Chapter 24: Joke Factory, Here I come

There was a murmur in the college that it’s time when numerous IT companies will enter the college campus and will hire lots of us. I was thrilled but I was also worried concerning my solitary failed outcome in the lab exam might avert me of getting into any profession because almost all companies have criterion of overall 60% above marks scored without any failure.

The same was recited by our placement officer too; after listening to which I was slightly discouraged because I needed to bank this opportunity if I wanted to get married. Well I did not give up and made up my mind that if this is what written in my fate then so be it. I braced myself for off-campus which might start for most of us after the conclusion of the college.

But then there was this fresh update all over the college; people must not have any standing failed paper, if you have passed your botched subject then you are good to go ,

Niceeeeeee

I was back in pursuit again because I failed in 5^th semester and appeared for the re-exam in 6^th semester; results were out last week online and I not only scored excellent grades in the current semester but also performed terrifically in the re-exam,

I was all geared up because for me this was my only chance where I had to prove myself and lots of other people that I am not kidding

The first round written test was conducted in a different college. At around 12:30 pm, we were given the 1^st round question papers which incorporated NO –ve marking. The paper consists of 60 questions and before attempting any of them I just memorized 2 rudiments,

1. Don’t attempt all the questions even if there is no negative marking

2. Try harder/time consuming questions first when there is not negative marking because these questions hold higher value.

I precisely chased these 2 set of laws and attempted mere 35 questions out of 60 which included each protracted question. When I came out people were happy that the test did not have any negative marking and hence each person responded to all 60 questions without fail. I felt that I have screwed all my odds of getting my destiny to relish the painless path. The results were to be declared at around 4:30 but I was standing like a fool who screwed up again because I thought I was over smart.

“Come on lets go, I know I will not get through the written test”, I told Deeps

“No let’s wait for the results”, she insisted on staying back, she still had hope.

I tried 5-6 more time to sway her to go back but she was immovable. I wanted to go back because I did not want anyone’s pity if my name was not declared but I guess I had to bow down in front of Deep’s wish.

Placement officer informed that as many as 64 people have been chosen out of 130 people who appeared in the written test, by now I was definite that I am not in the listings. Placement officer started reading out names from the list of 64 fortunate people and as expected my name was nowhere to be there and the list was almost at its climax but then towards the very end; among last 3-4 names; something sounded very familiar, “Anky”,

yes yes yes

“See I told you that you will be picked”, Deeps was cheered up

Now it was time for me to outdo the next obstacle which was “The Interview”, we were given 3 days to get ready. The day arrived pretty soon and we yet again had to go to a different college. After waiting for round about 5-6 hrs it was our college’s student’s turn to show in front of the interviewers. I was number 8 to go in for the first round; there were 3 interviewers who were conducting for us, one lady and 2 males. The guys were cool but the lady had already interviewed 3 guys from our college and discarded them at once and I was her next victim,

“Tell me about you”, she asked a very regular 1^st interview question

I spoke for 5-10 minutes until she said stop and asked,

“Do you know C++”, she asked

“Yes”

“How much would you rate yourself in C++ on scale of 1-10 ?”

“10”, I replied within a nano-second and without even blinking my eyes, I was excellent at C++ but again my over smartness crushed my sanity and after the reply I was pretty sure that she will screw me up till I weep.

“So you know all in C++ ?”, she was stunned

“Yes”, I supported my response because the damage was already done

“Ok, why your 10^th marks are less then your 12^th marks which usually is reverse for everyone else ?”

What !!!! She has let me get away for that C++ blunder !!!!

“I never used to study till 10^th standard and after the unpleasant outcome of 10^th standard my parents started thrashing me up and because of that I faired pretty well in 12^th standard”, I replied comically and grinned

The lady evaluator who looked very serious till now also smiled after listening to my account which relived all pressure on me.

“I m done with your interview, please show me all your marks sheets”

I could not believe, I was through with my technical round without even being asked a solitary technical question !!! I gave all my marks cards to her. She inspected all and found a problem,

“You failed one exam and I don’t see any report card which says that you passed it”

“It’s because the results are just out on internet and report cards will take another 3-4 weeks”

“Oh, in that case I cannot give you HR Form”, she smirked

“But I have cleared that assessment”, I responded weakly

She took one HR form and wrote my name on it and kept next to her and said

“This is your HR form, substantiate that you cleared this exam and take the HR form and go”

Now if you can visualize, my circumstances were altogether screwed up. I without wasting anytime went to my placement officer who had carried the photocopies of all the results with him.

