Ch.4 chapter 4 - Sanyog - A Coincide...

I rushed downstairs from the staircaseâ¦

I was looking here and there â¦

I felt relieved when I became sure nobody observed me descending from the staircase.

My palpitation knew no bounds, I was perspiring â¦

Peon asked from his place, âWhat happened?â

I said, âNothing.â

He enquired, âHave you completed the cleaning work?â

I just nodded without explaining what happened upstairsâ¦

He said, âGood, now you continue the work of reference section, downstairs.â

I again noddedâ¦

Peon angrily said, âWhy are you nodding again and again? Have you gone mad?â

I again noddedâ¦

He was furious this time, move fast, finish your work, he orderedâ¦

I went to the reference section â¦ but I couldnât concentrate on what I was doingâ¦ There were very few students in the reference hall but they also started looking towards me in a weird manner, I thought. Somehow, I finished my work and came back to the main library where the peon was waiting for meâ¦

I hurriedly said, âI have completed my todayâs work, I must go now otherwise I will miss my lectures.â

He noddedâ¦

I laughed at him this timeâ¦

I returned to the hostel, went straight into the bathroom and stood under the shower of cold water so that I could regain my senses and come back to the realityâ¦ her innocent face wasnât disappearing at all from my mindâs eye. And my mind was questioning, why in one and half day, we are confronting each other repeatedly. what is the Godâs plan behind thisâ¦ or is it just a coincidence or chance meeting? But my grandma used to say, âEverything happens for reason and there is reason behind every happening. â

I heard a loud bang on the doorâ¦ are you sleepingâ¦ come out â¦ you idiotâ¦ we will miss our practical because of youâ¦

I stepped out of the bathroom, completely drenched â¦

Students outside glanced at me in such a wayâ¦ that they might have seen ghost or some haunted personâ¦

Have you gone really mad, Mr. Sharma? I heard a voice from the distant corner, I looked in that directionâ¦ a tall boy was shaving standing in front of the mirror. He threw his towel in my direction â¦ I abruptly caught it... He further instructedâ¦ wipe your hair first â¦ otherwise you will catch coldâ¦ do you know what is todayâs temperature?

I was about to answerâ¦

Somebody said â¦ he is infected by loveria â¦ so he feels nothing â¦ cold or hot â¦ he can feel only loveâ¦

Students in the bathroom started singing in the chorus, âLoveria hua, isko to loveria huaâ¦â

I felt so ashamed that I almost ran from there straight in the direction of my roomâ¦

Immediately I changed my clothes and moved out of the hostel, to attend classesâ¦

I strictly avoided looking towards the college garden or the area reserved for the girlsâ¦

I didnât look upwards till I entered the classâ¦

Andâ¦

Againâ¦

She was thereâ¦

On the first benchâ¦

Engrossed in readingâ¦

I pinched myselfâ¦

If it wasnât the class, I would have slapped myselfâ¦

But it was class full of 50 to 60 students â¦ so I controlled myself â¦

I wondered, âAm I day dreaming again?â

But I wasnât â¦

Professor entered the class at the same time and she stood upâ¦ I understood â¦

This is nothing but realityâ¦

Coincidence can happen once, twice, thrice â¦ else four timesâ¦

But this is the fifth timeâ¦ we are meetingâ¦ my mind decidedâ¦ we are destined to meetâ¦

I was standing in the middle from how much time, I didnât knowâ¦

Professor said, âSit down students.â

And I came to my senses, I rushed backwards, on the last benchâ¦ to avoid any further complicationsâ¦

I enjoyed all the lectures of various subjects by experienced faculty in the college, I felt relieved a lot after these sessions that I am not wavering from my aim or studies due to the incidents that took place since yesterday.

I purposely waited till all the students went out of the class to avoid any confrontation with her againâ¦

Then slowly , I moved from my bench â¦ I was carefully stepping outsideâ¦

Again the same episode repeatedâ¦

I saw her hurriedly returning backâ¦

Though she was not looking at meâ¦

I couldnât lower my gazeâ¦ she was looking more beautiful today in white salwar, kameez with colourful dupatta and her favourite jasmine flowers.

Excuse me, I heard her soft, musical voiceâ¦

Hamm, I said and stepped backwardsâ¦

She entered the class â¦ still I couldnât forget the tantalizing fragrance of jasmine flowers, she was wearing in her hair on that dayâ¦

She took her diary, which she has forgot under the bench and she went out very hastily.

Suddenly a chaotic sound clashed on my earsâ¦ where is our yaar ? howâs he today?

Again, the yesterdayâs gang was standing in front of me, face to faceâ¦

I tried to avoid them as if I havenât noticed themâ¦

But Babya said in a loud voice, âMajanu Bhaiyya mission successful. The whole information, I have collected in a single night. I need treat from your sideâ¦

I was rather baffled, what should I answer â¦ Earlier I had decided to ignore these hooligansâ¦ but when I heard he has all the information about herâ¦ I couldnât resist myselfâ¦

And within a minute or two, we all were marching towards the canteenâ¦

All dragged the chairs and tea was ordered by someone elseâ¦

Everyone was as eager as myselfâ¦ I thought to listen about herâ¦

Babya was drinking waterâ¦ somebody snatched the glass from his hand and saidâ¦ you can drink water afterwardsâ¦ information firstâ¦

Babya was also a game changerâ¦ he snatched the glass againâ¦ drank two glasses of water at the easeâ¦ took a long pauseâ¦

The gang leader was so upset with Babyaâs demeanour, he stood on his chairâ¦ and saidâ¦

Baban Sheth will you mind disclosing the top secret, you have collected from last nightâ¦ or else be ready for the consequencesâ¦

With these words Babya was on his toesâ¦ and was about to open his mouthâ¦

We saw a group of girls approaching towards the canteen and my lady was in a leading positionâ¦Â

Babya was getting signals from all of us to keep mum â¦

Somebody standing from his seat and put a whole biscuit in Babyaâs mouth, so that he couldnât speakâ¦

Dr. Archana Pandit

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