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Hi, my name is Nilay Singh. I am an MBA (Operations) and Graduate in IT from SK Somaiya College, . I have worked for many companies, but at the end realized the fact that I cannot slog my ass from morning 10:00 am to evening 12:00 pm. You know what I mean. The companies promise you, they have shifts of 8 to 9 hrs, but then practically its goes more than 12.

Finally, after slogging my ass from morning to evening, I decided to quit and started writing. I wasn’t a writer, but then people said you are good at sharing feeling; you should write, so I started with this one and made an attempt. I hope you will like this one.

Note: The people, events and places mentioned in this story are real. Please do not try to investigate anything related to the story. It might confuse you. All names in the story are changed. If any resemblance exists, please consider the character as you.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Mr. Arham Shaikh for his support and lending me his laptop throughout the story without his generous attempt, I wouldn’t have been able to even start the story. I would like to thank him for listening to all my crap stories and theories at nights sitting on the roads along with the beggars who wanted to sleep, but then unable to do so until 1:00 am. I would like to thank him for his explanations and guidance regarding the do’s and don’t’s of Konkan region. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to write this story.

I would like to thank Ms. Asma Sardar, who has indirectly supported me by reading my story first hand and giving her valuable feedback to her boyfriend “Arham”, who in turn gave me her feedback when I needed, particularly from a girl.

I would like to thank Ms. .Nisha Pandya, the co-author of this book. She stood by me all the time, supported me when I needed her. She is the best person I could have in my life. She is not with me right now, but for her I will always be there, ‘just a call away’. I miss you sweetheart wherever you are and will always do.

I would also like to thank Paresh Jain, Dr. Jeetendra Gupta, Leena Sarmarkar, & Chitra Mukherjee for reading my story and sharing their valuable feedback with me. Their feedback have inspired me to write more and resulted in pushing me to start my next story, my second story. I thank you all for pushing me for that.

I would also like to thank my parents who have tried to stop me many times from writing this story. They never wanted me to be a writer, but then when the arrow has left the bow, no one can stop it from hitting the target.

I am thankful to Mr. Brijesh, Mr. Abraham Bellery and the team of NT for supporting me and helping me making my dreams come true. If both the above-mentioned people wouldn’t have supported me, I wouldn’t be able to complete this story. I am thankful all those who have directly or indirectly contributed to the story and made this story possible. I am sorry if I have missed your name, but then please adjust. I hope you understand.

In the memory of my loving Naani ‘Atarkaur Devi’ & Maami ‘Shakuntala Devi’.

You both are there with us, always…

Journey

‘No Nilay, it is not possible…!’ ‘At least in this life it is not possible, it’s impossible Nilay’, ‘It’s impossible…!’ Boom@*#$% ‘What the fuck…!’ ‘Why can’t Indian railway consider people like us before manufacturing these bogies’, rubbing my head I cursed Indian railway for manufacturing bogies with so less space between the two berths.

I somehow managed to get out of the middle berth after struggling with the seat and myself for some time.

It has been years that I have attended any wedding functions; I don’t like to be a part of the stupid drama - full of clowns and women who don’t get tired of bitching about others. The part, which I hate the most, is when people have their food and photographer clicks your picture having a big spoonful food approaching your open mouth. It is so embarrassing, and uncomfortable to have food in front of so many people who are looking at you and the quantity on your plate. Sometimes, people also start judging about how much the person had contributed to the cost of the wedding.

Well never mind, it was difficult to say no to this one as this was my best friend’s wedding, who knew that I am good at giving reasons to avoid weddings. I had to attend this one. I was one of the special guests at the wedding. He had appointed people to take good care of me.

The venue for the wedding is Ratnagiri and I think I will be the last person to reach the wedding, I guess. I got down at Ratnagiri station, platform number 1. I placed the airbag on the nearby steel bench, and tried to stretch myself. It is 4.00 am in the morning and my body is not 100 % responding due to lack of sleep and previous day’s hectic schedule at my office. My day ended at 9.30 pm at night, that too after lot of argument with my asshole boss. I managed to convince him to use office vehicle for dropping me up to railway station.

I went to office early that morning so that I can leave early and have some time to pack up few things before leaving. At the same time, I was in no mood to take chances, so I took some of my luggage along with me to office to avoid last minute rush. As expected, boss gave me so much of work that I wasn’t able to leave early and left for station directly from my office. After struggling and fighting with the traffic and the bad road conditions of Mumbai, I was standing outside sharp at 11.00 pm

It was 11.15 pm I boarded Konkan kanya express. Tired working on stupid presentations and a tedious hectic day, I was in no mood to check for my neighbors especially girls in my compartment. I started checking the berth numbers on the steel plates above the berth. Finally, after waking up some people in my coach, I managed to find my berth. I pushed my bag to the corner of the berth, after pulling out the quilt to cover myself from the cold winds that has already started coming in from the open window. I placed the bag under my head and used it as a pillow. I lay down on the berth, trying to remember and analyze how fast the entire day went, what decisions I made, where they correct. Slowly, my thoughts moved from reality to imagination and finally I was in the embrace of the night and felt asleep.

I felt a jerk of the train, which broke my dream, landed up hitting my head on the upper berth. I checked the time. It is 2.30 am. I pulled myself out of the berth and went near the door. I wanted to see where we have reached. I tried to open the cranky iron door. It was jammed. The handle of the door was cold, due to chill air hitting it from outside, I guessed. I applied some more strength and managed to open it.

The train was on halt at some station; the platform was dark with no lights on it. I got down on the platform and turned towards the engine to see. I saw some lights under the shed some 100 yards ahead. The signal stood right ahead the engine with red light. I searched for the boards on the platform to see the name of the station, but failed to find one. It was complete dark. The only source of light was inside the coach. I could only see some trees and bushes few meters away.

I waited on the platform to take some fresh air. I wanted to detoxify my lungs from the toxic farts that my neighbors have compelled me to inhale. Ten minutes passed, I am enjoying the fresh cold air, at the same time cursing the digestive systems of my neighbors. Suddenly I heard the sound of a blowing horn. I thought it was of my train, so I climbed up in the coach and stood at the door. The intensity of the sound was increasing as if it is approaching towards me. As soon as I realized about the approaching horn sound, another train passed us in the opposite direction on the adjacent track rapidly making a thundering sound, awakening other passengers who almost cursed the other train driver for breaking their sweet dreams. I enjoyed the scene.

The train passed and few minutes later, my train moved too. I still stood at the door to see which station I have reached. I was waiting to approach the shed. I was sure the shed must have the name of the station written somewhere. The train was moving slowly, my coach reached the shed; I concentrated my eyes and adjusted my glasses to have a better view. KHED the name appeared on one of the boards. The name triggered a mix emotion of happiness and pain to flow within my heart. The train was moving forward leaving behind everything, at the same time my mind was transmitting the images and the incidents from my past. It was as if I was watching a movie in a theatre. The blend of emotions and pain rolled out from my eyes and flow down on my cheeks as I shut it to avoid the cold wind that blew.

I remained at the door for next half an hour or so, completely submerged into my thoughts. I checked the watch; it was 3.15 am, time for me to pack up my things. I went back to my seat, rolled the quilt, packed it in the bag, went to pee as I was feeling to do it due to the cold, washed my face and was back at the coach door in next 15 minutes.

I spent next half an hour at the door enjoying the music of my iPod, which I had recently updated. Waiting at the door was more preferable then inhaling the toxic farts of my neighbors.

Best Friends

I was busy enjoying the cold weather of the beautiful Ratnagiri city, wondering why the hell, we live in Mumbai which gives us 40% oxygen and 60% other gases as a consolation prize to breath. The air here is so pure and unpolluted, definitely, people living here must be crossing 70 years of their age, while in Mumbai if they cross 60 years, it’s like a bumper lucky winner.

Hey, you will have to pay tax for that, a voice came from behind. I turned to see who it was, I saw a person with an average height, wearing wind sheet on top and a monkey cap covering his head, and his both hands were inside his blue jeans pocket trying to avoid cold was walking towards me.

I strained my eyes to understand to whom he was talking to, he was walking towards me on the platform, and the lights on the platform were at some distance so it was dark on the passage between the two light poles. As the person approached me, the light flashed his face and came in light, which uncovered the mystery. It was Rohan Pawar,

Hey, so good to see you, I said and we both hugged each other with a smile and happiness You will have to pay the tax for enjoying this weather, he said crushing my bones with his hug giving a warm welcome to his beloved friend, What else you can expect from a MBA finance student, I replied So, came alone or …? Rohan asked with a wink, I smiled and nodded in affirmation to the question, Fine then, lets go, Rohan said holding my left arm directing me to move forward, So, how is Manisha doing? I asked I think girls go crazy when it is about their wedding, Rohan replied and we both laughed What do you mean? I asked with curiosity I mean she is so excited that, she have stopped talking to me, he replied What? I asked in exclamation Yes, he replied I can’t believe it, the girl who used to spend hours talking to you on phone, doing almost everything on phone has stopped talking to you, I just cant believe it, I replied Almost everything...! What do you mean? He asked with a wink I mean everything, if I am not wrong you both have slept while talking to each other at nights, you both have made love on the phone, even you have used your phone in toilets, now you tell me what is left for everything? I replied with the same wink Yaa, yaa, I know, he replied But now, from last few days, she has become pain in the ass, he said Why what happened? I asked Nothing, I have this habit of talking to her, and she isn’t doing that, I am kind of addicted to her, he replied But, why is she doing that? I asked She says I don’t want to break the mood of the wedding, she says assume the wedding is an arrange marriage and we both are unknown to each other. This will create an excitement for us in our wedding, he replied and we both laughed in unison

As we were busy talking with each other, we passed the main entrance of the Ratnagiri railway station and reached the parking area.

Hmm, new car, I said to pull his leg Not mine, he replied Then, I asked Manisha’s cousin bought few days back, and I took it from him to pick you up, he replied By the way nice car, I said enjoying the interiors of the car

Rohan started the engine and we drove towards the city which was at half mile from the railway station. Few minutes passed we reached a familiar place and Rohan slowed down the vehicle at the traffic signal. I looked at the signal, it wasn’t working, the traffic signals on most part of the country stand only to signify that the country have traffic rules, other than that they do not have any roles on the road to play, most of them are always dead.

Do you remember something? Rohan asked turning his head away from me What? I asked The bar, you remember? He asked again moving his head giving direction to see on the opposite side of the window Hmm, yes I do remember, the terrace bar, I replied We both smiled looking towards the bar, We were such a bunch of fools, he said and pushed the accelerator pedal and the car moved forward By the way, I don’t understand, why the hell you have kept your wedding at Ratnagiri? I asked Why, what is wrong in Ratnagiri? He asked Nothing is wrong, but you are from Pune, you live in Thane, and you have come all the way to Ratnagiri for your wedding, I asked See, it was Manisha who decided the venue and not me, she only had one wish that her wedding should be at Ratnagiri, so left no choice but to come down to Ratnagiri, he replied Hmm, good, I said making faces Stop it, you moron, he said hitting my shoulder softly And we both laughed So who else have come to attend the wedding? I asked None, he replied with a sad face None..! why? You have invited everyone right? I asked Yes, they are either busy or out of town, so nobody is showing up, he replied So mean, fucking assholes, I replied Leave it, he said

We reached the bungalow, which Rohan has hired with the help of Manisha’s dad for couple of days for the wedding guests. The bungalow was quiet huge with the Iron Gate at the entrance, as if it belongs to some ancient fort. The walls of the boundary were made of huge red blocks, which resemble the fort walls. As the car entered the gate, I saw a beautiful green lawn full of trimmed grass on both the sides of the path, the lawn was like a golf course, the path led us to the gigantic dome in which our car entered and stopped. We both came out of the car, I was enjoying the beauty of the lawn when Rohan broke in and signaled me to follow him.

He took me inside the bungalow and asked me to follow him, I nodded and started walking, while moving inside the bungalow, we came across many people who were unknown to me and for them I was an alien. People stared at me as if I had some unnatural body features which the have never seen. Never mind, he leaded and I followed, after passing through some 4-5 rooms, we finally entered the last one in the corridor. This is your room, Rohan said Your room? I asked trying to understand what he was saying Yes, this is your room, he replied You mean, I alone will be staying in this room? I asked to make clarification Yes, he replied If this wedding is to happen in north, this room would have accommodated more than thousands people at a time, I said looking at the size of the room, I was looking at his face with anticipation, as if I did not understand what he was up to. He saw my face and understood my concern, Okay, fine listen, I had reserved this room only for my friends, but nobody had turned up yet, so you will stay here, if somebody comes, then he can join you, he replied Okay, fine then, no problem, I replied Good, now you go freshen up yourself and have some rest, I’ll send something for you to eat, he said By the way, you have wedding day after tomorrow and you have only those many guests? I asked Its 5.00 am in the morning you idiot, everyone is sleeping with their legs up, he replied Okay, I said Next few minutes Rohan explained me whereabouts of the bathroom and toilet in the room and left me to take some rest.

I slept after some breakfast of hot Kanda-poha (a mixture of Onions and Poha) along with tea, I slept entire afternoon till 5.00 pm in the evening and woke up when Rohan came to my room.

You son of a bitch, you are here for our wedding and not on your vacation to complete your sleep, Rohan said hitting the pillow on my face Hmm, yes… yes, I am up, I am not sleeping anymore, I said with a half-sleepy voice Come on, get up, we have people to meet so get up, freshen up and meet me down at the parking in next 5 minutes, he said pulling the quilt Where are we going? I asked as he started leaving the room He reached the door, opened it turned back and said Your time starts now, so tik-tok, tik-tok, start moving you lazy bones, and left as if he haven’t heard anything,

I hurriedly washed my face, brushed my teeth, wore my jeans and T and ran down towards the parking,

You are late by 5 minutes, Rohan said checking his watch I am panting you freaky bastard and you are giving me this punctuality and time management lessons, I shouted trying to catch my breath, Okay okay, get in the car, he said with a smirk By the way, where are we going? I asked again, We are meeting Manisha, he said with twinkling eyes So what is new in this? I asked You are such a …leave it, he replied No seriously, give me one strong reason, what is new in this? You have lived in with her in past and now meeting her has become a special event for you, I said irritating him See we haven’t seen each other from more than a month, and now she has finally agreed to meet me, so I don’t want to miss a single moment of it, he replied But why is she meeting you today if she haven’t met you for more than a month? I asked I told her that you are here and you want to see her, he said with a devil’s smile on his face, You liar, you fucking liar, you’re going to meet her in my name, I said So what? He replied Okay fine then let me call her up and I will ask her not to meet me today and meet me day after tomorrow at the wedding, I said with the devil’s smile on my face this time No, you are not doing this to me, atleast to me, I am a groom, it’s my wedding, he replied with the baby face and cat eyes, Stop acting, you have wedding day after tomorrow and you are not groom today, I replied without any intention to leave him this time, Please….please, oh come on, please you are my best friend buddy, please, he continued Okay fine, everything has a price to purchase, so be prepared to pay for it, I said Fine then, done, anything you say, he replied Good, not now, let the time come, I replied And we drove away.

The Bachelor’s Party

One hour passed and we have just passed 2 kilometers, the roads are packed with traffic jams, signals are non-functional and RTO cops have gone crazy managing the traffic. I didn’t knew Ratnagiri has so many vehicles, I said with exclamation What do you mean? Rohan asked I mean, this traffic resembles the traffic in Mumbai, I replied Dude, its peak hour, its 6.00 pm and most of the offices are shutting so people are commuting to their homes, he replied Hmm, I mumbled

After struggling with the steering wheel for about an hour, we managed to reach the destination, Hey we have been to this place before, it’s some point, hmm, I don’t remember I said in excitement Yes, its thiba Point, he replied But how did you remember the roads and the way to this place, I asked in anticipation What do you mean? Rohan asked I mean, last time when we came here, we were on bike and I drove it, I don’t remember the road, how do you remember? I asked as if interrogating him Okay, I will tell you everything, but first let me find them, he replied Them? What do you mean by them? I asked Manisha came here with her cousin, he replied Why? I asked To accompany you, he replied irritatingly Now will you stop asking me question, he said Okay, okay, I can understand, no problem, I said waving my hands in air to calm him down, What do you mean you can understand? Rohan asked I mean, I know people go crazy when they get marry, I said and laughed at m own joke, Very funny…! He said

I was sure that the volcano of Rohan’s brain has become active now and if Manisha remains unavailable for next few more minutes, this volcano will burst out and I wasn’t interested in becoming a victim of the same.

Why don’t you call her? I asked She is not using her cell phone anymore, she says, it will not be possible for her to control herself from calling me up, so she have discontinued using it, he replied with anger in his eyes.

So I also joined his quest in searching for Manisha. We searched every corner of the garden, even the one that are very secret and only known to the resident couples, couples usually find cozy places, you know. One of the couple got so angry at one of those places that they went started abusing Rohan, I somehow managed to control Rohan and explained him the fact that we are intruding their privacy and also the he is getting married tomorrow, so if a groom have bruised face, I will look bad.

After searching for about 15 minutes, I was tired and Rohan was frustrated, ready to burst, ready to knock down, ready to cry, and was ready to jump from the valley few yards away. I asked him to sit on the bench right in front of us. He was unhappy and sad, so he agreed and sat on the bench with head down.

It’s okay bro, you are getting married tomorrow, after that she will always be around you, I said consoling him But she promised me, he replied She must be stuck somewhere, she must be shopping for tomorrow, you know how girls are, and day after tomorrow is a big day for her, so I think you should also understand her, I replied Stop defending her, he said with stern voice Okay, okay, what do we do now? I asked I don’t know, do whatever you want, I am leaving, he said and stood to leave Hey, this is not fair, you can’t just leave me like this, if your girlfriend doesn’t turn up that is not my mistake, I said firmly Okay fine tell me, what should we do now? He replied Hmmm, let’s go and party, I replied No, I am not in mood, he replied Now you’re getting into my nerves, stop being a jerk, it’s your last day of bachelorhood and I don’t want you to screw it, so stop being an asshole, come on lets go to some happening place where we can have fun, I said as if I had ordered something

He also somewhat agreed to the fact and started following me. We reached the car, Take the keys, he said and threw the keys towards me I caught the keys and saw him; he was in no mood to drive, so I also did not say anything further. We sat in the car and I started the engine, So where are we going, it asked You say, he replied Okay, I have heard about this place which is very good and it’s nearby too, let’s go there, I said and pushed the accelerator, He did not bother to answer and I drove,

One hour passed, we haven’t spoken to each other, I was feeling bored so I attached my IPod to the music system in the car and rolled the volume to its highest limit. The car is moving in sync with the beats of the music, I also forwarded some sad gazals which came time to time in between, so that my beast remain low, calm and not roar.

We have reached, I said taking the last turn on the curvy ghat, which landed us at the shore of the Arabian Sea. He was least bothered, I drove the car on the beach for next 2 minutes, I took the right turn to park the vehicle in the small ranch, which had a parking signboard. We both got down the car, Rohan started looking where we were, Where are we? He asked with anticipation Don’t you have eyes? We are on the beach you fucking dumbass, just follow me, I said We walked forward for next 50 yards and towards our right was a huge beautifully decorated gate with lights and flowers. We entered the gate and remained astonished, it was a garden resort with small huts made of grass and hay on the boundaries of the resort, the huts were dimly lit with candles and lanterns, and the water from the sea was gushing on the boundaries wall. The path to the huts were in a spoke and wheel format. It was so beautiful that we remained in the same position for next 2 minutes, just admiring the beauty of the resort.

The waiter saw us and came running towards us, Yes sir, how may I help you? Waiter asked We need table for two, I replied Sure sir, this way please, he said and guided us to our table and left What you will like to have sir, another waiter attended us Hmm, we will have one bottle of whiskey, one bottle of vodka, one sprite, one thumbs up, and chicken crispy, chicken lollypop, aaannnndd, okay you first bring this much, we will order after, I said as the waiter noted each and every detail scratching his head wondering, these fools will definitely stay here tonight, he smiled and left, Bro, for whom you have ordered this much? Rohan asked For us, I replied This much…! He asked in exclamation So what, today is your last day of bachelorhood, so enjoy, who know Manisha will make you her dog one day and you will stop drinking. I replied She is not like that, she is not like other girls, he replied Don’t worry bro, every boy thinks in the same way, and every girl is same, I replied By the way, cut the crap and tell me what gift you want from me for your wedding, I asked Gift…! He repeated Yes, gift, come on tell me, what do you want? I asked again Hmmm, you have already gifted me, you came for the wedding, this is more than a gift to me. He replied Shut the fuck up and please stop pretending, tell me seriously what gift do you want? I replied

The waiter came with a long trolley and started placing the order on our table; one by one, he placed everything on the table and left us to continue the fight.

Are you sure, you don’t want any gift? I asked the same question again Yes, I don’t want anything, you came that is the biggest gift to me, he replied Okay, as you wish, I said But what should I do with the gift which I had bought you for today? I asked What, you bought it for today also? He asked Yes, I bought one for today also, I replied What is it? He asked I will give it, but before that finish your first peg, I replied Okay, he said and lifted the glass full of whisky bought it forward to cheer up, I also raised my glass, both the glass were now up in the air, To my dear friend Rohan who will tie knot with one of the beautiful girl I have known till now, cheers to his last day of bachelorhood, I raised my glass further and clinked mine with his, To my dearest friend who have always been there to support me when I was alone and needed someone, cheers he raised his glass and clinked to mine As he bought his glass near his mouth to take the first gulp of fine whisky, a hand came over his shoulder and a sweet voice entered our ears, “Ekta ekta ghetoe maza shonya, mala visarlas kay” (Drinking alone my shonya, forgotten me) Rohan stopped in shocked as if he is familiar with the voice and knew who the person is. As he turned back to confirm, the mix emotion of anger and love started flowing his eyes. For one moment he looked at me, trying to understand what is happening, the other moment he looked at the person, trying to understand what has happened.

She was Manisha, I took the entire first peg top to bottom leaving Rohan, on his own to understand what has happened with him. Shonya you were about to break the promise, she said as she came forward and sat on his lap and took his face in her palms, Rohan was still in shock, trying to understand what promise he was about to break, Let me help you in remembering, she said and put her arms around his shoulder and continued On your birthday party all three of us decided to celebrate our bachelors party together and we all promised to drink together. She said rubbing his right cheek with her thumb, Rohan nodded and agreed to the fact and felt sorry about that at the same instant, The drama continued for some few more minutes with “sorry, please, thank you”, and finally ended with “it’s okay I understand” . I was two pegs down until then, By the way, I know this can’t be a coincidence but would you care to explain, how you came here shonu? Rohan asked raising her eyebrows up How strange “Shonu” a word that can be used for both hero and heroine, I wondered and laughed at my own joke, Okay, this was a setup and for further details contact Nilay, she said and pointed her finger towards me, Her finger made my eyes wide open, Hey don’t finger me, I mean don’t point your finger towards me, you are fifty percent partner in it, I said sipping from the third one Okay now, tell me everything, Rohan asked with the firm tone Manisha, is she with you? I interrupted Rohan and pointed my glass towards a girl standing right behind them in dark, Oh yes, I just completely forgot her, she said and stood up from Rohan’s lap unlocking his neck from the garlands of her arms She is Anuja, he is Nilay and you know him, he is my boyfriend Rohan, Manisha introduced us to the girl, Boyfriend? Rohan repeated Yes, you will become my husband tomorrow until then you are still my boyfriend, Manisha clarified Please join us, Rohan said Anuja was to my left, Manisha to my right and Rohan right in front of me, Will you both explain to me what has happened today? Rohan asked again banging his fist on the table Okay, okay, fine I will explain everything, when I was sleeping in the afternoon; Manisha called me and informed me about the meeting. While talking to her an idea came into my mind and we did it. So, you knew that she is not coming to Thiba Point, Rohan asked furiously Can have that crispy Anuja, its delicious, I said without listening to Rohan, which gave the answer to his question, You son of a bitch, I will kill you, Rohan said and threw a piece of crispy on me The piece hit my nose and fell on the ground, You bastard, you wasted my crispy, I took the lollypop and threw it on him, but I missed and that lucky bastard giggled along with the girls. Okay now stop fighting you two, we are here to celebrate and not fight, so what do we have? Manisha asked We have everything, what do you want? I asked her back The girls giggled again, I looked at Rohan and he looked at me, we both had no clue why they were giggling, Rohan called the waiter and asked him to make two vodka pegs for both the women, but Anuja refused to take it. We all insisted but she convinced us with the fact that somebody has to drive the car and driving on the ghat after getting drunk is not a good idea. We all agreed to it and didn’t push her further. We ordered red bull for her and four of us raised the toast and had our first peg of the day, not mine, I think mine was number three, no, no fourth one, no I think third, I don’t know, leave it, important thing is we took it and effects of the alcohol had started shaking my brain. I made another one, but this time it was larger than the previous one, So, Nilay, how are you and how are things going? I heard you went to Delhi for a year after college. Manisha asked making her face ugly after the first peg, I am right in front of you sweetheart, fighting fit, no girlfriend, no wife, no responsibility and no accountability, free to do what I want to, free to fly wherever I want to, I said raising my glass as if reciting a poem, Are you trying to say, if a person has girlfriend or wife he is not free? Anuja asked instantly What do you think, what am I trying to say? I answered I think yes, she replied after a moment of thought, Then yes, sweety pie, yes, I am saying the same thing, I replied maintaining the same tempo of the poem, Are you fucking trying to pull my leg? Rohan asked Who the fuck will try to pull that one ton thigh of yours, we will require a crane you fucking asshole, we are not talking about you, we are talking about me, so request you to shut the fuck up, I said increasing the volume at the last sentence, Well you both can continue that discussion after. So Nilay how is your work going on ? Manisha cease fired the situation between Anuja and me Quiet well, everything is fine, I replied By the way, when are you planning to tie the knots? She asked Until I find a good girl, I replied I think you need to look around yourself, you might find someone, she said motivating me, Don’t you want to see me happy, stop being jealous of my freedom, I said and we all laughed in unison No, but seriously Nilay, I just can’t believe it, that you don’t have a girlfriend, you, she said taking a sip and insisting on the last word Oh no, no, no wait, you have a girlfriend right and you are lying to us, you are hiding it from us, aren’t you? She interrogated It is not compulsory that every boy or every girls should have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, it depends on many factors and moreover I haven’t found that special person yet, I replied But how is it possible, you are so good, you have a career, money, family, physic and how can anyone get way with you talking skills, I know people were very much fond of your talking skills, you are so good in that. Anyone would fall for you in seconds, she replied Stop exaggerating, I said No, I am not exaggerating, but I am talking truth, okay Anuja tell me what do you think about him, seriously come on, tell us what was the first thought that came into your mind when you saw him today? She asked pulling Anuja in the conversation Anuja felt embarrassed, shy talking on that topic, her eyes and facial expressions gave me the hint, and I decided to stop the crap discussion there, Rohan buddy, I think your potential wife has lost her senses, I said with a wink So when are you planning to find that right person, in next century or next to next century? She asked Don’t worry, she will come across me one day, and I promise that day I won’t leave her, I said and we all laughed, Now stop sucking my brain and let me enjoy the drink, I said and made the same peg again, Now guys, don’t you want some private moments before your wedding or you both want to continue fucking with us, I said hinting Rohan to take her away, Oh, yes, yes, we are going, come on Shonu, Nilay doesn’t want us to sit with him, come lets go, he said holding her right hand, Oh, I know why he wants us to leave, he wants us to leave because he is planning to hit on Anuja, she continued She was completely under the effect of alcohol, she wasn’t able to stand, her knees were shaking. Rohan placed his hand on her waist, took her away from us, and sat on the boundary wall of the beach. I am sorry about that, I said pointing towards Manisha with the empty glass in hand It’s okay, I can understand, Anuja said Do you drink, I asked Nop, Did before, I asked Yup, in college hostel, one of my friend’s boyfriend bought it for them, but she gave me a shot to take, after that never, she replied How was it? I asked to know more It was horrible, I puked the entire dinner out in one shot that night, since then never tried it, she replied Do you usually drink this much or today is a special occasion? She asked with an exclamation, I turned to see her face for the first time that evening, the dim light of lantern hanging behind her seat was falling on her face; she was fair with dark brown hairs, her cheeks were like the side crust of the egg and had a slight inclination towards her chin. Her thin light pink lips that resembled like orange slice were an invitation to any guy. She had big eyes that suited her face best. She was wearing white half sleeves t-shirt, which made her glow in the dim light, her skin, was glowing as if she had done golden plating on her skin, her smooth skin shinned. She noticed me adoring her beauty and snapped her finger on my face to woke me from my imagination, Hey, where are you? She said Oh, sorry, what was your question? I asked repositioning myself on the seat I said, do you usually drink this much or …? She asked again Usually I don’t drink, but when I do, I do it this way, I replied emptying my glass, Okay, it’s good that you are not a daily drinker, but I think you should actually quit drinking, it’s not good for you, she said Not good for me? its not good for anybody, I mocked and poured another one for me, We remained quiet for some time, as I was busy enjoying watching Rohan and Manisha together. I wasn’t interested in Anuja’s health lessons, so decided to remain silent. Few moments passed, I know about your girlfriend, She said breaking the silence I looked towards her with a shock, I know about your love story, I know you lied about your girlfriend thing, I know you were deeply in love with her, she said looking straight into my eyes What…! What are you saying? I defended with an awkward face,

We both stared at each other, I was short of words trying to find some to reply, but failed. She was still looking into my eyes waiting for me to reply. I don’t know what happen to me, was it the effect of the alcohol, or was it because of her deep black eyes struggling for answers. Whatever it was, it made me numb, I - one of the best communicator, the best conservationist in college and workplace was finding hard to answer the simple question, wasn’t able to dominate her question by my skill. I remained numb for some time when she again broke the silence,

Come on, you can tell me, and there is nothing to hide. Everybody fall in love at some point in life, you can trust me. I tried to shake myself and tried to gain some senses, I wanted to defend myself and prove that she was wrong, you know we males have this ego problem over girls, No, it’s not like that, you have heard it wrong, I have never been in such stupid emotions before, I said, finally managed to find some words You are lying again, Nilay, I know you are lying, you can hide things but your eyes can’t, She said with a smile on her face How can you be so sure about that, you don’t know me, you have just met me an hour before? I said defending myself Nilay, if you don’t want to share, no problem, I won’t ask you again, I know your story and I have heard it before, she said taking her stand Who the fuck told you my story? I asked with irritation, Does it matters, she asked with a wink I know, Rohan must have told you, bloody son of a bitch, I said looking towards Rohan Nop, he haven’t, she replied Then, I asked Manisha, she replied Fuck, I muttered Manisha knew everything right from the beginning, Rohan and Manisha used to talk about it. I came to know about your story last summer. I was here in Ratnagiri for my vacations, Manisha and I used to discuss everything about our college days and hostel life. One day she accidentally spat out about you and I caught her. She tried to retort, but I forced her to narrate the entire story. After some insistence, she agreed to narrate but asked me to promise that I will never share it with anybody else. I was listening to her without any expression, I never shared it with anyone and kept it to myself. Today, when I heard from Manisha, you are here to attend the wedding. I decided to meet you. I wanted to see you. I wanted to know you. I don’t know why, but felt an urge to see you once. Whatever..., I said in irritation and gulped, my pack top to bottom and placed my glass hard on the table, I took the bottle and poured another one. I was furious now, angry of being stupid in front of a girl was making me angrier, I was feeling embarrassed now. I was in a situation where the girl was more intelligent than I was and I was acting stupid in front of her; moreover, her smile was making me more furious then her questions. I was furious with Rohan and Manisha too, Rohan has broken the promise he had done to me. Finally, I decided to remain silent and stop doing anything, which was making me feel more stupid. Actually, my own ego was making me feel stupid. Okay Nilay, stop being stubborn, it’s okay, I understand, she read my reactions and asked me to calm down Give me a moment, I said and stood up, picked the half-remained glass gulped it, poured another one, picked it, and moved towards the boundary of the resort where water was spattering, making the thunder sound. I needed some fresh air out of the hot conversation that happened few seconds back. The wind was blowing and making the water rush towards the shore, throwing the water on the shore. I always felt relaxed, whenever I was near a beach especially when the sun is about to set. When the hot sun sets in the deep ocean and the or rah of the sun throws red linings above the sea. It is as if the whole day of chaos has come to a halt and the silent night embraces it to rest everything to rest and prepare for the next day of chaos. This is so beautiful, she said as she followed me, Why the fuck is she chasing me? why isn’t she leaving me? I spoke to myself as I heard her voice from behind I am sorry Nilay, I should have never asked you about your past, I am so sorry, it’s your personal life and I am not supposed to intrude it, she said as she stood nearby facing me, I remained silent for some time, as I felt relaxed and easy. The blowing wind caressed my face to calm me down, It’s okay, I replied So, that means you won’t run away from me now, she said giggling I smiled and turned towards her, I stare at her beautiful face. She was damn beautiful; she had a all the factors required to be a perfect beauty. She was like a masterpiece. She saw me staring her beauty and felt uncomfortable. I think it is time to go now, I think we should call them back, she said rubbing her hand What is so hurry? I asked raising my shoulders They have their wedding tomorrow and there are rituals to be done, I don’t want people to get annoyed on this occasion, she explained She had a point, I accepted and also accepted he fact that she was not only beauty but beauty with brain, Fine, let’s go then, I said and we started walking,

As planned Anuja drove us back in her car, we asked the resort manager to drop the other one next day morning to our place. Rohan and Manisha took the backseat. Among all of us, I was the one who was heavily drunk and needed sleep, but the passengers on the backseat slept as soon as they got in the car. I was left with no choice but to stay awaken till we reach home, it is always said that when we drive on highways and ghats in nights, the co passenger should never sleep and keep on talking so that the driver remains awake. Anuja was a good driver and had awesome control over the vehicle. I turned towards the backseat as one of them made some movements, but found still sleeping lying on each other, Manisha rested her head on Rohan’s laps, while Rohan rested his head on her back. They are made for each other couple. I always felt great whenever I saw them together; I said looking at them, Anuja took the view from the mirror and smile, so you where there when they met each other first time. She asked Yes, I was there, I replied So you must be knowing everything. I asked Not everything, but some important incidents, she replied So where are you from? I asked Mumbai Where in Mumbai? Kalwa What do you do? I asked I am a doctor, she replied Don’t tell me you are a psychiatrist, I replied and we both laughed No I am not, I am MBBS and have my own clinic and also practice at nearby hospital, she replied Good, beauty with brains, hmm, I replied and we both giggled again Time flew away and we reached Ratnagiri city in no time, traffic was negligible so it took less time for us to reach the city, I was also able to conclude that Anuja was not that much pain in the ass; she was good person to be with. Finally, we reached home. Anuja drove the car to our bungalow to drop us; I shook Rohan to wake him up. He got up and we both got down the car, Rohan went behind the car with Manisha for some final good-bye formalities. I stood near Anuja, they both returned in five minutes, Manisha took the front seat and adjusted the seat belt, Nilay, Anuja called Yes, Do you know me? She asked Nop, I replied Neither do I know you, so I think you should not fear me, sharing the pain to a stranger is far better than sharing it to the known, she said and drove the car off.

The Hangover

Her last statement kept on repeating in my brain as if somebody was rewinding the cassette repeatedly.

