far you have grasped the concept ...geet I hope you have no problem with it ...!" his eyes peered in her.
She didn't expect this...!hoped him to get flabbergasted and be unprepared for their new topic..but surely she hadn't thought about this probability ...
but a challenge was always a challenge ..!
"NO sir.! the words were distinct..
"So what are you waiting for...lets begin .." he slouched on his chair to notice intently the changes on geet's face ..
Dia sided with iago being master mind devil but geet had something else to say...she projected Othello being the villain..single handedly responsible for the course of events..
The debate thickened quickly...for the first time arjun felt somewhere between that smug queen bee and obstinate outlook of hers she had nice aptitude and depth along with clear concept of thinking .
"I'm not saying it's excusable, but at least Othello commits his crime for 'love', and shows remorse even before he finds out the truth, that his wife is actually faithful. Iago, however, just gets self-gratification from his crimes; he's power-tripping, he never apologizes for killing his wife; he just sees her as a sexual commodity. But Othello just assumed Desdemona's infidelity.without even considering the chance of being her innocent .. "geet went on one after another ..her face glowed with enthusiasm and confidence..
Arjun didn't realize he was staring..
His daze broke with dia's sharp interjection..
"On the contrary ...it was not othello's fault to trust his best friend.. eventually convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful. Iago's capacity for cruelty seems limitless, and no motivation he gives for his actions seems enough to explain the incredible destruction he wreaks on the lives of the people he knows best.
Iago is an artist of evil. The same way that some people enjoy writing songs or filming movies, Iago enjoys ruining people's lives. incredible suffering for the people he has chosen. We watch him in a variety of relationships ' his manipulation of Roderigo, his treatment of his wife, his pseudo-friendship with Othello. If it weren't for the fact that Iago undergoes basically no changes, you could even argue that he's the main character...we follow iago's time line more than othello's in here.."
Geet smirked...slightly bent forward to clutch the desk in excitation.
"I beg to differ here...it is not him who was the main character. It was lack of othello's character that gave him space...its Othello's lack of faith on his wife and moreover on himself that allowed that clever to mangle poison into their lives..its othello's lack of wisdom that he relied outside his own self. ..othello himself welcomed iago and thousands of opportunist like him to enter and stand between his judgment."
"Othello says he loves Desdemona, but he doesn't really 'cause he's selfish 'he is incapable of love I would rather say ... you don't kill someone just cause they cheated on you."
Othello believes that all women are inherently promiscuous. This seems to be the case when he says things like all men are "destined" to be cuckolded by their wives...
Iago might have taken the opportunity ..but it was Othello who had woven Desdemona's death.
We may also want to consider another possibility. The one Othello loves "too well" isn't Desdemona ' it's himself. Jealousy is an intensely self-centered emotion, and Othello spends much of the play obsessed with how Desdemona has hurt him and trying to get back at her for it. He's obsessed with his feelings, the way that her cheating reflects on him.She ended with that
Arjun was astonished ..he clearly underestimated the girl.
If geet's conscious is so awake then how could she do this to him.?what happened to her conscience when arjun was at the receiving end...how could she not ..!! arjun clenched his fist..
"Really ...! so you think the lies that have been seeded into his mind was fault of his. ..iago was merely an excuse..so its his fault to let him play with his head and eventually end Desdemona.. so you confirm he had no excuse on his behalf to be played by surrounding ...desdemona's infidelity seeded by iago played far less important part than his own...a man should take the responsibility of his own action ..right ...!" arjun heard himself biting out the words...his knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the table...
"At least he could confirm his suspicions ." ..geet mumbled but couldn't understand where it was going...why suddenly he became so agitated..!!that is what geet was talking about so long...
"Do you believe in second chance geet ...okay ..tell me this even any explanation after Desdemona's death was worth it.??doesn't a man has to bear the weight of his own work ??..influences do not count ..?that is what you said isn't it ...??"
What on earth he is talking about ..? geet was confused...whatever it might be..it was definitely not about Othello and Desdemona.
"I beg your Pardon sir..!"
The whole class was in pin drop silence...
Arjun took a deep breath...he had over crossed...expressions were showing arjun...control yourself .he admonished .. putting on the plastic face he turned to dia and said.
"Never mind...! so dia...thats a nice delivery. very well portrayed master mind iago...!! thanks to all of you...thats all for today..!see you in next .!"
Saying he sprung out the class..Keeping his students searching each others faces...
Geet couldn't concentrate on anything else afterwards.. returned with a thought lingering her mind...this person arjun Khurana...has quite a few layers on him...he was like..like had something to say...or she cant quite figure it out...but ..somehow a lot of things he kept bottled up inside him that comes out on occasion like this...
She didn't at all like the way he completely ignored her and congratulated dia...geet has known that she had won the debate...but why didn't arjun acknowledge it...she had clearly thought this time she had impressed arjun ..she could feel his warm gaze on her...it made her more energetic...but at the end...everything was confusing...she couldn't understand why did he complimented dia only...geet knew she did well...and the way he flattered dia at the end of it like he was deliberately unacknowledged geet..and he couldn't see anybody else than that girl dia...she hated her immediately ...the way he smiled at dia...!
whoa... what is she thinking about .he can smile at anyone he wished...!geet could care less...shrugging she dismissed his thought..
but could she ...get him out of her head.?
***
The night was sleepless for arjun too...does geet herself ever thought that one has to bear the weight of their own decision..their own role in turns of events of their lives..or totally be slave of the circumstances..life couldn't have turned such way if she had no role to play in it...she doesn't seems like a doll who accepts everything that happens in her life...then why did she do that..?.what was her say in all of this... .does she at all have any conscience..?? relationship...she was talking about relationship...arjun snorted ..she was giving speech clearly dissecting out Othello's faults in the relationship...what about her own life..does her own conscience talk much in that matter..or shut by the walls of money. Why does the outcome of same situations vary with money pride and the so called royalty ???
