chapter 2

I was startled by the word, Majanu…How these boys from the hostel had come to know about the incident happened in the porch? I was wondering…Again, I heard, Aye Majanu… Majanu … I was irritated and I went straight towards the group from which I heard the call… They were not expecting me right in front of them…I asked, ‘What’?One of the boys looking like a hooligan approached me… He patted on my back… He said in a loud voice, ‘What Mr. Sharma, you have become a famous personality in the college in a day, we have wasted our life over here, but nobody recognizes us… you directly hit the ball in the net… directly vice-principal … Man gaye yar.’I was not expecting this …Surprisingly I said, ‘I did nothing, it happened all by mistake.’‘That’s the thing, we couldn’t do the mistake, which you did on the first day’, he said laughing aloud, ‘Welcome to our club’ and he hugged me tight.Remaining boys from the group were looking at me as if I have done the herculean task. They also showed their warmth by hand shake or hug. I was almost overwhelmed by their reaction, without realizing what to do, I was standing still. The ceremony continued almost for fifteen minutes. Then somebody realized, I must be hungry… he said … let’s party… let’s go to canteen, the hooligan looking boy said, let’s celebrate Mr. Sharma’s feat… he deserves it…Without my consent, I was almost dragged toward the canteen… When boys started ordering so many things, I felt I will empty my pocket in a day… But the gang leader announced aloud… boys order more, anything you want, today’s party is from my side…I felt relived and without paying attention to what others were doing, I concentrated on the plates served in front of me…I have never seen so many, various dishes like kachori chat, samosa chat, dahi bhalla chat etc. at my village. So, I decided to enjoy all the cuisines without bothering with whom I was, who will pay the bill, what others will think… etc. Rather I realized my hunger after I started eating … After finishing almost two plates, I belched. And the boy sitting nearby offered me a glass of water… I thanked him, and unknowingly I felt strange affection towards all… My mind was giving me instructions from the point I confronted them, they are not your type, keep away from them but at the same my heart was sensing the warmth and affection they showered on me… I was again in a dubious mind, what to do… But for the moment I decided to be with them, later I can change my decision, whether I will continue my friendship with them or not…I laughed at myself when I sensed I don’t know even their names and my mind is speeding do decide about our further relationship… I said to myself, ‘Mr. Sharma, slow down, slow your pace, already you have become enough famous in a day…’Suddenly I heard three cheers for our new member Mr. Sameep Sharma … I came back to the reality… All the boys had raised their cups of tea… I followed them… After having our tea … the induction program began… everyone introduced himself… the most important thing which I noticed was the number of years they were in the campus… from their count I understood all of them they were repeaters or failures …. They almost looked like grown up men… and I was like a school going boy among them… at that time… Aye, Majanu Bhayya , where are you lost? Somebody pinched me…Nothing… just … I stammered …Let it be, Hota Hai, Hota Hai, don’t worry, be happy… someone else advised…Majanu Bhayya , the gang leader asked, ‘how was the girl? What’s her name? In which class is she studying? Do you know her? ‘I was almost like a soldier wounded in the war by continuous bombarding of the bullets…I answered, ‘Nothing like that, I was not doing it purposely, I didn’t know about the college rules, so mistakenly I went there….’  I took a deep breath after giving my explanation.Suddenly I noticed everyone was gazing at me as if I had committed some crime and I was under the suspicion in addition to that they were cross verifying me…I moved backwards on the chair and sat straight… and exploded, ‘I am speaking truth, why you people don’t believe me?’See Anya, gang leader said, already he has learned all the lessons which we have studied over years here…What do you mean? I enquired …Nothing… he said laughing… you continue … we believe you… Sahil whispered, ‘The first test of love is love laden heart never speaks truth.’All other laughed aloud…Gang leader said, ‘He has cleared his first test with distinction.’I busted, ‘Why don’t you believe me… it’s nothing… it was just a coincidence…’Rohya see, Aniket said, ‘This chap is so brilliant, he knows everything about the disease called love…’I shouted, ‘Will you keep out of my way, it’s my personal matter…’See Rohan exclaimed, ‘Already it has become his personal matter.’Gang leader said, ‘In this campus and the hostel nothing is personal, everything is public Mr.Majanu.’‘Oh! Please stop… I don’t know her, I swear, God’s promise…’, I shrieked.‘Ok … Ok…’ Ramya said, ‘Why are you taking tension, tomorrow morning, you will have all the information about that girl… don’t you worry… we have our strong network… Babya start your work.’The person called Babya nodded obediently… I thought, where I am stuck, these guys will not leave me, until I agree… so I said, ‘Yes, I will meet you all tomorrow morning. Thank you for the party. Nice to meet you all. Now I must leave, I have to meet the rector of the hostel for further formalities…’ I got the reply, ‘Brother don’t worry, now onwards rector won’t bother you. And if he says anything just inform us…’I replied immediately, no, no, I can handle…Babya assured, ‘Tomorrow morning, I will hand over all the information about the girl.’Without knowing, what to do, I just nodded. Mr. Sharma … I heard a loud voice…Startled … I said, ‘Who is this? ‘The voice replied, ‘It’s me, your friend, Majanu…’No, no, you are not my friend … I said aloud…‘Already, day dreaming ha!’, Rohan said…Let’s drop him to the hostel, somebody said…And again, the whole team directed me towards the hostel…All left after saying good bye! And I remembered about my punishment, which was going to start next day at 7.00 am ….So, I hurriedly went into the room … But her face … was continuously blinking in front of my eyes…Dr. Archana Pandit