Neither do I know you, so I think you should not fear me, sharing the pain to a stranger is far better than sharing it to the known,

I was on my bed wondering about the day I had spent with friends. The fan on the ceiling was rotating; my eyes were watching the blades trying to catch one of the rotating blades, trying to defeat the anatomy and limits of the human eyes.

Her statement kept on repeating in my brain forcing me to think over it. I tried to defend my thought, but the part of my mind, which was with her won the debate, but I wasn’t mentally prepared so I didn’t bother to accept the facts. I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to release some alcohol from my intestine. My legs were still shaking and my upper part of the body was moving in multiple directions. My legs were acting like a balancing instrument trying to balance the upper part.

I came out of the bathroom wiping my wet face with the towel; I took the laptop which was kept on the right hand side on the table and went to my bed. I wanted to spend the time doing something rather than thinking of her last statement and debating with my own mind, which I knew I would lose. I started my laptop, thanks to Microsoft for introducing Windows 7, which just took a second to boot and my desktop was in front of me waiting for me to go ahead. I was looking at the screen and the laptop waiting for my commands, but I didn’t have any. I didn’t have anything in my mind, it was blank and had no intention or objective. I clicked on my computer, the window popped up giving me 2 options C: & D: I clicked on C: went through some folders and came out to the same place again. C: drive only had the operating system, so nothing interesting. I clicked on D: and saw a folder named Rohit. I clicked on the folder to see what my brother have kept in my lap. I found some movies in it. The first one named 7 pounds , I clicked on the file and VLC player started playing the file, damn the print is so good, its HD I think. The movie starts with Will Smith swimming in the sea narrating his story, I was impressed with the last line of the narration which said “In 7 days god created the world and in 7 seconds, I shattered mine” I saw the movie without blinking, cried some times during the movie. The impact this movie created in my mind was so deep that I forgot everything and only thought about it. I cried again pushing the lap away, I don’t know why I was behaving so emotionally touched, the movie or the alcohol. I lay on the bed again, recollecting the events from the past, her statement kept on repeating in my mind. Time passed and I went into the embrace of sleep…

Haldi

I was deeply involved in my dreams, when Rohan came to woke me up. My head was paining as if somebody is hitting it with hammer; I saw Rohan standing near my feet shaking my right leg. Get up, come on its four, he said still shaking my leg, Hmm I know, but I have slept an hour ago at three, so please let me sleep, I said warning him, You must have slept at 3.00 am in the morning, and its 4.00 pm in the evening, so get up, he said Hmmm, let me sleep, man, my head is paining, please let me sleep some more, I said still sleeping but convincing Come on, have this strong coffee and you will feel good, he said raising the tray with his left hand No, I don’t want it, just leave me man, I have slept just few hours before, I said Come on man, get up, people will be coming shortly and function too is about to begin, come on get up, Rohan said pulling the quilt this time, Who cares man, it’s your wedding, you are important so go and get yourself fucked and let me sleep, I said with irritation and anger Manisha is coming along with her family and you are a common friend, so you have to be there with us, he said pulling my hand this time Kill me for that crime, you son of a bitch, I replied and gathered myself with half opened eyes and sat on the bed placing the pillow behind to rest my back. I knew he won’t let go, so finally decided to do what he says, Don’t just sit, come on, wash your face, drink the coffee and freshen up yourself, he said, and don’t you dare to sleep again, this time I will cut your balls out, if I find you sleeping this time, This time! What do you mean? I mean, this is my third attempt to wake you up; I don’t have patience for the fourth attempt, so …. Fine, fine, fine I will do it, I said in anger.

I was so terribly drunk last night that I was hardly able to manage myself, with shaking legs and paining head I finally managed to find a loose pajama and a T for me. It was the best combination that I could feel comfortable wearing. I went to stairs and looked for Rohan, a person passing by nodded and guided me the way towards garden area. I reached garden area and found Rohan dressed in dhoti below his waist and nothing on top. It was 5.00 pm in the evening and the cold winds had already started to blow. I was wondering how tuff job is to be a groom. It was a small function of Haldi. The relatives and friends have gathered around both bride and groom to apply turmeric paste on their skin, which make them look more beautiful. It is somewhat a preparation for their wedding. Usually this activity is performed independently at their respective houses, but the parents have decided to perform the ritual together, but in different locations. Manisha and her family have also joined in, but she was taken inside the bungalow and Rohan was thrown outside in the garden. Forbidden to go inside, males remained outside the house, as bride was undergoing the same ritual inside. People were enjoying the function, folk songs sung, which were bursting ears causing pain, as I was not able to understand a single word of it, girls were giggling, old women praised the features of Rohan, and everything was perfect. I was like an alien in the entire social drama; language was one of the main barriers. I knew Marathi, but wasn’t that fluent in it to understand everything, and they have certain particular accent of speaking which made me a person from the third world. I didn’t knew anything about the rituals, moreover I was clueless about what was going on and what is going to happen, in short I felt bored. I waited for few more minutes to convince my presence to the people and especially to Rohan and his parents and walked away from the crowd. I started walking on the green grass of the garden bare foot to enjoy the feel and touch and left my sandals in the garden itself. I walked few yards and took the stairs right in front of me, which landed me on the terrace of the bungalow. The stairs were actually the emergency exit from the bungalow. The evening had started to chill and winds have started to blow slowly, the climate had started changing, it was the perfect atmosphere for romance. Feeling bored, a feminine voice broke my chain of thoughts I turned back to see, it was Anuja approaching me with a smiling face, Umm, somewhat, I replied and turned back to see the view from the terrace, I was standing on the edge of the terrace facing the tracks passing nearby. She also joined in. What are you doing here? I asked Feeling same, she replied What! Why are you here? She asked me the same question with a wink Feeling bored, I replied It is you sister’s function, you should be down there enjoying the function and you say you are bored, strange… I don’t like this drama, its more of a chaos than a ritual, she said I was amazed at her reply; I turned towards her to see her face. She smiled, don’t look at me like this, and its drama and nothing else, But it’s your sister’s wedding, I replied I know, but as I said I don’t like it, I feel bored, so I left, Hmm, good, I said and remained silent So Nilay, what do you do? She started the conversation again I work for IT Company in Mumbai, And you belong to …? She asked Mumbai No, no, I mean your native, she clarified Does that really matter? I replied with a wink Nop, So you all studied together. She asked Hmm, Rohan and I, we both were classmates and we stayed in the same hostel, Then, how you both happened to met Manisha? She also stayed in the same hostel, How is it possible? Boys and girls in the same hostel, she replied with curiosity and exclamation both at the same time, You said you know everything, Manisha had told you everything, I asked with investigating tone Yes, I know most of it, but I don’t know everything, she replied It was a private hostel, where some rooms were allotted to boys and some of them to girls; she was staying in one of them, She haven’t told you her entire story, right? I asked Somewhat, she replied she only shares when she is either too happy or too sad, Hmm, By the way, leave it, you tell, when are you getting married? She asked with a giggle Soon after, I successfully find someone like me, and we both smiled Can you tell me your story; I have heard it before from Manisha. However, I want to hear it from you. She requested with a small kid like face, she didn’t wanted freak me out again, So you have started it again, I replied I know I am becoming pain in your ass, but I am sure there is something in your story, which she had missed, And what makes you think that? I asked The fact that you don’t have a girlfriend, the fact that you are still single, the fact that you drink a lot and not to enjoy it, but to hide something, to cure something, I don’t know what it is, but I am curious to know what it is, It can be anything, how can you be so sure it is about a girl or relationship? I said trying to hide and control the smile, which I wasn’t able to do. I know it Nilay, stop fooling me, come on, Please, Please, she persuaded more and more with each and every please, Okay fine, I’ll tell you my story, but on one condition What? No questions, no suggestions at the end, She replied in yes and I started the story…

Khed

It has been months, I have admitted myself to an MBA program at an institute, which is around 124 miles away from Mumbai city. Khed a small town in Ratnagiri district situated on the foot of Bhoste ghat and the famous Jagbudi River creating the partition between the ghat and the town.

Before being here, I used to assume that mountains exist only in the northern part of the country, but my assumption was wrong when first time I visited Khed.

Khed is a small town situated 1 mile off the Mumbai- highway; it consists of all the ingredients that are required for being one of the most romantic and exotic places in the world.

A huge concrete bridge that stand still across the river, allows you to enter the town. The road running parallel to the river enters the huge mango tree forest and leads to Khed railway station, a huge Bhoste ghat right in front of the platform number 1 welcomes all the passengers that get down at Khed station, showing the curvy road starting its feet towards its shoulder and then disappearing behind its neck. The whole view is panoramic and beautiful. It is the place, which we used to draw in our drawing books when we were kids to be the next MF Husain.

Accommodation

I have moved to Khed in September, a month when monsoon is at its peak and all the mountains and trees wear the green quilt of nature. Wherever you see, your eyes will transmit only one-color signals to your brain and that is green.

I was accommodated in a private hostel run by Mr. & Mrs. Joshi, actually both of them were doctors, studied in Mumbai and then shifted to Khed after to open a hospital of their own. Mrs. Joshi was a gynecologist and Mr. Joshi an anesthesiologist.

The hostel was a two-storied building; ground floor was a maternity hospital and first floor, initially used as a part of the hospital but later converted in to hostel for us. Seven of us were selected for staying there after a short interview with Mr. Joshi and I was among those seven. Mr. Joshi discarded many of the other students as they were not suitable for staying in the hostel and some of the students discarded the hostel because of the rules laid down by Mr. Joshi.

There were seven rooms on the first floor; three of them allotted to MBA students. I shared my room with two people; one of them was Mr. Imran Khan – Mr. Perfect, a commerce graduate from the neighboring town, which was 24 miles from Khed towards Mumbai. Initially he was pain in the ass, but then we both adjusted to make our lives good. The only thing, which I liked about him, was that he never used pillow while sleeping and I enjoyed the pleasure of using two for me.

Mr. Rakesh Borade – Mr. Confused, a commerce graduate from Mumbai always confused what to do and what he is doing. Actually, this was the first time he was away from home and parents. He always used to remain silent and spoke less; the best part was that he used to roam the entire day inside the room aimlessly.

Some of our classmates occupied the other two rooms; most of them were from Mumbai.

There were two more rooms, which were occupied by some dental girls, these were girls who studied in a nearby dental college, I still don’t know how many of them lived there; in those two rooms. We never cared, as there were strict instructions from Mr. Joshi “No interaction with girls”, so we never cared how many are there and who they are or where they are from.

The remaining two rooms used as a lab for testing of blood samples and the last one where Joshi family stayed with their sweet little daughters.

Initially it was very tough to survive there without family and friends, as this was the first time; I was away from my house and my family. I used to find work for keeping myself occupied. Whenever I was not doing anything, it used to remind me of my parents, friends, and family in Mumbai. I stayed in Khed for a week or so and returned to Mumbai for a weekend. Khed to Mumbai was just 6 hours journey. I spent my weekend with my family and returned Monday morning by express bus. The tickets were quite cheap and hardly needed a reservation.

Rohan’s Birthday Party

We all gathered in the evening near Anmol restaurant, the only good place in Khed where you can go along with the girls. Arham suggested the place. The restaurant was quite good and resembled any other restaurant in Mumbai. It was the only restaurant that served good food with cheaper rates on the menu and the proximity from the girls hostel was hardly a kilometer. Two bikes escorted the girls from their hostel, Sunil rode one and Arham rode the other one. Arham bought New Pulsur-180 few weeks after college started. Food was good, people chatted, joked, laughed, and enjoyed every moment, Rohan showed his talent of acting which he used to perform when he was working at local theatre in Thane. The evening was quite good; especially boys enjoyed evening as it was spent with the hottest chicks in the college. Boys started connecting my name with Sunita, as we both were the only ones from Northern part of the country. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t interested, but going against boys would result in pushing them for more, so I left the idea of opposing them. The evening ended on good note and we all left the restaurant at 9.00 pm. Sunil took Rohan on his bike and I sat with Arham, others took the auto to reach our respective hostels. Both the bikes went off road following the girl’s auto until we reached their hotel building and boys auto headed forward leaving us behind. Sunil and Rohan went till the gate of the hostel to have final chit chat, while Arham stopped the bike at a distance, What happened? I asked We need to go somewhere right now, he ordered. I could sense anger in his voice. Where? I’ll tell you everything, come on lets go, I sat on the bike without any questions and he squeezed the accelerator to the maximum possible limit making the bike roar the street, What about them? I asked Let them continue with it, we will be back in next half an hour, We drove the streets of Khed, I didn’t cared to ask where he was taking me, and he too didn’t bother to talk about it. The night has just started and the darkness has completely taken over, the roads are dark, as most of the streetlights are not working. The headlight of the bike is only source of light on the road. Everything was good till we bypassed our hostel and turned towards the river leaving behind the city and the partially lit streetlights. The road turned steep left to enter the dark road, which runs parallel to the river. Hundred meters crossed and we crossed the bridge, and the road started moving out of the range of last few houses at the end of the city. My curiosity has transformed into fear, fear of darkness, fear of unwanted, fear of beliefs and disbeliefs, which finally made me ask him, Bro, will you at least care to explain where are we heading? We are heading towards Kondivali, And what is the reason? You just remain calm; I’ll tell you everything once we reach, Everything around us was so silent and calm that we were the only one who were making the sound and breaking the silence of the surrounding. Arham was busy speeding his bike. I wont deny the fact that I was in fear, but I was feared of two events, first: we can have an accident as the speed of the bike on the steep road and turns assure 100 % possibility of meeting with an accident, and second: the fear of darkness in which we were riding. The best possible option that came into my small brain was to close my eyes and try to hide myself behind Arham, to avoid seeing my own crash on the unknown road with broken jaws and bones or to avoid looking at something, which is bad and evil. The wind was blowing, the night was dark with no stars in the sky, the only thing remaining was the rain and here it comes, it has started raining. Raindrops were hitting our faces like the bullets shot from the gun. The speeding bike also resulted in changing our face colors from normal to red due to the infinite hits of the raindrops. It was raining heavily, in few seconds we were completely wet. I could feel the water entering into my inner wears making it wet. I love to get wet in rain, but when the inner wears are wet, I hate it like hell. Finally, the raindrop hits became unbearable for me to take and I asked him to stop, Hold it for few more seconds and we will reach a village where we can halt till rain stops, he replied Rain, fear, dark, speed, road conditions all these factors contributed in making me feel peeing in my pants, but I controlled myself and forced my kidney to hold some more. We reached the first village, the intensity of the rain was same as it was when it has started making us completely wet. The water has completely made us wet, I could feel the wetness of my jeans and the inner wears. We waited beneath a roof made of grass and bamboo sticks; I stood there holding the pillar of the roof with right hand and left hand on my manhood controlling my bladder from bursting, wondering what the fuck I am doing here, Arham looked at me and giggled watching the position in which I was standing, Want to pee? He asked No want to shag out the frustration on you, so setting aim on your face, I replied in irritation, He giggled and asked me to do it inside the roof itself and showed me the right corner, which was darker than outside. I released myself taking the sigh of relief, OMG it feels so good when you do it after controlling so much, thank god, you showed me the place or else I am sure my bladders would have busted. We waited there for few minutes, but the rain was in no mood to stop, but the intensity became low, so we decided to go further. I sat in the same position as I was before; I hide myself behind Arham with closed eyes. I don’t know how fast he rode and how bad the road were, how dark it was, I just kept my eyes closed fighting my thoughts remained on the pillion seat till, he asked me to get down the bike. I opened my eyes to see where we were. We were standing on the road, which intersect the overhead railway bridge crossing the road. It was dark and I could only hear the sound of insects and the flowing water nearby. Arham made a phone call to somebody and asked him to come near the bridge, Hey, from where is this sound of water is coming? I asked From the river which is flowing beneath the road, Where? We are standing on the bridge brother and the river is flowing under this bridge, Whatever it was, but it was bad, as I could not see any human being since our journey has started We waited for another minute. I heard two voices approaching us, few more moment, and I saw two people walking down the road approaching us. Omkar Chavan and Fauzan Shaikh, Arham introduced me to them and the discussion between them started. I was least interested in their discussion because I was terrified by the darkness around me. Sitting on the moving vehicle and leaving behind the darkness is different thing and standing in the dark forest outside the village is a different thing. They were discussing the matter with me and asking my view in between the conversation, but I was busy with something else in my mind. I used to nod my head in affirmation to everything what they say. The only thing, which I came to know from the entire conversation, was that it was about a girl who is sister of the girls with whom Arham is in love. Whatever, too complicated for me to handle, at least at this point and situation, The discussion ended in some odd twenty minutes and Arham asked Omkar to come along to drop me till Khed. Three of us sat on the bike, Arham rode, I was at the center, and Omkar sat on the edge of the seat. Omkar kept on talking to Arham and me during the journey which somewhat helped me in diverting my mind for fear to some other things. We reached Khed at 10.30 pm, they left me at the hostel gate and rode back to their village, I took the sigh of relief and promised myself to never go to his house at night.

The First Bunk

Few days passed after that night incident, and I made myself comfortable with the new place and the people around.

Thanks to Arham, the classmate and the friend of mine who took me to his village that night from Rohan’s birthday party. He was a local resident who lived in a small village Kondivali 4 miles from Khed. The village situated on a hill with the serpent like road to reach there. Hardly visible till you actually reach in the center of the village. The dense vegetation and the trees like jungle make it impossible. Some say there are tigers in these forests of Konkan.

The roads are scary as they leave behind the town and head towards the remote villages. First time when I visited his village, it was dark night and hardly saw anything, but second time it was afternoon.

It was 2.00 pm on Saturday afternoon, we finished our pre-recess lectures and decided to bunk the rest. Roaming in the city had become our usual affair and we did it that day too. After spending an hour on the streets of the city, we decided to have our lunch at Arham’s place. As he insisted on doing so, he wanted to show us his village.

Four of us started from Khed, as usual four of us on two bikes rode through bazaar peth and headed towards the exit of the city. We reached the exit of the town and the road turned left with a steep slope, which I remembered from the past night. The road ran parallel to the river Jagbudi for about 200 meters and I saw a bridge approaching us right hand side of crossing the river. The bridge ended and we took a right turn to make a U-turn and started moving back as if to reach the origin point of the river. Further moving 500 meters or so, the road moved in the off direction of the river and we left it behind the tall grasses and huge dense trees.

The road moved up and down, right and left like a snake on the ground. I was sitting as a pillion with Arham in the front bike, followed by Sunil and Rohan on the other. We drove about 1.2 miles to reach Alsur a small village, which we crossed. This was the same village, where we halted last time. I saw the shed in which I peed and relieved my kidney.

Alsur is a wealthy village, I wondered as I saw the bungalows passing by the road. About 100 meters out of Alsur the road took a steep left turn with an elevation, the sunlight became dim as our bikes entered the dark forest of the dense trees on both the sides of the road. On our left, it was a mountain and towards right was the dense forest of trees. I felt a cold breeze entering my nostrils, making my lungs cold. I felt goose bumps erecting on my skin, which made me shift foreword to catch Arham’s shoulder. I held his shoulder tightly and remain silent for next 20 seconds till we cross the area. The road turned right sharply to uncover the bright Sun above our head to lower my breadth rate and raised my body temperature to normal.

We reached the next village Nilik in few minutes, which was the second village on our way. We left Nilik and in next 10 minutes, we were crossing the same overhead Konkan railway bridge, under which I was standing that night. I saw the bridge, it was like a huge tower gate at the entrance of the Kondivali welcoming every the passerby.

We parked the bikes outside and entered the house, it was an old house with wooden beams across the house on the roof to support the foundation and the roof from falling. The house was old but well maintained with light green color painted on the wall. The room at the entrance was sitting area, the second room was the hall, towards right was a junction room, which led one way towards the bathroom and other way towards a small bedroom, which belonged to Arham.

We had our lunch and went to his bedroom for some chit chatting and backbiting regarding our professors.

By the way, Arham, people here in these villages looks wealthy, hnn? I asked, Yes, they are, Arham replied What do they do man? I saw many bungalows here… I asked in eagerness Hmm, most of the men from these bungalows stay in Middle East, Arham replied You mean Arab countries, I asked Yes, you can say that, they earn in dirham, dinars and send it home and build these bungalows. Arham replied However, what is the use of building these bungalows here, if they stay there? Sunil pitched But they have their family here in these villages, you idiot and when they grow older they get retire and stay here in India for their rest of their life…Arham replied as if he was irritated by his stupid question,

By the way, what about the chicks here, do you have good chicks here in your village too? Rohan asked, Stay away from the chicks until you complete your MBA, if you want your bones remain in same position and in one piece, Arham said warning all of us.

After some more chit chatting, leg pulling and a cup of tea, we left for a walk as Arham insisted on showing us his village. We went to the dam from which the water supply was done to his village. In Konkan, each and every village have their own dams for water supply, as there is no water irrigation facility and the entire Konkan lies on the west coast of India, the ground water is not favorable for drinking. So people in these areas store the water during monsoon in these dams and utilize it for entire year after some purification process.

After about half an hour of walk on the dam and taking some weird pictures we sat on the huge wall of the dam,

You were scared that night, Arham said looking at me inviting everyone’s attention, Who? me? I asked, Yes, you dumb, Arham replied When? I asked That night when we left for Kondivali after Rohan’s birthday party, Naahh!!, I said Don’t give me that shit, I know you were scared and that is the reason you held me so tightly, Arham probed I know you were, don’t lie Ok fine, fine, yes I was scared that night, who wouldn’t, I agreed as I couldn’t face their eyes probing me as if I am not committing the crime that I had done, The road to your village look scary during daytime and we came at night that day, ask them didn’t they find it scary, I defended I too was scared, it beat the shit out of me when we entered those dark trees, it was horrible man, Sunil said Nigulkhari, Arham said What? Sunil asked Nigulkhari, it is known as Nigulkhari, Whatever, I said I wasn’t, what is there to get scare, its nature baby, enjoy it, who know when you will experience such beauty, once we finish our MBA, we will be slogging our assess to earn loads of money. Rohan said taking the charge Well said, We all agreed and nodded

It was evening 5.00 pm; Sun was coming down as if trying to hide himself behind the mountains. This sunset was more beautiful and different than those on the beaches. I wanted to capture it in my phone, but I think sun was in no mood to give me his perfect picture and ended up having a blurry one. At last, I accepted the fact that you cannot win with nature, as it is the strongest forces that exist in the whole universe.

I wanted to wait and enjoy the sunset, but then there was something, which was bothering me, the dark trees or so called NigulKhari . So we all stood up and left for Arham’s place to pick our bikes and left for Khed. Arham came to drop us till Khed and returned back home.

The Routine

Days passed, Khed has become our hometown now. College was good, the nurses in the hostel started talking to us. We used to submit our keys before leaving the hostel at the reception and pick it up while returning, so that cleaners can clean our rooms when we are busy in our college.

Monsoon has left and it is winter morning, everybody is busy getting ready for the first lecture at 9.30 am.

Dude get up, get up, Nilay, Nilay, get up man, its already 8.30 am and you are still in bed, come on get up, shaking me Imran said, as he was trying to wake me. Mom, please let me sleep for 5 more minutes, pleaseeee, I said unconsciously You dumb it have already taken 5 minutes twice and you want to sleep more.. Rohan said as he entered the room, Dude its 9.00 am and you are going to miss the first lecture of Prof. Gokhale, Rohan said shaking me up again,

The word Gokhale woke me to death and in next second, I was standing in the lab with a bottle and a bucket in my hand to get warm water from the geyser.

I drank the bottle full of warm water to create a good amount of pressure in my stomach and finish the first activity of the day asap. Just when I finished drinking the water, the bucket was full and so the pressure in my stomach. I ran towards the bathroom with the bucket full of water, threw the bottle on the bed, and entered the bathroom. My bathroom had an attached lavatory, so it was very much comfortable to use both at the same time. I loosened myself, took bath and was out of the bathroom in 15 minutes.

I hurriedly applied the oil in my hair and started wearing my clothes from the wardrobe. Imran and Rohan were watching me from behind with a smiling faces.

What? I asked irritatingly Nothing, Rohan said Then why you both are showing your teeth, I know you have 32, I don’t want to count them, I said See the watch, you dumb, Rohan said It was 8.50 am, What, its just 8.50 am, I am not late, you scared me you bitch, throwing the towel on them, I saved you, or else you would land up spending the entire lecture out of the class, Rohan said So? what is the big deal, I said The big deal is that, I would have called your parents in Mumbai and would have given all the updates regarding your last internal marks and how much you are focusing in the lectures and soon and so forth. I hope you understood what the big deal in it is, Rohan said Ok fine, I said

Arham came on time at 9.00 am and we left for Pethe hotel for our daily breakfast of 15 minutes and then to college.

Life has become so calculative in Khed, that it is always in minutes, hours, kms, miles, pages, and so on. We didn’t had our parents there and we were independent and free to do what we want to do, it was good. The only time I used to curse it when it came to washing of clothes. I hated my life when I had to wash my clothes with my own hand, I never did it in past. The first time when I washed my clothes in Khed, I called up my cousin brother in Dehradoon and took directions on how to wash the clothes.

Sometimes I had also convinced some of my friends to wash my clothes, and they did it. Although we were a family now, a family without a mom, dad, sisters….and also uncle, aunty, dhobi, doodhwala etc…

The Warning

Some time passed, As usual, I woke up at 8.30 am and rushed for the water with the bottle and the bucket. As I reached the door of the lab, somebody held my shoulder from behind, I turned to look back. I saw an old lady standing in front of me, I started recollecting where have I seen this lady and found that she is the one who does all the cleaning work at the hospital on the ground floor.

Before I could say anything, she asked, You are Nilay, right, Yes, I nodded and replied Never go to the river for bathing, okay... she said as if she is giving some very important instructions

I was rather surprised by her last sentence; well it’s not a bad idea at all. We can go down to the river sometime for a quick swim. I have done this before at my mother’s village and I know swimming also. She continued, while I was busy with my thoughts.

There are times when we have shortage of water supply, so adjust it for that day and you can take some from the hospital, but never go to the river for bath, okay…she said and left me with questions,

The questions were not about the fucking river, but about the shortage of water supply. That means going to college without bathing and toilet, eeeeeeehhhhhhh yyyyyuuuuuukkkk.

I shared the story with the others in the evening, some of them agreed while some of them didn’t have any opinion about this. Rohan had liked the idea of going to the river for bath and he started pushing me to go for it. I said we would see it in summer but not in this cold winter.

Lose Some Weight, You Gas Cylinder

Winters are good; at least there are some days to celebrate, and some holidays, when we can sleep until 12.00 noon. Some good food in the mess to eat rather than shitty pulses; Konkan do not have enough water for green vegetable farming. The main course of food is pulses, rice and fish. They grow pulses, rice during monsoon, and store it for the entire year. The chill climate is so good that you only like to sleep and eat.

Rohan has taken the shape of a gas cylinder. He usually spend entire day doing five thing - eating, sleeping, cursing the girls if they don’t care about his existence on the earth, cursing boys if they have girls and sightseeing, definitely not the beautiful sites, but the girls. He called it as sightseeing.

We used to push Rohan on losing some kilos so that he can look like human being and remain in our race. Sunil was more furious with his weight, as he used to sit with him on his bike, which would make Sunil uncomfortable while riding, due to his excessive weight. We started convincing him to go for walk in the morning, as some of our classmates from other hostels have already started doing it.

No, I can’t get up in the morning at 6.00 am, Rohan defended Yes, you can bro, I pushed No, I can’t, Rohan said insisting more And may we know why is that? I asked raising my eyebrows Dude its winter and you know how painful it is to get up early in the morning even for the lectures, how can you expect me to wake up so early for a walk, Rohan said persuading me Then how others are doing it? I asked with my hands up in the air Who the hell is doing it? Rohan asked in exclamation Pankaj and his group has already started going in the morning, Nitin said as if he was not concerned about who-is-doing-what Stop pushing him, everybody knows why are they going so early in the morning, Arun said So why don’t you tell us why they are going? I asked with a stubborn look on my face Definitely, for chicks, he replied What! I exclaimed Yes, there are school and college going chicks in the morning and these people are going there for sightseeing, Arun replied Whatever … I said and continued… See Rohan, we are not concerned about the reason for which they are going, we are only concerned about you and your fat belly, so start losing it, and I am starting it from tomorrow and you are joining me, I said Why don’t you start it first and after few days I’ll join you, Rohan said as if escaping the situation Thanks bro, but we are doing it for you and not for myself, and for god sake don’t you want to enjoy the cold weather and the beauty in the morning, the fog covering the road and the river, it is so beautiful out there in the morning, I said Its not beautiful bro, its insane… Rohan replied

Next morning, as usual I was sleeping till 8.30 am and Imran woke me up and the day went away. Rohan was quite happy with whatever happened, and tried to make fun of me, but I resisted saying,

There is always a tomorrow…

That night I slept early and asked Imran to set an alarm in his mobile phone so that he can wake me early in the morning. Whoever wakes up first will wake the other person was our mutual agreement.

The next morning, as decided the alarm ranged and Imran woke up, he shaked my hand to wake me. I got up from my bed with half-sleepy – half awaken state and headed towards Rohan’s room.

Morning was quite cold then the previous days, I think it was. I always woke up at 8.30 AM so never knew how much the temperature goes down in the mornings.

I entered the room, pushing the door to open. We never latched the doors at night, we knew we were safe and we never bothered about any security issues. I stood at the center of the room for some seconds, trying to gather the information that my half-sleepy eyes were transmitting to my brain. I turned towards right and saw Arun, in front towards the window was Amar, which made me clear that Rohan is on my left hand side. He was sleeping with the quilt as if some dead mummy from the Egyptian world.

I stood there for another 2 minutes, fighting myself should we go or should we sleep, should we really go, is it that important to go out in this chilly morning? I was battling with myself with these questions. Few minutes later, the opposition party won the battle and concluded the war – it is not that fucking important to ruin such a good sleep for this asshole, which is snoring like a pig .

I straight away went to Rohan’s bed, pulled the quilt from his face, laid myself on his bed, pushed him towards wall to make some space for me.

What the fuck are you doing? What are you doing here? Rohan said half waken I am sleeping you swine, I replied You are so cold, he said irritatingly Yes, I know, now will you fucking sleep or should I throw you out of the window, I replied Keep..Keep your legs away, you fucking bitch, they are so cold… he said screaming Will you both shut the fuck up and let us sleep and should I throw both of you out of the window. Amar shouted raising his head from his pillow

I slept there until 8.30 AM till I was awaken by Rohan himself.

The Hurricane

Hey, its raining out there, Imran said shaking my leg to wake me up Stop fucking with me and let me sleep, I replied No seriously bro, its raining out there, he repeated Yaa yaa, I know, there will be snowfall too in few minutes, I said assuming their new trick to wake me See, I am not lying, see for yourself, he said and pushed the window slide opening the outside view I removed the quilt off my face and strained my eyes to fight back the light falling on my face to have a clearer view, Its raining…! What the fuck it’s raining, dude it’s raining in the winter, I said unbelieving to what I was seeing See I told you, Imran said But how is it possible, dude its winter season and it’s raining in winter, I said with puzzled look on my face I went to Rohan’s room and opened the door to break the news, guys its raining, Yes, we can see that dumbass, Arun replied But how is it possible man, its raining in winter, I asked with anticipation Dude I am sure something is wrong, it raining since 2.00 in the morning, Arun said 2.00 am is midnight you screwdriver, Amar said scratching his inner thigh who was sitting on his own bed digging the previous day’s Economic times, Our college provided us Economic Times newspaper daily to update our knowledge on current affairs and the current market scenario. We also had some activities know as SGA or Small Group activity every Friday after college based on the articles in Economic Times. However, we hardly read it, the assignment from our professors took so much time that we hardly have time to read them. Yaa whatever, Arun smirked

Hey, your phone is ringing, Rakesh came running with my phone in his hand Who is it? I asked I think its your mom, he replied as he saw “Beta Tu Maraa” flashing on the screen, Hello, Hellooo, Mom, yes tell me, I said Hello, Nilay where are you? She asked I am at hostel mom, getting ready for college, Don’t go to college today, she said Why? I asked with exclamation There is a new on TV, they say a hurricane is about to hit the coast of Ratnagiri district. What? Yes, the new reader said, a hurricane is approaching the coast of Ratnagiri and might hit in next few hours, You are in Ratnagiri, aren’t you? Your college is in Ratnagiri, isn’t it? That is the reason it is raining since last night, I mumbled to myself Yes, yes mom, my college is in Ratnagiri, I replied What? is it raining there? She heard my mumbling Yes, it is raining since 2.00 in the midnight Fine, you all remain in the hostel itself and don’t go to college today, she said Okay mom, I won’t, I replied Fine then, take care of yourself, and have you taken your breakfast, Yes mom, just a minute ago, What did you had? Mom, please stop interrogating, I am not; it’s just wanted to know what my son had in his breakfast, Okay, okay, I had dosa and chutney, is it okay now, I said in irritation Fine take care and do call me, she said Okay bye , I said and hung

Hey dude, no college today, Amar said What? Arun exclaimed Yes, there is a message from Prof. Khandekar, which says, College will remain close today. We request all the students to stay at their respective hostel and rooms. Amar read out the message.

Amar Kole – the chocolate boy, a pharmacy graduate from Pune, originally from a small town near Aurangabad. He was one of the wealthiest and the most notorious one in our hostel. He was the party thrower among us and knew how to live in hostels as he had spent his last 3 years in Pune away from his family.

Guys, the day is full of surprises, I chuckled

By the way, where is my sweetheart, I asked Upstairs, must be busy with the phone call, you know, long distance relationships, Amar replied still scratching his inner thigh, Yaa, yaa, I know, but with whom, God know, he replied Will you stop scratching, it looks dirty, I said with irritation Can’t control boss, Then take some medication, I replied Stay away from my bed, you swine, I don’t want you near my bed, Arun warned him He won’t stop doing that, he is suffering from itching problem, Since when, I asked Since we have returned from our vacation, Amar replied He must have used bacteria infected clothes and I think since then he is suffering from this problem, Arun explained Dude I don’t want everyone scratching their body like you, so either you take some medication or stay away from us, I said and left the room

Arun Kamble – an instrumentation engineer from DY Patil College. Soft-spoken, sensitive with a geeky look. He was bank balance for us, whenever we needed funds; he was the right person to ask for. He wore thick soda glass specs thin arms and legs. Whenever you enter his room, you will find him on his bed; I don’t know why he loved his bed so much. He never sat on anybody else’s bed. The best part is whenever we went for a booze party; he always wore formals as if he going for a business meeting.

Two hours later the wind started blowing with full speed shutting the door and the windows with big bangs, the glasses of the window shattered in to pieces, the terrace door made of fiber was broken into pieces, the teens from the terrace were carried away with the winds. We remained in our rooms on the instructions of Mr. Joshi, the blowing wind made horrible sound; we even heard crushing sounds of trees nearby. The whole scenario was horrific. We all remained in Rohan’s room as if we were in some war bunker saving ourselves from the enemy infantry attack.

The hurricane continued to show his power for near about half an hour and finally left us with complete mess outside the hostel. In the evening, Arham and I went out to see the impact. Arham came in the afternoon and I was feeling bored, so decided to go out and check.