What should he do ?? Should he pursue it ? his years throbbing question or just let it go...like there's no hope...arjun tiredly closed his eyes...
Dogmatic stubborn , proud, never been rejected grand daughter of anant raichanda...geet...he could see her smiling face... her eyes were beautiful as ever..they haven't changed a bit ...same innocence streaming in her ocean deep dark eyes... the eyes used to shied downcast every now and then laughter echoed in them her heart in those big eyes...her smile was infectious ..captivating..taking eyes off her was still difficult...yet years of distance...so much distance...he swallowed thickly ..tired of being at the receiving end of life.
I wouldn't think more about this...i m not here for myself... i have to try..try to do my duty...arjun reassured himself thousandth time since he has stepped inside gautam Buddha mahabidyalaya and met geet AGAIN...
Just...it was hard...!so damn hard!
He let out a deep sigh ...got off the bed and walking to the table he picked up the shining silver instrument ...
***
The more geet tried not to think about her new teacher...the more she found herself wondering about him...it's like he hated her..why did it feel it was personal when it came to geet.
she got out of the bed and walked up to the open windows .the moon was timidly lighting the night sky.coming down on earth filtered through the big leaves of sprawling trees on the campus...everything was murky ...like the way about arjun...she didn't understand why did she even cared for his approval.. she never cared for any..she didn't have to.everybody cared for her..waiting for her just to wish..
Her father died when she was only 13 ... mother passed away soon after giving her birth. unlucky she always guessed herself.
it was a big family ..she never had any problem getting anything .plenty of servants were there.her dadaji was too fond of her being the youngest of the family .he used to make her seat in his lap and say ."beti ...always look up...you are a raichanda...raichanda's never get sad.. be afraid or get defeated..you have to succeed ... always...either by yourself...or make the situation like that your competitors get defeated ..by hook or by crook..you have to win it" ..geet did that ...always won in her life..got anything she wanted..though her wishes had to always match with dadaji.But She didn't regret it.
Being with her father was different as far she remembers ..he was around her always ..her little finger entwined around his finger making her see the world ...he was not much of a big talker..but at night when he used to lull her to sleep he used to talk about importance of principles in life...he used to say path of truth was much harder to walk on..but she always had to choose that one if she wants to be happy ...he used to say talk about karma...kindness ..and loving people..loving the nature...nature was god...keeping balance on every thing ..he asked her to be wise..he was different than the other members of the big raichanda family... the other raichandas used to laugh at mention of him... say being in love with her mother changed that raichanda into some stupid saint.
Suddenly she heard a faint tune...the music was mellow ...and sad..streaming through the cool night breeze ... someone playing a mouth organ.. who could it be...she wondered...
geet never heard anything like that before...the person had it within him..like a romance so sad , intermingled with such melancholy like the emotions taking the form of life..., flowing placidly through the olden towered buildings..sweet smell of jasmine mangled with the tune...drugging the awake eyes.. ...Slowly thinning out in the layers of the large campus...Bringing out the memory of one's lost love...the love could be died for..
Geet picked up the shawl..and got out from her room...nobody stopped her in the hostel gate. Nobody ever did.she walked to the source...following the music in the lanes between the old buildings through the campus...after a whiles walk she found herself at the north west end of the campus..then she understood where was it coming from...but who is it...playing so proficiently creating such bliss on earth ..
The sound was coming from the backyard below the old neem tree she used to spend her leisure hours.she could make out the silhouette sitting on the stone below the tree leaning on it...legs casually spread out.. wearing white clothes that seemed like a man...but who could it be.. The musician was so immersed in himself he didn't notice her approaching.
What could have happened so bad with him that made him create such melody...curiosity drew her forward.she could touch the tree.but still the face couldn't be seen..tiptoed she advanced more...
Suddenly a pebble under her feet broke into pieces making a clattering sound. ...with that he abruptly stopped and looked back...
"Who's there ?"
The breath stuck in her throat...
It was Arjun ... ohh god ...!!
the last person she expected here to be.
He was looking so celestial in that white kurta and linen drawstring pants ..his raven back hair falling on his forehead all messy.he didnt have his glasses on him . giving him such boyish look.so earthly so adorably handsome ..nothing like he seems in the class all uptight.. for a second she couldn't move...legs rooted to the earth.
arjun took his steps towards her..her heart was heavily pounding in her chest.. So loud she feared he could hear it, didn't know why she felt out of words..why her stomach was knotting ..blood rushing to her cheeks.
"hey you... come out .."
Everything clouded in her head.. before understanding what she was doing she turned back and ran back in one breath before arjun could move forward and recognize her.
Arjun was surprised at the clattering noise interrupting him...it was pretty late at night .he didn't expect any student to be out so late..other faculties generally gather at a club to the opposite end of the campus .some goes to the city rest goes to bed .but here midst of nowhere no one should come...so he picked this secluded place to spend the long sleepless night..the bottled up emotions had only one way to express.
The moon wasn't full .the light wasn't enough to make out the face.but when the person ran..the slight sound of the trinkets rattling ...the scarf blowing in the air..the faint miff of perfume..he could recognize her even with eyes blindfolded .
Geet ..!!!..what was she doing here...?
She had recognized me...or else she wouldn't have run...but why did she run..?do I make her nervous..that too such extent that talkative miss know-it-all had no answer for me..?
A small smile crept on his lips ...realizing that he affected her no matter how small it be..
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