FF Complete: Closing the Loop (Part 18-21 - Pg 64) - Page 2

"Nidhi Verma! What a surprise!" Prof. Ashutosh Mathur had been given the papers of the new joinee to the department just a while back. So, his surprise was still genuine when Nidhi was ushered in to meet him on her first day of the work.

She smiled while replying, "Surprise indeed! I had no clue that you were the HOD here. I was interviewed by Prof. Rao." Ashutosh noticed that her features were more mature than what he remembered. That was to be expected, he thought. He remembered her as an eighteen year old student. Eight years had passed since then.

"Yes. Please sit down. I was on a sabbatical for two years and was working as the director of a recently started social sciences institute in Delhi. I came back just a few days ago as the new semester is going to start."

"Interesting," Nidhi replied trying hard to hide her uneasiness. Ashutosh noticed it, but decided not to bring it up.

"Anyway. So, welcome to the institute - a second time - this time as a faculty member. I hope you will have a great time here. You have already met Meher in admin, right?"

"Yeah. She is the one showing me around."

"Good. Feel free to reach out to her for any help. And, of course, to me as well."

"Sure. Thank you, Sir."

"See you around. And yes - let's schedule a meeting sometime early next week to discuss the courses you are going to teach this semester. Meher should be in the meeting and also Prof. Sinha, our representative to the course committee."

"Will do that Sir."

--

Dr. Mathur was friendly enough when Nidhi met him, but she was not quite happy to find him the HOD. She remembered her days as a student in the same institute. She was mischievous and was known for being a prankster. She was also careless and reaching the classes late or forgetting about a quiz was quite normal for her. But she was a good student. She was naturally intelligent and always did well without having to work hard. So, she was well-liked by the faculty members and got away with her mischiefs or carelessness most of the time.

It was different with Dr. Mathur though. He seemed to have taken a dislike to her early on. Nidhi had noticed it during the first course she did under him in her second semester in the college. He was, generally, not one of the most approachable or friendly faculty members. But a few minutes of delay in reaching the lectures was not a big deal even for him. Except when it was Nidhi, who was late. Her friends had made it a strategy that even if they were late for Dr. Mathur's class, all they had to do was to reach there before Nidhi. Because for others he would not care. But he would not let her enter the class if she was late, and by extension anyone else too coming with or after her.

Although with her friends, she always made a joke of his attitude, but his behavior really bothered her. She was someone who took pride in being loved by all. Dr. Mathur was an irritant in the otherwise perfect world of hers. She felt like confronting him sometimes, but could never gather the courage. Instead she tried to work harder than usual in his courses and it showed on her performance, but not on his attitude. She'd be on a look out for extra-curricular activities where he was the faculty advisor, participate and do well on those, but to no avail. She had tried everything possible in the first two years of her college to get into his good books, but he remained indifferent towards her at best; and grudging at worst.

In her third year, he had disappeared going on a long, unpaid leave. Nidhi had felt frustrated. It was like a battle was unfinished and she did not get a chance to win it.

For her post-graduation and Ph. D. she went to the US and over time forgot about her little teen-age frustration, until that morning.

"Hello Dr. Verma. Welcome to the institute," Meher had greeted her in the morning.

"Hi Meher. Nice to finally meet you in person."

"Same here. We will have a lot of paperwork to do the entire day, but HOD is free right now. So, you should meet him first."

"Dr. Rao?"

"Oh no! Dr. Rao has left. Dr. Mathur is back instead."

"Dr. Mathur? Dr. Ashutosh Mathur?"

"Yes. You know him?"

"He taught me when I was studying here."

Oh! That's great then."

'Not really,' Nidhi had thought wryly, but she, obviously, did not say anything to Meher.

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