FITE,a perfect college for the overall development of a student- be it dance, academics or anything else...It was lunch break,a time to relax after boring lectures.SANYUKTA AGGARWAL surveyed the chaotic scene during break with a sense of well being. The canteen was noisy and messy, but it was a part of her little kingdom...or Queendom...if such a word exists...On either side of her sat her followers-TANYA AND RUHI. The three of them were about to begin their daily assesment of classmates. As always Sanyukta kicked off the conversation."Ohmigod!!! check out Kajal's sweater...its way too tight"..."No kidding" Tanya said"Its like she's begging guys to look at her"..."And its not that she's got anything on top to look at" Ruhi added...
"Sanya has a new bag" Tanya pointed out." OMG, is that Channel"
Sanykta shook her head"no way,its fake...by the way,you are gaining weight Tanya" Sanyukta said without thinking even though she knew that Tanya was way too conscious regarding it. Sanyukta cud see her eyes getting watery."Oh no! don't let her cry" Sanyukta thought."Actually u know what maybe there is some problem with my contact lenses...everything seems to be huge in width" Sanyukta said. Tanya looked relieved much to the happiness of Sanyukta.While they were chatting they noticed a girl who was walking towards their table right now:VIDUSHI KUMAR the dreariest girl in FITE,the most pathetic creature in the entire college.She was thin-not in a top model way,but so bony that her elbows and knees looked abnormally large and worst,no boobs. Then there was the hair on her head-flat,frizzy,always looking in the need of wash.As of her clothes-forget designer stuff,her outfits were beyond terrible.And that wasn't all-she talked in whispers,people cud barely hear what she said.It was like she wasn't even there,wherever she was. A flicker of concern crossed Ruhi's face" Is she sick a lot?" Tanya shrugged"who knows and who cares" But Sanyukta couldn't eat...she was too...too something,Concerned maybe? It was so infuriating the way Vidushi was.It was her own fault that Sanyukta or for that matter anyone cud mock her so easily.Her friends had gone back to eating and chatting by now.Clearly they'd forgotten about vidushi.Only Sanyukta's mind was still stuck at her.She clenched her fists "Uh oh!!! this is not good...too much sympathy for anybody...not good for u...remember" she said to herself."I've got to get something from my locker" she muttered to others and before anyone cud respond she turned towards the exit.
"Do not feel sorry fo her" Sanyukta ordered herelf.She knew too well the terrible consequences of caring.And to mke sure she remembered, she allowed the past memories to play on in her head.
The very first time...she couldn't have been more than 5. She saw herself on a cold winter afternoon,walking along a busy shopping street,clutching her mother's hand and looking at the people she passed.One in particular grabbed her attention. That old lady was huddled in the entrance of an old abandoned building,her back against the boarded door. A bowl with a few coins in it lay beside her. Sanyukta cud see that the woman was hungry.Her mother stopped at a shop which gave Sanyukta more time to see that woman's plight."why is she alone?Didn't anyone love her?Where was her family?" Then suddenly she knew what the woman was feeling. Because SHE WAS THE WOMAN. And she was looking at the 5 year old girl with long glossy hair topped by a woollen hat. And if Sanyukta had turned into the old lady,who was the little girl staring at her? In the turmoil of her confused mind,there were feelings that were stood out-envy,longing,lonliness-it was so aweful being this woman and Sanyukta couldn't bear it. It only tok a jerk of her mother's hand to pull her back into herself. The next moment she was standing outside the shop with her mother. She was afraid to look at that old woman again but she cud exactly feel waht that lady was feeling.
The next time it happened when she was 8 yrs old.
It was summers and she was having picnic with her friends.From the next door came the sound of 2 people shouting at eachother.Sanyukta recognized the voices even before the man and the woman emerged-her parents. They were fighting over something and to her utmost horror her father hit her mother in rage and her mother began to cry. It was aweful. Sanyukta had never seen an adult cry like that before. "Why did he do so? Why did he slap her? She is so nice and has arranged such a wonderful picnic...then why?"... "Nothing.Because her husband was stronger and angry, and even though he hit her,she loved him so much and she knew that he did too..." Sanyukta knew all this coz she had become Mrs. Aggarwal and when her husband hit her again, it was Sanyukta who felt the sting on her cheek.It was terrible,she was in pain. She deciphered that it happened coz the Sanyukta-with-feelings was in her mother's body.
The rest of the memory was blur,but there were many such instances during her childhood when she felt herself in someone else's shoes whenever she sympathised with them.The last one was when her classmate got hit by a cab and she cud feel her pain...she was frightened to death.After that incident she found a solution to this 'PROBLEM'. Feeling too much-that was the problem.There were emotions that triggered bizarre bodysnatching,that transported her into other people and made her feel waht they were feeling.So she stopped caring.It wasn't easy and often she had to stuggle, but it was worth it so that she had never had to suffer the experience again.And in the process she discovered a strange truth-people admired her meanness or they were just afraid of her. And now she had a fab life-the Queen life-where everyone wanted to be like her. So it was a win-win situation.
After a few deep breathes she went back the canteen.
But later that night, in her beautiful bedroom,lying on her four-poster bed,Sanyukta thought about Vidushi."what do I know of Vidushi anyway?" she thought...Not much.She knew that Vidushi was a part of Ms.Niharika's "UNIQUE" class.She had no idea about that class-their syllabus,the students enrolled in it,their projects-nothing..."She was ok when we were in school" Sanyukta thought..."infact she was famous. Then why this creepy,good for nothing change" Thinking about Vidushi she drifted off to sleep.
When she next opened her eyes,there was sunlight pouring in the window...which was odd coz her mother always woke her up when she came in to open the shutters on Sanyukta's window. She blinked. She noticed the surroundings...not her room,she realised. She sat up suddenly, and that was when she noticed her hands.What had happened to her manicure-the nice rosy nailpaint? Whose stubby,bitten fingernails were these?
Her heart was pounding furiosly,but her body moved in slow motion.Lifting legs that weren't hers.Walking towards the mirror that hung above the unfamilair chest of drawers. Looking in the mirror and seeing...
VIDUSHI KUMAR.
HOPE IT WAS NOT BORING.THIS CHAPTER WAS JUST THE BEGINING OF SANYUKTA'S JOURNEY TO DISCOVER THE UNIQUE IN HER,TO ACCEPT IT RATHER THAN RUNNING FROM IT AND CHANGING HERSELF...
PRECAP: Sanyukta is Vidushi...a visit to special class...new people...begining of a musterious journey
CID
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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