As we left the hostel, on the first turn, we saw a huge tree lying across the road and people from the municipal department were chopping it trying to clear the road. We took another way and went on to reach the highway. Lots of light poles and trees have fallen; they disrupted the electricity supply when the wind started blowing heavily. We reached the petrol pump to refuel the bike, but the entire shed above the petrol pump has come down along with the trees nearby. The hurricane destroyed the entire city and we could make that out from the fallen poles, trees and the broken houses.

We had a tea at Bharna Naka, a small junction at the entrance of the city, and left for hostel.

The First Meeting

I opened my eyes to see, it was dark in the room. A cold wind blew inside the room from the open slide window. I felt a bit cold; I got up from my bed and went near the window to shut. It was complete dark outside; I could see the autos running towards the station for picking the passengers from the first train. The only source of light on the road was of the Moon.

It will take 3-4 days for electricity department to re-fix the power supply; I remembered Mr. Joshi informed us in the evening. So, there was no power supply in the entire city. The electricity department has estimated that at least 450 poles have fallen. Khed is least affected as it is around 35 kms away from coast.

I wondered why Imran have left the window open, but then answered myself to the question, might be for the fresh air to come in. I left the window open and turned towards the table to see what time it was.

3:30 am, fuck its just 3.30, I said to myself placing back the watch again,

I went back to my bed again and lay back adjusting the pillow. I focused my eyes towards the roof thinking and wondering about the days I have spent in Khed and the days which are about to come. My sleep has gone, I tried to, but failed. I turned from one edge of the bed to the other, repositioned the pillow twice, tried using quilt but failed to fall asleep again.

I got up from the bed and went back to check the time, to know how much has been passed. The clock showed 3:45 am.

Fuck it man, darn, only 15 minutes have passed, I said and placed back the watch again, I stood in the middle of the room thinking what I should do to kill the time. I looked towards the other two beds in the room. Both of them were in sound sleep enjoying their sweetest dreams. I dropped the idea of waking them up which came while I was standing aimlessly.

Multiple options came into my mind. Some of them were, Complete the pending assignment – but there was no light so idea got rejected, Go to terrace and wait there till sunrise – I don’t have that much patience and hated waiting so idea was too bad for me, Lay on the bed dreaming and wondering – but that I had tried before, finally decided to take a walk outside on the street. I wore my jeans and T, took the leather jacket, which my cousin have sent for me from Delhi and went to the ground floor at the reception. I woke half-sleepy Madhuri, a nurse who was doing her night shift that night. She got scared and shocked when she saw me at the reception at this time. I asked her to open the gate. She enquired me with a wink, I replied her question, and she let me out of the gate.

I stood outside the gate confused which way to go and finally chose the one, which goes towards the station. I decided to walk up to railway station and have some hot cup of tea from the station canteen. It was freezing cold outside; the temperature of the room was much higher than it is outside. I placed my hands in the jacket pockets and started walking towards the river.

The streets were dark but I wasn’t afraid, as walking on these streets have become routine part of our lives now. I walked along the river until I reached the bridge. I walked down the bridge to reach the center and waited at the railing to see the water. It was quite with misty fog floating above the water. It was as if the steam is evaporating from the water.

I started walking again and crossed the bridge, the road ended with two ways to go one way led me towards Kondivali and another towards railway station. I took left and started walking towards railway station. Few minutes and I have crossed the last house on the way. I entered the dense forest of mango trees, which are on both the sides of the road. I started counting the trees passing by. I was still walking parallel to the river but on the opposite side.

The environment was dead quite and silent; I could hear my own footsteps. The nose has turned red due to cold; I was blowing the smoke out of my mouth and nose. I walked few more yards and I heard something. I stopped walking and turned back, I found nobody; I turned left, then right, but failed to find anyone. I was the only one standing on the road. I waited there and tried to concentrate, I sound continued. I took hardly a second to recognize that somebody was howling. But where exactly was the big question. The voice became clearer as I moved forward. It was a girl’s voice. I moved forward as my curiosity increased, the smoke in the air was making it difficult to see beyond fifty meters.

The crying voice became louder as I reached the point where I saw stairs running down the road towards the river. I took the stairs and started coming down slowly watching my each step. I got down some 5-6 steps and I strained my eyes to see through the white smoke in the air. I saw a figure sitting few steps down the stairs.

I moved forward without making any noise, one-step at a time, till I she was completely visible. She was wet as I could make that out from the drops of water falling from her wet loosen hairs. She was wearing a Shalwar kameez. I went forward to get the clearer view. She was sitting with her head in between her knees and hands covered her face. She was sobbing like a kid making sounds along with the hicks in between.

I moved forward and raised my hand to call her, but then stopped, wondering how to start and what to say. But then her sobbing was making me more uncomfortable that I held her from shoulder and said Hey, why are you crying? She stopped and remained in a same position for a second as if trying to understand the scenario. She raised her head in a split second, turned to see. She saw my face and in next split seconds, she got up and ran down the stairs towards the river. Hey, where are you going? I shouted Why were you crying? I shouted again But she continued running away from me. She ran till she managed to reach at some distance and stopped. I was still standing at the same position. She turned back to see me and waited there for few seconds and then walked away and disappeared in the misty smoke,

I remained puzzled at the incident, which had happened with me few minutes ago. She left me stranded with thousands of unanswered questions in my mind. I started walking again to reach the station, I spent two hours at station and gulped 6 cup of tea, thinking about the same incident.

It was 8.00 am in the morning, roaring Sun had replaced the beauty of silent Moon. I reached hostel and finally after working out every possible permutation and combination decided not to speak anything about the incident to anyone.

The day started with usual chaos for toilet and bathroom. We spent the entire day at college slogging our asses, attending lectures and taking craps from our asshole professors. I utilized the entire day thinking about the morning incident. Finally, the day ended and I again went into the embrace of sweet sleep.

The incident remained in my brain for more than 2 days; I wasn’t able to forget those big twinkling eyes that had pushed me to think about her. Finally, I stopped thinking about her with the fact that, Khed is a small city and we might dash into each other sometime.

The Lesson to Learn

Sunil came running towards Rohan’s room as if he knew everybody is in his room.

Hey guys, have you heard this? He said as he entered the room What? Your girlfriend is a lesbian, Rohan said and giggled Hahahahah……..hahahahahah…. we all laughed in unison Shut up, have you heard about Pankaj and his group, Sunil said wiping the sweat from his forehead Now what about them, don’t tell me they have joined gym in the town, Rohan said irritatingly Nop, Sunil replied Then what? Amar asked Have you seen the entire group today at college, Sunil asked Nop, everybody replied looking at each other’s face They must have gone for bike trip, what else…? Imran said as if he knows everything about them No, Sunil said Then what? I asked Now will you tell us or you want me to shave the remaining hairs on your head, Nitin said irritatingly Ok ok,Today in the morning, when they went out for a walk near the river, some people came in maruti omni van and smashed all of them badly, What... We all said in unison What the fuck are you talking? Nitin said Yes this has happened bro, there were some 5-6 people in the van, the van came closer and stopped right in front of them, these people came out of the van with cricket bats and stumps and started smashing them, But why? Arun asked Definitely, there must be only one reason – Chicks, Rohan said confidently Who all have been beaten up? Arun asked Its Pankaj, Amol, Suri, And how good are their wounds? Rohan asked I don’t know, haven’t seen them, but heard that Amol managed to run away after getting some good punches and knuckles, but others werent that lucky, Holy shit…!!! Amar mumbled So where are they right now? Imran asked Must be at their hostel, Sunil replied Good, that is very very good, Rohan said with a devil’s smile on his face. You are insane, you swine… I said hitting the pillow on his face You are next brother, Amar said pointing the index finger towards Rohan Definitely, I would have been, if Nilay had pushed me more, Rohan said smilingly and we all laughed in unison.

From that day onwards, we dropped the idea of morning walks and continued…

Arham came next morning with the same news; he must have heard it from local people. It was big news for Khed town, spread across the town and the nearby villages – MBA boys trashed by locals, for misbehaving and eve-teasing with girls in the morning.

In college, we came to know that the entire Pankaj group has returned home, which hinted us the gArunty of the situation and how badly they thrashed.

^^^^^^^^ I think I ‘m gonna need a drink now, I said breaking her concentration in between, What? Yes, I need a drink, Are you out of your mind, you broke the story in between for your stupid drink, she said with irritation Shut up and wait here for a second, I said and walked towards the stairs of the terrace, Do you need anything? I asked reaching the stairs Nop, I am fine, she replied

You are insane, she said as I placed my fine whisky bottle on the boundary wall of the terrace, I have something for you too, I said and placed 1 litre bottle of soft drink followed with two glasses, I don’t want to have it, she said with a smirk I am not asking you, I am telling you to have it, I ordered She looked at my face, while I made my drink and poured some soft drink for her too. Can we continue now, she said with rotten face I picked up my glass, took a long sip ^^^^^^^^

Follow the Laws of Land

The first semester exams were knocking our doors and we started preparing for the same. We started studying in nights as that was the only time we had, we spent our days at college either attending lectures or completing assignments to save some time for studies at hostel.

We used to return exhausted in the evening and would not have enough strength to freshen up ourselves. We used to complete the daily chorus in the evening followed by a small walk in town or near the river.

We all used to have dinner together in Rohan’s room somewhere around 9.00 and then move towards the terrace for the study sessions.

Arham also joined us later, as we had preparatory leaves of 15 days before exams, he used to come down to the town after his dinner at 9.00 pm and would stay overnight with us and leave in the afternoon at 1.00 pm or so. Unhappy with his late comings, we used to force him to come early, as the roads were not safe at night. Even her mother used to scold him for leaving that late, but he always managed to come down without any problem.

Hey, why do you come so late, can’t you come before sunset, the road for your village is so scary and dangerous, why don’t you come down early? Rohan said Why? What is wrong in that? Arham asked still smiling as if he knew what Rohan is talking about You are not scared or what? I asked Why should I get scared and what is there to get scared off? He replied Bro, we have been to your village, its fucking scary during the day and you are coming down by the same road at night, you even don’t have road lights. I said So what? He asked So you don’t believe in ghosts, spirits or any supernatural powers, I asked I don’t say I don’t, but there are things that a person should follow at nights and I do follow the same, so I am not scared of anything, he replied And what are those things, Rohan asked See, there are scenarios where people have seen some supernatural things happening on the road of our village, but in most of these cases it is always the mistake of human beings, Arham explained For example? Nitin asked For example, say, somebody has peed on a place or location, which belongs to a dead person or a spirit, he continues Means? Arun poked in A location where he or she sits or it lies in his path, then definitely he won’t spare that person, Rohan replied Exactly, so I request you all, until you are here, please do not pee anywhere outside,

Take another example, there is this incident happened some time ago on the same road, a person was riding a bike and somebody shouted his name from behind, the man looked back to see and there was no one behind, that man went to his home and was in fewer for almost 4 days. He spoke to his wife about the incident, which she narrated to other people of the family, the family then called the priest. Priest told them, that when he was riding the person who called from behind was a dead person and then the priest cured him.

Everybody in the room had dead silence and were deeply listening. We even forgot about our exams are about to start in next 20 days. It was time to study and not to hear ghost stories. Arham continued his stories, the more he spoke, the more were people interested in them.

Tell us something more.., Arun said, Okay, if you insist, but don’t blame me if anyone got scared afterwards, Arham replied and continued… It is always advised that, whenever you drive in the night, never stop the vehicle no matter whatsoever happens. At nights, you will find people asking for lifts on the road, you may also find animals like rabbits or snakes running across the roads, but no matter what happens it is always said that a person should never stop the vehicle. What about daytime? Rakesh interrupted Its okay during the daytime, but not in nighttime. Arham replied What if the vehicle breaks down? Amar asked Then remain in your vehicle and do not put your feet on the ground, Arham replied Ground? Arun insisted on the word, as if he wanted explanation Road, you jackass…Rohan replied Okay okay.. Rakesh replied and gave a nod to go ahead But why? I mean what so secure about the vehicle? If there is any ghost or spirit, he can come in the vehicles also. Nitin asked No, a ghost will never come in the vehicles, Arham replied And why is that? I asked It is believed that Lord Hanumaanji aka Lord Bajrangbali sits on every vehicle, so the evil spirits resist to enter the vehicles. Sunil replied What about the films, which we have seen till now? Rakesh pitched in and said Films are all crap shits and nothing else, so it is recommended that whenever you watch a Hindi movie, keep your brain outside your head and rather than using it, enjoy it…Arham said irritatingly Hhmmmmm, everybody agreed to the fact That’s it, these are the things which I follow and I don’t feel scared, so whenever I am coming here at this time, I just turn the accelerator of the bike and land up here in Khed without any slowdowns or stops no matter what happens. Arham replied Hmm, good that you told us these things, now at least Amar will stop peeing here and there after boozing… Rohan said pointing finger towards Amar, Tell us some more stories, Rohan said with excitement Why you all are not in mood to study or what? Arham asked Nop, now topic has been diverted from crappy subjects to something interesting, so no studies today, let it be a fright night. So continue with some more stories, Rohan replied Okay, so you tell me, from where I should start, Arham asked Hhmmm, start from Jagbudi river, I have heard that these rivers are usually dangerous places, what about this one? Arun said Yes it is, the name Jagbudi itself suggests it, - the river which drowns the world, Arham replied to the demand Hmm, that is interesting…! Rohan said So this is the reason why it is called Jagbudi, that it has dark past, Sunil asked I don’t know, this river is flowing from decades, so I don’t know the history of this river, but there is something which scare me the most is that, every year human beings pay a death toll of 1-3 people to this river, Arham said with some fluctuation in his voice What? I said with exclamation Yes, every year at least 1-3 people die in this river, death may be a suicide or may be an accident, but it happens every year. Arham replied to my exclamation, What about this year, did it happened this year too? Rohan asked Yes, it happened, few days back, before you coming to Khed, he replied What happened? I asked There were two boys, who returned to their villages few days back for a vacation, they spent their vacation and few days before they leave, there was a death in the village. These boys went to the funeral and decided that they will go on the river for bath. Both of them were good swimmers, many of the other boys from the village also joined them. They were in the water for nearly an hour, everybody else left them racing in the water who-touches-the-opposite- bank-first. Everyone was standing on the bank except the two and one of their friend. As the time passed, all three were badly tired. As they started from the opposite side of the river, they must have reached the midway and suddenly one of them went in to the water as if somebody has pulled his leg down towards the ground. Everybody saw it, the other two started looking for him in the water. Within a split second, the other one also went inside the water in the same way, but somehow he managed to take a small bump outside once, which helped the third one to hold him through his hairs and pull him outside the water. He managed to bring him towards the shore till they reached chest deep water. The third one left him there, asked the boys at the shore to help him out of the water, and turned towards the midway to find the first one. As he turned back, the one who was saved was again taken back inside the river. He went inside as if somebody held his leg beneath the water and pulled him inside. The third one was standing just feet away and he was unharmed and safe. A search operation started for both of them, people searched the river for kilometers, but none has found their bodies. People were screaming, shouting and crying in pain for them. People from all the nearby villages have gathered at the shore, it was a chaos.

After about 48 hours, their bodies came up floating on the surface, their skin color changed from fair to black, their sizes have changed, their bodies have swollen triple their actual size. Nobody could see at them, they were in such a bad condition.

There was pin drop silence on the terrace; we all were so deeply involved in the story that we started imagining the whole scenario, as if we were actually present at the site.

But who pulled them in? Finally Rakesh broke the silence and asked I don’t know, some say both of them were so tired that they weren’t able to continue swimming, some say it was the evil spirit, some say it must be a crocodile or some animal, Arham replied What do you say? What it was? Rohan asked I think it was an evil spirit, because first - when we saw the bodies, we saw the mud and the grass that grows deep in the riverbed, held tightly within their palms, as if they were battling and fighting to crawl through their hands. Second – there was no marks of physical injury on their body which proves that an animal must have dragged them into the water, and third – if they must have tired, the second boy was very near to the shore, he would have walked a little to save himself, but he was pulled back deep into the water.

How do you know all this? Nitin asked Because I was present there and one of the two was my friend too. Arham replied Where were they from? Sunil asked Their village is in Bhoste Ghat, and one of them was to return to London and other one to Dubai, Arham replied You mean this Bhoste Ghat, Rohan asked raising his right hand towards the mountain Yes, this one, he replied

That night none of us slept. We spent the entire night listening to the stories and legends of Konkan from Arham. Some of them were scared while some of them took it as fun. I won’t deny, I was scared too.

Tea break

Fifteen days before the exam,

Fuck you, man! Come on get up, get up, its teatime, let’s go You promised, you‘d come with me if I allow you to sleep, I said shaking Arham from sleep Fuck you, I don’t want to come, see the time man, let me sleep, he said with his eyes closed

This is not the first time we are going for tea, it just 2.30, I said pulling the quilt Take someone else with you, I am not coming, and for god sake stop waking up people from their sleep, he said and pulled his quilt and covered his face, Everybody else had gone to sleep, I said Keys are on the table, bike is standing near the gate, go, and fuck off, he said without removing the quilt from his face,

I got up from the bed and went near the table to pick the keys. I wanted somebody to come along because the incident that day happened with me was somewhere troubling me back at my mind. I was scared. I went out my room to see if someone was still awake. I checked all the rooms, none of them was awake, and everyone was sleeping. They used to study during daytime to avoid sleepless nights. Arham and I were the ones who never touched their books in day; we believe that we can study better in night when there is no external disturbance. Imran was not happy with it, as he had to go to other room and sleep because we used to keep the lights on. Imran and Rakesh used to sleep in either Rohan’s room or Nitin’s room. We daily used to study until 2.30 or 3.00 midnight and would either sleep or take tea breaks depending on the syllabus left for completion.

I came back to my room and stood in front of my bed, Arham has occupied Imran’s bed. I looked towards mine, Should I go to sleep or should I go out and have a tea break, I think I should sleep, no I think I should go for a tea break, Sleep man. Why you want to go and screw your sleep? But the chapter is important, Nothing is important than sleep, No, I think I should go, No you should’nt, remember the incident last time, Who was she? Never mind, I think I should go man, this is last chapter and I think I should finish it tonight; if I had attended the lectures properly, I would have slept, but I can’t, the vast portion is pending man, I think I should go, I scraped out all the thought and left the room with the keys, I opened the gate and pulled out the bike on the road, I wanted my exit to be silent and quiet so pulled it without starting the engine.

I took the seat and pushed the starter button. The bike made a creaaak sound but didn’t start, I tried again, but failed to start. I shook the bike to check if there petrol in it or not. I heard the sound of petrol in the fuel tank.

Why the fuck it isn’t starting, I said to myself pushing the starter again, It made the same sound again and failed to start, I raised my right leg to use kick, but my leg came down on the road without any kick below my foot,

I lean to check the kick, but then remembered Fuck man, there is no kick in this bike. The manufacturer of this bike is definitely an asshole, he made such a good bike and forgot to put the fucking kick in it, the most important part in it, I cursed I pulled out the key from the keyhole and got off the bike placing it on side stand.

I pulled out a cigarette and lit it looking at the bike, trying to understand what must be wrong with the bike. Arham went to Chiplun this morning to meet his girlfriend; I think something must have gone wrong there.

I took the last puff and threw the butt Fuck with the tea break and lets go and have some sleep, finally I decided to go sleep, I took the seat and pushed the key into the keyhole to unlock the handle.

Let’s try last time, I said to myself, just wanted to give one last try, I pushed the starter again, the bike made the same sound, I kept pressing the button and just then the engine started making the horrible sound as if somebody had pulled the accelerator and forgotten to release it. As soon as I realized the loudness of the sound, I released the accelerator, pushed the gear, and escaped from the locality to avoid pissed people.

I rode the bike with full speed, crossed the river, and headed towards the railway station. I took the last left leaving behind the city and the last house, which had a small bulb lit outside it.

As I entered the dark mango forest, I felt cold and chilly, as if I have entered into an AC room after walking a Km in hot afternoon. My hands started shivering; a cold breeze ran across my face making my spine shiver. The bike also misbalanced but then I managed to control it, reduced the speed, and pushed the brakes to make it halt. I changed the gear to make it neutral, but then suddenly the engine started dropping and the headlight became dim, and finally the engine stopped. The headlight went off; the road ahead became dark again. Fuck man, fuck, I hate this, I just hate this, I said hitting the petrol tank with my fist, I pushed the starter, but failed to start the bike, I pushed again, the same result,

I pushed it again and this time, didn’t bother to release the button, the bike made the sound for few seconds and then stopped making it. I pushed it again, but this time there was no sound at all, I took out the key and replace it and pushed the button again, same result, the bike had stopped making sound now,

I think the battery has drained, I gave a thought to myself, pulled the bike towards the corner of the road, and placed it on side stand. I looked around in the dark to figure out my exact location, I could hear the sound of the river flowing nearby. I was at the center of the way towards the station. I was stuck 1.5 Km away from Khed city and 1 Km away from Khed railway station. After thinking for some time and cursing some people, I decided to walk till station.

I started walking in the light of mobile phone, thank god mobile manufacturers have some brain to have installed a small torch light in it. I had started hating Arham’s bike now, and the manufacturer too, bloody assholes. Why can’t they just think before making such products? It is like a mobile phone without a power button, a toaster without a slot to fill the breads in it, an IPod without earphone socket.

I walked for few yards and reached the stairs; the stairs, which go down towards the flowing river; the same stairs on which I saw the girl sobbing that night. Fuck man, I thought I had crossed this place; I spoke to myself and started walking slowly trying to be silent as much as I can, My eyes were on the stairs and my legs were doing their work, As I crossed the stairs on my left, my mind filled with thoughts, Is she there today? No, I think she is not, Why the fuck you want to know, it is not your business, just leave ASAP, But, who was she? Who cares, just walk, and reach station, Who was she and why was she crying?

The questions filled my mind and convinced my negative and mean part to have a look, is she there today or not? My negative part wanted me to leave, but my positive was stronger that night.

I stopped walking further and went near the stairs, it was completely dark, and I decided to switch off my mobile torch to avoid seen, because last time when she saw me she ran away. This time I wanted to see who she is. I reached the edge of the road where the slope for the stairs starts. I took the first step and focused my eyes on the stairs. I took the second one, third, fourth and fifth. I reached the fifth one and strained my eyes to look further. I saw something darker moving in the dark. Oh fuck…! I said to myself and ran towards the road with full speed without looking back,

I reached the road and still ran further towards Khed city. Few yards crossed and reached the place where I left my bike. I inserted the key in the keyhole without even looking at it and pushed the starter, but the fucking bike was in no mood to start. I tried again, but same result. I was panting now; the sweat on my forehead ran through my eyebrows to my nose until it falls from the edge. My T-shirt was all wet; I felt an urge to pee. I turned towards the stairs to check, if anybody is following me, but there was no one.

I took some deep breath to relax myself. What was that? What the fuck was that? I asked myself Was she the same girl or a wild animal?

Multiple possibilities filled up my mind; I remained there for some time judging each one of them and finally decided to check. Believe me, I am no hero, and I am the same person who lives next door, who is a coward and fears death, fears ghost, fears darkness, fears being hurt. However, that day, I don’t know what happened to me,

I went to the stairs again, but this time I carried a wooden stick with me, which I found near the bike. I carried the wooden stick in my right hand and prepared myself for hitting the dark thing if it turns out to be a wild animal.

I started coming down the stairs, taking one-step at a time, this time I crossed fifth step and went further and further until I reached the step, which was some few step above it. I stopped and watched it, trying to figure out what it is. I remained silent and sat on the step waiting the dark thing to move. Few seconds passed, and no movement,

Some more time passed and still no movement, I thought it is not a living thing, I think it is something, which somebody must have kept. So I decided to go further and see it. As I was about to stand up, the dark thing moved, the head came above from the front, Oh shit, it’s the same girl, fuck, I said to myself

She was sitting her head on her knees covering her head from her duppatta, and now raised her head. Suddenly I felt an urge for shaking her and asking her about what she was doing there at this time, but then resisted and decided to see what she was upto. I remained silent and calm and waited for her next move. She was silent, she tilted her head towards right, pulled her knees with her hands and locked her legs and placed her head on it.

She remained in the same position. She was silent and calm, the only sound that existed was of the flowing water in the river. She was deeply involved in her thoughts, as if thinking something too deep, I think she is sad about something. I spoke to myself But what? Why the fuck you are concerned about her? I am only concerned about the time at which she is sitting her, its fucking 3.00 midnight and she is sitting here enjoying her thought, isn’t she fear anything. Dude you stay out of it, remember what happened to Pankaj, he also tried to interact with local chicks and see what they have done to him, I don’t think you want to get yourself in the same situation, Shut the fuck up, I am not doing anything wrong, I am just trying to figure out what she is doing here at this time. Fine then, you don’t want to listen to me, then go and get fucked,

I remained there for some time, making the sentences in my head to talk to the girl, I knew if I don’t prepare my sentences she will run away. Somehow, I didn’t manage to make one, but then it made me restless and irritated. I decided to talk unprepared, Hey, are you okay? I asked She looked back in a fraction of a second and stood to run in next, Don’t run, I won’t harm you, please don’t run away, I said with a convincing voice She started running down the stairs in the same way, as she did last time. Please don’t go, I won’t harm you. Just wanted to know why you are here at this time and nothing else, Please stop, I said a little louder this time, She ran few more steps and then suddenly stopped, Fuck man, she stopped, I said to myself and decided to go to her, She turned back and saw me. I was still standing there waiting for my mind to give me the command to execute. She waited there for some moment as if thinking something and started walking againg towards the river. I was looking at her going further down, slowly disappearing in the darkness and the night fog.

The two incidents filled my mind and I left the place with millions of unanswered question in it. Who was she? What was she doing there? Why was she crying the first night? Why she always runs away? The questions were troubling me.

I left the place and reached my bike. I inserted the key in the keyhole, pushed the starter, which started the engine, I drove back to the hostel. It was 4.30 am when I reached the hostel. I threw the book away from my bed and slept thinking about her. You are an MBA and not a uneducated dumb

I was in hesitation when I woke up at 11.00 am in the morning, I wasn’t able to decide whether to share the incident with Arham or keep it to myself only. After few battles with myself, I decided to keep it to myself until I am in a big problem. I promised myself that if something goes wrong; I would share it with Arham. Arham was a local person; he could save my ass from the locals, save me from becoming the second victim after Pankaj.

I spent my entire day fighting thoughts, ignoring the incident happened last night, but failed to concentrate on anything. I spent time in toilet along with her thoughts, took bath with her thoughts, wore clothes with her thoughts. She was completely on my mind. I spent more time on doing things then I took on normal days. I wasn’t able to focus on anything.

We all went to Pethe hotel at 1.00 pm to have our lunch. We had no lectures in college. College had given us preparatory leaves of 15 days, so the mess also remained closed. We all decided to have our daily lunch at Pethe; they served great thali at a quite cheaper rate.

We all entered the hotel and as usual, occupied two tables. Everybody ordered and the waiter ran for placing it to kitchen. The food was nice. People ate until their stomach was about to explode. Some took the help of water to push the remains in their food pipe to go down their stomach, burped and left the tables to pay the bill. I gave my share to Rohan and asked him to pay.

Everybody paid while I was busy playing with the mouth freshener bottle. I shook the bottle but the mouth freshener did not come out. The bottle had tiny holes. I tried again, but landed up with two small bits. I wasn’t satisfied with two bits, so I tried to open the cap of the bottle to have some more. I rolled the cap anticlockwise and successfully opened it to have more. I filled my palm with it and placed the empty bottle on the table. As soon as I filled my mouth with the freshener covering it with my right palm. I realized people were staring at me. Fuck, it was Mr. Pethe himself staring at my dumb behavior, I smiled stupidly and left the place. What the fuck were you doing there? Rohan asked What? I was just trying to have some mouth freshener man, I replied You dumbass, you wouldn’t have died without mouth freshener, he mocked Fuck it man, I said and left for the hostel.

I spent my entire day roaming in the city, visiting other classmates in other hostels. We also went to some dam, I don’t remember the name, but the place was good. It was a huge dam; Khed received water from this dam, Arham informed. During all this, she was troubling me back in my mind, but I resisted and remained silent.

I think you should leave

It was 10.00 pm in night. We all had our dinner and as usual I went to my room for studies and Imran and Rakesh went to others room for sleeping. Arham came and joined me few minutes later.

I opened my book to read, but the page remained same. I spent two hours reading the same page repeatedly. Reading the same line repeatedly and every time I did that, I felt it was first time. I felt as if I am reading a new line. As soon as I finish the first sentence, my attention used to get divert from the subject to the chain of events from last night. I was physically present but mentally absent.

I went to pee thrice, washed my face twice, smoked twice and still wasn’t able to focus. I decided to change the subject. I went near the study table and scanned all the books. Arham raised his head from the book and said Dude, what are you doing? Hmm…feeling bored, thinking of changing the subject, Which subject? He asked Hmm…let me see, I replied Ahh…ha…let’s do some brainwork , I said and raised Business Mathematics textbook to show him the cover page. Fuck you man, I don’t want to solve mathematics. Why what is wrong in that? I asked as I could see disparity on his face, No, I just don’t want to solve mathematics, that’s it, he said and buried his head again in the book. Confused by his stubborn behavior, I remained there for some moment, trying to understand what was wrong with him. He raised his head from the book and said Fuck you man, you know I am from Zoology, I haven’t even touched mathematics in three years of my graduation and you want me to solve mathematics, I hate mathematics man. I hate it. What the fuck were you doing when the professor was teaching? I replied with a loud voice, I was busy fucking with you, bunking lectures and roaming in the city, he replied with the same loudness in his voice. I was convinced with the reply he had given and dropped the idea of mathematics. I again scanned the books and found nothing interesting. I again went to my bed with the same book continued with it. The time went on and so did we. I somehow managed to reach tenth page while Arham had successfully completed three chapters in next two hours. It was 1.00 am midnight, when Arham said he was feeling sleepy. I didn’t bother to reply; I was busy with my thoughts and at the same time with the subject. At 1.30 am, he was ready to crash the bed and in no time, he was snoring under the quilt. I continued struggling with the subject and the thoughts. Some time passed and I got up to pee. I checked the time in the watch on the study table. It was 2.00 am. My mind went to the stairs and thoughts came rushing into my head. I went back to my bed and took the book to read, but the thoughts were stronger this time. I was holding the book in my hand but failed to read a single word from it. Soon the minute’s needle travelled from twelve to six. Now, my focus was on the watch and not on the book. It was 2.30 am; the time when I go out for tea break, the time when I saw that girl on the stairs. Suddenly I felt an urge to go and see if she was there today. I stood and went near the study table and picked the bike key. Wore my t-shirt and left the room. As soon as I sat on the bike the scene of her running away flashed in my mind. The thoughts again filled my mind. What if, she is not there? What if, she is there? What if, she runs away again? Too many questions, too many answers, the best way were to go there and find out. While I was riding, the last question troubled me more. I decided not to let her go today until she answers all my questions. I reached the spot, pushed the brakes to halt, and parked the bike at the corner of the road. I went towards the stairs and started coming down one-step at a time. The picture my eyes were transmitting was blurry, but soon it became clear enough to see what was ahead. She was there. Yes, she was there. She was sitting in the same position as she was last night. Her head was between her knees as if she was sad. Her elbows were holding her legs from knees locked by her forearms. I went ahead and reached few steps above her, and prepared myself for the first interaction. I wasn’t aware of what is going to happen next and what I will be doing. The only thing I had in my mind was not to let her go, until she answers all my questions. I ran down the stairs, crossed her, and stood in front facing her. The sound from my footsteps caught her attention and she raised her head instantly. As soon as she realized what had happened, I was standing right in front of her with a smile on my face. Hi, I said She was looking at me with a shocking expression on her face and I was standing there with a smiling expression on mine. She stood instantly. I could only see the changing curves on her face due to darkness. As she was prepared to run, I raised both my arms to block her way. She was in trap now. She tried to move from her right, but I shifted myself towards my left to block. Then she tried from her left and I again moved towards my right to block her way. Please…don’t be scared, I am not going to hurt you, Please listen to me, just listen me, I said still blocking her way, She now understood that there is no way she can go. She stopped trying and stood quietly in front of me. I wanted to see her expressions but it was too dark. Who are you and what are you doing here? I asked as I lowered my arms, She remained silent I repeated the question again, but she didn’t answer. Don’t worry I am not going to hurt you, I just want to know who are you and what do you do here at this time. I always find you here at this time. Is there any problem? She didn’t bother to answer, moved towards right, and started walking down the stairs. I was still standing on the same step. I turned back to see. She was walking down, she wasn’t running today. Fuck, she isn’t running today, I said to myself and followed her, This is very wrong, I am here to help you and you are behaving so rudely, You Konkan girls are so rude, Rohan was right, you Konkan girls are full of arrogance. As soon as I said the last statement, she stopped. Yes, she stopped and stood there. Fuck she stopped, it worked man, Rohan was correct, I said to myself, Rohan once told me, if you want to get a girls attention. Either talk good about her or talk about bad about her. As soon as I saw her stopping, I ran down the stairs. As I reached near her, I saw her standing facing the river. As if she wasn’t sure about what she was doing. I stood right behind her, but failed to realize that I have reached the riverbank. The stairs have ended at a small flat area, a small ground that washer man community used for drying their clothes. I have already crossed the dense forest of trees and the river is flowing right in front of me making a huge thunder sound, the moon is shining right above my head, I could see its image in water. The visibility was good here, due to moonlight and I could see things clearly. Give me a minute, let me catch a breath, I said, as I leaned forward and placed my hand on my knees. I raised my head to look at her. She was wearing light pink shalwar Kameez, it was a Punjabi suit with loose shalwar. She had a great waistline, and I could make that out in the moonlight. She had a great height; she must be 2 inches shorter to me, somewhere 5’8” or 5’9”. She had placed part of her dupatta on her head and part along her neck to hide her front part of the body. By the way, what are you doing here at this hour? I asked still breathing heavily She remained silent Don’t worry, I said I won’t hurt you, I said and as I erect my spine straight to look at her, Still no answer, Who are you? I asked again Still no answer Ok fine, I think you are still hesitant and scared of me, I said and moved forward to come in front of her, Hi, I am Nilay, I said and gave out my hand for a handshake and expected hers, but she didn’t, so I raised my head to see her face, She had a sharp jaw line; her pink quivering lips were shining in the moonlight as if she had recently used a glossy lipstick; the color on her cheek resembled the color of moon. Her eyes were deep and sad as if waiting for something or someone; the strand of hairs above her forehead falling over her face through eyes, touching her pink lips made her look more beautiful. She as the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my whole life. I could die million times for her. Kill me god, if you want to, but please let me fall in love with her, I prayed in my mind I was in love, I don’t care, who she is, where she is from, but I only care about the fact that I am in love with her. I was numb, believe me, this is called beauty. If somebody asks me what love is, I will ask that person to see your face. If someone asks me what beauty is, I will ask that person to see you. I was busy with my own thought when she opened her shivering lips and with a sweet voice she said You shouldn’t be here, and broke the chain of imagination What...err sorry what did you just say? I said you should not be here at this time, Seriously, gods kill me or else I would commit suicide if she does not become mine, her voice was much sweeter than I had expected. I want her; I will get her at any cost. I think it is applicable to you too, I replied with a wink I stay there; she pointed her finger and showed me a house across the river, If you stay there, then why are you here and that too at this time? Is there any problem? I asked, Actually speaking I wanted to know more about her, so I tried to ask some questions. No, there is no problem, just don’t feel sleepy, so usually come here for walk, she replied with expressionless face Okay, I replied You should leave now, she said Oh yes, fine then, I err…, can I ask you a question, I asked You should leave now, she said before I could ask her any other question, Fine, I said and started walking away towards the stairs, I went at a few distance and turned back Hey, I called her She turned back to see My name is Nilay, I said with a smile, Mahira, she replied,

^^^^^^^^ What the fuck are you doing here upstairs? Rohan came from behind and Manisha followed, Nilay don’t tell me you are trying to hit on my sister, Manisha mocked, No, I am not, she is not my type, I replied I saw both Rohan and Manisha approaching us. both of were covered with tons of turmeric paste from head to toe. Their faces were like the adivasis from some remote jungle. What the fuck are you doing here? I was searching for you everywhere during the ceremony, he said unhappily, I was just feeling bored so came upstairs, I replied Ohh…ho, so you had already started the program, Rohan said as he saw the half empty bottle of whisky on the boundary wall. What are you doing here Anuja? Manisha asked Hmm, Nilay was sharing his story, she replied Really, Nilay, she looked at me to confirm, Yes, I was, because you had already created the excitement by sharing parts of it during your vacations, I said sarcastically She understood the direction in which I was pointing the conversation. I am not the only one responsible. Rohan was the one who told me everything. Rohan became nervous and uncomfortable. I know that is the reason we call each other best friends, am I right Rohan, I smirk Okay fine, I accept my mistake. I know shouldn’t have told her, but you know how much I was in love with her. Hiding anything from her was like committing a crime. But this wasn’t about you, it was about me, I replied He was silent now, standing with his head down. I could see the guilt in his body language. The guilt of betray. I wasn’t interested in spoiling his mood, so I cheered him, but at a cost. How can you be so kid? Fine now just leave it, I said looking at him to cheer him, I am sorry bro, I am really, really sorry, he said and came forward for a big tight hug, Everybody was happy now, the tension in the air lowered and everybody felt well. Sometimes I feel both of you are gay. Seriously, the way both of you behave force me to believe. Manisha said shaking her head, As soon as she said that, we both pushed each other away and gave a disgusting expression to each other. You have tried Rohan and if I am not wrong you are convinced with him. Would you like to try me? I asked with a sarcastic smile. Why not, come on lets go, she said and looked at Rohan Shut up, its not funny anymore, Rohan replied with irritation Stop behaving like a husband, I still have chance to turn you down. I want you to be my boyfriend and not husband. She said widening her eyes to scare the shit out of Rohan, Okay, okay fine I am sorry shonya, I am sorry; he said and came back to me for the second hug, Bro seriously, I wanted to tell this to you, but I was scared. He replied Its okay now, I hope you have changed now, What? What are you talking about? Manisha said in a loud voice, Nothing, I was just saying, I hope he must have changed now, I repeated with a smile Nilay its better, you stay away from my boyfriend, you will spoil him, she said and pulled his shirt collar and dragged him towards the stairs, What? What happened? What was that? Rohan asked with a puzzled face, Anuja smiled at my last sentence. Rohan the dumbass failed to understand and Manisha dragged him away so that he could no clarify what I was saying. Come on lets go, downstairs, the dinner is ready, Rohan shouted while entering the door, Coming in five minutes, I shouted back,

Few minutes later, we were downstairs enjoying the delicious food of Konkan. I didn’t know what I was eating. I was just enjoying the taste. I didn’t even bothered to ask the name of the dishes which were served. Rohan and I were sitting on the table facing both the girls. Rohan and Manisha were busy playing with their legs beneath the table. I was enjoying the food and Anuja was deeply busy in her thoughts. The story – I guess.