“Sir I need 5^th Sem results”, I asked panting

He straightaway started looking into a roll of 10-15 Xeroxed sheets but quickly I and he apprehended that the placement officer was piece of shit of the uppermost kind because since we were in 6^th sem he got only 6^th sem marks !!! It never occurred to that son of a bitch that people might get botched in semesters prior to 6^th sem too !!! Well I never imagined that my day would be like this, I ran and came out of the college and was hunting for a cyber café desperately, so that I can at least get a printout of my purity. I logged into the VTU website and wolla !!! Results were not there any longer !!! Results are available only for 2 weeks and we were already into the third week. At that instant I could visualize myself competing in off-campus with hundreds of people again . But I still hadn’t lost any hope, I conceived a strategy, I went straight to the interviewer who took my interview and I told her that there is no way I can ascertain until tomorrow unless its ok if our placement officer gives your company a written application declaring that this person has cleared all his exams and can be handed over his HR form !!!

Well my luck finally clunked and she said “OK”.

I was again galloping across the hallway and in 5 minutes I was filling out the HR form.

It was already 9 pm when people started getting calls for HR discussions and beginning to come out inside 2 minutes !!

That’s weird, because till today what I have heard is that HR rounds are lengthiest !!

“Anky !!”, a lady yelled

I upstretched my hand,

This is it

I was directed to a HR who just looked to be a young teenager who has just come of her college. She asked me to be seated and asked me to speak something about me. I over again babbled the pre-set speech for the 2^nd time which she asked me to rest after 3-4 minutes,

“What is you strength ?” she asked with a grave look

“Confidence”, I replied confidently

“What is your weakest point ?”, she threw another delicate question on my face

“Over-confidence”, I retorted without blinking my eyes

After eavesdropping to my reply her face went foulest and she asked me to enlighten and I described that I know C++ splendidly and I am swollen with pride of it and in technical round I rated myself 10 when asked, that was the overconfidence but I was fortunate to get away with that.

May be it was my “Confidence” which she liked because HR absolutely bought it.

“Ok, Let’s have a discussion about IT industry”, she asked me

WTF !!!

What is IT industry ?? How the hell a 6^th semester college undergraduate will have any idea about IT business !! College students don’t even know their syllabus correctly, how are they supposed to know that. But according to my exploration on interviews; interviewer is not at all times looking for a truthful response, they are looking for the composure and buoyancy and you should certainly not think a lot to act in response to their question.

So I went forward right away, “We know that IT industry is creating a revolution around the globe today and Joke Factory is one of that companies which known to be the finest”

HR’s face went from disgust to hatred which I duly noted and determined not to discontinue and carry on because if I stop at this moment and allowed her to speak then I am a dead man. So I was nonstop talking about Joke Factory, I boasted each award Joke Factory has ever won and each recognition they have ever got, I knew all this because that was an vital part of the preparation, to be acquainted with your company !!! I did not stop until she asked me to and asked me if I am prepared to move to Chennai or Hyderabad ?

“No”, I said

“What !!! Are you not ready to work in Bangalore ?”, she snubbed

“Yes I am !!!”, I replied in astonishment because that’s not what I heard

“Are you positive that you are in your senses ??”, she nearly affronted me

“Sorry ma’am, I would like to join in Bangalore only”, I tried to refurbish the damage

“Ok Go”, she asked me to leave

I was disconsolate because final few seconds appeared to be a yet another blunder and in some way I may have upset her. I met Ghosh who also had a similar coincidence and was in grief. We both were extremely confident that we will not get through but on the other hand Guabha, Chaubey and Bhatti were making merry that they will get picked for sure.

It was result moment, they started announcing the name of the selected aspirants, and they began with,

“Anky”

“Ghosh”

We could not believe our ears and some others also could not, we were the people who were least positive on our performances and we were the foremost people to get picked !!! It was just beyond explanation, it was magical. Only 24 out of 64 were singled out and I was among those 24 and none of Guabha, Chaubey and Bhatti was chosen.

