PART - 2: THE MUSIC...
~ Girls' Hostel... Room No A-40~
11.45 pm
Dear Diary...
So we meet again after the whole busy day... It's been a nice day and fresh beginning... This place is not that bad I guess as it had seemed to me this morning when I had left my home... After all I have made new friends and enemies too I guess... My luck... I will come to it later... First let me introduce you to my new friends Suhaani and Ashwini aka Ash who happens to be my roomies too...
Fortunately or accidentally I've no idea they are sisters too by birth... Suhaani only five minutes younger than Ashwini which gives her the right to pester her and pamper her equally... Well Suhaani needs both...
She is definitely a weirdo or else who gives such a heart-melting genuine welcoming smile to a stranger if I was her long-lost sister or best friend!! She did; the moment I entered this room with my luggage... She can be really caring and friendly towards anyone whom she hardly knew couple of hours back, completely opposite to Ash...
In short Suhaani is just like Princess Anna from Disney movie Frozen... She is a real chatter-box and hell innocent at the same time and she trusts everyone easily by their word which is not good at all... God saves her... I wouldn't be surprised if she decides to marry someone she just met quite like Princess Anna...
Well she is my roommate and friend too which makes me feel protective towards this OTT girl who is now fast asleep in the bed next to mine... And I can guarantee that she must be dreaming about her prince charming...
Ash or Ashwini on the other hand is totally opposite to Suhaani... She is a beauty with brain; also fearless... And much better than me when it comes to handle people and situation and I mean it when I say this...
She is the one who saved me this morning from Sheena and gang... Oh yes!! Sheena Manhotra; that's the girl I made enemy or I should say she made one out of me... Insecure bimbo one she is...
She is a good for nothing 3rd year student, maybe good in her studies but that doesn't count when you locked up your manners inside a chest and throw away the key to some goddamn unreachable place...
I've seen her this morning with three of her Chamchis Ria, Apps aka Aparajita and Vidushi... She has been hawk eyeing me since I've arrived here and that very moment I knew she is gonna be a trouble for me... Quite predictable she sent her three Chamchis after me no sooner had I headed towards Principal's office...
And later on after returning from Principal Office Sheena and her Chamchis blocked my way at the entrance of the girls' hostel of A-block... She made it clear that she wanted me to polish her shoes with my Jimmy Choo scarf if I wished to enter the hostel and spend my time in this college peacefully... In her freaking dreams!!
But that's when Ash arrived there and asked her to buzz off if she wanted to graduate peacefully this year... That's the first time I saw Ash and I must admit she has got some attitude... Wait did I mention Ash n Suhaani are Principal Saxena's daughters... And still they lived in the hostel!! Principal's order; no special treatments!!
Anyways, Sheena's expression was worth watching... All she managed to say before leaving was This isn't over yet'... Guess not but who cares... She is a full entertainment package...
And the rest part I guess I have already mentioned before... Ash and me reached our room where Suhaani was already present with her thousand watt smile waiting for me... I found two new friends, chatted for some time and then had our dinners together in the canteen and chatted for few more times again before going to bed...
And now when both of them are lost in their sweet dream, I'm busy with you sharing my first day experience... I guess that's it then... It's almost 12 am and I'm off to bed now... See ya tomorrow...
********
Gunjan closed the diary and kept it beside her pillow and checked the time on her cell... It was 11.55 pm... Both Ash n Suhaani were deep asleep while she was still awake...
Sleep has ditched her in this new place with completely new atmosphere... Everything was quiet and nothing but the ticking sound of the alarm clock at the bed side table was heard... Leaving in Bangalore all these years Gunjan wasn't accustomed with this silence...
Getting up from her bed Gunjan moved to the glass window trying to pierced her gaze through the darkness... The window pane was cold and she could feel the dampness on her palm that was placed on the glass...
Outside world was dark too... And this cold and darkness together was quite unpleasant for her... It feels quite unusual and numb...