As soon as we finished, I started walking towards my bedroom. Anuja followed me; I looked behind and thought she must be going towards hers. I left the thought and continued walking. Few moments later, I was right in front of my room opening the door latch. I opened the doors and entered the room. I saw my towel on the bed, which I had thrown while leaving the room in the evening. I picked up the towel arranged it and placed it on the table. The door was still open. I walked through the room to close the door, just then Anuja came in front of the door. Hi, she said Hi, Should we continue? She asked Now? Yes, now Are you sure? Actually I was feeling sleepy and tired, can we do it tomm… Before letting me complete the sentence, she pushed me away and entered my room. She went to my bed and sat on it indicating she was ready for the story. Look Anuja, I think you shouldn’t be here, in his room, I said still standing at the door Why, what is wrong in that? She asked with a puzzled face No, it is wrong, you shouldn’t be here, people will think wrong about us, I replied Stop being Mahira now, you shouldn’t be here, I think you should leave, she said mimicking me She was cute doing that. I smiled at her. Okay fine, we will continue with the story, but not here in my room. We will go outside in the garden area. She agreed and we left for the garden area.

Where are the other two? I asked They have their wedding tomorrow; they have many things to do. Let them enjoy the last night of bachelorhood. She replied with a wink. We were walking in the garden area and I started narrating the story again…

^^^^^^^^

I hate her

The next morning was special. I returned to the hostel and tried to sleep but failed. I rolled from one corner of the bed to the other, tossed, turned adjusted the pillow more than million times, but couldn’t sleep. Finally, the sun came out of its bed too. I was busy admiring her beauty in my thoughts. She was like a cold breeze in the hot summer. She was like a drop of water in great Sahara desert. I was damn sure I was in love with her and if not with her then with her beauty.

Rohan entered the room and threw his mobile on my bed. I looked at him for a reply. Dude there is a message from professor Khandekar, the hall tickets are already printed and he had asked us to collect them today. Fuck it man, we will collect it on the first day of exam, I replied We can do that, but there is a problem, What? There is a penalty of Rs.50 per day imposed on the students who fails to collect it today itself. Fuck him man, bastard, I murmured Fine then, let’s get ready, I replied and went ahead with the daily chorus. Meanwhile I called up Arham and gave him the news. He said he will be there is next hour.

I got ready and Arham too came in time. Sunil asked us to meet at Pethe. We all reached college at 11.00 am half an hour after the scheduled time. The administrative office was crowded. Students were quarrelling, some of them were fighting with the staff, some were enjoying the crowd, some were waiting for the crowd to disperse. We four decided to wait on the stairs. Fuck them, did you see them, they are behaving like standing at a ration shop fighting for ration, Sunil said with irritation Dude its not the ration shop, its like fish market, Arham corrected Where is Rohan, I asked when I realized he wasn’t there with us, Must have went behind chicks, Sunil replied with a disgusting face, We remained there at the stairs waiting for the crowd to vacate the office.

Guys guys, I think you need to see this, Rohan came running towards us and said What? Just come with me, he said and signaled us to follow him He took us towards the notice board with some kind of list pasted on it. Dude look at this, he said and pointed his finger on one of the lists on the board, Sunil you will be sitting one seat behind me, see, Rohan said with excitement Sunil went close to confirm, Arham and I also went close to the board.

Seat No. Name 03221 Patil Sunil Ashok 03222 Patil Tejas Sampatrao 03223 Pawar Rohan Sudhir

Fuck man, you both can discuss and write the paper, Arham replied and ran to check his name and partners. We followed him.

Seat No. Name 03212 Mulley Siddhesh Sharad 03213 Arham Faiz Shaikh 03214 Nalawade Paras Rajendra

Dude both your partners are assholes, Rohan said and Arham held his head Why what is wrong in that? I asked They won’t let me write the paper man, they will ask me to show them the paper. He replied Hey, let’s check yours too, Sunil said and we again went close to the board, Seat No. Name 03247 Shinde Amruta Ashok 03248 Singh Nilay Rajendra 03249 Singh Sunita Sohanlal

Congratulations dude, Bhabhiji is there with you. Don’t worry now, she will take care of you. Sunil mocked and tapped my shoulder. Fuck you bastard, I replied with irritation and they all laughed You are a lucky bastard you know; you have Amruta in front and Sunita in back, both girls. Dude you are lucky, Rohan said shaking my other shoulder Amruta - considered as the princess of the geek community in our class. I considered her as an source of irritation, cause of head ache. I felt irritating now; my friends were pulling my legs in other words pissing me off. The day started on such a good note and now it was turning worse. Hey look, Bhabhiji is here, Sunil said signaling us to see towards the entrance, Sunita entered the college building along with Priya and Richa. As soon as she saw the crowd hey decided to pull back and stood near the stairs where we were sitting before. Richa saw us and waved hi , Sunil & Rohan replied her. Arham remained silent and I fought back the thoughts about the exams that came in when I saw Sunita entering the building. The three girls started walking towards us and I started thinking the reasons to get rid of. As they approached us, everyone greeted with a casual hi’s . Hey look Sunita, you will be sitting behind Nilay, Rohan said with an excitement, She looked at Rohan and went ahead to verify. I remained silent and stood beside with a forced smile. She confirmed and stared at me. I gave a slight smile of affirmation. I want to run away from there, wanted some space. I said I wanted to borrow a book from the library and left the place.

I went to library and sat on one of the chair in the line. I cursed myself, I cursed the administrative staff, I cursed my name, I cursed the dictionary order for the fact that we both had same surname and she will be sitting behind me. The thoughts about her took me to the day when I had met her first time, fuck it was one of the worst day in my life. She had turned me into a fool who was just trying to act too smart. I was one of the worst characters she must have ever seen.

It was one of my returning journeys from Khed. I was with Rohan and other hostel mates and she was with hers. We had reservation and they did not. As always, Rohan felt pity for girls and asked them to join us. I was against it, but he convinced me for it. Rohan’s interaction with her revealed that she was a computer science graduate for Hinduja College, Mumbai. She was from Himachal and stayed in Delhi for many years before they came down to Mumbai. Her father was a defense personnel and his transfer always pushed her family to roam from one city to another. Ohh, she is from Delhi, these Delhi girls are dumb, I said to myself and I used to believe it. However, my belief existed only until that day. I never visited Delhi, but I had seen people from Delhi during many of my family occasions. They women used to flaunt everything starting from the toe nail polish to the hairstyle they had made. I used to wonder; they must be living in their own fairyland and does not know what reality is. The best part in it was other women also felt jealous about it. Whatever…! I took her for casually and assumed her the one from the same category. However, my assumption turned out to be my worst nightmares. She was one of the rough girls I have ever seen. She was rougher than the roughest girl in Mumbai was. As soon as she came to know about me, she came to chat. Rohan had told her that I too belonged to Northern part of the country, so it was like two Indians meeting in different part of the world. I could sense out that she was a complete junkie. She was talking to Rohan in proper way, but as soon as she started the interaction with me, her every sentence consisted Fuck , Suck, Bitch, Ass, Asshole etc . Her first sentence to me was Fuck man, you I felt so relieved when I heard that you too are from North. I thought I would have to suck with this asshole for next two years. Thank god, at least you are there, to whom I can talk. She thought I was from North. Actually, my ancestors were from North but I am born and brought up in Mumbai, so I am purely a Mumbaikar. I always consider Delhi as a slow city, which does not, believes in reality, where people are not realist. Whereas Mumbai is a city, which never stops, always have practical approach towards life. The mindset of Mumbaikars is very different from the people outside Mumbai. By the way, do you understand Marathi, I guess no, Don’t worry, I don’t understand it either, We both belong to the same category, You know what, whenever anyone speaks Marathi, I just can’t stop myself looking at their face. It looks weird when someone speaks an unknown language in front of you, and she went on, and on, and on, and on… Initially when she started talking I thought she was like a lonely lamb in the African jungle, but soon my thoughts reversed and I realized that she was not a lamb, she was a lioness in the African jungle. She kept on talking ignoring others and I kept on staring at others who were busy giving me looks, looks that were not good for me, looks that said “Dude you got a girlfriend here”, “Dude she is hitting on you” She was now pissing me off. I had already shrunken myself by the look from my friends and hers too. She wasn’t stopping, she was going on as if the motorman of the train had forgotten to halt the train at station. You usually talk this much or today is a special occasion, I said with an irritation on my face. No, I don’t, but I am not able to control myself today, you know I have remained silent from the day I have been admitted to this shit college. I hate this place, man. Its fucking jungle. I doesn’t feel like talking to anyone and moreover I don’t like my roommates too. I hate them when they speak in Marathi, they know that I don’t know Marathi, but then too, they do it. You know what, whenever they want to talk something personal they always talk to each other in Marathi, so that I shouldn’t be able to understand what they are talking about and she went on, and on, and on… I focused my attention outside the window leaving her talking and blabbering. She kept on bitching about the place, the college, the professors, the coordinators, roommates, classmates. At some point, I felt as if her voice is hurting my ears. I was at the peak of irritation. I was now frustrated. Frustrated by her voice, frustrated by her bitching and frustrated by her, I wanted to say, “Will you shut the fuck up” , but I resisted. Few more minutes passed but she continued as if it was the last day of her life and she would die tomorrow and would never be able to speak. It was unbearable now and I started defending. I started pulling her leg so that she should hate me. I wanted her be enemy now and not friend. Being enemy of such creature was better than being friend. Do you know, why your roommates talk in Marathi, because they understood that you do not belong to their race. You are an alien, have anyone told you about this before. She stopped and stared at me for a moment and smiled. She thought it was just a joke. No seriously, you are so good at bitching, why don’t you join Ekta Kapoor’s TV soaps, you can become one of the biggest stars there. All the soaps require a vamp like you and I am sure you can be best one of them. I could sense the change in her facial expression. I could read her mind changing from the gossiping girl to a real vamp. She was annoyed at me now and started defending herself. What do you mean? She said with a heavy voice, I mean, don’t you understand that I am not interested in you fucking stories. I am ignoring you from last one and half hours and you still don’t understand it. She was pissed now, she silently got up and went back to her roommates. Meanwhile Rohan came to me and replaced himself in front of me. Dude I think that was rash, you shouldn’t have behave like that, he said Stop it man, I am already pissed, now you don’t start fucking with me, I said with the same irritated face. While talking to her, I didn’t realize that others were busy enjoying the journey. They all had made themselves comfortable and weren’t interested in our talk. Rohan was the only one who kept tab on both of us. Rohan still seated in front of me and I turned my attention outside the window.

Few minutes later, Rohan rubbed his leg on my thigh. I thought it was unintentional and I didn’t bother to notice. I remained in the same position. Few more moments and he did that again. This time it wasn’t unintentional. I turned my head and saw Rohan, he winked and turned his face towards others as if signaling me to look towards them. I turned to see and went numb for a second.

Tears were rolling down her cheeks; she sat on the window seat looking outside the window. Quiet and calm, the streams of the tears were wetting her fair cheeks. She blinked her eyes every two seconds to empty her eyes full of tears.

Fuck man she is crying, I said to myself and looked towards Rohan He was blaming me for that. He didn’t said anything but said everything with his eyes. I didn’t wanted to hurt her, man, it just happened. I replied in the same way. Dude I think you should say sorry, he said Sorry…! I repeated defending to his last sentence Now the male ego in me was awaken Why should I say sorry, she was fucking irritating me, I was the victim here and you want me to say sorry to her, I argued, He insisted more now and people started staring at me as if I had raped her and left her with my child. I got up from my seat, went near the compartment door. I signaled Rohan to follow as it was becoming too difficult for me to face those stares. Rohan came to and started his own crap philosophy about girls, Dude how could you do it, how could you? She is crying because of you and I think you should say sorry to her. But, she was pissing me off man, I defended Whatever it was, but you were so rash at her, I saw you insulting her. I didn’t expected this from you man. How can you be so stiff? How Nilay, how can you be so hard to such a beautiful and innocent girl? She was just sharing her feeling with you and you had thrashed her like a waste piece of paper. His crap policy worked on me and I felt guilt inside me. He trapped me into his emotional and sentimental speech and I felt pity on the poor girl. Okay, okay fine I will do it, I will say sorry to her. Now stop torturing me. I said to get rid of his fucking dialogues on mannerism. Fine, now go and say sorry to her, he ordered Fuck off, I will say it when I feel like saying it, I defended Okay fine but do it before we reach Mumbai,

We came back to our seat and sat. I looked at her, she was still looking outside, still weeping softly. Her weep made my heart shrink and I turned my face towards the window to divert my attention. I should say sorry to her, I have hurt her, I shouldn’t have used such words, she was just trying to share what she felt about the new place, she don have her parents here, how can you be so rash to her, you should say sorry to her, you have done wrong, you have committed sin. Thoughts kept on coming to my mind and I kept on thinking about it. Meanwhile her roommates also asked her what is wrong with her and why was she crying. I was afraid she will speak out whatever happened, but she didn’t. She said she was missing her parents and sisters.

This made my heart sank and I decided to say sorry to her. Time passed and I felt tired. I decided to go and have a nap on the upper berth, so I left the seat and went ahead. Before leaving, the seat Rohan reminded me once again and I assured him that I would say sorry to her.

I went to the upper berth and lost myself to the dreams. Until, when Rohan shook my leg to wake me up. Dude get up, get up, we have reached Panvel, he said What? I said We have reached Panvel, its your station, get up you had to get down at Panvel right, he repeated Fuck, I said and hurriedly jumped from the upper berth and landed on the compartment floor. I pulled my bag from the heap of bags, took my shoes in my hand and jumped out of the coach. The train had just started moving. Thank god, Rohan had awakened me up, or else I would have reached Thane station. I said to myself and sat on the platform bench to wear my shoes.

Just when I was wearing my left one, my phone started ringing. It was from Rohan, Thanks dude, thanks a lot, I said still panting Dude you forgot something, he said without even listening to me What? I asked checking my belongings at the same time, You promised me something, he replied Fuck, I am so sorry dude, I just forgot that man, and I was in such a hurry. The train also started moving, so I forgot, I replied Never mind dude, there is always a tomorrow, he said and the call got disconnected.

From that day onwards, whenever I saw her the guilt crushed my heart. I tried many times to go ahead, say sorry to her, but always my legs froze, and I felt I was not a good person, I felt I am not even eligible to stand in front of her. She was an angel.

I was there in the library cursing the past, cursing the mistake I had done. Just then, my phone rang and picked it up hurriedly, the ringtone was loud and disturbed others. The call was from Arham, Where are you? He asked I am in the library, I replied Come down in the admin office and collect the hall ticket, he said and disconnected the call,

I went to the office. She was still there in the office collecting her hall ticket. I assumed that Rohan must have asked her to wait until the crowd goes away. I entered the office, Priya smiled, Richa smiled too, I gave a nod and replied with a smile. She was standing at the counter and Mr. Butala, our admin clerk was busy searching for her hall ticket from the bundle. I went ahead and stood beside her. Sir, my hall ticket please, I said Mr. Butala raised his head to see and nodded, She looked at me and I too looked at her, she smiled and I smiled too. I don’t know what I was doing, I was being smart, or I was being stupid. Whatever I was doing, I was sure that my friend won’t spare me today. They will pull my leg whole day and I will just stupidly smile on their jokes.

Mr. Butala gave her a sheet to sign and asked me to do it after her. She signed the sheet and took a deep glanced at the sheet for two seconds and slipped it towards me. I think she was looking for the same thing, which we were looking on the notice board. I searched my name and signed it. She was still looking at me. Mr Butala passed on two hall tickets to her. She saw the front one, it was hers and then saw the other one, and it was mine. Hey, I will be sitting in front of you, she said with excitement in her voice, I smiled and nodded, Good, we can discuss and write the paper, she said I could see the excitement in her twinkling eyes.

We left the college and as expected, friends are always there to shove their fingers in your ass. My friends too existed for the same purpose. Hey, Bhabiji and Nilay will make a good pair, right. Sunil mocked Of course, they will, the pair will be like the great Amitabh Bachhan and Jaya Bachhan, Rohan mocked She was short. She could hardly reach my shoulders. If she had to kiss him, she will use stool to reach his lips, Rohan mocked again and all laughed in unison.

The Impossible Event

That day went in chitchatting, pulling my leg and of course roaming in the city. We even went to new place to see emus, a bird like ostriches. These tall birds are kept as pets here; people do emu farming and sell their eggs and other parts of the body, which is in turn used in many medicines.

Well the day went in a flash and we spent our evening on the riverbank. None of us studied that day and none of us slept that day. It was getting dark, making exited with every passing minute. I wanted to meet her again, see her again. I was desperately waiting for the evening to turn in to midnight. The time when I can leave and meet the most beautiful creature god have created.

It was 9.30 pm when we finished our lunch. I was desperate. Desperate enough to be noticed by others. My roommates and others in the hostel could see the excitement on my face. Some of them even asked me. What the big fuss was about. I just ignored the questions. Rohan added his crap and commented something about the interaction, which happened in the morning. Some of them were surprised, while some of them did what they are bound to do – pulled my legs. I hated Rohan for doing that.

It was soon 10.30 pm when I realized something is wrong. Arham hadn’t turned up. Usually he used to be at the hostel before 10.00 pm, but today he was late, late enough to be called and asked. I called him but he didn’t picked up my call. I tried again, still no response. The temperature of the room was getting high now. I was irritated and at the same time angry. Why the fuck he isn’t picking my call? Why do they carry mobile phones when they don’t want to answer the calls? Bloody assholes…! Just then my phone ranged, It was from Arham, Why are you not picking my call? I asked with anger Chill dude, I was sleeping and I kept my phone on silent. I failed to notice that it was ringing. Just now mom woke me up for dinner, so I checked it and called you. You are taking dinner so late. Why? I asked I was tired man, we spent entire day riding, so thought of taking a break today, he replied So you are not coming today, I asked with curiosity Yes man, you also take a break today, we will continue tomorrow. He said Fuck, he is not coming today; I repeated it in my mind and realized how bad the situation is. I tried to convince him to come down, but he didn’t budge.

I wasn’t concerned about his fucking study, I was concerned about how am I supposed to go and meet her in midnight without his bike, I was more concerned about the bike and not him. Fuck him.

I disconnected the call and went to my bed. I lay on my bed thinking about how to go ahead in the midnight without bike. What to do and what not to do. I was clear that I will be going out, but how I wasn’t. I took the book and started reading but failed to concentrate. I wasted fifteen more minutes tying to read but the same result, I wasn’t able to read a single sentence in one go. I was tired too and felt sleepy, so I decided to set and alarm of 2.30 am in my phone and sleep.

I slept a sound sleep, remembering and enjoying her beauty and company in my dreams.

I woke up at crack of dawn with the sunlight falling n my face when Imran opened the large sliding window of my room. I woke up and immediately reached for mobile phone to check. Imran saw me, It ranged, he said What…! Yes, it ranged, he said with a smile Then why didn’t you woke me, I asked It ranged in the middle of the night and woke me up. I got annoyed so I pressed the snooze button and slept again, he replied still smiling stupidly I was angry now, my head was about to burst, but I resisted the urge to shout. How did you slept here, you used to sleep in Rohan’s room, I asked I came at 11.00 pm at night and saw you sleeping, I thought you won’t be studying tonight so I came over and slept here, he replied meekly, What the fuck, I said to myself and moved over, Yes, I missed a chance to meet her, because a fool in my room pressed the snooze button in my mobile phone and avoided it from ringing.

The Next Meeting

I remained locked inside my room and resisted to talk to anybody the entire day. I didn’t wanted anyone to became a victim of my anger. I spent the entire day sleeping, watching movies on my laptop and playing games. I left the room in the evening and went near the river bank for a walk and spent the entire evening there, until the moon appeared in the dark sky and the road lights lit dim. I didn’t had my lunch that afternoon. Rohan came over to ask, but I refused saying I wasn’t feeling hungry. In the evening, I felt a churn in my stomach, so I went to Aaswad hotel, the one that served the best tea in Khed. According to me, it was best in taste. I had some snacks there and went back to my hostel to continue with the movies, which I left incomplete before leaving.

It was 9.30 pm when Arham entered in my room. I gave him a cold look and continued watching the movie. Of course, somewhere I was annoyed on him too. He came and sat beside me. He threw the books on the other bed and joined me in watching the movie.

Don’t want to study or what? I said and smirked Lets finish this movie first , he said and we continued with the movie. Half an hour later we were deeply burying our mind in our books and the evening was deeply burying into the darkness of midnight. The time flew away and it was 2.30 pm. Time for me to leave. I picked up the keys silently, Arham was sleeping, he used to sleep sharp at 1.30 pm every night. I left the room and headed towards the stairs crossing the river bridge in the mango forest, towards the railway station.

I wasn’t sure if I can still find her there or not, but I took a chance and went towards he stairs. I wanted to test my luck. I started getting down the stairs, one-step at a time. I came down few more steps and I saw her sitting on the same step. The step on which, I usually find her sitting.

She was no stranger to me now, I knew her name and she was like a known person to me now. I had already started related myself with her. I didn’t know what relation it was and neither did I cared to find out what it was. I just knew that she was an angel to whom I have interacted the other night.

I went ahead and sat beside her keeping a decent distance between both of us, Hi Mahira, how are you, I said with a smile, which automatically came to my face, She turned back left to see. As soon as she saw me, she shook her head as if she wanted to say “not again” I read that with her behavior and ignored it, So, how are you doing, didn’t felt sleepy, interested in chatting with me? I asked without even caring about her reply, I was behaving like a child now. The child, who is in love with a woman who makes him skip his heartbeats whenever he sees her. Love which is unaware about the words such as lust, sex and greed. In the purest and innocent form without any intention or desire to achieve anything from her. The one in which he is sure and confident that he will win her over everything, every barrier that exist.

She was now ready to get up, when I tried to stop her, Please don’t leave, please, I pleaded Please, I am here just to chat, I too wasn’t feeling sleepy, so I came over to chat with you and you are leaving, I continued pleading Please, please, please, please, please, Pleaaaasssee, She was now standing and looking towards the river flowing with a thundering sound downstairs. I was still pleading. She then looked at me and made a baby face to which she could not say no, I guess. Believe me I would have cried if she had left me there. I was not the one who pleaded this much to anyone, but I did that night. For her, only for her, she was special, special enough for such plead. She took a deep breath, released, and slowly leaned forward to sit. She sat beside me without looking at my face. Thank you, I said with from my heart, which was now full of emotions, She nodded quietly, I needed something to talk. I needed her to talk now. I didn’t wanted me to look like an idiot who was trying to act smart. So, Mahira……. Mahira, I repeated her name Mahira, what does that mean? I asked She stared at me, no seriously, I have never heard a name like that, I explained Mahira means Capable, Expert or Specialty, she replied Hmm, nice name, I complemented, So, what do you do Mahira? I asked Why are you here, whenever I am here, you always come and disturb me, she asked with irritation without listening to my question, Okay, okay, I am an MBA student. I know that, she interrupted and replied making face Okay, fuck she know that, I said to myself Okay, we have our first semester exams coming up in next 10 days. So my friend, and I we both prepare for the exams at nights. First day when we were studying, I felt an urge to have a tea at 2.30 am midnight. I asked my friend to come along but he was too busy enjoying his sleep. He gave me the bike keys and asked me to go alone. I decided to go to railway station, as it was the nearest place where I can have tea at this time, so came and I heard you weeping. Then what happened further, you are already aware. Hmm, she said By the way, how do you know that I am an MBA student? I asked to satisfy my curiosity, Everybody knows, students have come to Khed from outside and you don’t seem like you belong from here. So, I guessed it. She replied Okay, I said So, what do you do? I asked, are you a student or … I am a pursing B.Sc. In Chemistry, she replied Which year? I asked instantly 2nd year, Which college? DBJ college, Chiplun, Hmm, You must be in love with chemicals, I said Yes, I do, I like chemistry, and it was my favorite subject when I was in my junior college, names of chemicals and elements used to excite me. She replied And that is the reason, you have taken chemistry as your specialization, I replied Yes, she nodded You know what, I used to hate Chemistry, I said Why? She asked Balancing the stupid chemical formulas always confused me. I never managed to get them right. I replied You too belong to science stream, she asked with a girlish tone Yes, I replied Then, how come you are doing MBA, I mean it is for commerce people right? She asked with innocence in her voice, No, its not like that, any graduate can do it. It helps you in becoming an all rounder, I replied Okkkaay, she said She was a perfect girl. She had those girlish things, which she did in between the interactions. She exclaimed. She stretched the words long while talking; she used her hand more than words to explain the things. Whatever she did, she was a perfect princess. She had the accent of respect while talking. She used hum for herself, aap for me.

We chatted for more than an hour. It was somewhere fifteen minutes to four when she informed that she should leave now. She stood to leave and made my heart sank. It was still dark and I wanted to see her face. Our entire interaction went on in the dark. Neither she saw my face nor did I. Can I come with you till downstairs, I asked No, she said blatantly, I was puzzled at her changed behavior, she was a different person few seconds ago, and I was seeing a completely different person now. I remained silent. She started leaving. She took two steps down and suddenly stopped. I was still standing on the same step. She turned back, Nilay, she called what does that mean? What? I asked Your Name? It means heaven, abode, I replied Hmm, good name, she replied Listen Nilay, I don’t want anybody to see you with me, if someone does, then it will be a big problem for you and also for me. So please don’t feel bad. She said and turned back to leave. I felt good. Mahira, I called She stopped and turned back to see, Can we meet tomorrow also? I asked with a pleading tone, She silently stared for a moment and turned back to leave. Slowly she disappeared in the darkness and I left for the hostel. She made my day. I was the happiest person that night. I went to hostel, repeated, and re- repeated every word of the interaction I had with her. The thoughts flooded my mind and slowly drifted me to my dreams. I slept. I didn’t do anything

Excitement, happiness, eagerness, desperation and other such feelings filled me the next morning.

I was so happy. I was like a young deer running with the excitement in the jungle, jumping from one place to another without any motive, just wanted to feel my strong legs. Wanted to show the world; that I am the only one, I am the fastest.

Rohan was sure something was fishy. My behavior was different that day. He tried to ask me, but I resisted saying there was nothing to be worried about.

In the afternoon, we all went to Pethe for lunch. As usual, the lunch was good and I asked Rohan to pay my bill. Rohan went to the cash counter to pay. I washed my hands on the washbasin and turned back to leave.

I went near the cash counter and saw Mr. Pethe sitting at the cash counter staring at me. The stare made me remember the last incident. I remember how stupidly I have behaved the other day. I put my head down and walked fast to leave the hotel as soon as I can. I passed the cash counter and Rohan standing and stood at some distance outside the hotel, hiding myself from Mr.Pethe’s deep penetrating eyes.

Few moments later, Rohan came out of the hotel, Why the fuck this person was staring at you? He asked holding my shoulder while walking towards the Usha Panbedi Shop for some smoke. Rohan had this habit of smoking after lunch and dinner. Others used to leave for hostel and we both used to have some smokes before going to the hostel. I don’t know, might be because of the last incident, Hmm, might be, he agreed But dude, the way he was staring was not good, he seems annoyed, he said with a wink I know, Let’s have some smoke and let him fuck off, I said and pulled him to cross the road as we reached the shop.

The desperation

The day went in desperation and eagerness to meet her the following night. I was full of enthusiasm. I spent the entire day wondering and thinking of the things I will ask her today. Things on which, I will be talking to her today. I even practiced some styles and ways of talking in the mirror. The more I did that, I more I looked stupid, so I left doing that.

The day was longer then I had expected. Every passing minute was like an hour passing. I went to terrace then came back to my room. I wandered inside my room to pass the time. I tried to sleep but failed. I opened the book to study but nothing went inside my head. I went to others room for some chitchat, but they were busy with their studies. I went back to my room and tried the last thing. I promised myself if this fails, I would literally jump in the river and commit suicide, I was so frustrated.

I opened my laptop and scanned the movies, Chronicles of Narnia, no, Harry potter, no, Inception, no, LOTR, no, 300, definitely not, Twilight, yes, lets watch something romantic,

I played twilight . As the movie progressed, my room filled with romance. I could feel the chilly breeze from forks inside my room. The romance was in the air. I saw the movie twice. Repeated million times the scene in which Isabella sees Edward for the first time in canteen. Still I wasn’t satisfied.

The movie got over and I played the second part of the twilight series - Twilight New Moon, I did the same thing with this movie too. I repeated the scenes which I liked the most, especially romantic ones.

Soon it was 5.00 pm and the intensity of the afternoon started reducing. The sun was returning home and the night was getting back to work. Rohan came to my room and asked me to join him for a walk up to river. I was shocked. Rohan is not the one who would ask you for a walk and that too near the river. Something was wrong with him. I touched his forehead to check his temperature, You are normal, I said with an exclamation on my face, What? He asked I think you are not well; you want to go to river for a walk. Dude something is wrong with you, Come on, he said and pulled my hand to stand me up from my bed. In no time, we were walking on the road besides the river.

So, what up, why you wanted to go for a walk, I asked Nothing man, there is nothing in it, just wanted to talk some fresh air, I was getting bored, so thought should go up to the river. He replied making convincing expression, but wasn’t convinced. I was sure there something which is troubling him and he wanted to share. I think he wasn’t finding proper words to start. Fine, I said as we reached the riverbank Let’s sit here, he said and signaled me towards the huge submerged stones in the water. The river was flowing slowly, partially submerging the stone. We sat on the stone facing the opposite directions. How are your preparations going on in the nights, I hope you are enjoying your late night sessions with Arham, he asked with a smile Stop this fucking nonsense man; I know you are up to something. Why don’t you say it? I said in my mind, I wanted to say it but resisted to myself and gave him a chance to open up. It is going fine, he sleeps at 1.30 am and I continue, I replied We remained silent for some time. The silence between us pulled me towards my imaginations and soon thoughts about Mahira filled my mind. Fifteen minutes passed and we were still silent. I was enjoying the thoughts with my legs inside the warm flowing water of the river; washing my legs, touching my toes, my ankles. Few moments later I heard some girlish voices, chuckling, laughing which broke my thought, coming from behind. I turned back to see. I saw some familiar faces. I knew these faces but failed to remember them. I turned back to Rohan. He was also busy admiring those faces. I think I have seen them somewhere, I said They are from our hostel dumb, What…! I exclaimed Yes, they dental girls, he replied What are they doing here? I asked with anticipation They come here daily, for evening walks, he replied I stared him for a moment, and that is the reason today you felt like coming here for some fresh air, am I right, you bastard. I asked with smirk, He realized what he had said and laughed sheepishly, I punched his back and we both laughed. The evening ended on a good note. Rohan and I remained at the river until 8.00 pm and we left.

