ArHi SS: Lapsus Linguae - Ch 07, pg 21, 7 June - Page 6

amazing! once again their words take heart away.. beautiful words.. falling in love with smalltown_girl and library_guy.. loved the update..

Chapter 4: Rebound

She honestly wished she could turn back in time and go to the starting point of that episode. Payal had laughed non-stop when she had first told her what had happened in sociology class. She didn't feel it was something that triggered so much of laughter. However the incident did make her little famous when the word spread like fire that she had butted heads with one Arnav Raizada. The boy had once saved her in men restroom and from then on she met him at odd occasions; it didn't fail to come to her notice that most of the occasions were when her emotions were especially raw and untamed. It irked her to know that there was one person who had seen her in the state she was in and the week hadn't even ended.

Her sociology professor was a strict man who demanded manners and respect for the class ruthlessly. And in that class she had gotten into an argument with Arnav. The professor was talking about influence of media on urbanization of smaller towns that were mushrooming in fringes of larger cities making her believe she was the best example for the subject. At least she had thought so in the beginning and had answered the question. When Arnav voiced an opinion which was totally opposite of hers and basically called her an "overbearing filmy freak", she had seen red. She had thrashed his opinion as a narrow minded urbane point of view of a small town and in the middle of the argument, the words had turned little personal. Both were unaware that they were arguing their own existence of all of twenty years in their respective demography and the argument had stopped being rational and their personal preference had gradually crept in.

The ever strict professor had allowed them to go at each other in mild amusement as he rarely saw Arnav being taken for a ride in any form of debate. Arnav was reserved and spoke when spoken to but he was one person who was very outspoken when asked a question. He was a personal favorite of the professor but the new girl seemed to be getting her share of admiration. He was glad to see that the girl was passionate when it came to defending her point of view and it wasn't emotion driven. It seemed as if the girl treasured her background and saw Arnav's argument as a form of mockery. She had traces of naivety which could swing argument in Arnav's direction. But their argumentative debate had taken time of rest of class and they stopped when the professor raised his voice marking end of class. The class was surprised to see their stern professor in smile and good mood even after the duration of class was taken up by only two stubborn students.

When she retold the tale to Payal after coming home, her sister had cackled in laughter and gently told her that Arnav was not completely wrong. Khushi had her issues with ego and the tiny bit of narcissism which crept in every once in a while but she had enough amount of self-respect to accept when she realized she crossed the line of logical thinking. In the heat of argument she hadn't realized that she was making personal attacks on Arnav of only what little she knew of him and had gotten a verbal backlash in return. She thought she deserved it after everything she had told him. She decided to see his mood next day at college and perhaps throw in an apology. Payal gently warned her about being honest in her apology and be sincere. Khushi glumly nodded her head.

It might not have been a fantastic day at college but it was something close to normal. She wasn't bothered by anyone and classes had kept her busy for the rest of the day. She had spent couple of hours brushing her knowledge in sociology as she had no intentions of losing to Arnav in any upcoming argument. She wasn't too surprised to find him there and she had resisted the urge to stick her tongue out. He had given her a sardonic smile at which she had merely smirked. She was secretly glad that he hadn't taken their argument too personally but was enjoying it at an intellectual level. If he was like that, then she might as well make it worth his time. She had raised an eyebrow at the meeting while he winked at her.

And that moment, her heart skipped a single beat.

Before she realized what had happened, he had already vacated his seat and she saw his retreating figure in the aisle. It wasn't the first time she was winked at but the man who was Arnav didn't qualify as the type of person who would wink at girls. But the man now seemed like a walking contradiction. She shook her head of the winking Arnav image and immersed herself in the book.

She felt strangely refreshed as she recounted her day. She logged into her college website, her blog, and checked for the comment she knew it would be there. She wasn't disappointed.

Make me into a talisman and carry it in your pocket; hold me tight when things make you sigh or shed a tear. Hold it tight when the world becomes cruel to you and remember me; I will be the genie who will hide you from the world just beneath the sunset.

Library_Guy

She suddenly felt like crying. The man who was writing comforting words to her was practically a stranger yet she felt strangely drawn to him. It was not possible to deny the attraction in his words nor was there any way to defer from the way he was putting the words. She found them soothing and it did offer her the healing salve that she direly needed. Suddenly she drew a picture of Arnav in her mind that also was kind of helping in more than one occasion. But the roguishness of Arnav was not to be compared with the gentleness of the library guy. They were poles apart.

She saw an entry from him and a wave of disappointment hit her. It was second time or was it third that the guy was now writing about a girl? It looked as if a girl was constantly haunting him with her presence and a strange sense of detachment enveloped her. However she could not deny the beauty in his words. She decided to reply to his small statement once she finished posting her words.

Order in chaos, silence amidst noise;

light in middle of darkness and ripple in a stand still lake.

His words cutting and piercing,

make the sweetest melody.

A distant fire whose heat make me sweat

And wraps me in its sweet melancholy.

