‘You are a jerk,’ I wanted to add.
“So you kissed her?”
“Yeah, I kissed her.”
“And she was actually kissing you back?”
“Yeah, when our lips met, she responded as well. So yeah, she kissed me back as well.”
“How was it?”
“What?”
“How was the kiss? Is she a good kisser?”
“What? Dude, what’s wrong with you man? I am telling you something serious and you are asking me if she was a good kisser?”
“Just answer me man. Was the kiss good or not?”
“Yeah, it was. One of the best kisses I ever had. Kinda sorry she regained consciousness actually.”
“Chola bathura,” shouted the man behind the canteen counter. I went to the counter and giving him the yellow coupon which had Rs 15 printed on it, I took the plate of chola bathura. On the other side, Virat went to get his plate of fried rice.
We ploughed our way through the crowded college canteen and found ourselves seats in the centre row. Keeping our books on the table, we sat down with our plates and I immediately digged into my chola bathura. Virat was relishing his plate of fried rice as well. Virat Mathur had been my classmate since the 1st year of college and roommate since 2nd year and came closest to being called my best friend in this place. He was about 5’7”; average built and was pretty average looking as well. In fact there was nothing about him that would make him stand out in a crowd. I often thought that R.K.Lakshman might have thought of Virat while conceiving the idea about the common man. Except that he was about the only person with whom I really connected in this college. There were friends and lots of them, but I had shared a completely different bond with Virat since the day I had met him.
“Ok, let me give you the lay down,” Virat said as he put a spoonful of the fried rice in his mouth and gulped it down.
“You were dumped by your girlfriend in the afternoon, wait, not just dumped but slapped and embarrassed in front of the entire college. So you spend the evening, all alone getting drunk. Totally natural and not the first time you have done it,” he said smiling at me. “Thanks,” I muttered, embarrassed.
“Anyways,” Virat said, continuing his monologue, “my point is everyone was expecting your break up to be the hot buzz around the college the next morning. But is it? No. By night something else had happened that became the talking point in the entire college. Something that was bigger than your break up man.”
“Your point is dude?” I asked getting frustrated by recalling the incident of that day. It seriously hadn’t been one of my best days.
“My point is that you were going to be laughing stock of the entire college when you woke up this morning. Instead you are the new national hero.”
“Huh? How is that?” I asked, confused.
“Dude, Rahul, you made out with the most desirable girl in our college. That too without even knowing her. How cool is that? Look at everyone around you man. There are guys who think you did the most amazing act in history and there are guys who loathe you. Why? Because you made out with Anjali Shah, man. She’s like the Jessica Alba of MIT.”
“So I am supposed to feel proud of myself?” I asked almost in a sarcastic tone.
“Oh no man! It would have been something to be proud about if you had slept with her,” Virat said, rolling his eyes.
“Dude, you and I mean, you” Virat said emphatically pointing his index finger against me, “made out with Anjali Shah. There are about 2000 guys in this college who would do anything to kiss Anjali Shah. You did it. So chill out and enjoy your life. You are going into the MIT Hall of Fame man, no doubt about that.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I muttered not exactly sure what to say.
“So tell me this one thing. If she had regained consciousness and had still been drunk, seeing that she was ready to kiss you and all, would you have slept with her yesterday night if she let you?”
I couldn’t believe this guy. Here I was worried about what this girl who I didn’t even know thought of me and Virat was talking about the possibilities of that night.
“No,” I replied after giving him a long look of instigation. ‘You are a jerk,’ I wanted to add.
Virat raised both his hands in mock surrender. “Alright dude. You are the boss.”
He then continued his little narration. “Ok! Anjali Shah, beautiful face, hot body, all the curves in the right places and perfect assets. Mama-mia, they don’t just make girls like her anymore.”
I couldn’t help smiling at this description. I couldn’t agree more. They really don’t make girls like her anymore.
“Every boy in our college had her eyes set on her,” Virat continued his story, “except, surprisingly,” and he fixed me a hard gaze as he said this, “you. Till yesterday anyways,” and he winked at me. “Well, as is usually the case with many of the freshies, Anjali Shah too was looking for someone mature, someone who knew more about life than she did. The answer came in the form of Mohit Bansal.”