Everything went on as usual, Arham came, and we studied until 1.30 am. He slept after that and I continued until 2.30 am. After that, I also left to meet Mahira. I met her at same place. She was sitting on the same step of the stairs. I reached the step on which she was sitting and sat beside her at a distance. Hi Mahira, Hi Nilay, She remembers my name, I said to myself, So, completed you studies, she asked Hmm not yet, Then you should, you hardly have 9 days in your hands, she said Fuck man, she remembers that too, I said to myself, I was no doubt impressed, By the way, you study at DBJ College, Chiplun right? Then how do you travel, you know buses are horribly overcrowded and you don’t seems to be the one who would prefer bus for commuting. I have a Car, she replied casually Don’t tell me you travel daily by your own car, Who said I go daily to my college, she said with a wince What do you mean? I asked with a confused expression, I do not attend lectures; I only go to college once in a week to collect notes or attend practical. My family is very much orthodox, they never wanted me to continue with my studies after my 12 th STD, but I insisted and my father permitted me to continue but on some conditions. And, what they are? No talking to boys, going to college only in personal car etc, etc...you know Hmm, Who all are there in your family? I asked I am the only child to my parents. My father is a businessperson and stays in Qatar. My mother is a homemaker and she takes care of the house here in Khed. I live with her grandparents and mother. Hmm, father in Bahrain, use car to go to college, you are a wealthy child. I mean you are wealthy. I said making face No, I am not. My family is… she replied Tell me about yours. What? Family? She asked insisting My father is a businessperson, mother is homemaker, I am the eldest to my parents. I have one younger brother. We are a small family from Mumbai. Hmm, good Can I ask you something? Yes, she replied Why did you run away from me the first two nights when I tried to talk to you? I asked

There were many reasons to it, first – it was a midnight and you cannot expect good people on the road at midnight. Second – It was a sudden reaction; I have never spoken to any unknown person until now. I mean, as I said my family is very orthodox, they preach us about our religion, and we are suppose to follow it. According to our religion, we should never see, talk or keep any kind of relation with any outsider. It is a sin for us. Third – I was scared if someone from my family sees me along with you, they would definitely kill both of us. I hope you got it now. Then why did you stop the third night? I asked I don’t know, I just felt like you are not the one who would hurt me. She replied, pulled back her falling strands of hair from her face, and placed them behind her ear.

We chatted for some more time and soon it was 4.00 am, the time for her to leave. She left waving her hand and a goodbye from a distance.

Every sentence, every word of hers remained in my thought. I am a good person for her. She said I am a good boy, she didn’t exactly said that, but she mean that. Everything kept on repeating in my mind and I left for the hostel.

New Routine

My routine changed and I added my midnight meetings with Mahira to my existing daily chorus. I used to spend the daytime by sleeping, watching movies, or roaming in the city and night with Mahira.

Soon Mahira became one of my best friends in Khed and I shortened her name from Mahira to Mahi . She too did that to mine; instead of Nilay she used Nilu . I loved her more when she called me by that name. Listening my name in her voice was like she had casted her spell over my name. Her lovely sweet voice used to trigger butterflies in my stomach. The 9 days before my exams went like a 9 hours of the day. She became the only person with whom I shared everything. For her I was the one with whom she shared everything, I guessed so.

I now knew about her hobbies, her favorite food, her favorite color, favorite actor, favorite actress, date of birth, what clothes she like to wear and other such thing which every girl would like to share. She also asked me the same questions and maintained the database of the same.

The friendship between us was stronger now as if we were friends from past many years. She now knew what is there in my mind and I knew what was there in hers. The bonding between us was becoming stronger each day. We used to make fun of each other; we used to bitch about our friends, teachers and people around us. Many a times, I wanted to say her how much I love you, but always resisted. I didn’t wanted to screw our friendship. I wanted to see her daily. She had become my daily habit now. There was an instance when she asked me about my girlfriend, Nilay, she said Hm, Where is your girlfriend? She asked casually I was shocked to hear such question from her. I started remembering all my interactions with her, trying to find out any such interaction in which I must have accidentally said anything about my girlfriend, but then she continued with her question. You never shared anything about her; you have a girlfriend, right? She asked Nop, I don’t, I said Don’t lie, please at least to me, she said making face No, I am not. If I had a girlfriend, do you think I would have sat here and chitchatted with you? Instead of sitting with you, I would have talked to her. Hmm, agreed, she said nodding her head, What about you, I asked with a wink, do you have a boyfriend? Boyfriend and me, forget it. My parents will kill me if they come to know about it. She smirked I was’nt satisfied by her reply, I still wanted to dig in. Ok, lets just assume that your parents are not orthodox and they are open minded. Then what? What? what? She asked I mean do you have crush on anybody, or lets just say did you ever had crush on any boy? I clarified my previous question, Mm, she thought for a moment and said I never thought anything about it before. In fact I never say any boy with that intention, so never had any kind of crush. You know my family. Yes, yes, I nodded But, now few days back, I met someone. Someone special, I think he is a good guy. I like him but I am not sure about him. Lets see what happens. Her reply made me more curious. I wanted to dig in further, Who is he? I asked in anticipation I can’t tell you his name, Oh come on, you can, I am you friend. You can trust me, I insisted No, My heart was sinking in the middle of the sea, with a weight of one ton tied to it. I was curious now to know more. Okay, fine tell me where is he from, I mean Khed, Chiplun, where? He is neither from Khed and nor from Chiplun, she replied and now no more questions please, her voice became stern now, She left the important conversation in middle; I was like a fish without water. I wanted to dig her further but her stern voice left me no choice. That was our first and last interaction on that topic; neither she nor I picked it after that night.

Night before First Semester Exams

Soon our preparatory leaves were over. It was my last day of the leave. I had my exams starting from next day. I didn’t cared about it and spent the entire day as I had spent the previous ones. I studied until 3.00 am that night. Arham too gave me company that night. I wanted him to sleep but he didn’t. I even tried to convince him that the remaining syllabus is easy and small. You can do it in morning, but the asshole was in no mood to sleep that night. Soon I realized it was 2.15 am and I had to do something. I was getting late. Mahi must be waiting for me.

I started pushing him to go to sleep aggressively like a marketing executive to the customer for buying a product. I wanted him to sleep now. I insisted him more and more. He was partially sleepy but wasn’t giving up. Finally I promised him, I will woke him up at 4.00 and he can continue with the studies further and I can go to sleep after waking him up. I kind of made sense to him and he agreed. By the time he started snoring inside his quilt, I checked the time. It was already 3.00 am. I took the keys and rushed towards the hostel gate.

I rode the bike like a maniac and reached near the stairs. I parked the bike and ran towards it. I skipped every alternate step while getting down and reached her. Hey, you are late, she said How can you say that, you don’t have a watch, I replied still panting trying to take catch my breath. I know, you are late, and don’t try to act smart, she said with annoyance, come now sit,

This was the first time I saw her annoyed and that too with me. She wasn’t looking at me. I could see her trying to avoid looking at me. I sat on the step at the same distance where I used to sit daily. We were friend now, but the distance between us never decreased. It remained. Neither did I tried to go closer and nor did she tried to come closer.

She was silent now. I too remained silent. Few moments passed and still nothing. I was expecting her to start, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave me a look for an explanation. It was a bright night and I could see her big wide beautiful eyes staring at me, demanding explanation. I could have died for those two big beautiful eyes. I stared at her for a moment, but she tried to widen them more as if trying to scare me. Instead of scaring me, her eyes made me smile and I smiled. She was becoming restless now and I didn’t wanted her to get irritated further, so I broke the silence.

Okay fine, I will tell you everything, but first please stop scaring me with those big beautiful eyes. I said still smiling Suddenly I saw a lips curve widening and she smiled back too, she tried controlling it but failed and laughed, Arham was still awake. He wasn’t ready to sleep and I couldn’t get out until he slept, so I had to convince him to sleep and made him sleep. As soon as I was sure, I left. Hmm, fine, but don’t do this next time, she warned Fine, fine, I won’t do it again, I repeated And you haven’t said sorry yet, Okay baba sorry, I am so, so, sorry bas, Better, she said So prepared for tomorrow, she asked Mm-hmm, I replied as if I don’t care a damn Answer me properly, she scolded Yes, I have, I replied Are you sure, she insisted and stared at me making her eyes as a torpedo shooting guns, Mm, some part is pending, but don’t worry I will do it in the morning, I defended her penetrating eyes.

If am not wrong, you have your exams in the morning at 9.30 am and you will sleep, you will revise and you will finish the pending portion. Can you explain me how are you going to do that? She asked

Will you please stop pissing me, I said irritated Ohh, so now I am pissing you, she said little pissed at me, okay I am the one who pisses you off, right? Fine then, this is our last meeting. I am not coming from tomorrow. We won’t be meeting from now on. Her last words were like the thunder in the storm. They stabbed me through my heart. Suddenly my body became hot and it burst into fire. My body was bursting, I suddenly felt chilled, and a shiver ran through my spine. It was weird. It never happened to me. I suddenly felt like crying aloud, but resisted.

I wanted to say sorry, but my emotions were too strong for me to speak. I could have cried if I would have opened my mouth to speak. I remained silent. She was also silent now, breathing heavily, trying to relax and calm down. I couldn’t see her like that and finally I broke the silence. Mahi…, I am sorry. Look. I am sorry,

Arham already irritated me and now you started it too, I couldn’t control myself and … She was still miffed and was looking away from me, Look at me Mahi, please look at me, I said She turned her face towards me. I saw a tear hung on her eyelash; she wiped her cheek with her light pink duppatta. Please don’t cry, I didn’t mean to hurt you Mahi, I know I have acted as an asshole, but please understand. I didn’t mean it, She wiped her last tear and said Fine then, we will meet, but on one condition. What? I asked You will first finish your studies and then only you will come to meet me, I won’t mind waiting, but I want you to complete your study first, am I clear, she asked trying to breath from her choked nose. Fine, I will do that, I replied Promise me, Yes, I promise you…

That night was one of my best nights I ever had in my life…she cried for me. I felt bad, but I felt good too. At least it gave me a hint about her feelings for me.

My first paper

The next morning woke up at 8.00 am, of course with the help of Arham and Rohan. I took bath and Sunil too came. It was 9.15 am and we were ready to kick some serious butts.

We were the last ones to enter the classroom that means we skipped the part in which the supervisor gave us the crap instructions about how to fill the basic details of a student. Of course, at the end he will help us. As I entered the classroom door, I stood there and scanned the class. As soon as my eyes saw a vacant space between Sunita and Amruta I was clear where I am going to sit for the next 15 days. I went ahead and reached my seat. Hi , Sunita wished Hi, I replied Hi Nilay, Amruta turned back and wished Hi Amruta, I replied So done with the preparations, Amruta asked Why do these geeks always have to know about others preparations? If I am prepared or not, does that matter now, today is the last day for all of us to see that subject, after the paper who the hell is going to see it back, bloody nerds. I spoke to myself

80% completed, now lets see what happens, I replied

The bell ranged and the supervisor started distributing the question papers. Students who got the paper started sharing it with the ones on the other side waiting for their turn to receive. I don’t understand what the big fuss is. I mean wait for your turn asshole you will get it, you won’t get an Oscar for knowing which question is there in the paper, first.

I was sitting in the third row and the supervisor was still in the second. Sunita pulled my collar from back, Dude I am screwed, What…! I said I mean, I wasn’t able to complete the portion, so please share whatever you write, she requested with her half closed eyes to convince me, Fine, but vice versa, I replied Sure,

I received my paper and we both started writing the paper. Before staring, I asked her to start writing from different page and not in the order in which I was writing. It was fun. Three hours full of murmurs, blabbering and mumbling of answers. The supervisor was busy chatting with the other one from Rohan’s classroom.

Sunita was great in copying the answers. Initially it started with a little whispering of my name and ended with my entire answer sheet on her desk. She took my mainsheet, started copying the answers from it, and asked me to write another one on the supplement. She also showed me how to write when you don’t have mainsheet, so that I can avoid being caught by the supervisor. I was literally scared. She was a devil, a devil with angelic smile. She completed copying and returned it through the space between her desk and my bench. I thought she must be satisfied with it, but I was surprised when she asked for my supplements too. Fuck man she is beating shit out of me, I said to myself and gave it to her.

Somehow, I managed to survive those three hours full of sweat and tension. As soon as the supervisor collected our papers, I felt relaxed. Hey, we did great, Sunita said with enthusiasm. Amruta turned back when she heard it. She wanted to discuss the paper with us, but neither Sunita gave her response nor did I. Bloody geeks. I said in to myself and left. Yes, you did great, it was you, you were great, I replied Well never mind, she said and we started leaving. She walked out of the classroom with me. Sunil and Rohan were shocked to see both of us together. They now had something concrete in their hands to pull my legs, this time I given them the chance to do it. Other boys from the classroom looked at me too; their envy look was making me uncomfortable. She was one of the beautiful girls in the college, of course boys were interested in her, but she a pure Rajput girls. The first time when a boy tried to talk to her, she had kicked his butt and sent him back. She insulted him in front of the entire class and said first go and see your face in the mirror, wash it million times and then come to me, because your mouth stinks. She was like a tomboy girls, always straightforward, upfront.

I decided to walk towards Sunil and Rohan. Being in a group will at least save me from becoming a foe of the entire class. I walked up to them and she hurriedly picked up her bag and followed me, Hi guys, she wished them before I could say anything Hi Sunita, they both replied So, how was the paper Sunita, Rohan asked Hmm, it was damn good, man, she replied Sunil winked and asked me, how was the paper dude? I knew what he meant, but I said, it was fine, Fine or awesome? He counter questioned Stop fucking with me now, I replied

Soon Arham joined us and I wanted to leave asap, I asked Arham to rush. I was feeling hungry, we came to give the paper without breakfast and I wanted to get out of the sight of those penetrating eyes. Arham and I went ahead and asked Rohan and Sunil to join us at Anugrah, a small hotel at Bharna Naka.

Both of them joined us, few minutes later. We had our breakfast. Actually speaking it was more of a lunch then breakfast. It was 1.00 pm so we decided to have some heavy one. At the end, we returned at 2.30 pm to our hostel. I started back to my room, when Rohan called me. By the way someone had asked me to give you her number and asked you to call her. I took no time to understand who it was. I turned back and replied Not interested, Dude, take it, I am just a messenger, you can say that directly to her, You said you are a messenger, so deliver my message to her, I said and started walking again to reach my room. As soon as I reached the door, he came and handed over a piece of paper in my hand and said Dude, you are an asshole, and left.

I pushed the door to open and entered my room. Imran was praying to god (Namaz), Rakesh was lying on the bed. I looked at the piece of paper for a moment and placed it in my shirt pocket with a thought, I won’t need it.

^^^^^^^^ I think it is enough for today, I faked yawning as if I was sleepy No, no, you cannot, Anuja argued No, seriously Anuja, look at the time it is 3.00 am in midnight. We were now sitting on the stairs of the bungalow. I was tired now and wanted some sound sleep before the wedding. I knew I won’t be able to rest until I reach home. According to my plan, I was supposed to leave on the next day of the wedding. I had already done my reservation in Mandawi express. So, I knew it will not be possible for me to rest and I should take it now.

Oh come on, Nilay stop being such a girl, she said like a small girl crying for a chocolate, No, seriously, I think you should also take some rest now. It is so late now, go and have some sleep. I don’t want a beautiful girl like you have dark circles at her sister’s wedding, when hundreds of people will look at you.

She heard me and gave a thought about it. I knew she was partially convinced with the fact. I patted her shoulder and stood up, Come on lets go in,

She gave her hand and signaled me to pull her up. I took her palm in mine, they were soft, very soft. I pulled her to make her stand and started walking the stairs. Nilay, she called I turned back. She was still standing there. You are really a good storyteller. I smiled, I know, now come lets go inside,

We went back to our respective rooms. I lay down my bed, thinking many things at a time. The events flashed in front of my eyes, my office, my journey, the bachelor’s part, Rohan, Manisha, the haldi, Khed, hostel, Sunita, Anuja and finally my sweetheart, my love, my Mahi… No Nilay, it is not possible…! At least in this life it is not possible, it is impossible Nilay, It is impossible……… impossible Nilay, how can you? Come on get up, get up Nilay, its 10.00 am and your are still sleeping, I opened my eyes instantly and got up to sit with a heavy breath. It was a dream, a bad one. She saw me, Are you all right? Nilay, are you okay? She asked

I raised my head and saw her. My mouth went open and my jaw went down. Anuja was standing right in front of me. She was wearing a peacock colored saree with a golden border, her long and heavy hairs laid on her left shoulder with a long chain and a pendant around her neck. She was looking much taller today. I was confused was she wearing high heels or was it the saree making her look taller. Her figure was perfect and her saree was making her look sexier. I could see the curve between her stomach and the waist. Her stomach was partially covered and partially visible. I could see her beautiful navel. Her body was so perfect as if someone has drawn it on the canvas. Her fair color was making her saree look more beautiful on her. She was awesomely beautiful.

She saw me admiring her beauty. She blushed a little and broke the chain of my thoughts. Hey you lazy bones, Come on get up, you are late. The wedding is about to start any moment. I searched you everywhere then I thought to check in your room and here you are. You forgot to lock your door too. Yaa, I think I did forgot to lock, I replied Now will you get up from your bed, she said sternly I cannot, I said She looked at me surprisingly with those dark eyes beautiful eyes filled with kohl, I cannot, I repeated and pulled the quilt to signal that I wasn’t wearing anything, Don’t tell me you are naked, No I am not, I have my boxers to save me from nymphodoras like you, Hey, don’t worry. I am not interested in you, and don’t forget I am a doctor. I have seen it before. She replied and sat on the edge of the bed, You must have seen it many times, but I haven’t seen any girl when I am in my boxers. So, leave. I replied No, I am not leaving; I want to see you without clothes. She said shaking her head You have already seen half of me naked, I replied Are you trying to pull my leg, I asked with suspicion I am not trying, I am actually pulling your leg you dumbass, she said and stood to leave Now come one get up, it’s okay I am not interested in you and please for god sake, do it fast. I don’t want to get late for my sister’s wedding. Everybody has left and I am the only one who is waiting for you. Left…! Where? For the hall, now will you get up, she sounded pissed now, I pushed the quilt and stood in one go. I ran towards the bathroom and locked the door. She laughed aloud. I could her voice in bathroom. By the way Nilay, you have a very good physique, she said and laughed again Stop teasing or else … I tried to warn her, Or else what? She asked Or else, or else I will come out of the bathroom, I said Sure go ahead, I am desperately waiting for that to happen, She is impossible; I said to myself and took bath, Come on Nilay, let me see what you have, she teased more I kept quiet and didn’t say anything, but she continued teasing. Suddenly, she started it with moans, Oh come on…I am waiting darling; I want to see you, feel you inside me. oooo aaahhh ohhh come baby lets have some nasty things, this time she was doing it sensuously. I could hear her moans. I think she was standing right in front of the bathroom door. Her sensuous voice, her moans were now making me uncomfortable. I could feel my manhood getting erect every passing second. She continued with her teasing and soon I realized I was standing with my manhood in my hand fully erect making an angle of 90 degree. I felt embarrassed when I saw it in bathroom mirror. Will you stop doing that? I said with a loud voice Anything-wrong Nilay, did you have an erection? She chuckled again Please stop it, please, I pleaded now Fine, fine but do it fast, and one more thing, please shake it off. I don’t want to see your pant getting wet while you are with me, she chuckled again and walked away I could hear her footsteps going away from the door. I masturbated twice before opening the bathroom door. Bloody dick wasn’t going down, I think it was the effect of her nasty talks and her beauty which I had admired few moment ago.

I opened the door and asked for the towel. I saw her sitting on the bed doing something on my laptop. She was calm and silent now. I thought of taking revenge. But how? Was the big question. She looked for the towel and picked it from the chair where I must have thrown at night before leaving the room.

She walked up to the bathroom door, she was busy with her thought, I don’t know what, but she seemed lost. My upper body was outside the door and below body was hidden behind it. She came near and raised her right hand to give me the towel. Instead of holding the towel, I held her hand. She looked at me puzzled. Come on baby, lets do some nasty things, I winked. Her expressions changed from puzzle to curious and from curious to concern. She tried to get rid, but I tighten my grip. Nilay, what are you doing? She asked Nothing darling, just lets enjoying the company, lets feel each other, lets make love. I said and slowly came out of the door naked,

As soon, as saw me coming out, she turned back and hid her face with her left palm. I left the hand. She dropped the towel and hid her face with both her palms. I picked up the towel and wrapped it around my waist. I went close to her ears from behind and I felt her fragrance entering my nostrils, it was sweet. Don’t worry, I won’t touch, you are safe. I whispered in her ear and left to take out my clothes from the closet.

She remained there, stood in the same way with her face covered with her palms. I wore my undergarments, followed by shirt and pant. I turned back to see, she was still standing in the same position. I thought she must be feeling shy, so I turned back to my tie and wore it. I unzipped the suit cover and took out my coat from it. I lifted the coat to see and my eyes turned towards her. She was still standing there. I was tensed now, I felt concerned. I walked up to her and stood right in front facing her. I held her palm, which were still covering her face and slowly lifted both her palms one after the other. She bent her head down and her eyes closed. I touched her chin and raised her head. Her eyes still closed. Anu, I said and went quiet Anu, I repeated again Hmm, I heard a soft voice coming out of her lips with a whisper, Open your eyes, I said She nodded in negative response, Why? I asked You are naked; I don’t want to see you naked. You are a bad person. She complained like a child shaking her head with each word. I laughed at her behavior I have dressed; you can open your eyes and see for yourself, No, I don’t want to, if you are not then, she argued Mm, you are right, what if I am not dressed then. I stopped for a moment as ifi was thinking of an alternative, Then, Mm, okay I have an idea, if I am not dressed and if you see me naked, then you can marry me. I chuckled No, I don’t want to marry you, and I won’t open my eyes too. She fought back, Okay fine, don’t marry me, I said and took her hand and mine and slowly placed it on my chest. Now, can you feel my shirt? I asked Her expressions changed, she smiled and said I can feel your heartbeats too. I smiled and she slowly opened her twinkling eyes. She repeated again, I can feel your heartbeats too, her hand still on my chest. Now will you help me with my tie, I asked Sure sweetheart, she said and adjusted my tie. I could still feel the fragrance of her body. There was no doubt; I was getting attracted towards her. I controlled myself from staring at her beautiful face, but failed. She was a beautiful girl. I finished adjusting my tie, just then her phone ranged. She picked up the call. It was from Manisha. She was yelling from the other side of the phone. I could hear her voice without even switching on the speaker.

Yes, yes, we are at the entrance. Yes, I am coming inside. She lied to her, making different kind of faces and sometimes closing her right eye.

She is turning in to a wild cat, now come on lets go, she said and pulled my hand and started walking. I took my coat, locked the main door, and left for the wedding hall.

Anuja drove me to the wedding hall. She was a good driver. We reached the wedding hall in no time. We entered and the hall together and became a perfect couple for many of them in hall. Everybody admired her beauty and my physique. When you see a couple with great height where the girl gives competition to the boy, believe me you both become center of attraction for others. I think I was the only one who wore suit that evening. People gave me looks as if I have landed from an alien world. I didn’t bother and soon landed up at small bar in one corner of the hall.

It wasn’t actually a hall, It was an open garden. I wondered why they called it as hall. Beautifully decorated garden had a statue of lord Ganesh at the entrance to bless the people coming inside. Followed by a huge fountain in the center of the garden with sparkling water and colorful lights, that changed the color of the water from time to time. Rohan and Manisha stood in right in front on the stage, which was probably not the permanent one. They must have built, according to the requirement of the clients.

Both Rohan and Manisha were looking stunning. Rohan wore a light orange sherwani and Manisha wore a fish cut matching colored Ghagra Choli. She was looking gorgeous. Towards right beside stage, a DJ console was set up and DJ was hitting some Indian tracks. At a few distance, the waiters were served vegetarian dishes on the counters multiple counters. Towards left were some more counters serving non-vegetarian food. At the end of the counter, a small bar was setup at the extreme corner. I knew where I should probably be. Anuja had already left for stage. She was standing beside the bride to give her company. Both the girls were a treat for most of the eyes present at the wedding. Only blind could miss their beauty. I bet many of them must have spoken to their mother about Anuja. She was definitely the best-looking girls in the hall.

I headed towards the bar and placed myself on one of the jumper chairs. I wasn’t one of them. I felt an outsider. This was the reason I hated attending wedding, but never mind it was my best friend’s wedding. I ordered a large whisky for me. I wanted to be in limits, so I prepared myself for a slow go. Of course, I wasn’t a guest there, I was from family, so I had to stay with them for the entire day. I was taking it without anything and I had not even taken breakfast, so I gulped my first peg and walked around the counters to have some light snacks, but failed to find any. Finally, I landed up having a chicken lollypops and some roasted naans. Few minutes later, chicken inside my stomach made me ready for the drinks.

I made a way for the bar again and made myself comfortable for the drinks. The bar tender acknowledged me with a nod and made the same peg he made the first time and I began with my drinking session. Rohan and Manisha remained for almost 2 hours on the stage and so did I on the bar. Soon it was time for the priest to bind them with special thread called marriage. Both of them came down the stage and sat beneath an artificial hut made of grass and bushes. The hut had a fire placed at the center. Anuja left them from there and came out of the crowd. It was time for her to take some fresh air. She stood out of the crowd and scanned the entire place. She saw me sitting at the bar and smiled. I smiled back too. She started walking towards me. I was sure; she will ask me to do something to which I won’t be able to say no. I hurriedly finished my peg and signaled the bar tender not to refill further. Enjoying the drinks, hnn, she said approaching me, Yaa, somewhat, everybody here seems busy with something, so I thought I should also get myself into something, I replied Come on lets go, she said and grabbed my arm, Where? Come on get up first, and pulled me from my arm, She took me towards the chairs kept for the visiting guest. She led the way and I followed. We reached the last row of chairs and she sat on the third one and asked me to join her. I sat.

It is so romantic to see them together, she said Finally, I said Finally, what do you mean? She asked You don’t know, how many times they have fought, how many times they had a break up, how many times they have patched up, so finally is the appropriate word. I explained Hmm, But don’t you think it makes the relationship more stronger than it was before, she said Yes, it does, I nodded; it helps you to learn and understand which mistakes are new and which mistakes are old and should not be committed again. I chuckled She laughed too, Nilay please stop drinking, she said and turned towards me I was surprised with the change in topic. I turned to her. She stared deep into my eyes. Our eyes met each other’s, she was pleading through her eyes. I didn’t know why. I wanted to look somewhere else, I wanted to change the direction of my eyes, but glued to hers. They were deeply penetrating my heart through eyes. I became nervous and uncomfortable. She understood my condition and finally turned her head towards Rohan and Manisha who were busy with the ritual. It took two minutes for me to come back to normal. I didn’t utter a word. Slowly and steadily, she was taking control over me. However, why? Was the question that was troubling me more?

There was a silence between both of us, until she broke it again, Nilay, Mm, Do you believe in love? She asked still looking towards Rohan and Manisha, Why are you asking this? I asked with a puzzled expression, Her expressions were continuously changing. She was behaving weird. Her thoughts were concerning me now. She suddenly changed her expression with a fake smile and said Nothing its just, I was concerned about my sister, you know. She says love is this and love is that. But I have seen people getting separated after some time. I have seen couple fighting, cheating on each other. These things haunt me and that is the reason I never fell in love with anyone. Do you know, what is the most important ingredient in any relationship? I asked What? Love and trust. If these two ingredients are present in any relationship, that relationship will last forever. Hmm, she agreed and nodded We remained there for some more time until both the bride and the groom took the sacred seven round around the sacred fire and priest pronounced both of them as an husband and wife.

Soon it was time for a family lunch, which we all had at the end of the ceremony and finally returned with the happily married couples. The wedding was over and it was time for Rohan to be the monster of the night. I left him in the evening for him to complete his final rituals and went to my room for some rest. I left Anuja with Manisha busy preparing for her first night with Rohan.

I went to my room and rested for sometime laying on my bed watching some old pictures from our college days in my laptop. Some of them were funny, whereas some of them brought tears to my eyes.

Soon it was 6.30 pm, when Anuja walked in to my room and broke the chain of thoughts. I was lying on my bed. Hey, she said Hey, I replied She came near my bed and lay along with me. Wassup ? she asked I could smell her fragrance. It was very different. Whenever I smelled it, it made me shudder through my spine. She had this different kind of fragrance. Nothing just thinking about something, About what? She asked Mm, nothing. You tell me, is your work over? I asked to change the topic Yaa, it’s over. Finally, they are together. Everyone is busy with the preparation of post wedding rituals. I was feeling bored, so I came to you. She replied Hmm, I nodded We both went silent. I was staring at the ceiling. I guess she too was doing the same. So, What next? She asked Next? Mm-hm, I am catching Mandawi express tomorrow in the afternoon and soon I will be lost in the crowd of millions. She turned her neck and stared at me for a moment. Then again went back to her previous position.

Few more minutes passed and she was now becoming restless tired of being quiet, tired of staring the ceiling and the cranky rotating fan. I could sense it from her body, which was moving every passing second. The moment she had laid on my bed her body was never still. She folded her legs, then made them straight. Used her hand as pillow, then removed it and laid her head with them. Adjusted her dark red Kameez, and then pulled her shalwar up from the bottom of her feet. Finally, when there was nothing left to do, she said Look, I cannot take this shit anymore. I am bored. Let’s go somewhere. I smiled. Where? Mm, lets go to Thiba point, she replied Fine I got up and went to bathroom to freshen up. She also got up and went to the dressing table kept at the corner of my room. She dragged a small table near the dressing table and sat on it.

I came out of the bathroom and saw her sitting. I went to the chair where I have thrown my towel and grabbed to wipe my face. I again looked towards her to say something and she caught my attention. She was deeply involved in herself. She was looking herself in the mirror. She had placed her hairs over her left shoulder. She was combing them with her bare fingers. I was lost in her beauty. I saw a dark mole on her fair back, which she used to hide it by her long hairs. Her face was glowing in the mirror; I didn’t know why it was, was it the effect of the light or was it the effect of the mirror.

I remained there staring enjoying the scene until she too came to reality and stood to turn back. Oh, you are done, she said Yes, I said Fine, should we leave, I nodded and we left. Anuja drove the car, which she had borrowed from her relative who came to attend the wedding. She drove very well; the special thing about her was that she always remembered the roads. I had visited Theba point twice before, but still wasn’t able to recognize the roads which lead to the place. Within few minutes, we were at Theba point. It was a pleasant evening. The sun was setting down, leaving behind the red and dark orange colored rays in the sky.

We passed the snacks counters selling some junky snacks. We passed the children screaming, shouting, and playing with their toys they had bought along with them from home. We passed the couples sitting on the stairs of which led us to the fountain at the center of the large garden with benches on its boundaries. We sat on one of these benches facing the sea and the sunset.

So, let’s begin, she said What? The story what else, she replied I thought you were not in mood, I was always in mood, it was just that listening to it in breaks take away the charm and taste of it. I wanted time and place where there is no time boundary, no one to disturb us. She replied Fine then, here we go again, ^^^^^^^^

Exams with Sunita

Exams with Sunita were fun. In fact, it was fun to be with her. Everybody loved to be with her and hated me for being with her. Especially boys, who desired to be in her good book, they wanted to get close to her. Sunita never allowed any of them to get close.

During my fifteen days of exams, she taught me many things. One of them was copying. She was great at it. She always used different techniques. She had completely changed my views regarding the girls and the exams. I always consider the fact that boys are the ones who cheat and copy but when I came across Sunita, she changed my entire thinking. Sometime she used to surprise me and leave me with shocks. I have seen boys bringing cheats stuffed in their socks, ties, collars. Sometimes written on their palms or any other part of the body where they can see the answers and write during the exams. However, seeing a girl doing all those stuff was altogether a different experience for me.

Sunita and I became close friends during these exams. I never thought we would become such good friends, but we did. Rohan made me say sorry to her and she accepted it without making me feel further embarrassed. Rohan, Sunita and I made a good triplet and we shared everything with each other. In fact, Sunita and I used to chat in the evening over the phone and we used to divide the chapters among ourselves. She used to study first half of the syllabus and I used to study second half or vice versa. Rohan used to envy the way we used to study, he told me that sometimes, but I always took it lightly and left the topic there itself.

She never studied her part full. She always studied half of the chapters and prepared cheats on half of them. Whenever we required any answer from her part she used to either write the answer and unreadable writing which I barely understood or took out a cheat from some of her body part. I still sometime try to think from where she used to bring out those reduction Xeroxes. I guess from her front inner garments or…

Whenever the supervisors get pissed at us for murmuring or caught us talking, she used to smile cutely and always escaped the punishment. Bloody girls, they always have these tools for escaping. If boys do the same, the supervisors threw them out of the exam hall without even looking at their face. I used to hate them for such hypocrisy.

Our first paper was like a competition for copying. It was as if students haven’t come to give the paper, they have come to copy the paper. Our co-ordinator Mrs. Gokhale came to know about it from the Chaturs that existed in our college too. These Chaturs were spies in our college. They used to give every detail about every event that happened inside as well as outside the college. We took the name from 3 idiots which was one of the block buster movie at that time. From next day onward, the professors checked every boy in the classroom. They used to start their investigation right from the shirt collar to the shoes and socks. The professors always added girls to exception and nobody asked them anything, as all the professors were males so none of them checked girls. Sunita always took advantage of such exceptions and bought cheats for every paper. Sometime she acted as a cheat bank for other.

Others used to ask to cheats to her and she used to lend them as if lending some loan to them. I used to hate her for that too. I used to fight with her for doing so, giving cheats to others could be dangerous for us too, but she used to say “don’t worry, they are just Xeroxes. Nobody will come to know, that they belong to me” and always left me furious.

Soon the exams were about to over. My meetings with Mahi had become daily routine. Sometimes Arham used to create problem, but we managed him by making him sleep and reaching a bit late as I did one day previous the first paper.

My friendship with Sunita was like a friendship with another boy. She was more of a boy then girl. She used more bad words then boys in each sentence. Rohan loved her for that. She only talked to Rohan or me. She always used to say, you both are the only people to whom I feel connected, rest all are just bloody assholes . After our exams, we used to go down to Pethe and have a quick breakfast along with the discussion on the paper. I used to hate that too. I never discussed what I had written in my paper. I always considered it as a way of getting more tension on the answers, which I have written. It always made me dicey about my responses in the exams. Yes, I had again started going to Pethe. I hesitated initially, but when Sunita and Rohan forced me and left me with no choice. Mr. Pethe never missed a chance to give that wild stare, but I managed to neglect him.

Post Exam meeting with Mahi

Soon it was our second last paper and time for me to become serious. The seriousness was not regarding the exams or studies. It was regarding Mahi. Soon exams were about to get over and my midnight tea breaks too. Arham too will discontinue coming for night studies at hostel that means I won’t have bike to go and meet her. Too many thoughts crowded my mind.

I was concerned. As usual, I slept in the afternoon and started my studies early in the evening. I tried hard but failed to focus. Meanwhile Rohan came with the plan to go for a picnic. I wasn’t interested in the discussion, but then he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his room for discussing the plan with others. Soon the evening turned into night and we had our dinner along with the discussion. Bloody assholes were confused with the destination. Finally, Arham joined in too. The discussion ended when they saw me getting pissed. I was now frustrated and angry with their crap theories about every destination. I ended the discussion saying, “Nobody is going anywhere, and we will stay here and party. We will go to Anmol and have dinner” and left for my room.

Arham came after few minutes. He wanted to talk but resisted as he say me furious. We both studied until 1.00 am. I wanted to pee, so I went to the bathroom and released myself. I came back to my bed and sat with the book. Arham saw my relaxed face and asked Are you alright? Yes, why? No, you blasted on everyone there, so I thought, you are angry on something, he replied No, I am just fine, He nodded and we both again went to our books. Soon the thoughts again filled my mind. They were already there somewhere at back of my mind, but I had managed to push them further so that I could concentrate on books. The pee break spoilt the mood and brought back everything. I wanted to talk to Arham regarding the bike, but how to begin was the big question. At one point, I thought I should tell him everything, but then resisted from doing it. I knew he would definitely try to put his ass in between or he will just try to be my elder brother and try to shield me from the danger, which he could only see coming. I hated people for doing so, I am not a fucking kid. I decided to dig his mind first.