I without more ado called my parents and informed them about the excellent news and they highly praised my accomplishment. Then I called Deeps,

I said, “Hello”

She said, “Congrats”

How the hell she gets all news beforehand !!!

Chapter 20: Look Who's talking

 

It was end of yet another semester and like always, I had to catch the immediate train soon after the exams are over. I was packed and ready to roll. This time NM was travelling with me till Nagpur (Half way). It was always nice if someone you know is going with you from Bangalore to Jaipur even till half way. It was always dreadful to spend 2 entire days on your own in the train but anyways I had done it a million times. Out of those million times I was fortunate only once when I met few people who appeared of the same age as mine, 2 guys and 1 girl. The girl was from UP and she looked very extrovert the way she was interacting with us, so I started showing off. I told them that I study in Bangalore in a college called APS, “my college has this” and “my college has that”, blah blah blah, I went on and on. When I was done I was pretty certain that I have established who is the smartest and moreover the girl looked awfully impressed. I then asked each of them for their introduction, I asked the 1^st guy,

“Where do you study ?”, I asked

“I am doing MBBS from Manipal”, he said

Hmmmm this guy is clearly from a better institute then I am but that's fine

“You”, I asked the 2^nd guy

“I am from IIT-Kanpur”, he said

Great, what else are we missing!!!

“What about you Bharti ?”, I asked the girl

“I am from IIT-Chennai”, she said with a grin

So for next 2 days I was looking for a corner or someplace where I can bury my face. I was a like an ordinary man who was trying to be a hero in middle of a bunch of superheroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder women.

************************

Deeps asked me many times about how a wedding takes place in north and I gave her the fresh illustration of my cousin brother whose story line was approximately similar to ours.

Nitin was an engineering student in Bangalore and Anjula was a medical student. They fell in love, got married and lived happily ever after.

Deeps was pleased that my family is not new to this business and she liked the story because she could foresee our fairy-tale also to end the same way.

It was the first time when I was going home while my love story was in top gear and both of us could not resist staying away. So we made a deal that we will talk every day. It was those days when Mobile phones still had incoming call charges and sustaining a mobile phone itself was a character of sumptuousness and hence both of us still did not have any mobile. We were dependent either on our house phones or STD booths. A girl calling up to my house also could have raised questions for me so I told her even if she wants to call to my house apart from pre-decided time then fake yourself as a Jaipur Girl with the name “Amrita”, Amrita was my school friend and used to call to my house. I gave Deeps very basic instructions and told her that her Hindi should be excellent enough to trick them. She was as usual over-confident and gave me a don’t-you-worry affirmation.

And the day arrived where she could not hang around till the determined time, she called to my house and my mom picked up,

“Hello”, said my mom

“Kya mai Ankit se baat kar sakti hu ?” (Can I talk to Ankit), she said in an excellent Hindi intonation

“Wo to abhi hai nahi, kaun bol raha hai ?” (He is not here but may I know who is on the line ?), My mom asked

The sentence she told after that created a history,

“Mai Anjula bol raha hu” (Its Anjula speaking (In Masculine grammatical gender))           

My mother never stopped laughing that day, in fact she was almost rolling on the floor when she heard that. First Deeps said the wrong name, I guess she was too much overwhelmed with Nitin-Anjula love story that she chose “Anjula” over “Amrita” and next she said it in masculine Hindi grammar which made things even better. I returned home and I found my mom choking with extreme laughter and when she told me this I too laughed my lungs out. Later I clarified it to my mother that she was frightened to call and that’s why she attempted Hindi.

*************

Well feast were over soon and I was back in college. It was a spanking new semester and a very vital one because many new and innovative topics were to be taken up this time. In which one of the subject was “Satellite communications”. “Hari - the lecturer”, who was taking this subject was once student of the APS college and soon after he joined as a lecturer in APS. I don’t know what was about him, either he was extremely attractive or every girl was sightless. According to most of the girls he was bloody handsome !!! And he was sizzling favorite among girls, maybe it was his jokes which kept all the girls amused, one of which goes like this,

Hari was addressing us on satellites,

“Satellites move with the help of Pulsars”, elucidated Hari

He then took a pause and said

“Pulsar, definitely male”, with a wide beam

Entire classroom exploded into hilarity apart from me and NM who were looking each other’s face in repugnance, I could not resist and said,