“Ahaa”, I said.
Virat raised an eyebrow. “Jealous already?”
“No,” I said. “It’s just a statement. Ahaa! No emotions involved.”
A thin smile crept up his face. “Sure.” His tone made it clear that he was mocking me.
“Mohit Bansal,” I reminded Virat in order to avoid another snappy statement from him about how I was already in love with Anjali Shah.
Mohit Bansal
“Right, Mohit Bansal. Well, now Mohit Bansal, my dear roomie, is pretty much a more intense version of you.” As he said this he looked up at me hoping to see some kind of reaction. I didn’t give any. Disappointed, he continued.
“Final year, very good looking, 5 feel 11 inches, electronics and communication, CGPA 8.55,” at this he looked up at me again and remarked, “which is very close to yours.” Mine was 8.6 and had been climbing every semester. But once again I preferred not to react to the fact that if Mohit Bansal was a different version of me, then I had him beat in at least one category.
Not seeing any reaction from me, Virat continued again.
“He got placed last semester. Infosys which seems so regular except that he got a package of 5.3 lakhs, nearly twice to what Infosys usually offers. By the way, you still hung up on that core job thing?”
I had been silently listening and absorbing the facts before this interruption. I knew it was deliberate, he knew better than anyone that my opinion hadn’t yet changed though I had begun to get some doubts. Yet, I choose to reply.
“Not yet dude,” I said. “I mean, I really want a core job, that’s why I took mechanical or else I could have take Computer Science here. I know they say it kinda gets harder to progress but as of yet, I still want a core job.”
Ok. Let me explain. In most of the engineering colleges, the good one’s anyways, there are things called campus placements. Meaning that all those companies that millions of people struggle to get a job in, these companies come to the colleges and pick up students even before they have graduated. Companies like INFOSYS, TCS, Ashok Leyland and a lot of others. Placements begin about 6th semester and by 7th semester nearly everyone in that batch is placed. I was in my 5th semester, so this was the year that everyone in my batch would do anything and everything possible to convince a bunch of guys in suits that they actually knew something about engineering. You could already see students who had never opened their books a day before exams going trough various kinds of training for placement interviews and breaking their heads over books in a last desperate attempt to increase their GPA. No one messed with 3rd year students as they were usually tensed, worried, and hot blooded and ticking them off was like playing with a time bomb.
When I had entered college, I had a good enough rank in the entrance exam of the college to go for Computer Science, usually a higher rated branch than Mechanical. Yet I opted for mechanical, as that is what I had wanted to be ever since 11th grade. My aim was to get into one of the core companies i.e. in one of those companies which was actually related to mechanical engineering. It wasn’t easy because whatever branch of engineering you may be doing, usually students end up in software companies. There was also the widespread rumor that promotions in core companies are harder to come by than in software companies. So from 4th semester onwards, doubts had crept up in my mind that maybe a core job isn’t such a good idea after all. The fact that my dad agreed that software companies was where all the money lied right now didn’t make it any easier for me. Yet so far I had stuck to my decision of getting a core job.
One of those few love stories that actually seem to carry over beyond college life. And yet somehow,...............“they broke up.”
Besides, placements were still nearly a sem away. I still had time to think about it and there was no guarantee that even if I wanted to, a core company would choose to employ me.
Of course, right now there were more pressing matters on hand than placements. Like the background story of Anjali Shah. So I asked Virat to continue, which he promptly did.
“They were one happy couple. Completely in love, unlike those other floozy couples you get to see around MIT. Every boy in MIT hated Mohit Bansal and yet there was no doubt he couldn’t be happier. And he genuinely seemed to be in love with her and not gloat about her like a trophy girlfriend. Sources confirm that he didn’t talk about her to anyone else, preferring to keep his love life as private as possible.” After saying this he almost bowed his head as if in respect of the guy. I too was impressed, though I tried my best not to show it. Boys love talking about their girl friends, boasting about them any time possible and with a prize catch like Anjali Shah, few would be able to keep their mouths shut even if they wanted to.
“So,” I said, “it sounds like a perfect case of true love. One of those few love stories that actually seem to carry over beyond college life. And yet somehow,” I paused for a few seconds to add the effect, “they broke up.”