Finally, exams are getting over. You must be happy now. Staying home, sleeping peacefully. Hmm, he replied still busy with the book,

I looked at him for further response, but he didn’t respond. I too went to my book. I wanted to continue further, but he wasn’t in mood, I guess. Few minutes later, Actually, I am thinking of continue coming on Friday’s, he said raising his head from the book. I was puzzled at his last statement, Friday! Why? Fucking SGA’s are screwing my ass man, he replied making face I could see the irritation on his face. SGA? Why? You know how bad I am at presentations and these assignments. And when you are at home, you won’t feel like studying anything. So I was thinking of coming here and preparing for the SGA. Now this was what I was expecting. Hmm, then why are you thinking? Come na, it will help you improve your skills and moreover if you prepare with us, you will learn more, I pushed him further. I was happy now, but not enough happy. I went back to my studies thinking about Mahi, at least for one day Arham will be there and I could see her.

Soon it was 2.30 and Arham srifted to sleep and I left for my daily meeting with Mahi. Meeting Mahi was the best part of the entire day. She used to fight with me, cheer me up, and scold me. She was really an angel for me. I was truly, madly and deeply in love with her. I loved her every behavior, which usually depended on either her mood or mine.

I went and sat next to her. I was still upset and she understood it. I knew I can meet her on Friday, but meeting her only once in a week was not acceptable to me. You know how boys are yeh dil maange more . I think we are the most desperate and impatient creatures on the earth. Hey, she said Hey, I mumbled Niluuuu…, she kills me when she say that, Hmm, What happened to my Niluuuu…? Nothing, I replied Then why is my Nilu so upset? She pampered Seriously its nothing, If its nothing then why are you in so rotten mood, she asked Tomorrow is my second last paper and soon it will be my last paper. So, she asked as if she doesn’t care, So, Arham won’t come for studies and I won’t have bike and also nurses won’t allow me to leave the hostel at midnight. I replied in one breath So, her so’s were irritating me now, she was now teasing me. I gave her a cold stare and she chuckled at me reaction. You mean to say, you won’t be able to meet me, right. She asked Yes, Aww, so sweet, You can do that later, now think of something, I can’t stay without… and I paused and kept my both the hands on my mouth to shut it before I could puke everything out. What? Nothing No, you said something, she said with an angry look No seriously nothing, its just nothing. I replied, now will you think of something now or you want to fight over what I said and what I haven’t. Okay, lets think what can we do about it. Mmm Can you meet me during daytime, I asked Nop, I cant. She refused blatantly But why? You know how people are in Khed, if somebody comes to know about it. They will kill us both. I cannot take that risk and I won’t take that risk. Think of some other alternative. She said sternly which left me no choice but to think of something else. Hmm, I nodded and accepted the fact Okay, then give me your mobile number, we will talk on phone, I said Sorry, I don’t carry mobile phones either, she replied raising her shoulders Why? I asked puzzled My parents. You know they are so orthodox and conservative, How is it possible that they haven’t given a mobile phone to their only daughter, I asked Because they didn’t find it necessary, according to them I always stay at home and never leave the place, so they assume that their daughter don’t need any, she replied Then give me you landline number, I will call you on landline, I replied Sorry, she again raised her shoulder along with her eyebrows this time; she looked cute when she did that. Her replies were irritating me now, and I wanted to end the crap, Is it that you don’t want to talk to me anymore, I asked in irritation Its not like that Nilu, I just don’t want to take any risk. I never had a male friend in my life and you are the first one to whom I am interacting. I don’t want anybody to hurt you. If anybody comes to know about you and me, they won’t think twice before hurting you. I hope you understand I care for you. Her last sentence touched me and made me feel better; at least she cares about me. Okay then we has only one option left, I replied What? Arham is planning to visit every Friday for our SGA preparations. I can come down every Friday to meet you. I replied Fine then, we will meet on Friday, she replied I was expecting her to say more but she didn’t. I was expecting her to ask for more days, but she didn’t. I think she wasn’t that keen to meet me; I dropped my face accepting the fact and took a long sigh. I guess, She understood the reason for my disappointment. Nilay, I looked at her, she took my palm in her hand. We can meet on Fridays’. I will be happy to meet you on Fridays’ without any fear in my eyes rather than meeting you tensed at daytime. As I said, I care for you and I don’t want to get hurt. You are my best friend and I don’t want anybody to hurt my best friend. She continued, but I was lost with my own imaginations and thoughts. She touched me. This was the first time she touched me. Her hands were soft, very soft. I could feel the flesh of her palm. It was a beautiful feeling. We both soon left the place on good note, with the decision that we will continue meeting each other on every Friday.

I went to give my second last paper. I more or less copied the entire paper, when you have option to write the correct answers word to word without even scratching your brain, then it is the better thing to do. Sunita bought almost all the cheats required to fill the entire paper. I too didn’t cared to use my brain and copied it from Sunita. She showed me all the answers and I copied it as if Xeroxing (Photocopying) her answer sheet.

We had our daily breakfast at Pethe and left for respective hostels. I was quite happy the entire day, of course the reason was my previous night meeting with Mahi. At the same time, exited too, it was my last meeting with her. After tonight, we were supposed to wait for entire week and then meet on Friday. It was fucking irritating, but I had no other options.

My excitement was too high that day and I didn’t feel sleepy that afternoon, so I completed my studies early that afternoon. Sunita came to our hostel that evening to learn Mathematics from me. she knew I was good at numbers. She was horrible at them. Only Sunil and I were good in Mathematics, Sunil was Chemistry graduate and I was IT graduate. Mathematics never left us, so our basics were clearer than theirs were. Our last paper was Business Mathematics and I spent my entire evening teaching Mathematics to all my hostel mates and Sunita. She cursed every mathematician that day. She even cursed me for knowing so much about the subject. I asked her to get the cheats for this subject too, but she gave me a cold look and said They might change the figures in the question and I might land up copying the solution with wrong answer. We all laughed at her. She too joined us later.

Finally, it was Arham’s turn to eat my remaining brain. He did that job pretty well. Arham was Zoology graduate, so mathematics was an alien language for him. It took me more than an hour to make him understand single concept. Sometimes he pissed me and sometimes the subject pissed him. Finally, it was his time to go to sleep and he was too irritated to solve another set of sums from another concept, so he threw away his books cursing the subject and the professors and slept.

Soon it was 2.00 am and I decided to leave early that day, so that I could spend some more time with her. I wasn’t sure to find her that early, but as I reached, I saw her sitting on the same step where we usually used to sit. I went ahead and sat near her at the same distance I used to sit. Hey, she said as she saw me sitting beside her, you came early today, Yes, my studies got over early today, so left early, I replied Which paper tomorrow? She asked Business Mathematics, Mm, Mathematics, she repeated, you like Mathematics, she asked Yes, I do So, you must be at par with your basics Yes, in fact today I taught most of my friend, I replied and smiled Really, Yes, I did, I replied Then tell what is 2+2? She asked with a chuckle Are you trying to pull my legs? I asked facing her Aww, my baby, she said and grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her, I looked at her with surprise. She surprised me by her act. I didn’t realized that the distance between her was no more. I was sitting next to her without any distance this time. I could feel her legs touching mine. I could feel her breast bruising my arm when she hugged my arm and placed her head on my shoulder. I could feel her bums bruising mine. I was speechless. I was numb for few moments. I felt good, but at the same time I was curious, curious about the sudden change in her behavior; A day before she touched my hand, the second day she hugs my arm and reduces the distance between us. I liked it, but I was curious too. At the end, I left all the thoughts and allowed myself to flow along with it. I wanted it to continue, continue till eternity.

We sat there in the same way until she said Niluuu, she kills me with that cuteness in her voice Hmm, I replied Promise me we will always be good friends, no matter what happens between us, she said softly Always, till eternity princess. We remained in the same way without any word between us, neither she said anything nor did I. We spent entire night sitting like this, enjoying each other’s company and finally it was time for both of us to leave. Before getting up, she said Nilu, Hmm, Promise me, you will never let me go away; she asked and looked deep into my eyes. I could see her dark black eyes in which I was drowning every passing moment I saw in them. They were looking deep as if asking me for a commitment; which I could have never denied; Commitment for lifetime, commitment for eternity. Never till my last breath…

Last Exam Party

Finally, our exams were over. Some of them came out of the exam hall with rotten faces, while some like me came out with a smile. None of my hostel mates was interested in discussing the paper that day, but Sunita was happy with her performance. Not that she had solved all the sums, but her performance was good at copying all the sums from my answer sheet. She was happy and teased others for that. She said she was lucky, that she had me as her partner for writing the paper and luckily that day the college authority had changed our seating arrangement and made us sit in reverse order. Thanks to the college authority, Sunita landed up sitting right behind me, which helped her in copying my answers comfortably.

Arham was as expected pissed and left the exam hall early. I expected him to wait outside, but the asshole left me at college and went home. I was furious at him. Rohan was supposed to leave with Sunil on his bike, but then he asked Sunil to leave without him and decided to give me company from college to hostel. We walked the street towards Khed. Sunita and her roommates passed by in her auto. She asked us to hop in, but we refused. We wanted to enjoy the freedom. Giving the final paper of any exam is like getting the freedom after centuries of slavery. Every student feels like this. That day we didn’t went to Pethe for breakfast, but we spoke on phone about the evening party. Girls too agreed to come along.

We all went to Anmol for the party in the evening. Boys were dressed clean, girls too joined later. Some of us had planned to booze a little, so before going to Anmol, we went to a shady bar named Poonam Super for couple of drinks. Amar, Rohan and I totally enjoyed it. I started drinking when I was twenty. My brother is in army, so whenever he came home, he bought loads of it with him. My cousin and I used to stole a bottle or two and would enjoy it on the terrace. I learned to drink many of them there, Whisky, Vodka, Rum, Jin and what not. Don’t you dare to call the waiter for another one, Sunil was pissed on us for being dunked He wasn’t actually concerned about us, but about the girls who were supposed to join us later in the evening. Chill bro, its just 7.00 pm, don’t worry they will come at 8.00 pm. We will wind up before that, Amar said raising his glass in the air. I don’t want you to behave like a drunkard in front of them, she smirked I know you are falling for Priya, don’t worry we will behave like a gentle ass, Rohan added Fuck you, Sunil said and start watching the tamil movie which was played on the TV set kept at one of the corner. We continued to have the drinks until, Arun came in and informed us about the girls. Dude they have left their hostel. Sunil got up and checked his phone for any call, but they haven’t called, he replied after checking that there was no call from any of the girls, Hey bro, is it necessary that they should call you and take the permission to come, Amar said with a giggle Shut up you drunken bastard, They called me, they will reach here any moment, so lets go, Arun informed and we left the place.

The evening was quiet good. We all enjoyed the food, the company, and our drunken state. I missed Arham. Frankly, I did not miss him, but his bike. I could have gone to meet Mahi, if he would have come down tonight also.

We came back to our hostel at night after escorting the girls till their hostel. As we entered the hostel with our lips sealed to avoid any conversation with the nurses, Amar picked up a flower vase kept on one of the stairs of the hostel. Dude what are you doing, Rohan whispered He didn’t listen to him and ran through the corridor and reached near the door numbered 3. We watched him. We were clueless, what was up to. He bent a little and placed the vase right at the center of the doorway. We all giggle at his stupidity and pulled him towards our room and left the vase there itself.

We placed some hot hindi numbers and danced inside Rohan’s room. Non- drinkers like Imran and others went to my room and we drinkers enjoyed the music and dance in Rohan’s room. Amar had this habit of dancing naked. Whenever we were drunk, after returning to our room, Amar used to rip off his clothes and dance naked in front of us. We used to laugh and enjoy it as if enjoying the strip show. He used to behave a complete maniac after being drunk.

The next morning I woke up with a quarrel in the corridor. It was early morning and my head was hurting, my throat was burning. I went to the corridor to see what the big fuss was about, Fuck, was the only word that came out of my mouth after seeing what was there in front of me.

Somebody has collected all the vases from the stairs and placed it right in front of room number 2 & 3. The rooms belonged to the dental girls. The girls were standing and staring at the vases, Dr. Joshi too joined in with a surprised look on his face. We all stared at Amar and Amar stared at us back giving us innocent look.

Dr. Joshi was annoyed and gave us firm warning. We promised him, that this won’t be repeated again and before leaving he asked us to place all the vases back on the stairs. We did whatever he said cursing Amar for what he has done and took him in confidence when we finished he morning labor work.

I didn’t do that, he replied I just placed one, Then who did that, Arun asked I don’t know, Everyone looked at each other with a suspicious look. Finally, Rohan broke the suspense with the loud laugh when he saw Amar sitting on his bed and scratching his head with one hand and his inner thigh with the other. Yes, I did that, he accepted But why? Just for little fun, he replied Fuck your fun and shove it in your huge ass, Arun said furiously and left the room with loud voice of laughter behind him.

Friday Meetings with Mahi

I waited for entire week for Friday to come. Every day seemed to be like a year to me. College gave us leave of two days, so killing those two days was like killing me every moment. I did crazy things. I went to terrace million times. I roamed in the city without any intention. Watched movies repeatedly and somehow managed to pass the time.

Two days after college started and we too started with our routine lectures. It was fun to be in college with Sunita and other friends. It was the best thing to do to pass the time. I used to keep myself busy with the college activities so that I could not think about Mahi. It was painful for me to sit idle. Sitting idle would bring her memories to me. Her face was the only picture I used to imagine every time.

Sunita was fun loving girl. She always kept me busy or in other words, I kept myself busy with her and tried to digest everything, which she shared with me. I used to hate it, but spending time with her and listening to her nonsense helped me killing the time in better way. Rohan too was one of the victims in this act, but he did that only for her. I guess he was interested in her. They both used to pull my legs by finding some or the other topics. Sunita, Rohan and I shared a special relationship. We belong to one pact, a pact much stronger than others shared with their friends. We used to fight, quarrel, motivate, and sometimes de-motivate each other. Soon it was Friday, the day when I was supposed to meet Mahi. I was excited and full of enthusiasm. I confirmed with Arham and he agreed on coming down to hostel at night for SGA preparation.

I waited for him in the evening. I even called him twice to confirm and reconfirm his visit. He came sharp at 10.00 pm. I was little worried, but he came. We went to terrace and prepared for SGA until 12.00 am. It was a small topic and which we were supposed to prepare a presentation. I had already prepared two different sets of slides, one for him and one for me. as soon as we sat for the preparation, I showed him both of them and asked to select one. He chose the one with better background and some extra contents. I gave him his script to prepare and he did it quite well.

At 12.00 am, we both left for our room to sleep. Arham got lost with his dreams as soon as he hit the bed. I turned, tossed for some time, and left the hostel after confirming he and others in my room were sleeping. It was 12.30 am when I reached the stairs. I ran down the stairs and reached the final step where we used to sit. She was missing. She haven’t come yet. I sat there thinking about her. Multiple thoughts came into my mind, some positive, and some negative, but I pushed away the negative ones. Soon it was 1.00 am and I was becoming restless. I began to panic now. I didn’t even knew what time she always came, but then too something was making me uncomfortable. I usually met her after 2.30 am, but today I was there early, so technically speaking I was wrong. Thoughts coming in my mind were troubling me. I was afraid that she might not have forgotten about our meeting. I have suffered a lot of pain waiting for this day to come and if she doesn’t turn up today, I will be screwed and will have to wait for the entire next one week.

Few minutes later, I saw a dark thing moving down the stairs approaching towards it. I stood up to figure out what it is. As the dark thing came near, the picture got clearer to me. It was Mahi, my Mahi. I saw her, she was wearing the same light pink Shalwar Kameez, droplets of water streaming down her streaks of open hairs which were laid on her right shoulder. She had covered her head half of her dupatta and half of it is covering her front. The image was mesmerizing. She was looking beautiful; the purest form of beauty, for which any man could give his soul away. Her face was glowing in the moonlight. Her pink lips resembled the color of her dress. Her spotless fair color made me imagine the smoothness and softness of her skin.

She came near to me. I was still standing without moving an inch. She was smiling when she reached the step where I was standing. Hey, you came early today; she said and came over to give me a tight hug, I was surprised. Every meeting of mine with her was becoming more and more interesting. She was surprising me every moment. I felt good and I smiled back with a nod. I was excited to meet you, I said Hmm, I can see that, she said and made me blush a little I shifted myself and gave her the space to sit and we both sat on the step. So how was your week, I mean how did you spend it? She asked caressing her wet hairs, It was difficult, but I managed to do it, I replied By the way your hairs are wet, I asked wiping few droplets of water from my arms, must have fallen from her wet hairs, Yes they are, I took shower before leaving the house, Hmm, I replied So, what did you do entire week, she asked I missed you a lot, I wanted to say but resisted. I spend my week with my friends; they have enough problems to deal with. I spend my time tackling their problems. Her last question triggered me to ask her the same question. I also wanted to know what she did the entire week and how she had spend her last week, so I asked her the same question. What did you do last week? Hmm, I missed you, missed you a lot. I wanted to see you, but I knew you can’t come, so I kept myself busy with household chorus. I was amazed at her on face and straightforward replies. I wanted to ask her more, so I did. Did you come here at night? I asked in curiosity Yes, I did. But the only thing I did after coming here was thinking, thinking about you. She said and looked at my face to see my reaction, I was speechless. Nothing in my head came that moment. I want expecting such a direct conversation from her, but she was saying it. Did you miss me? She asked still looking at my face, I looked at her in surprise. I was sure now, that she too was interested in me. The way she was looking at me was killing me, asking questions not from her mouth but from her eyes. I could read her feeling and emotions from her facial expressions. The only thing came out of my mouth was a lot, and she smiled hearing the response. You know what, sometimes I feel you are a liar, you lie to me everything. You hide what is there in your heart and you show what is not there, she said still smiling, Are you judging me? I asked No, I am not, but it’s hard to believe you, when your replies are not from your heart. How can you be so sure? I asked I know and I am sure about it. I can see that in your eyes. She replied She was now trapping me. I understood that from her conversation. She wanted me to open my heart in front of her. I thought about it, but then resisted thinking it could be dangerous. I could have stop meeting me, if I tell her how much I love her. How much I care for her, and how much she means to me. I wanted to change the topic, So, when are you going to your college next time, I asked Niluuu, she said stop trying to change the topic; I know you don’t want to talk on this topic, but I won’t let you go this time. Fuck man, how do they read our minds, I spoke to myself. I knew she had caught me. There was nothing I could do now, so before making fool of myself further. I decided to give up. See Mahi, believe me I missed you a lot. I don’t know what you think of me but the only thing that I was there in my mind for the entire week was You. Your face was the only thing that came into my mind. I could see her facial expressions changing, from serious to smiling, sometimes surprised, I continued to speak. I slept thinking of you, I woke up and the first thought came to my mind was you, I was in physically in college but mentally with you. Is it enough or you want me to say more? I asked and looked down. I felt shy. I didn’t had enough courage to even look at her. Enough, she said with a smile still looking at me, thinking something I guess. Then why don’t you speak up? She asked Blushing and Shying is not for males, I replied and when we do it we look like stupid, she laughed

Few moments later, I was still looking down. I was feeling embarrassed. She understood how I felt. Niluuu, She said and touched my chin. She raised my head to look up towards her face. Don’t feel bad, its ok to share your feelings to someone you lo…like. A quick twinkle came into my eyes and I looked into hers when she said that, I mean she almost said that and then changed the last word. You will always be special to me; you have taken a special place into my heart. So never feel bad or never think how am I going to react? Or what am I going to think of you? You can share anything with me without any hesitation. She smiled at the end and I smiled too.

We remained quiet for some time. I was busy with my own thoughts; I guess she too was busy with hers. Mahi, Hmm, Sometimes I think how close we have come to each other in such a short period. Sometimes I think its all dream. I will wake up in the morning and everything will disappear like a cloud in the air. She chuckled a little Don’t worry, I can assure you this is not a dream. If you want I can pinch you to confirm it. She said and laughed I gave her a cold look, Okay, okay fine, I know we came so close and now we are best friends and all this happened in very short period, but I think the amount of time we took is not important. The important part is how good we feel after meeting each other, how much we miss each other, how good we understand each other and finally how much we trust each other. Her reply convinced me partially but there was one more question, which was troubling me. However, I didn’t have guts to ask her.

We remained there until 4.00 am. This was the first time she was with me for such a long time. Our previous meetings were shorter than today’s. we usually met at 2.30 am and she left at 3.30 am, but today she came at 1.00 am and left at 4.00 am.

I wanted her to stay, but she didn’t. She gave me the same old someone-might-see-us crap and I had to leave her. I too left but not before asking the question which was troubling me.

As she stood up to leave, my face dripped. She looked at my sobered face and asked Niluuu, what happed? I raised my head and said I want to ask you something, but before that, I want you to promise me that you won’t feel bad and you will come back next Friday to meet me. She gave me a look, See, I don’t want you to break our relationship because of my stupid question… Okay fine, no problem you can leave I don’t want to ask anything. I am fine. I changed my mind in between, Nilu, she said sternly this time, What? I asked Ask the question, she said with the same sternness Promise me first, I said Promise, she replied Promise what? Okay baba, I promise I wont break our relationship bas...! I stood up to look into her eyes and said Promise me you will never leave me alone and go away. Never till eternity, she smiled and gave me a tight hug and left.

^^^^^^^^ We heard a whistle and a hailing voice from the other side of the garden. We both turned to see, it was from a huge bellied security guard standing on the upper garden lawn. He was looking at us. He hailed again, Time over, leave now, I looked at my watch to check the time. It was 10.00 pm. We both looked at each other and stood up to leave. Shit, she mumbled She was upset; I could see it on her face. What happened? I asked Nothing, I was enjoying the story and that heavy lump of flesh interrupted us, thats it. I smiled at her. We reached the car and drove off towards home. She remained quiet while driving. She was busy with her thoughts. I looked outside the window. I saw shops closing down, people running towards home. There were not many, but the way they were walking indicated that they were in hurry. We passed an ice cream parlor, where I saw some people enjoying the cups and cones of ice cream. I could see the happiness in their eyes and those smiles.

Anu, Hmm, Lets go to some good place and have dinner together, She looked at me with her eyebrows raised. What? I am not proposing you, I said That’s not funny, she said sarcastically No seriously, lets go to some good restaurant. Do you know any good restaurant here in Ratnagiri? I asked I know one, but I don’t know you may like it or not, she said Don’t worry, If you are comfortable, then I am too, I replied Fine then lets go, she said and changed the gear to speed up the car. She drove for some time on the road towards the Bombay-Goa Highway. Just then a strong pungent smell entered my nostril, I turned to ask her about it, and she took a sharp left turn, which jerked my body towards the door. What smell is that? I asked Its fish, Fish? Yes, the buildings towards your rightside are storage for state fishery department. They store fishes here. Fuck it, I hate seafood, it stinks bad, holding my nose I said. She smiled at me. Yaa, I can understand that,

She drove for few more minutes and stopped near a three-storied building. I got down the car and read the name on the glow signboard outside the building – Hotel Sea Paradise. Looks cool, I said. She nodded and we entered the gate. Manisha and I love this place. We often visit this place with our parents for dinner. They serve good food, I mean Seafood. She said and waited for my reaction. You like seafood, I asked I love it, she replied Then I guess they must be good with veg. food also. I said and crossed my fingers. We sat on the table and scanned the menu. I went on through every section of it. I saw Snacks, Veg., Non-Veg., Seafood, Desserts and finally the last section caught my attention - Liquors. Awesome, they serve liquors too, I said surprisingly Yes, they do, I didn’t expected that, I said Hellooo…! its Ratnagiri. It is one of the big cities in and it’s a district too, she said raising her nose, Yes, I am convinced, I said. Convinced not by her words, but by the height up to which she had raised her nose. I ordered a large peg of whisky alongwith the food. I ordered Paneer-Palak, Jeera-Rice, Dal Fry and four Rotis for both of us. I asked her to order some seafood for her, but she said she is not in mood to have seafood. I tried to convince her, but she didn’t budge.

It took 15 minutes for the waiter to serve us our order. Actually, it was good for me because till that time I was three pegs down. I wanted to continue, but the food had arrived, so I had to stop drinking. She was annoyed, but I didn’t care. Nobody can stop me from doing what I want, I said to myself and continued with my drink. We had our food, it was’nt that good, but ok to swallow it. We didn’t speak to each other during the dinner. She was furious and I wasn’t interested in listening to any crap lessons from her. She turns out to be a scary teacher when she starts giving one of those lessons. It beats a shit of me. I too remained silent without disturbing her. She was expecting a trigger from my side but I didn’t. At the end, she left all hope and started the conversation from her side. Do you know drinking this much is not good for you, she said Excuse me, I said and stood up to leave for the washbasin. She was now more furious. She was not ready to rant on me. I quietly moved though the tables and went to wash basin. I felt like peeing, so I asked the waiter about the washroom and left.

When I returned to the table, I saw her talking to someone on phone. She wasn’t actually talking, but shouting on somebody who was on the other side of the phone. She was getting rid of the anger on someone else, I guess. I called the waiter and said something into his ear. He nodded and went back to kitchen. She didn’t realize that I was back. Few moments later, she disconnected the call and banged the phone on the table. Any problem, I asked No, no problem, she said sarcastically, Lets go home, she said and stood up. Wait, I said What? She asked irritated Just wait I said and placed my palm on her to make her sit. She starred at my palm and then me. I pulled away my hand and she sat. I knew she was still not satisfied. She wanted to burst on me, but resisted the urge. Few moments later, the waiter came with a huge bowl filled with chocolate ice cream. Its dessert time, I said as the waiter placed the bowl on the table. I could see the surprising look on her face. Her eyes were twinkling like the stars in the dark sky. A smile came to my face, which was followed on hers too. How did you know that this is my favorite ice cream? It is not that tuff job to find out, Oh, come on tell me, The best thing to soothe an angry girl is Chocolate or an Ice cream, and if both the things combined in one, then it becomes one of the best combinations. I replied faking my knowledge about girls Oh, shut up and tell me, how? Manisha, I said when I went to washroom I called her and she told me that you love chocolate flavored ice cream. When you were busy with thrashing someone on phone, I ordered one for you. Aww, thats so sweet, she said and pulled my cheek, You know I hate it when someone pull them, I said Why? I don’t know, I just hate it, I replied It’s not their fault, you have those big round inviting cheeks. I can understand how difficult job is for people to stay away from them. We both laughed and left the place as soon as she finished the entire bowl with her chocolate stained T-Shirt on which she had spill some while having it like a small girl. She looked cute while having her chocolate, like a small girl with most of the chocolate around her mouth then in it.

It was 11.30 pm when we reached home. I went straight to my room; she said she would come to my room after some time. I changed my clothes and wore my night suit. I usually don’t wear anything while sleeping, but my last incident with Anu was terrible, so I planned to wear something good tonight. I surfed on internet and checked my FB account. Nothing interesting, so I checked my mails to see what my colleagues were doing. The best part in working for MNC is that, you are in CC or BCC of every mail. So, you can have all the information about what is going on in the company.

I read some of the mail, just then I heard a knock on my door. I went to open the door. It was Anu, standing outside wearing a light orange silky night suit. She wore a shirt and a pyjama. She had made her hair before coming I can see that. I gave her way to come in. she entered and hopped on my bed. I went back to my bed. She saw my mailbox open on the screen, Oho, checking maaaiiiilss, she said stretching the last word Yes, checking maaaiiiilss, I replied in the same tone, So, now stop doing what you are doing and continue with the story, she ordered in a girlish voice. Just give me a minute, let me finish this one, I said Hey please, you can do it after, you will be leaving tomorrow, and I don’t want you to leave the story incomplete in between. I want to know what happens next. I want to know the end. If you want to know the end I can tell you right now, I argued I don’t want you to directly jump on the end, I want you to tell me everything. She said

Just then someone knocked the door again. I looked at the door and then towards her, Did your parents know that you are with me right now? I asked with scared face, Of course not, Fuck, I am dead, Rohan’s friend was there with her sister in law in room and that too late night. Thoughts came rushing my mind. There was another knock on the door, with more intensity this time. I stood up and walked towards the door with shaky legs.

As I opened the door, I saw Manisha and Rohan standing in front. Phew, I took a sigh of relief and allowed them to enter, Fuck man, what you are doing with my sister in law, Rohan said as he saw Anu sitting on my bed. Don’t worry, she is not my type, I said and we all laughed, What do you mean, you are not my type, she argued Okay, whatever, Rohan said, by the way, I came here to ask you about how you are planning to return, I am leaving tomorrow afternoon by Mandawi express. I have confirmed my reservation. I needed a favor from you, he said Go ahead, I replied My parents have planned a trip to Tirupati Balaji, along with some other relatives. Manisha and I are leaving tomorrow evening for our honeymoon. Anuja’s parents are also going with my parents. They came here by their car and now we are all leaving, so I want you go by road rather than train. You mean they want me to drive their car home to Mumbai, I asked Yes, and not only the car, Anuja too, What? I was surprised She didn’t tell you anything didn’t she? He asked Nop, She knows everything, he said isn’t she going to Tirupati with her parents? I asked No, she says she has lot of work pending at her OPD and hospital and her leaves are over, so she had to return, he explained That means she is going to stay there alone? I asked You can take her home with you if you want. Manisha chuckled I looked at her. She was busy doing something on my laptop. Pretending that she haven’t heard anything and she is out of our world. I didn’t had anything to say, so I agreed. Fine no problem, I will do it, I said Good then, I will inform her parents about it. Rohan said and turned back to leave. Manisha followed him. But then we have to leave early in the morning, I said Rohan turned back and asked, at what time? 9.00 am or so, I replied Fine, he said and I turned back towards Anu to confront her. By the way, Nilay, you both will make a good couple. I think you should fall for Anuja and Anuja if you want a good life partner than you should not let him go. Fuck, she shouldn’t have said that, I said to myself and turned back to reply, but she was gone.

We both looked at each other. She felt shy, I felt embarrassed too. We didn’t made any eye contact futher. I took the laptop and placed it on the table. She was silent and I too didn’t had anything to say. Manisha had messed up everything. The silence was awkward, I was feeling awkward and I guess she too felt the same.

Finally, it became unbearable for me to digest and I broke it. I think we have lot of time tomorrow to complete the story and we are going by road, so I think we should take some rest tonight. I will be better for both of us. Yaa, I think you are right, it’s a long journey. It’s a good idea. I will leave then. She nodded and stood up to leave still without an eye contact. I too kept myself busy with the magazines, which I have packed, along with the luggage while leaving Mumbai. She left the room and shut the door from outside. I kept thinking lying on my bed for some time and finally dozed off into my dreams.

I woke up in morning at 8.00 am. I checked the watch and rushed towards the bathroom. I took an hour to get ready. I wore a plain crisp white shirt and blue denim with a pair of chappels. I left out the shirt and pulled the sleeves up to forearms. My outfit gave me a casual look. I started packing my bag, just then Rohan came and informed me that he had parked the car at the entrance and asked me to come down as soon as I pack my stuff.

It took ten more minutes for me to pack everything and I left the room after carefully checking and rechecking every drawer and shelf in the room. I ran down the stair and reached the entrance to see. I saw Rohan standing at the door. All set, he asked Yup, I replied Here is your drive for the day, he said and gave me way to have a look, I saw a shining black Honda Accord standing, Hmm, beautiful car, I said Dude, you better take care of both, because you will be handling both the beauties at the same time. I gave him a confused look, I mean, both the beauties are precious to Chavan Uncle, so you better take care of both of them, Hmm, I nodded, Here they come, he said and I turned back to see,

She was walking at the center and her parents on the either sides of her. Rohan’s Parents followed them. Mr. & Mrs. Chavan were giving her travelling and how to stay alone lessons, I guess. She smiled when she saw us waiting for her. We smiled back too. Dude your drive will be fucking awesome, I can imagine that, Rohan said I looked at him. He winked and signaled me to look at her clothes. Fuck, I haven’t noticed that, I said to myself.

She was wearing a sleeveless top with some weird design on it, followed by a short cargo half- pant, which ended at her thigh. I long legs were fair and silky smooth. Frankly speaking, they were mouth-watering treat for every male. She had loosened her hairs, which were all across her neck and shoulder. She wore jogging shoes as if planning to go for a jog.

She came near and said Hey, we replied and she left to put her luggage in the boot space. Mr. Chavan came and handed over the car papers and some cash for fuel to me and asked me to take care and be cautious. I nodded with a smile to assure that both of them were in safe hands. Rohan’s parents came forward to thank me; I touched their feet and left for the car. She was sitting on the co-passenger seat. I threw my bag on the backseat and ignited the car to leave. Initially I drove the car slowly so that her parents can believe that I was a good driver. As soon as I crossed the gate, I changed the gear, pushed the accelerator, and drove the car at normal speed.

I turned the car to reach the highway and pushed the accelerator. Nice car, I said I know, that is the reason my father doesn’t allow anyone else to touch it. So, that is the reason, you used to borrow car from your cousin, Yup, she nodded But you drive well, I said Thanks, but he doesn’t trust my driving skills, Then why did he allow me to drive his car? I asked curiously Because Rohan told him that, you too have the same car and you are good in driving these big cars. My father have one of these, I do sometimes drive it. I replied

I drove for some few odd kilometers and reached the highway. Towards our right was Goa 300 Kms while towards our left was Mumbai 250 Kms. I took a left turn and pushed the gas towards Mumbai.

Hey can I switch on the music player, I asked Who is driving? She asked I am, So its your car now, do whatever you feel , she said and pushed the seat back in semi sleeper mode and laid her body on it. I checked the dashboard and the drawer for some CD’s, but found some old song CD’s and some bhajans in Marathi I guess. I asked her to get my bag from back seat. She pulled it in front. I asked her to pull out my iPod and USB charger from the front chain. She did it. She pulled out both the things along with my glairs. She handed me the iPod and put on my glairs. I plugged in my iPod and played some good numbers while she checked and rechecked herself in the rearview mirror for couple of times and then laid back again on her seat.

The first song ended, it was a romantic number. Can you play that again, she asked Sure, I said and replayed the song again. She enjoyed it. I could see her head swaying to the music. You have good taste, she said Thanks, I said and we both started enjoying the tracks.

The car was responding well to the music and to my skills. It time flew away very fast as we were busy with the beats of the music. She use to stare at me sometimes in between, but I didn’t care and kept my eyes on the road and ears on the speaker. Sound system was damn good. I don’t think Mr. Chavan would have played songs at this high volume. I was using his car to its optimum level.

After sometime, she stopped enjoying the songs and went into her own world. She was quiet and calm. She lay on her seat with her eyes closed. I thought she was trying to sleep, so I turned the volume low.

She opened her eyes as soon as I did that and looked at me. You want to sleep, right? I said She moved her head in negation and asked me to increase it and I did it. We crossed the beautiful scenic locations of Sangameshwar, and headed towards Chiplun. It was beautiful to see everything once again. Mountains, rivers, Sunlight making its way between the mountains, serpent like roads with breathe taking turns and twists on the ghats.