“Sir please raise your hand next time you think a joke is very funny so that we know that we have to giggle”

The subsequent lecture was by Anil (Name forgotten). He was sincere and strict. He began with his lecture and every time he turned his back to write something onto the board; patti took out a peanut; pealed it and munched it. He did that for a while until everybody observed and asked him for peanuts. He supplied peanuts to everyone in the class in next 20 minutes until Apsara also realized and asked patti for peanuts, who was sitting just in front of her. Patti passed her a peanut, she pealed it and instead of tossing the peel away she handed it back to patti. Now patti was like a small kid, wanted tit for tat, he took that same peel and stuffed it with the chewing gum he was working on, he then handed it back to Apsara. Apsara thought that this is a new lot and she opened it cheerfully until the gum inside abruptly made a cruel and indescribable contact with her hand and as a girl her immediate feedback was,

“Cheeeeee …… thuuuuuu”, with a deafening and unmannerly scream

Anil spun back in surprise and saw Patti celebrating his victory; Patti was laughing out loudly with no sound. He threw a chalk piece on Patti and left the classroom in disgust. As soon as he left NM and Patti broke into a brawl because patti made fun of his “girlfriend” which was intolerable to him. For next 12 minutes both of them made numerous relationships with each other’s families which whole class witnessed and listened, in fact few of our south Indian friends learnt some new expressions too , augmentation in their vocabulary.

Chapter 15: A Ray of Hope

 

### Sometime after the proposal ###

"Why can’t we be together ?" I wrote in a sheet of paper and passed it along to her. She took it and opened it, she looked intently at it for a minute and began to pen down her response. It was very hard for us to get time to chat about it hence we started trading chits in the classroom, which was practically chatting on paper instead over gtalk. One of the exchange went like this,

me - "Why can’t we end up as one ?"
She - "Because that is the dumbest suggestion ever"
Me - "Why ? We are excellent friends and now I have almost proposed you. Why can’t we take it ahead one more step ?"
She - "We are good friends, rather best friends and I value that but I don’t think in the same why you think beyond that"
Me - "I am not asking you to pronounce anything right now, I am just asking you to make an effort"
She - "Effort for what ? Even if it works out; there is no way we can get married"
Me - "And why is that ?"
She - "I cannot explain you the same thing again and again and please end this subject"

### Some more time after the proposal ###

We went to watch "Chalte Chalte", while watching the movie I could not control my sentiments because,

1. It was emotional, and
2. It was badly made

I could not control my tears at a scene where Rani Mukharji says "Nothing can ever happen between us so please leave me alone" and in reply SRK says, "Ok I leave you alone, I get it that I don’t stand a chance but at least let me try ?". The scene was extremely intense and in fact coincided with the circumstances happened earlier with us which could not control my feelings. I kept on weeping like a girl right through the movie because it was made of a familiar state of affair where guy cannot get the girl.

After the movie she asked me, “Why the hell did you cry like a baby ??”

I said, “Because the movie was about us !! The movie and our circumstances are no different. You are saying no because according to you nothing will work out, I agree that I don’t have any chance but at least let me make an effort !!”

### About 5 months after proposal ####

I tried all kinds of means but nothing seems to be working out. I started to lose all my optimism. It was college annual day and for the first time I was up for a show. Me and a dementor PJ, we grouped up to give out an exceptional pleasing concert. Both of us were guitarists and we settled on the song “Hotel California”, a handsome song . Mostly PJ had to do all and I just had to support him. I felt that I was getting my first break in music industry but I think I said that very soon. We practised a lot, day and night, hours and hours of guitar. First I was jumpy but then when we trained; I gained little self-belief. It was the judgement day, PJ updated me that he will let me know when we have to execute. I was thrilled and was waiting near the temple (The temple which was within the college campus, the adda for all the love birds at the lecture time).