It really didn’t make sense. If they were really in love, like Virat said, then well they had found in each other what I was still in search for and still couldn’t understand. They had found love, and believe me i.e. one hard thing to get. Yet, they had somehow managed to find a reason to break up and be miserable.
VIRAT"S THINKING 4 LOVE
Virat got that disappointed expression on his face. If there ever was going to be an award for over acting, Virat would win hands down. The guy seemed to be sad, almost as if he was going to cry any moment. “Alas,” he said in the most dramatic fashion possible,
“Love is much stranger than the human mind can understand. When everything seems perfect, it is then that the truth of life decides to show its ugly face.”“What was the problem?” I asked hoping he would just answer the question and not start an emotional scene in the canteen.
The answer though came from behind. “The problem is you, Rahul Agrawal.”
“So you kissed her?”
“Yeah, I kissed her.”
“And she was actually kissing you back?”
“Yeah, when our lips met, she responded as well. So yeah, she kissed me back as well.”
“How was it?”
“What?”
“How was the kiss? Is she a good kisser?”
“What? Dude, what’s wrong with you man? I am telling you something serious and you are asking me if she was a good kisser?”
“Just answer me man. Was the kiss good or not?”
“Yeah, it was. One of the best kisses I ever had. Kinda sorry she regained consciousness actually.”
“Chola bathura,” shouted the man behind the canteen counter. I went to the counter and giving him the yellow coupon which had Rs 15 printed on it, I took the plate of chola bathura. On the other side, Virat went to get his plate of fried rice.
We ploughed our way through the crowded college canteen and found ourselves seats in the centre row. Keeping our books on the table, we sat down with our plates and I immediately digged into my chola bathura. Virat was relishing his plate of fried rice as well. Virat Mathur had been my classmate since the 1st year of college and roommate since 2nd year and came closest to being called my best friend in this place. He was about 5’7”; average built and was pretty average looking as well. In fact there was nothing about him that would make him stand out in a crowd. I often thought that R.K.Lakshman might have thought of Virat while conceiving the idea about the common man. Except that he was about the only person with whom I really connected in this college. There were friends and lots of them, but I had shared a completely different bond with Virat since the day I had met him.
“Ok, let me give you the lay down,” Virat said as he put a spoonful of the fried rice in his mouth and gulped it down.
“You were dumped by your girlfriend in the afternoon, wait, not just dumped but slapped and embarrassed in front of the entire college. So you spend the evening, all alone getting drunk. Totally natural and not the first time you have done it,” he said smiling at me. “Thanks,” I muttered, embarrassed.
“Anyways,” Virat said, continuing his monologue, “my point is everyone was expecting your break up to be the hot buzz around the college the next morning. But is it? No. By night something else had happened that became the talking point in the entire college. Something that was bigger than your break up man.”
“Your point is dude?” I asked getting frustrated by recalling the incident of that day. It seriously hadn’t been one of my best days.
“My point is that you were going to be laughing stock of the entire college when you woke up this morning. Instead you are the new national hero.”
“Huh? How is that?” I asked, confused.
“Dude, Rahul, you made out with the most desirable girl in our college. That too without even knowing her. How cool is that? Look at everyone around you man. There are guys who think you did the most amazing act in history and there are guys who loathe you. Why? Because you made out with Anjali Shah, man. She’s like the Jessica Alba of MIT.”
“So I am supposed to feel proud of myself?” I asked almost in a sarcastic tone.
“Oh no man! It would have been something to be proud about if you had slept with her,” Virat said, rolling his eyes.
“Dude, you and I mean, you” Virat said emphatically pointing his index finger against me, “made out with Anjali Shah. There are about 2000 guys in this college who would do anything to kiss Anjali Shah. You did it. So chill out and enjoy your life. You are going into the MIT Hall of Fame man, no doubt about that.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I muttered not exactly sure what to say.
“So tell me this one thing. If she had regained consciousness and had still been drunk, seeing that she was ready to kiss you and all, would you have slept with her yesterday night if she let you?”
