chapter 1

Meeting Sanyogita was a beautiful coincidence in my life. I saw her, first time in the college garden, where She was reading a novel , she was completely engrossed while I stood awestruck outside watching her simple , beautiful, studious face.  I had come from a small town and had no daring to talk with girls but after watching her I was mesmerized. I was standing there like a statue; God knows from how much time?I regained my senses, when I heard a loud, angry voice of our Vice-Principal. He was shouting, “Mr. Majanu, what are you doing here? Are you blind? Can’t you read the board? This area is strictly reserved for the girl students. Boys are not allowed here. Still, you have entered and lingering here. How can you dare? Sakharam , are you sleeping. Hold this boy. And bring him to my office.”I sensed the serious consequences of my foolishness, I said in a meek voice, “Sorry Sir, I was not aware about this rule. I am a  new comer. I have taken admission yesterday only so please forgive me; I won’t repeat mistake.”Sakharam, Sir shouted, “Hold him tight, these brats won’t listen till they  get good punishment. I know them very well. They come from villages for such things only.”Sir , I interrupted him, “Sorry to say but please don’t judge everyone with same perspective. I am here with a aim in my life. I am not any road Romeo who takes interest in stalking each and every girl.” Now, Sir was so annoyed, he grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me towards the porch. I tried to resist but Sakharam our body builder peon was there to assist him. And I could barely move. Crowd gathered after watching this scene. There was pin drop silence. Nobody uttered a single word.  And I was pushed by Sakharam inside the cabin.  During this whole process, Sanyogita never stirred or lifted her face to see what was happening around her. I thought, is she mad? Or so egoist who has nothing to do with what was happening around her. Mister, Sir was shouting. Where are you? Still in her thoughts…Come back to the reality.Mister ... ( He banged on the table)Humm!... Sir my name is Sameep , Sameep Sharma... I am from ....Sir again interrupted me ... Oh ! Nice to meet you Mr. Sharma... it's my pleasure I could interact with you... I am not here to know about your whereabouts...  rather you are brought here to know about the rules over here otherwise ... You know...stand properly...Sir ...but ... I .... I hardly uttered...Don't argue , Mr. Sharma... Sir said,Your punishment is you will clean the library tables from tomorrow for 7 days and arrange all the books in the order as instructed by Librarian.Ok Sir, I nodded.Good, you accepted, your mistake...No Sir, I didn't, I said loudly...Now you will do library work for 10 days. Sir shouted.I realised, it's better to keep mum ... I nodded once again.Sakhram , Sir shrieked, assist our guest to the hostel and keep an eye on him... If found once again Mr. Verma...Sharma Sir, I corrected...Sharma or Verma whatever you are... Better understand the rules and follow them... Yes Sir... I replied in a confident tone.Keep your eyes and voice low Mr. , Sakhram said...What I did now? I couldn't understand... Better to leave this place earlier... I just nodded. Literally I was pushed by Sakhram outside the cabin. Crowd outside was waiting for some hot news... Sakhram said in a loud voice, a new Majanu has entered our college...And everyone giggled...I asked Sakharam, why are you making me famous? Have you taken the contract of free publicity? He was not expecting this kind of an answer... He uttered a bad word ... You ...At the same moment I freed my hand from his and started running without looking backwards... I took the first right  turn ... And was about to stop as I noticed few girls were riding on their bicycles  were moving straight in my direction... But due to my speed I couldn't stop, I staightly collided with a girl in the centre... she fell immediately, as other girls also collapsed... They started shouting and few boys grabbed the opportunity to help them... Can't you see?Are you blind?You idiot...Girls were scolding me... But I was stunned to see Sanyogita again...She was in the middle...I collided directly with her...I couldn't forget the fragrance of Jasmine flower she was wearing in her long braids. Is it a coincidence or is God doing it purposely? I thought... You fool , move aside .. One of the girls shouted ...Oh! Poor Sangu ... Are you hurt? Oh my God, your knee is hurt, you are bleeding...You idiot, see what have you done, the girl said...They took her aside , somebody brought water ... One lady Professor was passing by ... She took her to the health centre for first aid...And I was there cursing myself for my unforgivable fault...My heart beats was speeding, my mind was full of chaos... Why within fifteen minutes duration I met her twice and why our meeting both times ended in hurting me or her...Have I gone mad, I was thinking, this is our first interaction... Interaction , I laughed at myself...how can I say this meeting an interaction... We never spoke, she didn't look at me .. and already I have started thinking about us as a couple, Couple with this word I came to my senses... No this isn't right...What am I doing? Why am I here?I suddenly stopped...I heard the words  ... See Majanu is approaching Dr. Archana Pandit