chapter 8
Sanyog - A Coincidence
Next day, when I entered the library for my punishment ritual, I was over stressed by the thought that the peon uncle will send me again to the girlâs reading room and I will have to face her one more time⦠It will be better if this episode wonât repeat today, I was praying to God⦠and I saw peon uncle coming downstairs with a broom⦠so it was confirmed ⦠I was saved for the day from entering into that room... He indicated me towards the duster and with the eyes ordered me to start my work⦠I began the dusting tables, chairs, cupboards and I saw the stand at the entrance full of newspapers and magazines, yesterday, somehow, I missed it⦠I was overjoyed to see it⦠this stand will help me a lot in the preparation of current affairs for the prelims of UPSC ⦠I have heard from many of my seniors in the village, that they read the newspaper ⦠âThe Hinduâ ⦠everyday for updates regarding current affairs and they prepared notes⦠so I decided after this work ⦠immediately I will start note making ⦠I cleaned boysâ reading room, reference section and even teachersâ section today⦠yesterday I didnât notice it but today peon uncle made it a point to clean that room on the priority⦠I did the whole work in a stretch of enthusiasm to read the newspaper⦠after my work⦠I went to washroom, cleaned my hands and face and directly headed towards the stand⦠but the newspaper was not there⦠I looked at the surrounding ⦠nobody was there⦠I enquired to the peon uncle about the paper ⦠he just pointed in the upward direction⦠I understood ⦠she was there⦠in the morning ⦠and she has taken the newspaper for note making⦠I was irritated a bit⦠why she is always there in all my endeavours⦠I urged God let me concentrate on my studies ⦠I decided to read another English newspaper and took Times of India and sat in the distant corner in the boysâ reading room so I shouldnât be visible easily to anyone ⦠least I will be disturbed â¦Â Â
I was skimming through the headlines ⦠I jotted down few important incidents that took place in my diary⦠I was about to read the editorial ⦠then I felt somebody was at the door of the boysâ reading room⦠I didnât lift my face ⦠I thought, there should be some boy who also prefers morning study like me⦠I continued reading⦠when I heard a soft voice ⦠it was her⦠âexcuse meâ⦠she was saying ⦠I was startled by her voice⦠she again said in a loud voice⦠âexcuse meâ¦â
âYessâ¦â⦠I literally jumped from the chairâ¦
She again said , âMr⦠ââ¦
âWhat do you want? â , I repliedâ¦
âThe newspaperâ¦â, was the answer I received â¦
âWhat â¦â , I said in a confusing toneâ¦
âTimes of India ⦠in your hands â¦, I want itâ , she said loudlyâ¦
I thought when I wanted , The Hindu , I didnât disturb her⦠and now she is here for the paper ⦠I was bit irritated ⦠I replied ⦠âI am reading ⦠I need itâ¦â
Now, she changed her tone and even in milder sweet tone⦠she uttered⦠âBut I wish to complete my todayâs notes⦠afterwards I have my classesâ¦â
I too adamantly replied, âI am reading the editorial and making notes and I too have my lectures⦠you can take it afterwards ⦠â
She instantly said , âNice ideaâ¦â
âWhat?â , I shouted â¦
âI mean, we can exchange our notes ⦠â, she suggested â¦
I was confused ⦠she must have read question mark on my faceâ¦
She replied in a convincing manner, âI know, you are reading newspaper and making notes , it means you are also preparing for competitive exam⦠so what I mean is that ⦠everyday we can prepare notes of different newspapers and we can exchange them , so we can save our time and energy also⦠do you agree ? â
She took a pause after uttering this huge sentenceâ¦
I was so confused ⦠from last two days ⦠I was trying to find a chance to talk with her and today and yesterday also, she encountered me and now she is directly giving me the proposal of group study⦠unable to answer , I stood like a statue â¦
She coughed ⦠and whispered ⦠âWhat happened? I am getting late for the classes ⦠please replyâ¦â
I boldly said , âWe donât know each other ⦠we donât know even each others name and you are talking of exchanging notes , isnât it â¦.
She cut my sentence and said ,âSorry⦠I am Sanyogita and you â¦â
âI am Sameepâ , I replied in a confident toneâ¦
She again said, âI am in M.A. first year ⦠English special⦠what about youâ¦â
I was surprised by her answer ⦠she was acting as if she hasnât seen me yesterday in the class ⦠I suppressed all my frustration and said with a smile on my face , Oh! What a coincidence we are in the same classâ¦â
She just said, âThatâs good , see you in the class , we can exchange the notes after our classes are overâ¦â
And she left hurriedly ⦠without looking backâ¦
I stood there like an idiot fellow⦠again I pinched myself to confirm that this wasnât a dreamâ¦Â
I self â asserted, she was really there⦠but again I started thinking ⦠what kind of girl is she? What Babya said about her is perfect, she is studious type⦠does she has only brain and no heart? â¦
And at the same juncture , the wall clock in the library rang loudly and I regained my senses ⦠It was 8.00 am and my first lecture was at 8.30 am ⦠I recalled clearly , what she said ⦠we will exchange the notes ⦠but mine were incomplete ⦠so I stick to chair again and concentrated on the editorial ⦠It took me almost twenty minutes to complete my task⦠Then in a hurry , I lifted my diary and headed straight towards the door of the library ⦠I put the newspaper neatly on the stand and started running towards the language building near the girls garden⦠now I have come to know about all the routes very clearly so I entered the class at 8.29am ⦠she was there on the first bench⦠and unexpectedly she gave me that killing smile of recognition⦠for a moment ⦠I was stunned ⦠but at the same moment , Professor entered the class and I grabbed my seat on the second last bench⦠in that lecture ⦠Sir taught us William Shakespeareâs sonnet 130, âMy Mistressesâ eyes are nothing like the sunâ¦â, though the meaning of the poem is completely different , it is an ironic comment upon the conventions of love poems in sixteenth century and idealization of womenâs beauty⦠throughout the lecture I was trying to befit my love in that sonnet and how she is rare and valuable for me⦠with these thoughts ⦠I was feather light ⦠I complimented myself ⦠Mr. Sharma ⦠good work⦠not bad ⦠within two days ⦠exchange of notes⦠If Chandrayaâs gang will come to know about this⦠I will have to spend the whole pocket money today , I was afraid ⦠so I decided to be more careful while exchanging the notesâ¦
Dr. Archana Pandit