I couldn’t believe this guy. Here I was worried about what this girl who I didn’t even know thought of me and Virat was talking about the possibilities of that night.
“No,” I replied after giving him a long look of instigation. ‘You are a jerk,’ I wanted to add.
“So what’s her story?”
Virat’s reply was a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, right,” he exclaimed. “You are telling me you wouldn’t sleep with Anjali Shah if given the opportunity?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” I replied again.
This time there was a look of confusion on Virat’s face. As if he understood my answer but didn’t understand the reason for it.
“Why?” he asked me.
Why? Even I wondered why. That was the question even I didn’t know the answer to. There was something unexplainable about that question, something I possibly couldn’t admit.
“I am not sure why,” I replied trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “But there was something about that girl yesterday, something that I saw in her, that I can’t explain, yet it was there. I don’t know what it was but seeing her yesterday, it made me feel different.”
“Dude,” I heard Virat say and saw he was looking with absolutely confusion at me. “You are not in love with her or something, right?”
Was I? Frankly, I wanted to laugh, to scoff at this incredulous possibility, yet somehow I couldn’t. I was aware that the possibility of falling in love with a girl when you are drunk is rare, but stranger things have happened to me. I still tried though, that is tried to laugh.
“No, of course not. That’s stupid. It’s just that there was some kind of quality in her that, you know, got me confused a bit. Maybe even a bit confounded.”
Virat didn’t seem satisfied with my answer. Couldn’t blame him of course. I wasn’t satisfied either. But he looked like he was going to investigate further so to avert any more questions I said, “Or probably it was the vodka. Yeah,” I continued in order to convince him, “it was the vodka.”
“Yeah,” Virat replied slowly as if still probing. “Vodka affects your brain a bit. If it can make you kiss one of the hottest chicks in college, it definitely can make you fall in love with her.”
“So what’s her story?” I asked in a desperate attempt to change the topic. I really didn’t need to go into details about my state of confusion right now.
Virat’s reply was a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, right,” he exclaimed. “You are telling me you wouldn’t sleep with Anjali Shah if given the opportunity?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” I replied again.
This time there was a look of confusion on Virat’s face. As if he understood my answer but didn’t understand the reason for it.
“Why?” he asked me.
Why? Even I wondered why. That was the question even I didn’t know the answer to. There was something unexplainable about that question, something I possibly couldn’t admit.
“I am not sure why,” I replied trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “But there was something about that girl yesterday, something that I saw in her, that I can’t explain, yet it was there. I don’t know what it was but seeing her yesterday, it made me feel different.”
“Dude,” I heard Virat say and saw he was looking with absolutely confusion at me. “You are not in love with her or something, right?”
Was I? Frankly, I wanted to laugh, to scoff at this incredulous possibility, yet somehow I couldn’t. I was aware that the possibility of falling in love with a girl when you are drunk is rare, but stranger things have happened to me. I still tried though, that is tried to laugh.
“No, of course not. That’s stupid. It’s just that there was some kind of quality in her that, you know, got me confused a bit. Maybe even a bit confounded.”
Virat didn’t seem satisfied with my answer. Couldn’t blame him of course. I wasn’t satisfied either. But he looked like he was going to investigate further so to avert any more questions I said, “Or probably it was the vodka. Yeah,” I continued in order to convince him, “it was the vodka.”
“Yeah,” Virat replied slowly as if still probing. “Vodka affects your brain a bit. If it can make you kiss one of the hottest chicks in college, it definitely can make you fall in love with her.”
“So what’s her story?” I asked in a desperate attempt to change the topic. I really didn’t need to go into details about my state of confusion right now.
Anjali Shah.
Virat raised both his hands in mock surrender. “Alright dude. You are the boss.”
He then continued his little narration. “Ok! Anjali Shah, beautiful face, hot body, all the curves in the right places and perfect assets. Mama-mia, they don’t just make girls like her anymore.”
I couldn’t help smiling at this description. I couldn’t agree more. They really don’t make girls like her anymore.
“Every boy in our college had her eyes set on her,” Virat continued his story, “except, surprisingly,” and he fixed me a hard gaze as he said this, “you. Till yesterday anyways,” and he winked at me. “Well, as is usually the case with many of the freshies, Anjali Shah too was looking for someone mature, someone who knew more about life than she did. The answer came in the form of Mohit Bansal.”
