“I told mom that I will only marry you” said
Priya as her grainy figure floated across the room.
Vivek’s jaw fell open as goosebumps
surged through his body. It had to be a dream. He didn’t care as to why she
floated across the room; her feet inches above the ground. It didn’t bother him
that her proclamation was ignored by his parents who went about their chores;
almost as if they hadn’t heard her. Neither did it surprise him that Priya was
present in his house. All he felt was euphoria. He had waited for this a long
time. He had almost given up when fate smiled on him. But he had to be sure, very
sure.
“Wait. What did you say?”
he shouted as he chased her. She didn’t seem to listen as she continued her
brilliant display of levitation. She vanished out of sight as an irritating
sound pierced his ears. He felt a violent tug from behind and the very next
moment he lay in his bed. It took a moment for him to register what had
happened. Instinctively his hand reached out for the alarm clock to stop the
beeping which got more irritating with the passing second. He sighed deeply as
the world around him slowly came into focus. It had been a dream after all. He
had already forgotten the premise. The only thing he remembered was that she
had agreed to marry him. And that he felt incredibly happy. Alas, a mere dream!
‘An early morning dream usually comes
true’, his heart consoled him. He felt slightly better.
He kept thinking of Priya as he
went about his morning routine. She was the only thought on his mind as he
cycled his way to school. He yawned widely as he parked the bicycle.
“The school needs to change
its timings. 7 o’ clock is cruelty” he told Sapan, his classmate and
best friend. Sapan too nodded rubbing and pushing his eye into its socket.
“And I hate Mondays. The
first day of the week and the class begins with Neeta Dikshit’s period.”
Vivek stopped in his tracks.
“Shit. I completely forgot.
I haven’t done her homework. She is going to eat me alive.”
Sapan stared at him with horror
writ on his face. He knew the gravity of the situation and also the inevitable
conclusion. Dikshit was a terror. She had a hawk like face with cruel eyes which
enhanced her menace. Barely a month ago she had blasted the daylights out of Vivek
as he failed to answer the question ‘Who had discovered the nucleus of a
cell?’ And she tore him apart. She officially enlisted him in her list of
blacklisted students. And for the next couple of weeks he became an object of everyone’s
fascination. Everyone recognized him as ‘the boy who got it’. Some
stared at him with annoyance for being dumb. Some stared at him with pity. For
those who had been on Dikhsit’s receiving end he was a war hero.
And true to their fears everything
went as they had anticipated. 10 minutes into the period and the classroom
reverberated with Dikshit’s screams.
“Get out. Get out of my
class. Shameless creatures. You think science is a joke? Guess your parents
have a lot of money. You stand on the road and you will realize your true
worth. And that’s nothing. Why do you all even bothering coming to the class?”
she rambled on without a pause as Vivek and three other guys made their way out
of the classroom towards the Biology lab where they would have to complete the
homework.
As Vivek walked past the other
students he felt countless eyes boring into him. He didn’t care what others
thought. He hated biology and hated Dikshit even more. But he cared about what Priya
thought. He glanced behind as he exited the classroom. Priya sat there staring
out of the window. Thankfully she wasn’t staring at the ‘losers’ of the class.
But then again, she had stopped caring for him a long ago. Why did she always
have to act so distant? His feeble attempts at a conversation earlier had met
with stoic silence.
It had not always been so bad
with her. She was a good friend once. He remembered the first day he had seen
her. The classroom had been abuzz with murmurs of a new girl who had taken
admission in the 9th standard. He saw Priya sitting on one of the
benches. Vivek gaped at her in astonishment. She had to be the most beautiful
girl he had ever seen. Her innocent angelic face gave a wry smile every time a
girl or a boy (mostly boys) approached her for introduction. Although she
didn’t show it Vivek knew that she was scared of the new environment. Vivek
watched her from a distance. And he fell in love with her.
As days passed he became
increasingly enamored by her. But he feared approaching her. Why would she talk
to him? He was an average student with no talent whatsoever. He was good at
chess though. But given the immense popularity of chess players in India,
making an impression on her was difficult. He also remembered the first time
she had spoken to him. She had waved at him out of the blue one day. Well
actually she had waved at a girl standing behind him. He just happened to be in
the way. She smiled at him as he realized his folly. The next morning she
greeted him with a ‘Hi’. That was the
happiest day of his life. He couldn’t wipe off the grin from his face the whole
day. And soon they had become friends. She was one of the three people he had
invited to the canteen on his birthday. The handmade greeting card she gave him
soon found space in his small trunk of treasures. It contained all those things
which he deemed too special to discard. His favorite was a perfectly spherical piece
of rock he had picked up from Kovalam beach in Kerala. With arrival of the
card, the rock became his second favorite.
He was careful of not making his
feelings obvious, to her nor to others in the class. He even resisted talking
to her often in the class. He didn’t want any rumours about ‘them’ to ruin her reputation in the
class. They spoke on the phone. Although he had been strictly forbidden to call
her (“My
mom doesn’t like it you see” she had said), she would call him whenever
possible. He was crazy about her. But he couldn’t tell her how he felt. Not
just yet. The 10th board exams hovered close. He couldn’t do
anything to screw them up; neither for him nor for her. He had to wait.
He was the first person she had
called when the board exam results were announced. She had scored 85%. And it
didn’t matter that in her happiness and excitement she had forgotten to ask for
his result.
11th Science was
getting to his nerves. It was tougher than he had expected. He had only elected
the stream because she had. But then she also wanted to become a doctor. He
didn’t really have a clue as to what he wanted to do. But the tough course
ensured that they couldn’t talk often on the phone. She would call once or twice
a week and would hang up after a quick ‘Hi’.
Gradually the phone calls ceased altogether. He had to make a move or risk
losing her forever. And he found a way out.
It was the first Saturday of August.
Boys and girls everywhere were tying friendship bands to each other. Vivek had
made up his mind. He was going to tell her how he felt. His heart beat
viciously as he struggled to get on with the class. Although it was a half day
it felt like an eternity to him. He was the first person to dash out of the class
as the final bell rang. He waited at the parking for her. And then he saw her. He
waved at her. She approached him with a big smile.
“There you are. I thought you would have left. Happy Friendship Day.”
“Happy Friendship Day. I brought
something for you.” he said.
Priya frowned slightly. Vivek
took out a small package from his bag and gave it to her. Priya looked around
to check if anyone was watching. She quickly put it in her bag.
“Aren’t you going to see it?”
asked a bewildered Vivek.
“I will. Later at home. Thanks a
ton Vivi (she had made that nickname for him). Chalo, I got to rush.”
Saying so she rushed towards the
gate. Vivek’s heart missed a beat as he saw Priya get into a car. The glasses
were tinted and he couldn’t make out who else was in the car. Vivek stood there
for some time trying to comprehend the utter disaster his attempt at proposing
to her had been.
He returned home feeling stupid.
She hadn’t even bothered to open the gift. But she had said she would open it
at home. Perhaps she was going through the gift at present. Perhaps she would
give him a call any moment. He waited anxiously as his ears strained to hear the
phone ringing. An hour became two; then six. No sign. It rained quite heavily that
evening throwing Vivek in a more morose mood. He had no option but to wait till
Monday.
(to be continued....)
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