The girls' hostel was divided into A-J blocks and each building was 4 storeys with 10 rooms on each floor... Ash, Gunjan and Suhaani was allotted Room no A-40 which was the last room on the top floor of this block...
The whole A block itself stands at a few distant from the rest of the blocks... It was a bit isolated and towards the boundary of the college campus... All she could see through the window this morning was green valley, faraway forests and a part of the Emerald Lake which is the reason behind the name of the college...
But now it was all dark and covered in mists... Taking one quick glance at her sleeping friends Gunjan opened one window slightly letting the cold air touch her face...
It was bliss... She has never felt like this before... She could stand there forever feeling the cold air staring at the lake so still and shining due to the blur reflection of the moon from the clouds falling on the calm water...
*Cling*
Gunjan literally jumped hearing that sound out of nowhere... The sound sent a chill down her spine... What the hell was that!! She wondered... She looked at Ash and Suhaani... Both were sleeping...
And then her eyes fell on the white glow that was coming from the side table of her bed... It was her cell phone which was showing the time and a change of date... It was 12 am in the morning...
She felt relaxed finding out the source of the sound... What was wrong with her!! She hears this sound every night since she had bought this new cell phone... Almost two months... But never before she had felt like this...
To say it was weird would be less... She was actually sweating in the cold... This was quite unlikely her... Was she afraid?? Damn this place and this darkness and the mists... It was playing with her mind...
"Enough of night sightseeing"
Gunjan said aloud turning furious at her own silly behaviour... She had to shove away all these stupid vibes that she is getting right now... Yes alright this place is new to her and so is the atmosphere... But that doesn't mean she will act like a silly girl who believes in fairy tales and ghost stories and in their existence...
Time to go to bed now, Gunjan thought... She has to wake up at morning... Gunjan turned back towards the window once again intending to close it... She was about to pull the shutter of the window when she heard it...
Sound of a melodious tune coming from the forests... Someone was playing a mouth organ...
Gunjan's hand froze there... Who could be playing mouth organ at this hour that too in the forests??... Or was it someone inside the college premises... She could not make out from which side the sound was coming...
It was dark everywhere... And the sound seems to come from very far and yet it was crystal clear...
Tanha dil, tanha safar... Dhoonde tujhe phir kyun nazar
Tanha dil...
She recognised the song but only this tune has a very low melancholy note... As if the one who was playing it was going through some deep sorrow... It was painful and yet enchanting and hypnotizing...
Gunjan stood still unable to move... She felt like her legs have been tied in that spot... What was happening with her!! Her hands froze on the window and she felt herself sweating again in that deadly cold...
She felt the mists outside the window getting denser or was she hallucinating!! She couldn't see the lake anymore which was blocked away by the mists...
The sound was approaching nearer... Gunjan could hear it more clearly now as if whoever was playing it was standing right under the hostel building!! She felt her heartbeat increasing irrationally and her breathe stopped...
"Gunjan??"
Someone touched her shoulder from the back calling out her name...
"Who's there??"
Gunjan shouted turning abruptly jerking away the hand that was touching her shoulder from her back... She was sweating and hyperventilating... Ash was standing there before her all confused at her sudden behaviour...
"What happened Gunjan??"
She had concern and fear at equal amount in her tone seeing a total messy and sweaty Gunjan...
"Nothing"
Gunjan replied feeling better...
"What do you mean by nothing'?? You are trembling and all sweaty!! Tell me what is it"
Ash insisted while offering her a bottle of water from Gunjan's side table which she accepted immediately... She desperately needed water right now... Gunjan felt better once she poured some water down her throat...
"I don't know Ash what took over me!! I felt as if that music has cast some spell over me"
Gunjan let out what she was feeling handing back the bottle to Ash...
"What music??"
Ash asked her in a confused tone...
"That sound of the ..."
Gunjan stopped before she could say anything about the music... There was no sound or music at all... It was dead silence outside and the still water of Lake Emerald was clearly visible in the dim moonlight...
********
Suggestions / Comments
Mahadev And Sons
Anupamaa
Sports