It was 11.00 am when we reached Chiplun. It took us 2 hours for us to cross 130 Kms. I slowed down the car as we entered the boundary of Chiplun. Do want to have anything; you must be hungry, you haven’t taken breakfast before leaving, I said She opened her eyes and pushed the button to straighten her seat. She sat straight now. Nilay, Hmm, I replied Can I ask you something? Go ahead Can we pull over at Khed, I want to see each and every place where you have spent your 2 years of MBA, It was a bouncer for me. I was surprised. From where do these ideas come to her mind? I said to myself. Please Nilay, please Pleaaassseee, she pleaded making a cute face, like a kid. Now who can say no to that, I said and nodded Great, I want to know each and every thing about this place, I want to see every place you have been to, I want to meet all the people with whom you used to interact or were related to your college life, she said excitedly. Are you sure you will be able to digest everything, I mean we were students back then, we used to go to shitty places too, No matter, I want to see all, she said with a stubborn look, Fine then, lets start from here, Chiplun itself.

Chiplun, she repeated a little puzzled Yes, Chiplun I drove for a kilometer or so and stopped the car outside a restaurant, I am not feeling hungry, I don’t want to eat, she said as she saw us stopping at the restaurant, This is the restaurant where Arham dated Asma for the first time. I accompanied him till here. I sat outside while he sat inside the family room with Asma. I showed her the place from the glass window of the restaurant. You mean you sat outside alone and he sat inside with his girlfriend, she asked Yes, How mean, That’s not mean, its called privacy, I replied She smiled and looked back to me.

I drove some more yards to reach the Chiplun ST bus stand and pulled over the car. She was excited again. I could see the excitement in her eyes. You see those buildings adjacent to the ST stand, Yes, what about them, she asked Pachi Gijare, stays there, You mean Amar’s girlfriend, Yes, I nodded Is she still staying here? Nop, she is in Pune right now, with Amar, I replied Are they married? She asked curiously Nop, Hmm, living in, she winked I don’t know, never spoken to him since college ended. But, you said he was one of your best friends at hostel, she asked Yes, he was, but things became bad in our second year and college ended on bad note.

I again started driving and stopped at the entrance of a huge gate towards my right. She started looking outside the window to see where we were. See towards your right, you see that gate; I asked pointing my finger towards the gate. She read DBJ College of Arts, Science & Commerce, okay, so this is the college, where Mahi used to study. She said And Asma too, Arham and I used to come to Chiplun to meet her, What? But you said she stayed in Kondivali, she was from Arham’s village right? She asked Yes, she was, but when her parents came to know about their relationship, they shifted her to Chiplun at her aunt’s place. She did her first year from here and then shifted to Panvel, New Mumbai. Okay, you mean the emotional sentimental family drama, Yup, I said and drove away the car.

I started driving again. We crossed the famous Parshuram Ghat, Lotte MIDC and at last Bhoste ghat - the same ghat on which I loved to sit for hours. I used to spend hours sitting on one of the dangerous turn on the ghat. The turn was sharp and elevated; it was one of the most accident-prone locations on the entire ghat. I pulled over as I reached the turn and asked her to get down of the car. She jumped out of the car before even listening to me. She went near the boundary wall of the road and stood up on the wall. I followed her. It still looks beautiful, I said as I saw the crevasse below. You used to come here, she asked enjoying the wind blowing with her arms widespread like a bird and eyes closed. Yes, I said Good, she said and ran towards the car and came back with a camera. She clicked some photo’s of the city, the railway station. I used to come here and sit for hours, I used to sit and stare at the wide-open space, the entire Khed city, the railway station, Bharna Naka, my college and the great Jagbudi River. I said taking long breathe.

You mean we have reached Khed, she opened her eyes and asked surprisingly I nodded, is this Khed? She asked again to confirm Yes, this is Khed. The place where I fell in love, the place that took away my love from me, I said and I could feel the warmth of the tear, which came in my eyes. She turned to look at me; she understood how I was feeling. I felt embarrassed and tried to hide my eyes. Come on lets go, I said and turned back to leave, I got into the car, turn the ignition on to start it; she remained there for a moment and then came inside the car.

Let’s eat something its 12.00 already, you must be hungry, I said As she sat in the car, I saw her fine long legs. Something stuck me and I said Before going ahead, I want you to wear something down, something decent, I insisted on the last word. Fine, fine, she said and pulled her small bag in front and pulled out a track pant. That’s decent, I said and drove down the ghat to reach Bharna Naka. She was silent and quiet now. I crossed Bharna Naka to reach the other end and pulled over outside a shitty looking hotel. I got down the car, she too followed, and she read the name Poonam Super Bar and Restaurant. Hey, this is the place where you boys use to booze and party. She said and clicked a photo of the hotel, still excited about the place. I entered the place. The owner recognized me; I could see the smile on his face. He gave a nod and I too nodded back. She asked me again the same question, Yes, I said I thought you would hate the place, but you are concerned about my story, I said and giggled Yaa, I know its stinky, but I have been to places which stinked more than this one, For example, I asked with a surprise The mortuary room, remember I am a doctor. Yaa, yaa, I remember that, I said I saw a familiar face coming towards us. Just then I remembered he was waiter. We use to call him daaji . Omkar had introduced him to us. He came near our table with a smile. Long time, he said. I smiled back and nodded, Same order, he asked No, not right now, I replied I will have one Chicken-Tikka and two Rotis, I said and daaji noted it on a piece of paper, And for Waini, he asked looking towards Anu, I looked at him and then towards Anu. I was about to clarify when Anu clutched my arm and interrupted in between, What do we have for lunch? She heard the entire list of dishes and finally ordered Chicken-Hyderabadi and two Rotis for her. Daaji smiled at her and left the table. He was happy to serve us or I mean her. I could see that for his face. Why did you stop me? I asked Mmm, I don’t know, I just did that, she replied with raised shoulders, He thought you are my wife, you pervert, I said So what…! She said and turned towards the TV set on which played some south Indian movie dubbed in Hindi, she was least interested in discussing what she had just done. In Marathi Waini means brothers wife (Bhabhi).

There were very few people in the hotel. Some of them were waiters, some new recruits I guess. She was feast for them. I was felt embarrassed now. The way they were looking at her made me feel uncomfortable. I felt like punching their faces, but resisted myself with the thought that they don’t know me. At the same time, they must be thinking how big fool I was, instead of taking such a beautiful girl to some good restaurant I have brought her in such a shitty place. To avoid those thoughts I needed a conversation, so I started one.

So, from where you want to start, I asked She looked at me, Mmm let’s start with your hostel, then we will go to your college, and then to Kondivali. Let us begin with these locations first, meanwhile I will think of some other locations. Phew, fine then let’s have lunch and move fast. If you want to see, so many locations than you better hurry. I said and she nodded thinking something in her head. These girls are so unpredictable. No one can guess, what is cooking into their brains. She was unpredictable. She was freaking me out now. I was getting afraid what she will do next or what she will say next.

My brain kept on giving me such thoughts. Daaji came back with our order in 10 minutes. He served us gently; his gentle behavior today was because of the girl sitting with me. He left the table after placing the order. Mmm, the food is so delicious; she said making a zero with her thumb and index finger. She showed it to daaji too. He smiled and nodded with thank you. They serve great food at cheaper rates and that is the reason we boys used party here, I replied. We finished the food and left the place. I paid 10 bucks as a tip to daaji before leaving. Anu saw me doing that and came back to me. Show me your wallet, she said Why? Don’t worry, I won’t see your girlfriends photo in it. Just show me naa, she said and pulled my wallet from my hand. She scanned through all the Rs. 500 notes and she found one Rs. 50 in it. She pulled out the note and gave it to daaji and said, the food was really nice daaji, and left for the car. The smile on daaji’s face became wider. I smiled back left towards the car.

I entered the car. She expected something stupid from me, and I saw she was prepared for it, but I didn’t. There was nothing to say. I simply smiled and drove towards the Khed city to reach the hostel.

I parked the vehicle near the gate. She got down the car and clicked some photos of the building. We entered the hospital met the Joshi family. Sir felt happy to see me again after such a long time. I remember sir use to come to our room and chat with us. Elder and experienced then us in every way, but always-behaved friendly with us, always considered us as younger siblings. We used to share everything to him that came to our stupid brain at that time, minus the topics on girls.

She met both Joshi sir and Joshi madam, who joined us after checking few patients that were waiting in queue. She played with their daughters. She continued this husband-wife drama in front of them also. She did the same thing in front of sir too; she clutched my arm and interrupted me in between when I tried to clarify. The funniest part in all this drama was people too accepted that she was my wife. Sir started narrating stories from our college days to her and she enjoyed them too. She enjoyed every moment at hostel and we left after an hour or two. While leaving Sir came to me and said, you are lucky Nilay that you have married to such a nice girl and she has become a part of your life. I am happy for you Nilay. I am very much happy for you. We left the place and drove towards my college – Vishwakarma Sahajeevan Institute of Management (VSIM).

As we reached the entrance of the college, I saw two buildings on either sides of the entrance. They were under construction during our last semester. Girls’ hostel I read on the small board and drove inside the college gate. She was ready with her camera to click some photos. I drove another hundred meters and I saw the huge building that stood right in front of us. I read the name on the huge board on the top of the building Madanbhai Sura Institute of Business Management (MSIBM). They have changed the name of the college, I said Yes, they have. It was VSIM right? She asked Yes, We went inside the college. They have changed the entire structure of it. The college looked more beautiful than it was during our days. We met some of the senior professors who knew me. We also met Mrs. Gokhale, I remembered everything, and we used to hate her. She was a vamp from Ekta Kapoor’s TV soap for us, but now when I think of all those time, I can understand why she behave so rude to us. She had responsibility at that time. Every action of ours could have spoilt the image of the institute and we were such a bunch of fools that we couldn’t understand her. She recognized me at first look. We chatted for some time. One of the professors insisted me to have a word with our new batch students too. He asked me to give them a motivational speech; I wasn’t prepared for such an extempore speech but Anu held my hand and nodded to go ahead. Professor allotted me 15 minutes but I ended up taking 30. Finally, we left the college on good note. I forgot to tell you all, she continued the husband-wife drama here too.

We left for Kondivali from college. It was 3.30 pm in the afternoon. The sun was above our head releasing light with full intensity. I drove the car and crossed my hostel to reach the Jagbudi river. I took the turn and drove along the river until I reached the bridge. I showed her the place where Rohan and I used to sit every evening and wait for Manisha to come. I turned the car right and head towards Kondivali.

She clicked some photos of the river before turning towards Kondivali. She was carefully looking at the places I showed to her. I showed her the spot at which those two boys had drowed in the river. She took pictures of that too. Why are you taking pictures? I asked I don’t know, just wanted to take it, so doing it. She replied and I also didn’t ask her further. We crossed Alsur, I showed her the hut where Arham and I had stopped in the rainy night when Arham took me away from Rohan’s birthday party. As soon as we left Alsur, we entered the dark forest of Nigulkhadi , Anu came close to me clutched my arm tightly. Anu, Anu, I called her But, she hid her face by placing her head against my arm cap and tightly hugged my arm. She wasn’t responding to me. What happened Anu? I asked She shook her head in negation. Then why you are hiding your face, I asked I am scared. She said I pushed the accelerator and crossed the area as fast as possible. As soon as we crossed the area, I asked her to relax. She raised her head and looked at me and then outside the window to check whether we have really crossed it or not. After confirming, she went back to her previous position. What happened? I asked her again to tease her this time, Nothing, she replied a little embarrassed Somebody was scared today; I said to see her reaction, You also were scared when you came here first time, she said in her defense, But, Its hard to believe that a wild cat like you also gets scared, I giggled and said. Very funny, she said gave me a look.

We reached Kondivali and met some of the known faces. We met Omkar, and went to his farmhouse. What is special about this place? She asked as we entered the farmhouse Omkar looked at her and then towards me. He opened the door of the inner room and switched on the lights. She asked me again the same question with more curiosity this time, what is so special about this place? I sat on the stair, which led us inside to the inner room. Omkar came out of the room and smiled looking towards me. I will tell you later, I replied and lowered her curiosity at least for some time.

We roamed in the entire farmhouse; we saw the whole nursery with beautiful flowers and plants. We also enjoyed lots of coconut water, they are lot in numbers in his farmhouse. We enjoy everything, which is free of cost and so did we. We left the place at 5.00 pm in the evening. She enjoyed being here, I hope so and left Kondivali on good note.

So what’s next? I asked as we made our exit from Kondivali and crossed the Konkan railway over bridge above our head. Let’s have evening tea at Pethe, she said and converted her seat to semi-sleeper mode to relax. I drove the car to reach Khed. This time she didn’t realize when we crossed Nigulkhadi, she was busy enjoying the beats laying on her seat.

We entered Pethe hotel at 6.00 pm. I expected Mr. Pethe at the counter, but found his son Mayuresh sitting. He smiled at me when he saw me. I too replied in the same way. Mayuresh was one of our senior at college, so we knew each other. We went to the corner table, where we used to sit during our college days. So this is Pethe hotel, its good, she said Yes it is, I replied I wasn’t expecting it to be this clean and tidy, she replied Why? Due to my last experience at Poonam Super. She mocked I agreed to the fact and gave her a nod of affirmation.

As we finished our tea and about to leave the place, I saw, Mr. Pethe approaching nears the hotel. I paid the bill and went ahead to touch his feet. Anu followed me and she too did the same. Mr. Pethe saw me, placed his hand above my head, and praised with a smiling face. When Anu tried to do the same, he held her from her shoulder and asked her not to do so, Girls are not supposed to touch any feet, beta, it’s a sin, he said and placed his hand over her head.

As expected, she continued her husband-wife drama in front of him too. I could see Mr. Pethe’s face when he heard that she was my wife. He took us inside the hotel again and asked us to sit. He went back to the counter and came back with a small circular matchbox sized box. He touched the box to his forehead and handed over to Anu. Take it as a blessing from Devi maa, he said She quietly took it and slipped it inside her track pant pocket. We talked about our hypothetical wedding, actually, Anu spoke our wedding, which according to her happened six months ago, and we had come here to see Khed. Within no time she made a very convincing story. I was surprised to see Mr. Pethe was convinced with her lie and he too enjoyed listen to her. Of course she was Maratha from Konkan and a doctor too, she knew how to convince people and when the person if from her own land, then the job becomes easy.

It was 7.30 pm when we left Pethe hotel smiling and waving hands towards Mr. Pethe. Why did you touched his feet? According to the story he used to hate you for doing stupid things, he used to stare at you right? She asked as soon as I reversed the car to hit the road, The story is yet to be over, its incomplete, I said with a wink Hmm, she replied We reached Bharna-Naka and intead of going towards Mumbai, I turned the car on the road toward right which led us to Anmol. She read out the name and gave me confused expression. We are staying here tonight. I cannot drive at night, so we stay tonight and leave early in the morning. I will talk to Rohan and will ask him to convince your parents too. I said and got down of the car. No need, she said getting down the car, I will talk to them, don’t worry about them. Fine, I said and went to the reception. I thought Anmol was a hotel, she asked while the reception guy went to call for the bellboy, Yes, it is, but they have this facility of boarding and lodging too, I replied giving her the room key, What? Aren’t we staying together? Are you out of your mind, Don’t worry, I won’t rape you, I am vegetarian when it comes to boys, But I am not, I said Aahnn, I don’t think you can do anything to me…….even if I am nak…… The reception guy entered with the bellboy, No, but seriously. There is no need to spend so much on two rooms. We can share, she said Its 300 bucks per room, I interrupted her and followed the bellboy. She too followed me.

It was 8.30 pm when she walked into my room. I was lying on my bed tired. This journey has awakened the memories from my past. I was thinking about it, when she entered my room. Where are we planning to have our dinner? She said and lay herself on the bed besides me, I don’t feel like eating anything, if you want anything. You can order it in your room. I replied Actually I am also not feeling hungry, lets start with the story. This is perfect place; no one will disturb us here. We have entire night, so lets start, she said and sat on the bed with crossing her legs. I think we should rest, I said covering my face with my hand Oh come on, don’t be so lazy, I know you are not tired, come on. Please, please, please, please, please, she continued pleading and I had to get up to that. You know girls have this weapon and they know how to use it effectively against boys. She was very good at it. Before starting it again, I have two conditions, I said What? First – I need drink and I will drink, I said and waited her to respond And what is second? She asked Second – whatever I do tonight, you will be with me, no matter what, and you will stay with me, She made a face; I guess she was thinking something. After a moment of thinking, she agreed and asked me to go ahead.

I ordered some whisky for me and some cold drink for her. The waiter served the drinks in next few minutes and I started with my story. ^^^^^^^^

I hate you, but Rohan is my best friend

Second semester started and ended smoothly except for one incident that still makes me uncomfortable sometimes. Professor only focused on SGA, because our seniors didn’t performed well in their campus placements due to lack of confidence and other things which a company looks for in candidates. College management was very much worried about the placements and for us too, because if our seniors performed badly, then it would hamper our placements too and the college management was aware about this fact. College decided to prepare our batch to face such difficulty, so they started focusing on SGA more than our curriculum. Lectures were secondary things now and kept aside and management asked us to focus on SGA activities more.

We enjoyed it. Of course, it was better than sitting and listening to boring lectures in the classroom. SGA activities consisted of presentations on various topics from our subject, presenting case studies and newspaper articles. Group discussions, personality development lectures, and other such stuffs. I was good at everything so I trained other hostel mates for it.

My meeting sessions with Mahi continued in the same way. Sometimes I used to visit her other day too, thanks to surprise SGA sessions about which we used to get information on one-day prior notice, so Arham had to stay with us at nights at the hostel.

It was Friday, when we were supposed to give a presentation during our SGA. None of us from our group was prepared for it. It was Mrs Gokhale’s lecture and she started her sessions early in the morning instead of post recess. As none of us was prepared, everyone all screwed up, except me. I didn’t knew about the topic but I got enough time to look in to the book and prepare myself for the topic on which I had to present. I went and gave my best shot, Mrs Gokhale was convinced, and I managed to get satisfactory marks in that session.

The recess bell ranged and we all left for mess. While leaving, boys came to me and congratulated me for my performance. I saw Sunita was annoyed. We went to the mess and had our dinner. I tried to probe Sunita, but she didn’t respond. Then I started teasing her, but this time she responded, very badly. We had a huge fight during the recess. I was in anger, left my food in between, and went out of the mess. Everybody else continued to have his or hers. I went and waited beneath a tree near the mess for the boys to finish.

Rohan came after 5 minutes with his fucking swine face and started pitching me to say sorry to her. I was in no mood to go and talk, so I resisted and gave him a cold stare. Suddenly my mobile phone ranged, I took it out from my pocket and saw, and it was from my mom. I spoke to mom and she asked me to come home. She informed me that people were supposed to come to see my eldr brother and it was important for me to be at home. So I informed her that I would be there at 10.00 pm. I mentally calculated the time and decided to catch Mandawi express, which leaves at 4.30 pm from Khed.

Rohan was still standing with and listening to the entire conversation. So are you leaving? He asked Of course, I am leaving, I replied Fine, he said. So you are not sitting for the post recess lectures, he asked Of course, not, I replied

Arham came out of the mess and I informed him about my returning. He was okay with it and I asked him to drop me until railway station after picking my luggage from hostel. He too agreed to it. Of course, we never sat for post recess lectures so it wasn’t first time for him to bunk those lectures. I asked Rohan, if also want to come to Mumbai with me, but he refused. He had something else in his mind.

Arham and I went to hostel. It was 2.00 pm. I entered my room and started packing my luggage. I was though till 2.30 pm. Arham asked me to wait till 3.30 pm, because it was too early to go to station. We waited in my room and started a movie on my laptop. It was 3.20 pm when my mobile phone started ringing. I checked it. It was from Rohan. I picked it up. Hello, I said and heard Sunita’s shouting voice in the background. I thought they are together and making fun out of me. Nilay, I need you, where are you? Rohan asked in a concerned voice I am at hostel, why, what happened? I questioned, as I understood something was wrong. Rohan was not the type of the person who would require anyone so desperately. The concerned in his voice made me desperate and worried. I am on railway station road, please come here right now, he replied But what happened? I asked him again but sternly this time, Something has gone wrong with Sunita, please come immediately, he said, I could hear Sunita’s voice in the background shouting on something.

I was furious and at the same time confused about what Rohan had just informed me. I thought she must have created a scene in anger and Rohan was unable to handle her. I rode the bike with Arham as pillion towards railway station. We crossed the Mango forest where I daily met Mahi, I even tried to look towards the stairs to check whether she was there, but I didn’t see her. I went ahead and saw Rohan and Sunita on Sunil’s bike. Rohan have stopped his bike as he saw us approaching. I stopped the bike on the opposite side of the road and got down. What happened? I asked Rohan Sunita got down the bike and stumbled off the road on the grass. Rohan got down the bike and tried to pick her up. As soon as she saw me, she started shouting at me, You, you bastard, you dog? What do you think of yourself? I want to kill you, I thought she was shouting at me in anger, I smiled and went near her. She was still shouting. Suddenly I smell alcohol from her mouth. Fuck, are you drunk? I asked her Is she drunk? I faced Rohan and asked He made face and gave me affirmation with a nod. Did you give it to her? I asked again sternly I am sorry man, he replied Fuck you asshole, you son of a bitch, I said furiously

She was still shouting and blabbering. It was time for passengers of Mandawi to come to station. Autos have already started passing by. People from the auto were looking at us. It was not safe for us to stay there so we decided to leave and go somewhere else. What did she had? I asked Beer How much? A can, he replied I mentally calculated the time she will take to come to her senses, that is at least an hour. However, if we stay here till one hour, she will definitely get us expelled from the college. Sunita come lets go, I said and pulled her towards Arham’s bike, but she threw my hand away, How dare you touch me, you son of a bitch, you bloody asshole. I will kill you if you touch me again, I don’t want to come with you, she shouted,

Passerby started looking towards us. The scene was becoming more and more embarrassing now. I tried again, but she again did the same. This time she added one more statement; I will bring my father’s gun and shoot you in head,

The main problem was that, Rohan, Arham and she all the three were in college uniform, so everybody knew us. It was becoming more and more dangerous for us to spend a single minute there, so I asked Rohan to go and sit on Arham’s bike and I decided to ride Sunil’s.

I sat on the bike and asked her to sit sternly. Instead of sitting, she hit me on my back. My head started spinning with anger and I decided to slap her now. I turned back to slap her, but before that ZZzzzaaaattt@#$*, Rohan had already done the honor; he grabbed her hand and pushed her to sit on the bike. She was shocked. She held her cheek and quietly sat on the bike. I pushed the starter and turned the bike towards highway. Arham and Rohan followed us. I took a sigh of relief. I was riding slowly, because I knew that she was not in her senses and if I rode the bike fast, she can stumble on the highway, which was more dangerous.

I signaled Arham to come parallel to me. Where should we go? I asked Arham. He nodded and said let me make a call, and rode the bike speedily and went ahead, a kilometer ahead I guess,

She was still blabbering and cursing me. She was sitting with me and she was cursing me. After the slap, she completely forgot that I was riding the bike and she was sitting behind me. She thought she was sitting with Rohan. She thought I was Rohan.

You know Rohan, we will bring my father’s gun and shoot that Nilay asshole in his head. What does he think of himself? He is an asshole. Whenever I go and try to talk to him, he shows me attitude. We will tell him to shove it in his ass. Bastard

She was now getting into my nerves, but I knew her talking means safety for her. If she stop talking and sleeps then she can fell down from the bike, so I had to keep her engage.

Soon I reached the place where Arham and Rohan were waiting for us. Lets go to the farmhouse, Arham said as we approached near his bike, Just then, I remembered that about Omkar - one of Arham’s local friends from Kondivali who owns a farmhouse, which is at the other end of Kondivali. We had partied there with him twice and it was the best place to take care of such roaring beauty.

But we will have to go other way, he said and I froze Can you do it, he asked me I remained silent and thought about the route repeatedly inside my head. Can I? Rohan said Arham gave him a dead look and said you better shut the fuck up, its ghat not plain road. Rohan is not a perfect rider. I could ride on small village roads but not on highways and ghats.

The other way to Kondivali consisted of ghats with sharp turns and twists, and the first one was Bhoste itself. We had to ride eleven Kms up on Bhoste towards Chiplun and then six Kms off the highway, which too consisted of two more ghats. It was dangerous for her, but we had to do it. We didn’t had other option, so I nodded and we started riding towards Bhoste ghat.

I was riding ahead. Arham and Rohan were following us. We were riding at twenty kilometers per hour. She was still blabbering and cursing me, sometimes shouting in my ears. At times, I felt like jumping off the bike and letting the bike go off the mountain, but I resisted. Few minutes later, Arham came parallel to us, as he saw the road is empty. I saw Rohan was smiling now, I guess he felt stronger with Arham, and me. He was enjoying now, but I was in no mood to spare him, so I gave him cold look.

As we started riding up towards the mountain, I wanted her to hold me so that I can avoid her falling off the bike. I even thought of making Rohan sit behind her, but then she might jump off the bike as I stop and then again making her sit would require another slap from the swine on her cute fair cheek. I resisted the idea of stopping and I started talking to her and thought of convincing her to hold me.

Sunita, why don’t you tell me what is Nilay’s fault? What? You are asking me his fault. Whenever I try to talk to him, he gave me his shit attitude. He thinks he is the only one. But why do you go and talk to him then? Hey, is this ghat? She asked cutting the topic in between Yes it is, just then an idea came to my mind and I planned to execute the same. Ok Sunita, Hmm, I am feeling scared, can you hold me tight so that I should not fall of the bike, You are afraid, don’t worry. I am there naa. I will help you. She said and held me tightly from my chest as if she is my girlfriend. Rohan saw everything and shouted from back. Oye, what are you doing, he said She loosened her grip, Hup, don’t you see he is afraid of ghat, she said and again held me tight.

So you didn’t answer my question Sunita, I said What? Why do you go and talk to him, if he is such a asshole, Because, Mmm, I don’t know. Hey why are you riding so slow, ride fast, she again went off the topic and loosened her grip, Sunita , I shouted as I felt as if she might fall off, What? Why are you yelling? She shouted back I said I am afraid and you left me. I might fall off, Oh hain, I just forgot that you were afraid, she again held me tightly.

Yaar Rohan, you are such a coward. You are scared of falling off the bike? Give it to me I will ride, Sorry I am not insured What? Nothing, I am not scared of falling off the bike, I am scared of falling off the ghat, I clarified Oh hain, she said Sunita, I called her again Hanji, Why do you go and talk to him? I said no, I don’t know. You know what Rohan, you are my best friend and that bastard friend of your is my best enemy, she said and giggled near my ear, Yaa, I can see that, I replied Rohan, she called Hmm, When does he sleep? At night, I replied Of course, everybody sleeps at night you pervert, I mean at what time? At 11.00 pm, I replied. Why? Lets go to your hostel at night and cut off his long nose which he always keeps high, she said and laughed aloud Think how he will look like without a nose, she said and again laughed and made me smile too.

She was pulling my leg. She was cursing me, but I didn’t felt bad about it. In fact I was enjoying it. She was cute at doing so. At least she was helping me in keeping my horrible thoughts aside. I was concerned about three things. First – she should not fell asleep, second – she should not fell off the bike, and third – she should not puke on me.

Soon the farmhouse was nearly a kilometer away. Arham came parallel to me and asked me to wait at the gate, till then he will go and bring Omkar along with him. I nodded and he rode away. I rode slowly; I wanted to pass the time till he comes back.

She was still out of her senses. She was still interested in blowing my head with her father’s gun. She still wanted to cut my nose and she still wanted to hit me badly. She still hated me from her heart and Rohan was still her best friend. She was still busy making plans with Rohan to knock me down. I was now in front of the gate. I stopped the bike and waited for Arham to return. She tried to get off the bike and stumbled on the road itself. I got off the bike and tried to make her stand.

Rohan, I have an good idea this time, listen to me carefully, she said and brought her alcohol stinking mouth near mine. Oh, god, now I came to know how bad our mouth stink when we drink alcohol. I said to myself. As she brought her lips near my ears, I saw the red mark on her cheek, probably due to the slap from Rohan. Her fair cheek had turned red; I could see the finger marks on her fair cheek. Son of a bitch, I should have given him that on his face, I thought.

We will take him to cliff and push him from there. Nobody will come to know about it, right…! She said But why do you hate him so much? I asked Because of the fucking attitude he always showed to me, whenever I try to talk to him, Then why do you go to him, I asked her with a loud voice Because I fucking like him, you asshole, she said in one shot Fuck, was the only word that came out of my mouth. I went numb; no words came out of my mouth. I was speechless dumbass starring at her face. Meanwhile Arham, Rohan and Omkar came on the other bike. Omkar got down the bike and looked at her top to bottom.

She had spoilt her shirt and pant with dirt and mud by falling and stumbling on and off the road twice. Omkar went to the gate and opened it. He asked us to bring the bike inside the gate, so that no one comes to know about our presence. We went inside, Omkar unlocked the house, and we went inside the house.

He had all the facilities there. He had landline phone, a gas stove, electricity supply and other basic things, which are required for living. He showed us the bathroom where he asked us to wash her face so that she can lose her hangover a bit. I wasn’t interested in handling her more, she had become pain in my ass, so I asked Rohan to go and do the needful.

Rohan threw his bag, took her to the bathroom, and opened the door. I asked him to sit at the door and then wash her face, as she was not in condition to remain stood. He threw one mug of water at her face, Fuck you bastard, she screamed. Water was cold, I guess.

I sat behind them on the stair, which led to the inner room. I was now enjoying the scene with continuous laugh and giggle. Arham was busy with cooking something on gas. Omkar went out in the nursery for something.

Rohan again threw another mug, followed by third and fourth, and then waited with the third one in his hand for her to wipe her face and breath. As she wiped her face, he again threw another one, Okay, okay, I am fine now you asshole, stop doing that, she replied hitting him on his face, I laughed aloud. She turned to see.

She saw me enjoying the scene and her expression changed from irritation to anger. You bastard, she said and snatched the mug from Rohan’s hand and threw it on me. The mug hit my forehead and I laughed more. She then looked for something and she found a broom, the next thing I saw was broom hitting my face. I got up to run and within no time, I was out of the house.

Meanwhile Omkar came back with dozens of lemon from nursery. He asked me to come along inside. He entered the house and I followed him. He squeezed two lemons into the boiling water, which Arham had done on the gas. What is it? I asked Omkar This is black lemon tea, it will help her to come back to her sense, he replied I don’t want that, I want to enjoy some more, I replied He poured it in a steel glass and gave it to me. Take and give her to drink this, Omkar said handing me the glass. I went back and saw her sitting on the same stair with her hand on her head, I guess paining from hangover.

Drink it, it will help you, I said and brought the glass in front of her face. She didn’t look at me and took it from my hand. She took a gulp of it and made a shitty face, Fuck, what is this? She said This is your medicine, I said controlling the laughter on my face, Come on drink it, I said and touched the bottom of the glass and forced her to drink. She held her nose and drank it in two big gulps. Aaaaa….shit….hhhhhh, she made noise and I laughed again, She looked at me standing and threw the glass on my face. The glass hit me on my jawbone and again I was out of the house laughing uncontrollably.

I remained out of the house for some time and then went back inside. She was still sitting on the stairs. She held her head in the hands. She raised her head as she saw me approaching. Okay, fine we can fight later, but we have to leave now, the day had turned to evening, I replied She was in pain. She nodded. I went to Rohan who was lying on the bed in the inner room, tired. Dude, lets go, I have to leave for Mumbai, you know that, I said Rohan sat on the bed as I finished talking. I am coming with you, he said What? Yes, I am coming with you, he repeated I am coming too, Sunita replied from behind Are you both sure, I asked Yes, Then lets go, I said and we left the place along with Omkar and Arham.

While leaving Arham asked us to drop by his home and meet his mother, so that if anybody have seen us, we can say that we went to Arham’s house. I liked the idea and we went to his house. We met his mother, his elder sister – didi and left an hour later.

Rohan and I went to our hostel, while Arham went to drop her. I asked Arham to drop her at Bharna were we could get any private vehicle till Mumbai. We left Sunil’s bike at hostel and asked him to pick it from there. We reached bharna by auto. Arham and Sunita were waiting for us. She had only taken her laptop and a tourist bag along with her. I had packed everything in my one bag. Rohan too had his own laptop bag and another tourist bag.

We waited for some time and luckily, we got a private cab for Mumbai. It was Maruti Van. The driver sold almost every space he could sell in the car. We occupied entire back of the car. We three somehow managed to fit on that one seat. I sat on right corner, while Rohan sat on left. Sunita sat at the center.

We left Bharna and I started pulling her leg by making fake stories about what she did in her drunken state. She displayed multiple emotions, when I narrated her the story. I told her everything what she did to me, said to me, what she did to herself by falling, minus what she said at the end outside the farmhouse gate. I didn’t wanted her to know that I know what is there in her mind.

She felt embarrassed sometime, scared sometime, didn’t believe sometime. I even said that she kissed me while riding and she was speechless. She felt embarrassed and bend her down. I also told her how she planned to kill me, cut my nose, blow my head with her father’s gun and she laughed. Even the driver enjoyed the story.

Finally, when I finished my story, I asked Rohan to narrate his. He first hesitated but then started narrating on my insistence. When you left after fighting with her, she was furious and angry. She told me that she will talk to me after college, but then when I informed her that you are not attending post recess lectures and you are leaving for Mumbai, she too dropped the idea of attending lectures. She wanted to confront you, but didn’t had guts to stand in front of you. She wanted something, which can help her in facing you. I joked and asked her to have a drink. She liked the idea and she said lets do it. I too went ahead without even thinking about the consequences. I borrowed Sunil’s bike and we went to Bharna and bought two cans of beer. I kept both the cans in my bag and rode towards Raghuveer Ghat. We needed a place where we can have drink without anyone seeing us. I rode the bike few kilometers and suddenly she started shouting and blabbering about you. Initially I thought she is doing it due to her anger, but after sometime, I realized something was wrong, so I stopped the bike to see. I saw her drinking the beer from the can. I thought she is drinking from her can, so I looked for mine and checked the bag. I found none. Fuck, she was drinking from my can. I asked her about the other can. she said she had already drunk it and threw the can at last kilometer. She took the final gulp of the can and threw it of the road. She tried to get up, but stumbles on the road. She started shouting and screaming taking your name. Scared by her behavior, I decided to call you. Somehow, I managed to bring her till railway station and then I called you. Further what happened, you know that.

I looked at her. She was looking down. She was embarrassed. Its okay relax, I said with an assuring look, She smiled and I smiled back too. My head is still paining, she said You need to rest, you need to sleep, I said She closed her eyes and placed her head on my shoulder. I looked at her and then towards Rohan. She had closed her eyes, Rohan was looking outside the window. I turned to look outside the window and enjoy the beautiful scenic view of the mountains. She suddenly came close to my ear and whispered Sorry for everything , and went back to sleep.

We got down the cab at Panvel and took train towards Thane. Rohan went home. Sunita took bus for her home and I took train for mine.