She knew that she didn't make much sense by adding last two lines into her verse but it translated her exact state of mind. Arnav was on her mind for some time but as soon as she saw the blog of library guy, Arnav had become a distant memory. The conflict of her mind was reflected in her verse and she let it be. She secretly wanted to know what library guy thought of this and wondered if he could see the underlying duality in her verse. She prayed he would and ignores it for her sake.

It was too early to sort out her emotions.

------

His mother had teased him till he showed his annoyance by refusing to eat dinner. He was mesmerized by the girl who had given him a run for his money in Sociology class with her arguments and very unique way of seeing and appreciating society. She had lost it when he called her a cinema obsessed freak and from then on they had taken jabs at each other demographic background. He had done the mistake of telling all about the argument to his mom as it was his way of venting out emotions. His mother had obviously seen something which was not at all present, at least from his point of view, and had started teasing him about the girl from his class. He had flatly told his mom that he had no intentions of talking to an emotional basket case with fiery temper to boot who thought he was an urban prince who lacked emotional depth to mingle in a society which lacked the warmth of suburbia. He had known at that moment that she had a point in there but he was too lost in his own pride and his quest to salvage it, so he had ignored his rationality and driven in a direction which now made him shake his head in wonder.

The girl who he had met five days ago had managed to shake up his brain and lose is rationality. If this keeps up, then in next three years he would be totally insane.

However his mother had not stopped teasing him about being so riled up because of a girl. She was very happy with the way her son had turned out but sometimes she wished him to be like any other guy of his age. Her colleagues in advertising company had constantly complained about their late teen sons and daughters who were unruly and had issues with rules and authority. In those moments she felt proud that Arnav never really gave her any additional tasks about worrying about his social behavior but she felt that he was too young to be the way he was. In one insane moment she wished her son to create a ruckus at home about a girl he was dating or being caught at a public place by her with his girlfriend. But Arnav was brutally honest with his mother and answered everything she asked him. When she asked if something out of the ordinary had happened in college that day, he had started his verbal tirade about the girl from his class who challenged his opinion. She had heard his ranting with an amused smile and then was fascinated with the unseen girl who had managed to ruffle up feathers of the stiffest bird in the cage.

After Arnav's obvious display of annoyance for her teasing, she had put her hands up in surrender and had left him alone. He sighed and shook his head in mild exasperation. He loved his mother but she had a way of grating his nerves when it came to his personal life. He smiled at his mother's ecstatic expression when he told her about a girl. He shook his head again and decided to check college website or small town girl's blog to be specific. Of late he logged into the website just to check out her writing; either her own verses or the comments she left for him. And he was pleased to see that there was indeed a comment on his small verse.

Dab her eyes with a tissue and kiss her lips to warm them again; it would bring a smile and dry the wings. You will soon hear the sound of her wings.

Smalltown_Girl

He sat stunned for moments. Small town girl was unnaturally perceptive but this time she was off the mark by thousands of miles. At least that's what he thought initially. When he looked back to his original words, he saw the attachment and endearment which were subtle in his words. But in all honesty, it wasn't intentional. He was hit by a memory of Khushi, who was clumsily stuffing odd trinkets in her purse with a solitary tear just about to escape her eye. The scene had stirred riots of emotions in him and he still didn't know the reason why. He had seen many crying girls and had even counseled and helped a few. But no one had made him react the way Khushi did and maybe small town girl had seen something underlying in his words which he himself wasn't aware of when he first wrote. Of course he had been writing about the girl for past two to three days so naturally small town girl had seen a pattern. But he could not stop writing about things which stirred him the most. And now the latest flavor of his blogging was Khushi. He sighed and wrote the latest bunch of words which had haunted him for most part of the afternoon and rest of the evening.

Rush of words, plethora of emotions and heaving breaths; she found her wings though wounded, flapped them fast and hard. My words only made the wings bleed more.

Have I not sinned enough?

Library_Guy

He had hurt her. He knew the moment she became extremely defensive and jabbed right back at him. And at the end of the day when he met her in library, he had winked at her. He could not believe why he had done so and had carefully hid that particular tidbit of information from his mother. He would never live it down had he told her. He had not stayed to see Khushi's reaction but he knew that she would definitely respond to it next day in college.

And for some odd reason he found himself looking forward for meeting her.

Music selection

01. Do I wanna know? - Arctic Monkeys

02. Kuch Tum Socho - Sonu Nigam

lovely update...keep it going...👏

very beautifully written...so arnav knows that khushi is small town girl

I simply love the verses he wrote about the talisman - this was so romantic for me. You probably did not mean it this way but they just brought a smile to my face this morning. Kushi got it that he was feeling something about the girl he has been writing about and maybe there was a trace of jealousy there as she read it. I kinda like how she likes the combination of Arnav riling her with the sweet words from Library Guy. Little does she know that such a combination does exist and she has met him already. I also like how she made the connection of Arnav always being there at the lowest moments in college. I don't think it will be long before she connects him to library guy but maybe I don't want this to happen just yet as I am thoroughly enjoying their communication. Something about the anonymity provided by the virtual world that somehow enables open and free communication. You know sometimes parts of what you want to say is suppressed on purpose as you judge the effect of what and how you deliver your thoughts in a live discussion.

WOW!! beautiful update dear...loved it