I was very much looking forward for the performance. College day started off little behind schedule because as we have experienced in our life persistently that chief guest is always last to arrive. It started off nicely with some fine acts, our show was somewhere near halfway. As the day progressed and the time drew nearer my heartbeats began getting heavier minute by minute. And at last time arrived, this is it, after the in progress performance it’s our turn. The recital ended but there was no indication from PJ and no intimation that we are up next instead it was Chief guest’s turn to have a word. That Son-of-a-Bitch took more than 2 hours to conclude his impossible fairy-tale about his upbringing !!! That resulted in cut down of a number of performances and showcasing of only those programs which were important. Our routine was also chopped down due to that. I was pissed and was very annoyed. I went to the temple and wanted sometime unaccompanied. Finding me nowhere; Anjali came to temple looking for me and asked me,

“What happened, why did you come out of there ?”

“What the hell, I was so much looking forward to present and now I can’t”

“It happens Anky, calm yourself down”

“What it happens ? Nothing is working out in my life”

“Just because you could not perform; how can you hold your life responsible for that ?” Deeps asked

“Yes nothing is working out in my life”

“How ?”

“I did so much of hard work on this and this could not take place and on a similar note I have worked so hard on my love life and that is also does not seem to work out”

“Why what happened with your love life ?” She acted innocent

“My girlfriend, she does not wanna say yes to my proposal that’s why” I also acted naive

I said that and looked down in misery, I was not in mood for any discussion. I thought I have lost it all. There is nothing more to do in life and I should pack my bag return home !! (Yes that happens when you look forward too much to something which you know will work out but it doesn’t).

“Its ok everything will be alright” she tried to cool me down

“How the hell can everything get alright ?”

“Look I can’t do anything for what happened today with your routine but why are you feeling bad for your love life, your girlfriend hasn’t approved on something but she hasn’t said no, right ?” she said graciously to me

What ??? Did she just said yes ??

As soon as I heard that I was in complete paralysis and this time it was for good. I did not wanna jump on any conclusion and I also did not want to show my exhilaration in the very next second but I could see a ray of hope, it was more than ray of hope, it was tube light of hope for me. I still showed that I am irritated and did not hear accurately what she said. Gradually I showed good progress on my temper and both of us went to that final program of the day, a rocking concert by a rock band. I danced like nuts ; I no longer remembered what I was livid for because the most significant thing that mattered to me took a sharp turn towards triumph. This was the happiest day of my life because for me it was already a “YES”.

Chapter 14: The Proposal

 

"Can we get married?”

She turned towards me, saw my face in a slight repugnance. She did not know how to respond but she understood and may be she saw it coming. She grasped the situation, took 2 moments to react as if she could not identify what is happening, as if I was pulling her leg. Her face gave me a What-The-Fuck expression!! She stared me for few moments and then she smirked sardonically and said,

"Very funny !! Obviously Not"

I expected this and for that same reason I did not reiterate myself. I was glad that I came over the first, most significant and the toughest obstacle. Now I required to nourish the seed which I just sowed in her mind. I wanted that seed to nurture and become an established notion.

My bus was approaching. I saw her off, we exchanged smiles as the bus vanished around the corner. I was relieved a bit but at the same time I was feeling awful too because I never thought what she might feel. I was all of a sudden blameworthy of something which I did not mean, something which I committed just now. But again I thought that if she had taken this the other way then she would have blasted me off instead of giving me a smile. I was slight comforted but little shaken. I decided to keep my cool and work my plan out further. I was glad that I let it all out and was anxious because she did not react. Reaction was essential, either affirmative or downbeat, I guess I have to wait.

I reached hostel and went straight to my room but something was out of the ordinary. There was no one in my room. At this time of any day my room as a rule turns into a Casino with couple of group of 4 playing 29, with light music and lots and lots of roaring. But it was all not there and that was not at all normal!! Something undeniably was wrong. So I went to the next room and to my surprise same result!! This room was also uninhabited,

Where is everybody!!

And unexpectedly I heard yelling from the room at the end of the lobby. The room belonged to Gujju Dementors. I had to find out what's wrong. I began pacing towards the room. The screaming and yelling amplified steadily. I could make out that there were lots of people because it sounded not 1 or 2 people. The moment I reached near the room, there were people lined outside the room and they were looking at something. The panorama appeared like a murder/accident scene where people surround the body and look at it. Our hostel already had a history of 3-4 deaths in recent past. That very second I shuddered with fear. I was convinced that today 1 Gujju is long gone in that room but then I heard,

But if it’s so why they are yelling !!!