“Ahaa”, I said.
Virat raised an eyebrow. “Jealous already?”
“No,” I said. “It’s just a statement. Ahaa! No emotions involved.”
A thin smile crept up his face. “Sure.” His tone made it clear that he was mocking me.
“Mohit Bansal,” I reminded Virat in order to avoid another snappy statement from him about how I was already in love with Anjali Shah.
“Right, Mohit Bansal. Well, now Mohit Bansal, my dear roomie, is pretty much a more intense version of you.” As he said this he looked up at me hoping to see some kind of reaction. I didn’t give any. Disappointed, he continued.
“Final year, very good looking, 5 feel 11 inches, electronics and communication, CGPA 8.55,” at this he looked up at me again and remarked, “which is very close to yours.” Mine was 8.6 and had been climbing every semester. But once again I preferred not to react to the fact that if Mohit Bansal was a different version of me, then I had him beat in at least one category.
Not seeing any reaction from me, Virat continued again.
“He got placed last semester. Infosys which seems so regular except that he got a package of 5.3 lakhs, nearly twice to what Infosys usually offers. By the way, you still hung up on that core job thing?”
I had been silently listening and absorbing the facts before this interruption. I knew it was deliberate, he knew better than anyone that my opinion hadn’t yet changed though I had begun to get some doubts. Yet, I choose to reply.
“Not yet dude,” I said. “I mean, I really want a core job, that’s why I took mechanical or else I could have take Computer Science here. I know they say it kinda gets harder to progress but as of yet, I still want a core job.”
When I had entered college, I had a good enough rank in the entrance exam of the college to go for Computer Science, usually a higher rated branch than Mechanical. Yet I opted for mechanical, as that is what I had wanted to be ever since 11th grade. My aim was to get into one of the core companies i.e. in one of those companies which was actually related to mechanical engineering. It wasn’t easy because whatever branch of engineering you may be doing, usually students end up in software companies. There was also the widespread rumor that promotions in core companies are harder to come by than in software companies. So from 4th semester onwards, doubts had crept up in my mind that maybe a core job isn’t such a good idea after all. The fact that my dad agreed that software companies was where all the money lied right now didn’t make it any easier for me. Yet so far I had stuck to my decision of getting a core job.
Besides, placements were still nearly a sem away. I still had time to think about it and there was no guarantee that even if I wanted to, a core company would choose to employ me.
Of course, right now there were more pressing matters on hand than placements. Like the background story of Anjali Shah. So I asked Virat to continue, which he promptly did.
“They were one happy couple. Completely in love, unlike those other floozy couples you get to see around MIT. Every boy in MIT hated Mohit Bansal and yet there was no doubt he couldn’t be happier. And he genuinely seemed to be in love with her and not gloat about her like a trophy girlfriend. Sources confirm that he didn’t talk about her to anyone else, preferring to keep his love life as private as possible.” After saying this he almost bowed his head as if in respect of the guy. I too was impressed, though I tried my best not to show it. Boys love talking about their girl friends, boasting about them any time possible and with a prize catch like Anjali Shah, few would be able to keep their mouths shut even if they wanted to.
“So,” I said, “it sounds like a perfect case of true love. One of those few love stories that actually seem to carry over beyond college life. And yet somehow,” I paused for a few seconds to add the effect, “they broke up.”
It really didn’t make sense. If they were really in love, like Virat said, then well they had found in each other what I was still in search for and still couldn’t understand. They had found love, and believe me i.e. one hard thing to get. Yet, they had somehow managed to find a reason to break up and be miserable.
Virat got that disappointed expression on his face. If there ever was going to be an award for over acting, Virat would win hands down. The guy seemed to be sad, almost as if he was going to cry any moment. “Alas,” he said in the most dramatic fashion possible,
“Love is much stranger than the human mind can understand. When everything seems perfect, it is then that the truth of life decides to show its ugly face.”“What was the problem?” I asked hoping he would just answer the question and not start an emotional scene in the canteen.
The answer though came from behind. “The problem is you, Rahul Agrawal.”
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