Chapter 5
Shiva and Raavi were both unsure of how this new dynamic between them would work. All their lives, they were enemies, competitors and now they were a team?
“Shiva, agar hum compromise kar rahe hai toh mera ek condition hai” Raavi said as she broke off from the hand shake.
“Kaunsa condition?” Shiva asked immediately.
“Iss saal annual day pe mera dance partner banega?” Raavi asked.
“Bilkul bhi nahi. Yeh kaunsa wahiyat request hai?” Shiva followed up.
“Ok. I tried. Worth a shot."
"Vaise Shiva, hum toh padai karenge, par uss Rohan ka kya karna hai”
Shiva thought for a second, looked at Raavi and said, “kya tu usse distract kar sakthi hai?”
“Distract? Rohan ko? Main?” She asked, confused
“Haan, Chipkali tu. I think woh tujhe pasand karta hai na? Hum usi baat ka faida uthaayenge. Ladkiyon ke chakkar mein padkar woh nahi padega. It’s a cliche.” Shiva continued.
“Shiva yeh toh galat hai na” Raavi said innocently.
“Tu apna nautanki band kar, everything is fair in love and war. Aur yeh war hai. Samjhi?” Shiva said sternly.
“Hmm.. Theekh hai.” Raavi reluctantly agreed “Main yeh karoon gi agar tu mere saath dance karega.
“Itna soch mat Shiva, bachpan se sirf curriculum pe dhyan dia, ab toh extra curriculars mein bhi hissa le. It's a part of the college experience” Raavi said with mischievousness in her eyes.
Shiva took a deep breath and sighed, there was no other way out of this fix.
“Chal, theek hai. Deal” he said, visibly annoyed . “Ek hi dance hai, kar loonga” he thought to himself.
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“Kya karna hai mujhe?” Raavi asked, tapping on Shiva’s shoulder as they were entering their college campus.
Shiva went aside and picked a rose from a plant nearby and gave it to Raavi, “Sun, yeh phool le, aur Rohan uss classroom mein hai, usko yeh de ka aa. Theek hai?”
Raavi was really unsure of Shiva’s plan but went along with it anyway. She took the rose from his hand.
“Ok all the best, main yahin khada hoon, classroom ke bahar” Shiva said as he pushed Raavi to the direction of the class Rohan was in.
Raavi walked over to Rohan who was reading a book in an empty classroom. “Hi Rohan!” She greeted him.
“Hey Raavi! What’s up?” Rohan asked as he stood up, wondering what Raavi was upto.
“Nothing much, Main woh kal tumhe congratulate nahi kar paayi” She said giving him the rose. “First rank! Well done” she said, hugging him.
“Thank you, Raavi” Rohan said excitedly.
“Cool! Main nikal thi hoon, you have my number na? Keep in touch!” She said giggling as she hurriedly tried to walk out of the classroom leaving Rohan utterly confused.
As Raavi walked out of the classroom she bumped into Shiva. “Gadhedi, Maine toh sirf phool dene ki liye kahan tha na, aur tune hug kar liya?” He asked.
“Shiva, sirf phool deti, woh ek hafte ke liye distract hota. Ab toh woh final exams tak distract ho gaya.” She said as they walked away from the class.
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Every night after dinner and whenever they had some free time, Shiva and Raavi went to the store to study. They wanted the peace and quiet which was impossible to find in the Pandya house on a normal day. On one study night, Raavi and Shiva were preparing their shared timetable.
“Shiva, main na data structures mein weak hoon” Raavi said suddenly.
“Pata hai, main teri help karoonga” Shiva responded.
“Aur tu object oriented programming mein weak hai Shiva.” Raavi continued.
“Pata hai, tu meri help karegi.” Shiva said immediately.
Raavi was confused for a second before she said “Lekin Shiva, agar humara phir se jadagah hua to....”
“Phele kaun baat karega?” Shiva completed her sentence.
After sitting in silence for a minute, Raavi exclaimed “Coin toss?”
Shiva agreed as he took a coin from his pocket “Heads hai toh pehle tu baat karegi, tails hai toh pehle main baat karunga. Ok?”
“Done!” Raavi said as Shiva tossed the coin.
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Raavi and Shiva genuinely worked as a team. They exchanged notes, helped each other with doubts and motivated each other.
