Part 8 - Manik's FAB 5
FABULOUS 5 or FAB 5 for short.
The world views FAB 5 as Manik's. His gang and his band.
The most popular gang and famous music band of SPACE - Mr. Manik Malhotra being the undisputed leader , Cabir Dhawan, his partner in crime, the one with whom Manik's naughty side gets exposed.
Mukti Vardhan , the tomboy and the most disturbed among the lot , with whom Manik shared deep connection.
Dhruv Vedant, the silent one and Manik's childhood buddy.
Last but not the least , Aliya Saxena, the beauty queen and Manik's girl friend.
But, It is altogether another matter that Manik views FAB 5 as his world.
His yaariaan, his family, his strength and weakness. All five of them, thick as thieves- a force by itself.
Everyone in SPACE knew that it was unhealthy to mess with FAB 5 and they kept their distances. Guys who got attracted to Mukti buried it within themselves. They didn't dare to even look at Aliya. It was even considered dangerous to stray into Cabir's territory. Dhruv was a no-no, not to be messed with at all because of his protector Manik.
And those unfortunate ones who had been targets of the FAB 5's wrath shudders to even think about it. Very few among them survived the mental torture. It is not wise to even discuss here about how the FAB 5 treated their adversaries. Shahid of 2nd year was one such example. Any new comer who joins SPACE gets to hear his story quoted as an example and it goes like this.
Shahid was targeted by his seniors during the first year and as part of ragging was asked to act as if proposing to Mukti. He was assured it would be harmless and would not be going beyond the walls of the men's hostel. But one of his friends recorded it, obviously to threaten him, and to play a prank on him. His friend did not have any intention to make it public. Somehow, the whole recording reached FAB 5 and that's how Shahid became Mukti's spot boy. FAB 5 gave him an ultimatum to either be Mukti's spot boy or be dealt with by all 5 of them. And the poor boy chose the former. But that wasn't the end of it. FAB 5 recorded videos of Shahid doing all sort of lowly work for Mukti from cleaning her shoes to being her personal waiter, cook , butler etc. and posted it all in their Youtube channel.
If there is anything the FAB 5 is really serious about then it's music. All of them are passionate about music and the whole college is mad about their music and the amateur albums they upload in their channel.
In short, FAB 5 is all about 3 M's - Manik, music and maha friendship.
The FAB 5 have now come together in Aliya's house for the party and they are having a great time. Aliya's from a NRI business family based in London. Both Aliya and her brother Harshad are staying in a big mansion in Mumbai by themselves and therefore the Saxena's home are the main hangout point for the FAB 5.
"Aliya, waise where is our dear Harshad? Didn't get to see him here" Cabir asked as he helped himself to another can of beer.
" bhai is out of town guys. So thought why don't we utilise this opportunity and parttyy. I know how much u people get irritated with him around" said Aliya with her signature naughty sweet smile.
" ha an, how nice if out of town hi rahega tho..." said Manik under his breath.
" Babbyy, did you say something?" Aliya moved a little closer to him on the couch.
" no actually I was saying how smart of you Aliya to organize this party. You are" a pause" intelligent". Manik never liked Harshad. Harshad was one of the sworn enemies of the FAB 5.
" Aliya, u had as well sit on Manik's lap. U will be if you move any closer" Cabir said in his usual teasing manner.
" ohh. How sweet. Guys , I think we should leave these two lovebirds alone" Mukti, was one shipper who was absolutely in love with their pairing.
Dhruv was the only silent one. But he was enjoying this convo between his friends. Manik turned to him and Dhruv passed him a silent suppressed all knowing smile.
" Dhruv , I need to have a word with you buddy.. about Soha's admission." And turning to others, Manik said" u guys continue.. We will be around"
" arrey, what about her admission. Everything okay. Na? " Mukti asked.
" no in fact, she was not accepted in the college" Dhruv clarified to the others.
" I had a talk with Nyonika this morning and it's because she was forced to give admission to two scholarship students that Soha's admission was rejected. But you guys don't worry. I will deal with it my way."
" okay so, what do we have to do? Throw out the scholarship bachas. ..Nyonika must have suggested that. Hai Na, Manik? " Cabir was the perceptive one of the lot.
" bachis. 2 girls. "
" So what are we waiting for? Let's indulge Nyonika for a change. I am thirsty for some fresh blood." Cabir showed a vampire face and Mukti rubbed her hands together.
" yes Cabir, I am dying for some fresh action. Let's do it guys.."
The other three did not share their excitement as all of them had their own reasons. Dhruv was thinking about his sister who was not very good with science and maths subjects. She would do well in other subjects. He and his mother knew that, but was clueless on why Soha was insisting on joining SPACE. Aliya was never comfortable with the freedom that Soha enjoyed with Manik and her girls intuition was telling her that something is not right. Manik, on the other hand did not want to give in to Nyonika's whims as he knew that she was deliberately using him.
But no one protested on Cabir's idea and it was decided that they would target the new arrivals and send at least one of them packing. Cabir, the master planner got to work on the plan immediately...
So unknowingly to them, a stage was set on that day for Manan journey.