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?
âShiva, agar hum compromise kar rahe hai toh mera ek condition haiâ Raavi said as she broke off from the hand shake.
âKaunsa condition?â Shiva asked immediately.
âIss saal annual day pe mera dance partner banega?â Raavi asked.
âBilkul bhi nahi. Yeh kaunsa wahiyat request hai?â Shiva followed up.
âOk. I tried. Worth a shot."
"Vaise Shiva, hum toh padai karenge, par uss Rohan ka kya karna haiâ
Shiva thought for a second, looked at Raavi and said, âkya tu usse distract kar sakthi hai?â
âDistract? Rohan ko? Main?â She asked, confused
âHaan, Chipkali tu. I think woh tujhe pasand karta hai na? Hum usi baat ka faida uthaayenge. Ladkiyon ke chakkar mein padkar woh nahi padega. Itâs a cliche.â Shiva continued.
âShiva yeh toh galat hai naâ Raavi said innocently.
âTu apna nautanki band kar, everything is fair in love and war. Aur yeh war hai. Samjhi?â Shiva said sternly.
âHmm.. Theekh hai.â Raavi reluctantly agreed âMain yeh karoon gi agar tu mere saath dance karega.
âItna 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 experienceâ Raavi said with mischievousness in her eyes.
Shiva took a deep breath and sighed, there was no other way out of this fix.
âChal, theek hai. Dealâ he said, visibly annoyed . âEk hi dance hai, kar loongaâ he thought to himself.
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âKya karna hai mujhe?â Raavi asked, tapping on Shivaâs shoulder as they were entering their college campus.
Shiva went aside and picked a rose from a plant nearby and gave it to Raavi, âSun, yeh phool le, aur Rohan uss classroom mein hai, usko yeh de ka aa. Theek hai?â
Raavi was really unsure of Shivaâs plan but went along with it anyway. She took the rose from his hand.
âOk all the best, main yahin khada hoon, classroom ke baharâ 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. âHi Rohan!â She greeted him.
âHey Raavi! Whatâs up?â Rohan asked as he stood up, wondering what Raavi was upto.
âNothing much, Main woh kal tumhe congratulate nahi kar paayiâ She said giving him the rose. âFirst rank! Well doneâ she said, hugging him.
âThank you, Raaviâ Rohan said excitedly.
âCool! Main nikal thi hoon, you have my number na? Keep in touch!â 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. âGadhedi, Maine toh sirf phool dene ki liye kahan tha na, aur tune hug kar liya?â He asked.
âShiva, sirf phool deti, woh ek hafte ke liye distract hota. Ab toh woh final exams tak distract ho gaya.â 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.
âShiva, main na data structures mein weak hoonâ Raavi said suddenly.
âPata hai, main teri help karoongaâ Shiva responded.
âAur tu object oriented programming mein weak hai Shiva.â Raavi continued.
âPata hai, tu meri help karegi.â Shiva said immediately.
Raavi was confused for a second before she said âLekin Shiva, agar humara phir se jadagah hua to....â
âPhele kaun baat karega?â Shiva completed her sentence.
After sitting in silence for a minute, Raavi exclaimed âCoin toss?â
Shiva agreed as he took a coin from his pocket âHeads hai toh pehle tu baat karegi, tails hai toh pehle main baat karunga. Ok?â
âDone!â 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, âArrey Raavi, kya lagtha hai tujhe, Rohan padai kar raha hai?â
âKar raha hai toh hum nahi karne dengeâ 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 âHmmm.. accha.. Really?... Phirâ.
After successfully ruining Rohanâs 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.
âShiva, hum toh compatible hai, par itne saal mein hum dost kyun nahi ban paaye?â Raavi asked Shiva one day as they were chatting.
âKyun ki tu Maami ki behen ki beti hai.â Shiva replied. âAur tujhe bhi pata hai ki Maami kaisi haiâ
âHaan janthi hoon woh galat hai, par kya karoon Shiva? Woh toh meri family hai na?â Raavi said with dejection in her voice.
âFriends are family tooâ Shiva said âaur tune kaha na ab hum dost hai.â
Raavi smiled looking at him.
âOk chal faltu ka timepass mat kar, aur database management ke notes nikaalâ 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.
âKya kar raha hai Shiva? right hand aur left leg! Left! .â Raavi said with annoyance in her tone.
âHaan Shiva, kya kar raha hai?â Krish said, mocking Raaviâs tone.
Shiva turned off the music in embarrassment "Pagal ho ab ke sab" he said as he walked out of the house.
âShiva rukh, kahan jaa raha hai? Aaj shaam ko performance haiâ Raavi said in vain.
âKaunsa performance Raavi?â Dev asked her.
âShiva aur main iss saal annual day mein dance kar rahe hai.â Raavi said slightly blushing.
âKaise maana woh?â Krish asked curiously.
âWoh, it was a part of a deal. Tujhe baad mein detail mein explain karungi. Abhi mujhe nikal na haiâ Raavi said to Krish.
âShiva ka dance video zaroor bananaâ Dev asked as Raavi left the house and she gave a thumbs up to Dev.
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âOh god! What did I sign up for?â Shiva thought to himself while standing on the side of the stage.
âKya hua Shiva? Stage fright?â Raavi asked.
âTeri wajah se yahan phasa hoon, Gadhediâ Shiva told her. âYeh dance wance main nahi kar sakthaâ
âMere paas ek idea hai, tu bhool ja ki tu stage pe hai.â Raavi said âtu sirf mujhe dekh kar dance kar, jaise itne dino se practice kiyaâ She continued and Shiva nodded. Raavi raised her hand for a high five and Shiva high fived her back.
âAgle performance ke liye, Please welcome Shiva and Raaviâ 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 Raaviâs 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.