"Abay Shah aagey dekh nahi to marega" (Look in front or else you will be slaughtered), Chuchu shouted

This is not what I am thinking!!!

Right away I shifted few people and tried to get hang of the situation. I was astonished to see nearly 50 people stuffed in that room eye witnessing the most breathtaking occurrence in the history of the hostel. 50 odd people were ogling the computer screen while 2 guys controlling the happening on the screen. Shah was scheming the mouse/keyboard while Chauhan was serving him with additional keys on the keyboard, together they were part of the history, they were playing the most recent sensation, The Tomb Raider.

People were there for many reasons, some were “let your imagination run riot” about Lara croft's body whereas some were there for clean entertainment because it was like a perfect action packed movie which they can be in charge of. The game was on but Shah and Chauhan were having a difficult time, not because of the intricacy of the game but due to the coaching they were getting from the throng,

"Abay M****C*** (Bad word) seedha kar nahi to gir jayegi wo" (Get her straight if not she will plunge down), Dhar screamed when Lara croft began to tip riskily towards left on the pole she was walking.

"Bhai log mujhe pata hai, please gali mat do" (I know whats happening but please don’t abuse), pleaded Shah while turning back to the masses.

"Abay kutte aage dekh wo aa gaya Lara croft ka sasur" (You dog!! concentrate on the screen, Lara Croft's father-in-law is here)

Shah and Chauhan started combating it out with the baddie but quickly began loosing and Lara croft's health bar turned from Green to Orange to RED, indicating that she is about to depart this life,

"B****** Ke (Bad Word) Chauhan, saale maar na use" (Hit him Chauhan or else she will die), Mahajan yelled in annoyance.

Chauhan turned around and gave him a dreadful stare because just few days before Chauhan used to be the official dementor of Mahajan but things were changed,

"Abay meri shakal kya dekh raha hai .... screen pe dekh Lara Croft ka balaatkar ho raha hai" (What are you looking at my face focus on the screen Lara Croft is getting raped), Mahajan bellowed for a second time

Shah turned back again and shouted,

“Saale kisi ne bhi gaali di to bahut bura hoga” (If someone abuses now, the result will be terrible)

“B****** Ke (Bad Word) agar Lara Croft ko kuch hua to tera kya kya hoga wo to abhi mujhe bhi nahi pata but itna pata hai jo bhi hoga bahut dardnaak hoga” (If something happens to Lara croft then I can’t tell you what all can occur with you but whatever will happen it will be agonizing), Ali retorted.

The oomph in the room was so forceful that both Shah and Chauhan had to play like they were playing for their existence. They had to save the game from getting over because if it gets over those 50 spectators will start linking themselves with Shah and Chauhan’s family. Both played until it was late evening and one by one each bystander left for the dinner. Shah and Chauhan took a deep breath of relief, it was a worst nightmare for them. They started playing the game for fun but they soon became amusement for others.

I took my plate and went to have dinner, thinking of the next day. I was waiting to meet her the next day in the college. I was curious to learn what does she think about today,

She still think that it was a joke!! But should I ask her so soon or should I hang around for this thought to settle in her mind first. I guess I had to be patient again for my next move.

Chapter 10: Fugitive Aunty

I never told her that I am in love with her. Just my heart knew it. There still were way many considerations which I required to consider of if I wanted the love marriage, to be very accurate, Inter-caste love marriage. Sounds intimidating ?? Hearing so many things like honor killing these days? YES it was scary . I wanted to ensure if she is the right girl who could fit into my world and in my people. Will she be blissful with me and will keep me and my parents happy ??? So I decided to give me some additional time before I could launch my verdict onto her. For next few days I was in the process of evaluating her, I was posing various categories of direct and oblique questions which could give me a straight judgment. Questions like, “What do you think of Inter-caste marriages”, “Do you like north-Indian food” blah blah blah. I went on and on and on and on and first round result was out, after processing all the reactions and answers from her I was standing in front of a BIG NO . But I was/am not a quitter , if I wish for something I make sure I get it. But I had to lay my further love valuation lower in the priority for few days because,

Reason No. 1 – No one was after her and she did not have any boyfriend, everybody was still attracted to Apsara, which means I was in safe hands .

Reason No. 2 – 2nd semester assessments were impending and I had to keep up my 1 semester’s performance.