Third Semester

Second semester ended with full of surprises. Rohan was engaged to Manisha, Amar was engaged to Priya Gijare, Sunil was engaged to Priya Tambe, Arham was already involved with Asma. Inshort love was in the air and everybody was busy with his or her own mates. No I wasn’t engaged to Sunita because I was already engaged to Mahi, not actually engaged, but we shared the same kind of relationship. I haven’t proposed her yet, but we were more like a couple, so never thought anything about Sunita.

It was our third semester and we asked to join a company for our summer internship projects. I produce a fake certificate as others did and stayed at Khed. I didn’t left khed during my vacation. I didn’t wanted to stay away from Mahi, so I dropped the idea of going home. I went home, but only for few days and came back.

Meeting Mahi was a difficult task. I used to walk two kilometers at night, come back in the morning, and sleep whole day. This had become my daily routine. I couldn’t call Arham daily or Friday too, as there were no college or SGA’s, so I didn’t have choice. She was angry on me during the initial days, but then she too couldn’t stay away from me.

The third semester started and everybody came back to Khed. As I said love was in the air, everyone seems lost with his or her mates. Suddenly Khed has turned from the most hated place to the most romantic place. The Shit Mountains had turned to beautiful mountains. People had turned from boring and senseless to sensitive. Before meeting Mahi I used to curse girls for changing boys, but soon after meeting her and getting into relationship with her I too changed a lot. It was then I understood that it is not the girls, who change boys; it is love that compels them to change. So did I. I changed myself from what I was to what she wanted me to be. I could have remained the same, she haven’t told me to do so, but I did it for her happiness. It is so strange that boys like me, who always believe in themselves, could go to such an extent in love.

It was the case with our boys too. Rohan was now more sensitive and always spoke sensible. Sunil was now more responsible and Priya Tambe always saw that he sat for all the lectures. Priya Gijare asked Amar, not to stay with Rohan and Nilay, and immediately asked to leave their company. Amar left us and told her that we are not on talking terms, but he was still smoking, eating, sleeping, staying, and sometime even boozing with us. Girls always kept tab on their boys. They handled the boys as their pets, whenever Rohan did something stupid she pulled his ears and fixed everything for him. Whenever Sunil didn’t performed well in his presentations or assignments even Priya’s beautiful eyes behind the spectacles used to kill him by stares. When Amar used to talk something stupid or pass comment on something, the first person to give him the review was Priya Gijare. If she smiled then he was successful and saved his ass or else, screwed for some day.

Arham and I always remained spectators and enjoyed every moment of it. Definitely, we missed our girls too. Arham missed Asma, who was in Chiplun and I missed Mahi who was probably at her home. We always considered others lucky; at least they had their mates with them and unlucky us bound by situations and conditions.

The group members always considered me as single and always expected me to mate with Sunita, but I always turned their expectation down saying, I am not interested. i knew somewhere I my heart that I am already engaged to Mahi, My Mahi.

The third semester ended with bitterness in some of the hearts. Everyone was busy with his or her own mates. People considered Arham and me as odd man out. We never cared about it. People started going out for picnic without even considering us. They denied the fact that we too did existed. They went to Mahableshwar (a hill station 80 kilometers from Khed) and we both were unaware about it. We came to know about it later during one of our boozing sessions. I was a bit hurt, but then stopped thinking about it, because thinking about it pained me more.

The Last Semester

Days passed and the third semester ended too. I had a job offer from leading Logistics Company in my hand. Mahi was happy when she heard about it, she hugged me and kissed me on cheek that night.

Soon our fourth semester started, the final semester of the two years MBA program. Attending lectures was a sin for us to do. In fact, the word lecture became an alien word for us. Even professors didn’t cared to take any of them. Everyone enjoyed the free time either sitting at mess or going out to new destinations around Khed. There were many of them around. Especially the beaches, the beaches in Konkan can beat any beach in Goa. The best part of beaches in Konkan is that they are untouched by outsiders and tourists, so they have survived from getting spoilt by outsiders. People are still not aware about the beauty of Konkan, they just know that konkan consist of mountains and ghats, but they don’t know Konkan is rich with its beaches too.

We had a subject called MCS (Management Control & Systems) in our last semester. It was university subject for us and as I said professors didn’t took any of the lectures, so we all decided to go to Mumbai and join some coaching classes for the same. I left Khed and spent two months at Mumbai for my preparations. It was tuff for me to survive, but I somehow managed to cope. It was tuff for Mahi too. I remember my last night with her. She hugged my arm and wept entire night with her head on my shoulder. She had made it worse for me to leave Khed. I too cried with her. Some part of her wanted me to stay, but some part of her knew that it was good for me, so she didn’t oppose. I could read it from her face. I cursed myself for being the reason for every precious tear rolling down her eyes. They were precious to me. I could have given million times my soul for them. Finally, I left next morning for coming back once again for her. I knew I would come back, come back not only for my studies but also for her. I will have to come back and I will come back.

Finally days passed like centuries and I too came back after my two months coaching sessions. She was happy to see me again. We spent the night talking about my days in Mumbai. We spoke on the professor, the boys from the group and their girls, my family and other things. I could see the happiness in her eyes. It filled me with strange emotions, the day I left she cried a lot and the day I came back she was happy, she wanted to fly with happiness, she wanted to tell everyone about my returning, she wan ted to celebrate it.

Days passed, I could see her behavior changing. I could see a concern on her face, I didn’t realize what it was, but the concern on her face made me concern too. I tried to ask her many times, but she didn’t shared anything. I wanted her to give away her concern to me, but she didn’t budge and asked me to concentrate on my studies.

Finally, it was our last month at college. March months had already started. I was happy, but soon realized that this was my second last month at Khed. I will have my exams in April and I will be leaving this place soon. I will be leaving Mahi soon. No, I will not leave without Mahi, I wont leave Mahi at any cost, I will take her with me, I said to myself But why will she come, with you, I asked to my self Because she loves me and I love her too, I replied to myself Have you ever spoken to her about your love, she even don’t know that you love her you dumbass, I replied I have nothing to answer to my own question. I had to tell her, I will tell her, I said to myself. But when? Tonight, I said and left the college.

I went to meet her that night, but failed to tell her. I tried a lot but words didn’t seem to come out of my mouth. I missed that day. I decided to tell her in the next meeting, but wasn’t able to meet her for two days due to Arham’s brothers wedding which I had to attend.

Days passed and I was unable to tell her. Whenever I tried and was about to spell out the final words she changed the topic as if she was diverting me from the topic. It always took some time for me to build up the environment and ambience to tell her, but whenever I reached the breaking point, she diverted me by telling something or the other. Sometime I thought she was testing my patience.

Soon March got over and it was 1 st April, the first day of my preparatory leave. Our exams were about to start from 15 th April and we were given leave of fifteen days to prepare. I was restless and tired of her game. I wanted to tell her everything; I wanted to make her understand how much I loved her. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her. Finally, I decided to tell her that day. I prepared myself whole day for the coming night. I practiced some lines. I bought a bouquet of red roses, which was very hard to find at Khed so I went to Chiplun to get them. I bought a family pack of chocolate to celebrate with her. I hid them in my wardrobe inside my clothes, so that none of my roommates could see it.

I went to meet her at night. I hid the bouquet and the chocolate beneath the Mango tree and went down the stairs to meet. Initially I was furious at her for not allowing me to propose her, but then I realized that I was not fixing a deal, it wasn’t a corporate deal where I can show my disappointment to the opposite party, so I changed my tone and said. Hey, Hey sweetu, she replied How are you? Fine, and you? Always fine. You know why? Because I am in love with you sweetheart, Stop flirting, she said No seriously, I am, I argued and she laughed

What? You think I am joking. I asked Okay, okay I can agree you are in love with me, she said still laughing as if convincing a kid that she will buy him a chocolate, I knew I was making a fool out of me, but I knew that this is the best opportunity I could have and this is the right moment to strike.

I held her face into my palms and looked straight into her eyes. For a moment, she thought I am continuing the joke, but then when she looked into my eyes, she understood that I wasn’t. She stopped laughing. I could see her expressions changing from laugh to serious.

Mahi, Hmm, she whispered Believe me, I am not joking anymore. The moment I saw you first time, I knew I was in love with you, The moment I saw you first time, I knew god had bestowed his best gift upon me, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one with whom I will be spending my entire life, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the most precious thing that ever happened to me, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one for whom I could give away every breath of mine, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one who can complete me, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one with whom I will have two dozens of kids to play around, The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one for whom I can give away my life million times. The moment I saw you first time, I knew you are the one for whom I can sell my soul million times to have yours back. The moment I saw you first time..

I could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. I didn’t know what happened. I was confused. I just said those words to make her trust me and believe me for a moment I became a poet. I have never tried my hands on poetry and I was sure I had screwed everything. However, I just wanted to convince her that I was seriously in love with her. She was weeping softly without breaking the eye contact with mine. I didn’t know what was happening, but whatever it was it was killing me from inside.

I opened my mouth to say something, just then she shushed me and kept her index finger on my lips to stop. Now she had my face into her palms. She was still staring into my eyes. We remained as it is for some time and then she turned her face away to wipe her tears. She wiped her tears and said

I need to go, she said and stood up to leave What..! Are you serious? I said in shocked It is hardly 3.30 am, and you need to go, I said. You even haven’t answered to what I just said few moments before, I said in irritation, I will answer your every question, but before that, you finish your exams and then come back to me; I will answer all your questions. She said and left me sitting. She went down few steps and stopped to turn back. One more thing Nilay, today was our last meeting. Don’t come here from tomorrow onwards, now we will meet after your last paper. She said and left. What? No, You cannot do this to me, Wait, But, she disappeared in the darkness of the night. ^^^^^^^^ I was one bottle down now. Tipsy, I was talking less and blabbering more. I was fighting with my body to keep my eyes open. Hey, can you drive, I asked looking at Anu who was deeply involved with her thoughts. Of course you can, I answered my own question with a giggle and threw the keys towards her. She caught it, hmm you should be in Team India, you will play better than they will, and I giggled again. I know people start making funny pj’s and laugh at the own creation. People too join them but not on their pj’s but on them.

I somehow managed to stand up from my bed with shaky legs and shivering hands. Anu came rushing towards me to help. She held my hand and put across her shoulder. She put her arm across my waist to keep me standing. We left the room. Anu didn’t asked me where we were heading. We slowly went downstairs and reached the reception counter.

The receptionist was sleeping on his chair with his legs on the counter. Ask him to open the gate and tell him that we will be back in the morning, I whispered in her ear.

She did the same and soon we were in our car. She helped me in sitting in co-passenger seat and locked me with the seat belt. She too sat and reversed the car to hit the road. I switched on the played the music player. It played the song “in the end” from Linkin Park. Fuck, I love rock, I said and turned the volume full.

I directed her towards Khed. The road was empty, she was driving fast and the music too matched the rpm of the car. The speakers were blasting the rock music out of them and I was enjoying the same. I repeated the same song twice. Soon we reached Khed and I asked her to turn the car towards the river, she did it and we were running parallel to the river Jagbudi. We reached the bridge and she turned the car to cross the bridge. I guess she now knew where we were heading. She then turned the car towards left towards railway station and soon we left behind the last lit bulb outside the last house. She drove few hundred yards and I asked her to pull over. She parked the car off the road towards the right.

She got down the car. I too opened the gate and tried to get out, but failed. I tried again but failed again. she came running towards me and bent down to unlock the seat belt. Fuck, so the bloody seat belt was holding me, I said and giggled.

She again held me from my waist and we crossed the road to reach the stair. What time is it? I asked Its 2.30 am, She checked it in her watch and said, We went near the first step of the stair. I took out my first step with a hope to see her today. Every step I took increased my curiosity and hope. Even today, my excitement was high. Even today, I wanted to see her. Even today, I felt like the same as I felt when I met her first time. Finally, we reached the step where we used to sit and she was not there. I bent down to sit, Anu helped me in sitting, and she too sat beside me in the same way, the way in which Mahi used to sit. I wanted to cry aloud, I wanted to shout, I wanted to …but resisted the urge. I knew any of such action could frighten Anu and I didn’t wanted that to happen. I stared at her for a moment and then started to narrate further.

^^^^^^^^

The Day of My Last Paper

I somehow managed to give my papers. Her last sentence kept on hitting my brain every time. she had asked me not to come that that was our last meeting, she called me Nilay instead of Nilu that day, such thoughts kept on filling my mind. I would have gone mad if Arham and Rohan would not have been there with me. They gave me company. Rohan too took break from Manisha, in other words she kicked him out of her life for some days, so that he could focus on his studies.

Surviving without her was tuff job. It was very difficult for me to live without seeing her. I had almost become a maniac. Sometimes I used to behave strange. It was our fourth paper. Arham and I had our breakfast at Bharna that day, while returning I was in no mood to return to hostel so early. I wanted to see her. I was desperate, desperate enough to do something stupid. I asked him to take me somewhere. I knew I won’t be able to see her during the daytime, so wanted to go some place where I can have some peace. We reached a junction and Arham stopped the bike. You tell me where to go? He said Anywhere, I said I don’t know any place with the name anywhere, so you better give me the name, he replied Fine then lets on the girls hostel road, I said I knew the girls hostel road ended at the riverbank of Jagbudi. The riverbank at which, Mahi had shown me her house during our meetings at nights. I wanted to see her once. Arham rode the bike and we crossed the girls hostel. Dude what are we doing here? There is nothing to see here on this road, he said I wanted to see where it ends, I replied and he rode As we crossed all the bunglows in the row, my curiosity and desperation increased. Finally, we reached the last row of the house. I read the nameplate outside the gate “Mahira House”. I asked him to pull over and he did so. I saw the main door closed. We got off the bike and waited there. Arham looked at me; I pretended to see the flowing river and the Bhoste ghat that stood in front of us. However, I was trying to overhear voices from inside the house, but there was none. Finally after waiting for some time we left the place. I wanted to wait for some more time, but Arham was getting restless and annoyed.

It was my last paper. I completed the paper and left the examination hall early. It was becoming impossible for me to sit there even for a second. I ran out of the college gate. I left the college without even waiting for Arham or Rohan to come. I ran towards Khed, I ran like a mad man. People looked at me in shock. I just wanted to get out of that place. Everything was killing me. I was frustrated and irritated. I was in anger. I was in pain. I was wild. I ran down the streets of Konda village to reach Khed.

I crossed my hostel; I ran down the river and turned towards the railway station. People were looking at me. I ran towards the railway station and reached the stairs. I ran down the stairs and stopped on the step where we meet every night and I sat.

Afternoon passed,

Evening passed,

Birds left for their houses. Sun too went somewhere deep inside the mountains. Evening turned to dark. Soon the night came. I still sat there waiting for her.

It was time now, time for her to come. I saw her coming with a smile on her face, the smile that eased my pain, my desperation, my curiosity, and my anger. I could have given anything for that smile. She came near and sat beside me.

Hey sweetu, Hey sweetheart, I replied So, how was your exam, she asked. Did you study well? Are we here to discuss about my exams, I said in irritation, At least you can reply, she said sternly Yes, they went well, and yes I studied for my exams well and I hope they will pass me, I answered sarcastically. It could have been better, minus that flickering nose of yours. She said and chuckled I gave her a cold look. Mahi please, I am dying here, and you are I interested in making jokes, I said. Will you tell me? What? She asked Please stop pretending and say it, I said But what? That you love me, god damn it, I replied loudly this time,

No, I am not going to say that, she said But why? Don’t you love? I asked Its not that Nilu, Then what it is? Can we talk on something else? She asked No, we cannot, we will talk on this topic and you will tell me why you can’t tell me that you love me, she said I cannot Nilu, please understand my problem, she pleaded No, I cannot until you tell me what it is, I replied I cannot tell you the problem, Nilu. Please don’t force me, she pleaded No, I want some answers today and I won’t leave until I get those, I said sternly Nilu, please, she pleaded again What is it Mahi, come on tell me what is it, I asked, and is it because of my religion? No, it’s not, she cried And if it is, I don’t mind if you pray to Allah instead of Ram, I don’t mind you celebrate Eid instead of diwali, No, it’s not Nilu, she cried aloud this time. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Seeing her in this way, my eyes too joined her in her agony. Then what it is? I asked her again Please stop it Nilu, Is it because of you think your parents won’t allow? I asked No, it’s not, If it is then let me come to your house and talk to them, I am sure I can convince them and if not. We will go away from this place. No it’s not Nilu, it’s not, Then what it is Mahi? What it is? I asked again and my eyes burned with tears and lack of sleep. I can’t tell you Nilu, I can’t tell you, she said still crying in pain Is it because of me? Nooooo, she said interrupting me If it’s me, then please give me some time, I will change myself for you, whatever you say will be on my first priority. No, it’s not you, she said hitting my shoulder, If it’s not me, then I don’t have any issue accepting you as it is. I want you the way you are. I said I am not good, I used to be a good, not anymore, she said It doesn’t even matter, Mahi. I don’t care. I want you. I need you. You are the one who completes me. I can’t even think of something else when I am with you and I don’t want to think anything else when I am away from you, I said I wish I could explain Nilu, I wish I could explain, she said wiping her tears. Then I want you to explain it me Mahi. Come on explain me, I said sternly. She cried aloud and I cried too. We both were in pain and agony. She was not ready to open up her heart and I was in no mood to spare her that day. It was my last day and I had to know what was there in her heart. I pushed her more to open up, but she didn’t. At last I was so frustrated and angry that I stood up to leave.

You love me, but you can’t say it. I love you, but I cannot love you. I want you, but I cannot have you. You want me but cannot have me. I feel complete when you are with me and will remain incomplete without you, and believe me there is nothing in my life without you. What miserable my life had become? I cannot take this pain anymore, it’s better to die and give away my life and get rid of the pain and agony rather than bear this unbearable pain. I said and started walking down the stairs towards the river.

She ran behind me and grabbed my hand. No, you wont hurt yourself, promise me you won’t hurt yourself. She said and hugged me. Then why don’t you tell me what it is? I asked and tears rolled down my cheeks again, Fine, I will tell you everything, but before that, you have to promise me something. Anything for you, anything you say. I replied Promise me, you will never do anything stupid that will hurt you. I promise, I won’t do anything stupid that will hurt me, I said and she took me to the step to sit.

Believe me Nilu, any girl would love to fall in love with you. I will consider that girls as the luckiest girl in the whole world, but I cannot be that luckiest girl, But why? I asked and she started narrating her story.

Mahi’s Story

It was October 18, 2009, the year in which my father returned from Qatar after spending eight years of his life working there alone. I was happy to see my father again after so many years. He said he came to celebrate my birthday with me. My mother and grandparents too were happy to see him.

We spent our entire day together. We went to Chiplun. We ate together. This was the first time I saw my mother so happy. I could see the happiness in her eyes. My father was a rich man. He was running his own business in Qatar. My grandfather was proud of him. No one in the entire taluka had achieved the level, which my father had. I wanted to go be with him. I wanted to stay with him. He loved me and I loved him too.

Soon it was evening and my house filled with neighbors and relatives. We all celebrated my birthday happily. I didn’t knew, this would be the last time, I was smiling. Soon it was night and everybody left the house after dinner. It was 11.00 am. I was lying in my bed, my parents had just left my room. We spoke for more than an hour before the left me to sleep. I tried sleeping for a while, but failed to gain any sleep. I decided to go and sleep with my parents. I thought it as an opportunity to spend some time with my parents together. I have never spent time with them since I was eleven.

I went downstairs near the master bedroom, where my parents were sleeping. I went ahead to unbolt the door and heard some loud voices of my father, shouting at my mother. I was stuck. My mother too responded with her howling voice. I could her howling voice outside the door. I stopped there to overhear their conversation.

I pinned my ear on the bolt of the door to listen to what they were talking. ‘See, Shaziya I don’t want to make it tuff for you and please don’t make it tuff for me too.’ My father said to my mother in stern voice. ‘No, I am not going to do that’, my mother replied in anger See, please understand my problem, I had to do it for my own safety. I did it for you and Mahira’, he replied ‘No, you did it for yourself’, she replied. ‘You did it for yourself, Ahmed’, she shouted back. ‘I didn’t had any option, they would have thrown me out of the country. It was illegal for an outsider to do business there. I didn’t had option, but to do it’, he argued ‘But, how could you do it Ahmed, how could you marry someone else’, she said. ‘But I did all this for you people’, he said ‘Who needed all this Ahmed, we never wanted all this, we were happy before’, she said and howled again, ‘Look Shazia, I don’t want to get into this discussion, I just want you to sign the papers and leave me’, he said ‘You can take away Mahira with you and I promise I will send 1 lac rupees, every month for you and Mahira’, he said ‘We don’t need your money Ahmed, she said ’you can keep it for your wife and other children, I will give her poison and commit suicide, so that you too can live your life happily’, she said I left them fighting and shouting and ran towards my room. I cried the whole night thinking about my father and my mom. I have never expected him to have taken such a step. I loved him so much; my mom loved him so much. She waited for his for eight years and when he returned he is asking her to divorce him. I hated my father. I slept that night thinking of their life.

The next morning I woke up with the howling and screaming sound. I rushed downstairs to see. I saw my father sitting in one corner. I saw all my relatives have gathered. They were crying and howling. I rush down the stairs and reached the hall. I saw my mother lying on the floor covered with white quilt. I aunt came running towards me and hugged me tightly. She held my head and took me away from the hall. She was still crying. I broke her embrace and ran towards the hall. I stopped at the center of the hall. Nothing came to my mind. I stood numb. I didn’t cry. I heard people crying aloud.

I went and sat in one corner of the hall. I stared my mother for almost 2 hours, I wanted to cry, but my voice wasn’t coming out of my throat, tears dried in my eyes. People took her away for crematory. I too followed them. I wasn’t allowed inside, but I saw the ceremony from distance.

I saw my father performing the cremation. A sense of hatred filled my mind. Just then I felt and hand on my shoulder, I turned back. It was my aunt. I asked her how my mother died. She said she had poison. Her last statement replayed the entire conversation in my mind again.

I ran away from there. My aunt followed me for some distance, but then gave up. I reached the riverbank and saw the water gushing. I felt like jumping into it. I felt it was the most intriguing idea then living my life with a person who cheated my mother. I knew he would treat me like a handicapped person, an unwanted. I jumped in the river. Luckily, hurricane had hit the Ratnagiri district. The water in the river was high due to high tide. I drowned and I died…

Next

As she said her, last word. I was shocked. I was confused. Nilu, I love you and I will always love, but I am sorry Nilu, it is not possible, she said shaking her head, No Nilay, it is not possible…! At least in this life it is not possible, it is impossible Nilay, It is impossible…! She said and disappeared like a mist in the air right in front of my eyes.

She was gone

It was dawn when I slowly opened my eyes. I saw the fan rotating on the ceiling. It was a familiar view. I raised my head from the pillow to look around; I was in my room lying on Imran’s bed at the corner. I tried to sit on the bed, but my body didn’t allowed. It pained. I felt pain in my entire body as if I had done some very hard physical work. Somehow, I managed to sit pulling myself up with all the remaining strength I had.

While pulling myself voice came out of my mouth due to pain. As I sat on the bed, I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind. I turned back to see. It was a nurse from the hospital. Relax, she said and placed a pillow at my back to rest. What are you doing here? What happened to me? I asked as I saw the needles inserted in my body and hands. Just relax, I will tell you everything; just lay down on the bed. She said and placed her hand on my chest to make me lay on the bed. She pulled the table from the corner and sat on it. Don’t you remember anything? She asked, No, I replied You fainted near the hospital gate two days back and since then you are unconscious, she replied Fainted…! Two days back, I repeated her words and a shiver ran through my body.

I started remembering everything that happened that night. I had met her that night. She went away, she lied to me, she had cheated me, she had …, she had…Everything came back to my mind. I remembered everything now. Tears started rolling down my cheeks.

I was crying now, howling in pain and agony. The pain, which was not mine, it was hers, which she gave me in the form of love. Why god why, why me, I asked to god for cursing me in this way. I wanted to shout aloud with full strength, left in my body. I wanted to go and die. I wanted to cut my heart out of my body, which was giving me so much pain. I wanted to destroy everything, everything that existed. I wanted to kill somebody. I wanted to kill myself. I wanted to go and jump into the river. I wanted to tear up my clothes and run on the street. I wanted to peel off my skin on my face and body along with the flesh.

My head started to pain as if, somebody is hitting on it with a ton weigh hammer. My body started burning and I slowly felt sleepy, I eyes slowly stopped responding and I went in a state of unconsciousness again.

I gained consciousness again somewhere in the afternoon. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Mr. Pethe sitting in front of me. Hello Nilay, he said. How are you? I didn’t respond, but I gave him a look, which said what-are-you-doing-here? Don’t worry, I just came here to see you, if you are okay or not? He replied and turned back Mr. & Mrs. Singh, you son is all right now. You can take him home, he said and I saw my parents sitting on the other bed. My mother was sobbing softly. I could hear her soft sob. Dad, Mom, you here…! I saw them in surprise. Yes, I called them, Joshi sir said with a smile But why? I asked Because you were, unconscious and you were not responding to any medication. I called up other doctors too, but they too failed in bringing you to consciousness. Finally, I had to call Mr. Pethe. I knew I should not believe in these things, but then I thought what the harm is. I called up Mr. Pethe and as soon as he saw your face, he recognized you, Yaa, we are their frequent customers. We often visit their hotel for snacks and he always stared me for my stupid behavior, I replied No son, I always stared you because whenever I saw you I felt something was wrong with you. I always felt something unnatural around you. I felt dark thing, supernatural vibes around you. The first day I stared you was when you played with the mouth freshener. I wasn’t sure about it, but then when you came again. I felt the same vibes. I was then sure something was wrong, but I resisted and kept it to myself. I wanted to wait and see what happens next. From then whenever I saw you I felt pain around you. The intensity increased day by day, but still I resisted until yesterday when Dr. Joshi called me. My parents packed my luggage. Rohan helped them. I was still confused, how I reached hostel. I didn’t remember when I left the stairs and when I walked up to the hostel, how did I reached there. I asked Rohan about it. He said, “You walked like a zombie, without any actions that you usually do while walking. You walked as if you were in control of something, some kind of remote control operating you. As soon as you entered the gate, you stumbled and fainted”. Did you saw me? I asked No I didn’t but the nurse and the neighbors saw you, they shouted as soon as you were on the ground and everybody rushed to get you. He said

My parents took me to home. I was not ready to accept the fact that she had told me that night. I still believed that something will happen and she will come back to me. I still believed that it was a dream and she will meet me tonight. I still believed that she was alive. I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted her at any cost.

Mumbai

Life in Mumbai was more painful. I never left my room. I started talking to myself. I used to stay locked in my room. I stopped eating. Nights were sleepless. Doctors often visited my house. Dad and mom were concerned. I was getting thinner day-by-day. My weight suddenly came down from ninety kilograms to sixty kilograms. My beard had grown long and I was now eligible to compete with the Babas and Sanyasis. I never took bath. I never changed my clothes. I never cared about the smell from my body. I was out of the world.

Mom used to call my friends home to give me company and bring down the fewer, but I used to be in my imaginary world. Friends used to come, sit, eat, and watch TV, but none of them succeeded. They didn’t mean anything to me now. I treated them like unwanted. I wasn’t interested in them, so I treated them as if they are intruding my life and I don’t want their intrusion. Still some of them didn’t stop coming. I hated them and I started hating my mom for calling them home. I was now frustrated. I felt everything as fake. Everything, every relation, every feeling, every emotion was fake to me now. I was fed up of this world now, I was fed up of everything.

One night I ran away from home. I ran away without taking anything along with me. I had no money, no mobile phone, no clothes, naked feet, nothing with me and nothing mattered to me. I went to railway station and took a random train waiting at platform. It was local train. As soon as I stepped in the compartment, the train started to run with a jerk. I sat at the corner near the gate and enjoyed the wind over my face caressing my long grown beard and long hairs on my head. I felt asleep sitting at the door. This was the first time I slept after returning from Khed.

I woke up with a sudden jerk. I opened my eyes and looked were I was. I read Thane on the board outside on the platform. I waited for train to move ahead, but then I saw everyone getting down. I understood it was the last stop. I got off the train. I wanted to leave the city, I wanted to go away from the crowd, and I wanted to go away, just go away. I saw a long distance train approaching the other platform. I rushed towards the fob, ran down the stairs, and got in to one of the compartments.

I didn’t read the destination of the train nor did it matter to me anymore. I went near the sink and sat on the floor. The train started moving forward and I started moving towards my thoughts. I didn’t know when I again went back to my dreams. I slept for an hour or so. I woke up when I felt something strong hit my chest. I sat and held my chest, it pained. I saw a police officer standing in front of me, You filthy beggar, don’t you find some other place to die, he said and pulled me by my hair to make me stand. He pulled me forward by my hairs and pushed me forward. I banged my head on the lavatory wall and stumbled. Move, he said and kicked me on my back Go and die in general bogie, this is sleeper class, don’t you understand, move, he said and kicked me again

I went towards the general bogie and sat at the door of it. It was nice feeling. The cold wind was blowing, but my chest was still paining. I took some deep breaths and then lost in the thoughts of Mahi, my Mahi .

An hour later, the train stopped at some station, but the platform was on other side so I didn’t knew which station it was, who cares I said to myself and enjoyed the pure natural air mixed with the fragrance of soil and greenery. The train started moving again after few minutes. I was back to my Mahi again.

Few hours later, again driver applied the brakes to stop the train. This time I saw on platform approaching my side. As soon as train stopped, I read the board KHED on the platform. I jumped off on the platform. I saw the time on the big watch hanging under the shed of the station. It was 2.30 am. It was sign for me, or a coincidence. I was in Khed again and it was 2.30 am, the time I used to meet her. I rushed out of the railway station. I ran towards the mango forest with a hope in my heart to see her again. I ran and reached the stairs. I rushed down the stairs looking for her, thinking about her. I reached the step, but she wasn’t there. I sat and cried for hours until it was dawn.

I sat there for two days and two nights waiting for her to come, but she didn’t. I didn’t eat anything, I didn’t drink anything. I never left that place. I didn’t wanted to miss her, but she didn’t come. My body was giving up. I didn’t have strength in my body. I was finally loosing.

Washer man family who used the stairs for going down the river for washing clothes saw me for two days sitting there while passing. Third day a woman from the family felt pity on my condition and asked me to have some food, but I refused.

After sometime the man came and abused me, at the end he asked me leave the place. He thought I was mad person. I somehow managed to rach railway station and laid myself on the steel bench, as it was hard for me to sit anymore. I knew my body was collapsing.

I laid there for few hours. It was time for a train to come. Passengers filled the platform. Some of them had occupied the remaining other benches and I was lying on one whole bench. I got up, sat back. As soon as I sat, some of the standing passengers sat on the part, which had vacated just. I saw a old woman standing near the pillar. She was finding it difficult to stand. She was looking at me. I nodded in affirmation, got up from my seat, and gave her place to sit.

I went back towards the wall of the stationmaster’s office and sat on the floor. Train came, took away all the passengers, left the vacant platform and me behind. I spent my entire day at platform and went back to stairs at night. I remained there until dawn and returned to station.

I used to lay down on the floor and talk to myself. For some people I was a mad person, for some I was beggar. Who knew I was an MBA postgraduate crazy in love. Passerby looked at me as a filth and piece of garbage. I looked at them fucking assholes who will fake and bluff themselves entire life and die like mosquitoes one day.

Finally, my body collapsed fifth day. My eyes swollen eyes had changed its color from black to blood red. My stomach was empty for more than a week and I lay on the floor. I could only open my eyes. I was prepared to die a dog’s death for which no one will be there to care. It was a better option for me rather than dying of disappointment daily. Finally, I closed my eyes for the last time.

My death

As I closed my eyes that day, I was sure I was dying. I saw her that day. I was standing in the dark. It was pitching dark. Suddenly I saw a white spot in the darkness. The spot grew bigger and bigger. The white spot became with light and the light started flooding out in the darkness. The light was so bright that it became difficult for me to see, suddenly I saw her coming out from the light. She was in white dress. I didn’t know what she was wearing, but I could see the glow on her face. This was the first time I was seeing her in full light. She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. She was an angel without any flaw in her beauty. She came near me smiling. I could see her pink lips shining from light. Her cheeks were red naturally. Her eyes had glitter in them.

She gave out her hand to hold. I too left my hand out to touch hers. Our hands met, she held mine and tangled her fingers with mine to make a bond between our hands. She led me towards the light and I followed her lost in her beauty. We reached the source and she stopped to turn back. She smiled, released her grip, but I tighten mine. The more I tighten mine the more her hand slipped from mine. Finally, her hand was out of my grip. She smiled and disappeared in the bright light waving me goodbye…

Suddenly the bright light transformed into three bulbs of halogen light. I saw it as I opened my eyes, with a sudden shock and sat on the bed. I saw a man with covered face, I was in some operation theatre and the doctor had the machine which we see in the movies by which the give some shocks to the hero on their chest when they are about to die.

I saw all this in a second and again went back to sleep. I woke up in the evening. I didn’t knew which evening, but I woke up. I found Joshi sir staring at me behind those spectacles. Come on you lazy bones, get up, he said with a smile. You came to Khed and didn’t inform me, I would have picked you from station, he continued. How I landed here? I asked You know the medical shop down the hostel, he said and I nodded. The owner was leaving for Mumbai, when he saw you on the station. He called me and I rushed. He also informed me about your health, so I called for ambulance and we took you here in Chiplun. I went back to my thoughts, I scene which I saw while dying. But, Nilay seriously yaar, it’s enough now. Look at yourself man, what have you done to yourself. See I don’t know what happened to you, but you need to get over it. Please, if you don’t care about yourself, do care about your parents, he said and left.

Soon I was back to Mumbai and in next two hours, I was on the flight to Delhi. I stayed in Delhi for more than a year and returned back when I was normal.

^^^^^^^^ It was almost dawn, when I finished the story. I could hear her soft sobs. She is crying from past two hours. I wanted to stop but couldn’t. We sat there for some time and left the place. We went back to hotel and rested for some time.

It was 1.00 pm in the afternoon, when I knocked her door. She opened her door, I could see her eyes swollen, crying I guess. I asked her to get ready for the journey. She nodded and I returned to my room. Ten minutes later, I heard a knock on mine. I opened the door and saw her standing with her luggage. I looked at her and she nodded. I asked her to wait downstairs.

Few minutes later, we were on the road travelling towards Mumbai. We reached Kalwa in the evening at 7.00 pm. I parked the car in the parking lot of her building. Why don’t you come up? She said for the first time during the journey, No, I need to go; I need some rest before joining the office. I replied with a smile and started leaving, Nilay, she called I turned back, Rohan & Manisha didn’t tell me anything, she said and smiled Doesn’t matter anymore, I replied Do you still miss her? I shook my head in negation. Surprised her by my response, I pointing towards my heart and said she is always with me in here …

^^^^^^^^

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Author’s Note

Dear Friends,

If you liked the story, then please share it to your friends and do share your feedback at [email protected] or join me on facebook on the same ID.

I wanted to publish it, but then I couldn’t do it. I had the story to share, so I wrote it and you have read it.

If you didn’t like it, no problem. I would try to write better next time.

Till then take care and be happy.

Please do fall in love, it’s the most beautiful feeling you have ever felt…