Chapter 6
Sanjay was on his second plane fighting a mixed emotion of restlessness, eagerness and a tinge of happiness. He had almost 5 more hours to land in his mother land. He had slept thorough most of his first flight, but this one was not easy. He was imagining all kinds of possibilities about him and Sandhya, If he could find her, if she still thought about him, if she was already married. He smiled mechanically at the baby giggling in the front seat.
He thoughts flew back to his college days, the days when the best moments and dreadful moments happened in his life.
Sanjay and sandhya met often came face to face at several places in the college campus, but none spoke to each other. Sandhya had tried to smile and attempted to make friends with him, but sanjay never responded. He had felt bad for hurting sandhya the other day, that was it, he didn't have an iota of feeling for her though he tried to be decent while in her presence. He continued his unpleasant ways of ragging juniors and being a total rebel in the college. He was often teased by his friends for trying to be a bit decent in front of the girls more specifically Sandhya.
Intercollege Basketball prelims, it was the day of the match between BLM and their arch rival VVS college. The game was only to start at 3.30 pm. The first year students were asked to leave earlier that day for fear of ragging not only by their college but the visiting college as well. Sandhya and her friends were hurriedly wrapping up their work in the mechanical lab. As they emerged out of the lab, John and some of his friends interrupted them and directed them towards the Basketball court, he gave them an ultimatum either they will be ragged or they have to go to the court. Sandhya had the courage to complain about John to the ant-ragging committee, but her friends did not want that to happen. They begged her to calm down and proceeded towards the basketball court. They decided to stay there for a while and leave.
Sanjay was the captain of the ship in the basketball court, he loved the sport and their team were in good form past year and this year. They were the defending champions and they had almost vowed to themselves to do it again. Sanjay was dribbling the ball with loads of concentration……the game was about to start in 5 mins when John shouted in the field "Sanju……sandhya vanthutada…unakkaga". Sanjay for a moment stopped dribbling and looked at John with anger. Sanjay hated being teased with girls, and now John had done it that too with spectators from two colleges watching him. But he couldn't do anything at this point, he needed to concentrate on his game…he walked towards the area where he had placed his bags to get a drink. Just at that moment Sandhya and her group entered the sitting area, "Sanjay….good luck , we will pray for you all", Sandhya shouted with a radiant smile towards sanjay innocently. She had known what had happened a couple of minutes before. Sanjay was left stunned,he couldn't help but smile at Sandhya;s innocence….oooohhhhhhhhhh", John and his gang shouted in a teasing tone, the whole crowd of spectators followd Johns cheer without knowing the actual reason. Only then sandhya realized that she had made a grave mistake by singling out sanjay and wishing him. She tried to signal a sorry note to sanjay but he had already started to get ready for the game.
The game had started, Riding on a blistering start Sanjay's team jumped into a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and they enjoyed upperhand even in the second half of the match. Sanjay and Isaac made all the difference as they combined well in the crucial moments after VVS college took a one-point lead with 36 seconds remaining on the clock in the final. Sanjay earned a free throw with 12 seconds left on the clock and their team win was imminent. BLM students were overjoyed and they cheered their team with a drums and trumpets. Sandhya and her friends stood up to cheer as well, she couldn't take her eyes of Sanjay. Some students had lifted all the team members and as Sanjay looked around the spectators he came eye to eye with Sandhya who had been staring at him. As her Sanjays eyes there was a subtle flight of sparks and she smiled and signed Congratulations. The sparks were too powerful for sanjay to handle…he hadn't expected that he would feel that way at sandhya's glance. He quickly moved his glance away not wanting to immerse in sandhya;s vivacious glances.
Sandhya and co walked towards the library hoping that Mrs.Rani who was their classmate Sudha's aunt would accompany them to the busstand. They didn't want to go back alone for fear of Johns gang ragging them. It was almost 6.00 clock and to their unpleasant surprise Mrs.Rani had already left to go home. Now truly distressed they all started walking towards the busstand. They were 5 of them and she and Vidhya were the only one who was going to take the train.
Their walk to the busstand was much safer than they had expected since there were crowds of students walking and the gang was blended in the crowd. Students were displaying mixed emotions around thm, some singing in joy, some harping about VVS team loss but the name that everyone uttered was Sanjay. Sandhya inwardly felt proud that the current hero of the college had actually apologized to her. Inspite of him being a hard nut, something in him triggered her feelings, his powerful eyes instantly created a flutter in Sandhya's heart whenever they met. She couldn't explain her feelings to anyone, they were subtle and she wasn't even sure if she had any feelings for him because just when she realized he was nice his monsterous side would show up.
They had a safe and quiet bus ride, the pleasant evening breeze stinging their face. They arrived at the Tambaram stop, Vidhya and Sandhya descended the bus to proceed to the railway station. Just as they hurried into the station they stared at a group of guys in front of them. Yes it was John and some of his ferocious friends, now Sandhya and Vidhya truly felt their heart skipping a beat. Sandhya closely her eyes briefly and prayed God to save them. Ennada machan……chengalpattu trainku wait panriya…..she heard a familiar voice. Sandhya opened her eyes to see Sanjay…talking to John with his hands on his shoulders. Someone walkinh behind Sandhya and Vidhya whispered to them….."avangala kandukkama neenga baatukku egmore trainla poi erunga, onnum kandukatheenga", It was Madan's voice sandhya instantly recognized and knowing she could trust him almost ran towards the train dragging Vidhya.
Anupamaa