It was study time in the entire hostel. People used to come out just at the mealtime or to take a break to go to the Somnhalli Gate to indulge in god’s devotion in Ranjani Bar because after 2 pegs everybody makes directly to a single destination described as “heaven”. I think it was 15 days ahead of the exams and lecturers were trying hard to complete the lessons so that students get supplementary time for revision. On one rainy Wednesday evening we returned from college and noticed something extremely awful within the hostel. There was a sense of chaos and we heard people shouting . Hostel was in totally baffling state. We could not comprehend what was the dilemma so we went into our rooms to find some rest. We studied for few hours till it was suppertime. Routinely we took our plates and went en route for the hostel-mess. When we arrived, the panorama of the canteen was not amusing, the canteen was uninhabited and there was nothing except for tables and stool. Everything had vanished, no vessels, no food and no aunty!!

We instantaneously got in touch with hostel representative and he made us aware that Aunty, the food in charge, from last week was making plans to take a trip to her hometown and for the same reason she was borrowing cash from nearly every student who could lend her some money. She said that she has to buy gifts for her family and that’s why she needs plenty of money. Since she was a trusted known face people did lend her a generous amount of currency ranging from 500/- to 10,000 rupees. And Aunty, who worked out a brilliant plan, gathered everything and fled!!! Yes she collected every valuable and went absconding. The evening chaos was from people who lost their money. They started getting their hands on whatever they could locate left in Aunt’s room. So the message for us was unambiguous that there will be no food for a blurred period of time. It was very well for us because it gave us a certified explanation to request for extra money from the house and the best part; we can go out and eat at the close by dhaba every single day .

After 2 days it was all settled down but few people started strolling in the hallways like zombies . They could not sleep because of their loss. They were hassled because they were not able to give attention to studies for the approaching theory tests. They were still hopeful that Aunty might turn up in front of them, dressed up like goddess Lakshmi (in front of a halogen lamp which will illuminate her appearance) and hand out their money back but that doesn’t happen anymore!! Does it?

But the days of calamity had just begun. Within next 2 day since aunty fled, the adjacent or you can say hostel’s power source transformer was busted. A truck crashed into it, the estimate time to bring it to the working state was 7-8 days which in simple English implies, we were COMPLETELY fucked up for next 7-8 days, No Food, No Power and if their is no power how can water be pumped, so no water either, not even drinking water. So you could visualize the 2 different people in 2 tremendously different situations at the same time,

    

Those 7 days were the most dreadful days in the hostel. People made provisions for unusual things, some tried taking bath at the nearby polytechnic college and some did not bother (meaning they did not take bath for 7 days) . The entire hostel started sleeping on the terrace under open sky. Charlie, one of our inmates, used to light up mosquito coil on the terrace to get rid of mosquitoes, funny guy isn’t he !!

Those days soon got over and everyone was looking ahead for the exams. We had lab external examinations which went pretty well. In those laboratory examinations we discovered the person with incredible cleverness , it was Thapa. There was an experiment in the physics lab in which you need to uncover the frequency of the tuning fork by changing the water level in the water container till you come across the perfect resonance when tuning fork is smacked on the table and held over the water level.

You will be given any of the shown tuning forks and by adjusting the level of water bit by bit and looking for the correct sound which will present the frequency of the given fork. Thapa was dazzling in dark novelties , criminal mind to be very specific. Rather than taking all the pain of fine-tuning the water and listening to the sound on every occasion, he memorized frequency of each fork against its length !!! And Bingo !!! In the external lab when he was given a fork and guess what he did the first thing ?? He just measured its length and as soon as he had its length he knew its frequency and he knew what water level will give him the accurate sound . Thapa passed that lab with flying colors . Thapa was that kind of human who had loads of intelligence but it was completely used for wickedness. In one more occurrence he disagreed with his lecturer in external lab of C++. His lecturer said that the program he has written is acceptable but he said not its not because output is not in sync with the input he has given, Its not the same output (what he memorized) for the input (he memorized) and hence program is not right !!

Exams went sound and 2nd semester finished with an elevated morale. I had 2 complete days in the train to dwell on my subsequent move in the next semester to carry on with my one sided love story. It was unmistakable that it is virtually impossible but I had to make it happen anyhow .