They woke up at 4 in the morning daily, studied till 8, went to collage, came back home, had dinner and went to the store to study again. They had their routine and timetable sorted.
While studying during the day on the Pandya house terrace, Shiva and Raavi would come to the kitchen for a snack and Shiva would make coffee for the both of them.
During one coffee break Shiva said, “Arrey Raavi, kya lagtha hai tujhe, Rohan padai kar raha hai?”
“Kar raha hai toh hum nahi karne denge” Raavi said as she picked up her phone to call Rohan.
After exchanging greetings, Raavi muted her phone and let Rohan speak as he was a talker. She would occasionally unmute to say “Hmmm.. accha.. Really?... Phir”.
After successfully ruining Rohan’s study time. Raavi and Shiva dived back into their notes.
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Raavi and Shiva would spend hours studying but time flew for the both of them.
While taking breaks during their study sessions, they began to converse, share childhood memories and sometimes also engage in gossip. Over the past 21 days, they discovered things they never knew about each other since the past 21 years.
“Shiva, hum toh compatible hai, par itne saal mein hum dost kyun nahi ban paaye?” Raavi asked Shiva one day as they were chatting.
“Kyun ki tu Maami ki behen ki beti hai.” Shiva replied. “Aur tujhe bhi pata hai ki Maami kaisi hai”
“Haan janthi hoon woh galat hai, par kya karoon Shiva? Woh toh meri family hai na?” Raavi said with dejection in her voice.
“Friends are family too” Shiva said “aur tune kaha na ab hum dost hai.”
Raavi smiled looking at him.
“Ok chal faltu ka timepass mat kar, aur database management ke notes nikaal” He said trying to bring their attention back to studying.
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Over the next few days, the Pandya house saw a Shiva and Raavi they hadn't seen in the past 21 years. Shiva and Raavi behaved cordially with each other, they no longer taunted each other or bicker like usual and sometimes were seen laughing and joking.
One day, in the courtyard, Raavi and Shiva were blasting music:
*Dharti ambar chand taare sab rahe khushyal
Sardiyo ki dhoop ho tum rab ka hai yeh kamaal
Is kaal kaal main hum kare dhamal*
Dev and Krish entered the house and they stopped at the doorstep in shock. Raavi was teaching Shiva, their brother Shiva, who had two left feet some dance moves. The best part, they noticed, was that Shiva was enjoying himself.
“Kya kar raha hai Shiva? right hand aur left leg! Left! .” Raavi said with annoyance in her tone.
“Haan Shiva, kya kar raha hai?” Krish said, mocking Raavi’s tone.
Shiva turned off the music in embarrassment "Pagal ho ab ke sab" he said as he walked out of the house.
“Shiva rukh, kahan jaa raha hai? Aaj shaam ko performance hai” Raavi said in vain.
“Kaunsa performance Raavi?” Dev asked her.
“Shiva aur main iss saal annual day mein dance kar rahe hai.” Raavi said slightly blushing.
“Kaise maana woh?” Krish asked curiously.
“Woh, it was a part of a deal. Tujhe baad mein detail mein explain karungi. Abhi mujhe nikal na hai” Raavi said to Krish.
“Shiva ka dance video zaroor banana” Dev asked as Raavi left the house and she gave a thumbs up to Dev.
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“Oh god! What did I sign up for?” Shiva thought to himself while standing on the side of the stage.
“Kya hua Shiva? Stage fright?” Raavi asked.
“Teri wajah se yahan phasa hoon, Gadhedi” Shiva told her. “Yeh dance wance main nahi kar saktha”
“Mere paas ek idea hai, tu bhool ja ki tu stage pe hai.” Raavi said “tu sirf mujhe dekh kar dance kar, jaise itne dino se practice kiya” She continued and Shiva nodded. Raavi raised her hand for a high five and Shiva high fived her back.
“Agle performance ke liye, Please welcome Shiva and Raavi” the MC announced.
Raavi and Shiva got on stage. The music played, Shiva zoned out the audience, the lights and the noise. He looked into Raavi’s eyes and let her take the lead.
*Bekhabar is dhadkanon ka pooch na tu haal,
Is kaal kaal mein hum kare dhamal.*
As the music ended and the audience began to cheer, Shiva snapped back to reality.