The First Love – Part V

The First Love - Part I
The First Love - Part II
The First Love - Part III
The First Love - Part IV

When the school started off again, those were the best times of my life. The next few months just flew off. We started spending more time together. We were together in the class, during the break times & when the class was on, we would still be speaking to each other in a coded language. After class, we took a walk in the ground, before our evening tuition sessions started. Even though she had said that she preferred being friends, i could see that this was turning out to be something else. People say that things work out if one is persistent enough. And I was a personification of persistence. I would make use of every opportunity to proclaim my love for her. Whenever I used to do that, she would be indifferent most of the time. You know the kind of reaction which the deaf people give, as if they hadn’t heard anything. And sometimes she just laughed it off. The one thing unforgettable was when she got jealous of the whole thing. Well, to be honest we had a big laugh at it at a later period. It happened this way.

Once during our tri-bed conference, I was ranting off the fact that Keerthana wasn’t accepting my proposal. We have been talking but she really didn’t give any reaction as if she liked me or loved me. Gopal suggested that I should try out few flattering techniques, showcasing my love for her. Prabu pitched in saying why not write a love letter for her, this time describing her beauty and comparing her with the Nature and remarking how beautiful she was even when compared to the Sun, moon etc etc. Generally, Girls love when someone gives them a compliment, but they get floored when they are told that they are the best compared to everything that’s in the world. I guess, telling a lie to make someone happy isn’t that bad ! Prabu’s idea was a masterpiece, except for a minor mistake. Gopal too joined me in writing it. Don’t get me wrong, he wanted to write a love letter to Geetha, so in order to lessen the efforts, both of us decided to write the letter together. Actually, I protested to this idea, but Gopal quoted the physics concepts of saving energy and increasing efficiency, blah blah.

So that was it. We sat together and composed the love letter as if two master craftsmen were preparing their greatest art. In the end, we took the main draft of the letter, and prepared two more copies of it. On one copy I wrote Keerthana’s name & on the other, Gopal wrote Geetha’s name. We then put the envelopes in respective covers. The next day after the class got over, I and Keerthana were taking a walk in the ground. She had gone to drink water, when I slipped the letter into her bag. I had to meet our class teacher so I went off after telling her. I was thinking that she will get a pleasant surprise when she finds the letter. Little did I know what happened. I was much fortunate than Gopal, who had to bear Geetha’s wrath in real time!! They were in the canteen & she had went off to drink some water. Meanwhile, Gopal inserted the letter into her bag. Then he went off to the nearby shop saying he will get some chips. When he came back, Geetha exploded and gave him some tight slaps. He didn’t understand what was happening. Few minutes back they were talking sweet things, but now it was a tense situation. What had really happened was that our letters had got interchanged. The letter content went off something like: I love you more than I love anything else, You look more beautiful than your friend (yes, we should have mentioned the friend name, which we didn’t). Even if I get a chance to be with her, I will not trade places etc etc. This idea (ridiculous idea) was suggested by Gopal, saying that this will showcase how truthful we were to our lovers. The problem was, my letter to Keerthana started off like “Dear Geetha” and Gopal’s letter to Geetha started off like “Dear Keerthana”. So Geetha ended up thinking that Gopal had discreetly wanted to give the letter to Keerthana, which she had found out.

In my case, Keerthana reaction was a bit different from expected. Till now, I had only heard about the power of non-violence but hadn’t had any opportunity to experience it. Now I got to experience it in real time. Poor British people, they wouldn’t have thought of the power of non-violence before their mighty weapons. In the end, the non-violent stance of the Indians had completely disarmed them. In Keerthana’s case, it was a slight modification of non-violence concept. She had hated violence and hence, she adopted the non-violent mode: Crying. As soon as I met her during dinner, I asked her “So, how is Geetha”. I don’t know why I asked about Geetha, but it was just a casual question, considering Geetha hadnt come to have dinner along with keerthana. She broke into tears. It took some time to understand what had happened, and clear her doubts away. But one good thing had materialized. The incident went onto show how possessive she was about me and how she didn’t like the idea of me with someone else.

Our final exams were coming up in sometime. Prior to that, we had a two week vacation or study holidays, as they called it. Her parents had called her back during that time. I couldn’t imagine why her parents had called her at this period, and I missed her deeply. We had got used to be with each other that it was feeling weird to be without her. I told Gopal, Prabu that Iam going to see her again. They thought it was a crazy idea going out during the exams time. Still, I had made up mind. I left the next day and went to my friend’s place. I went and waited near the road junction. She was returning back from shopping and as soon as she saw me – she started crying. I mean, I expected her to be surprised and give a surprised look, yet wondered if crying was supposed to be the extreme reaction, when someone gets surprised. Then she told me what had happened. Her parents had called her back because they were planning to get her married once she finishes school. She had got a good proposal and her parents had wanted her back home for that reason. I couldn’t say anything. She just continued crying. I wiped off her tears and hugged her. I held her face close and said – No one can make you do anything, if u don’t want to do it. Just tell your parents that you don’t want to get married so soon and that you want to study more. They will yield to your persistence.” Our faces were so close that I could see her iris in a magnified way. And when she was crying, she looked more beautiful with the tears decorating her further. We don’t know what happened, but the next moment our lips had met and we started kissing each other. It was sometime before we realized what we were doing, and since we were standing in the road, we restrained ourselves.
The next thing we see is her mom standing few feets away from us. What we didn’t realize that while we were kissing, her mom had been nearby. She had come in search of Keerthana, and had found us doing it. Her face was a mix of evil glare & angel weeping. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to look at that kind of stare. Keerthana broke away from me and went to her mom, who dragged her back. I came for the next 2 days but couldn’t get to meet her. My friend advised me to go back to school and study for exams. She came for the exams but didn’t even speak with me. The whole week was excruciatingly slow. Because of the rigorous exams, I couldn’t even catch up with her. After t exams got over, her parents came to the school and packed her things. Gopal told me that she was leaving her room. I hurriedly ran towards the main gate. When I reached the main gate, she was sitting in the car. I cried out ‘Keerthana, I want to speak to you’. Her father, a tall man with broad shoulders, (in short, a giant) came towards me and said – Next time, I see you disturbing my daughter, you will really feel sorry for doing so. Go and mind your own business’ Then they just left off, and I could just watch as the car speeded away to distance and become a speck in the long road that lead away from the school.



Ding dong. Ding dong. The door bell rang…

‘Madhu, go and see who is at the door’, I said.

“No daddy, please tell what happened next’, murmured Sankar.

‘That’s for later, go and see who is at the door. Sankar you go and ask your mom to bring something to eat for the guest.’

I had completely forgot. We had invited Gopal’s family to come over to my place and we had planned to go out for a dinner. The time had passed away so soon that I didn’t realize that it was 6’0 clock.

Gopal and his wife came inside and sat in the sofa. ‘How is life, Vikram’,he asked. ‘Geetha aunty, Dad was telling us your school days story”, said Madhu.

“My goodness, how long many times do you tell it to your kids”, exclaimed Gopal.

“What can I do. They never seem to get bored of it.” I said

“Papa left the story in the middle, how Mom had left with her parents on the last day of the
school”, said Sankar in a sad tone.

Just then Keerthana came out of the kitchen carrying a tray. “Hi Geetha, Gopal how are you”, she asked.

Keerthana, she was just the same as the first time I saw her. Her beauty, her smile, were the same as yester years. As the saying goes, if you truly love something, you set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was. My love was true.

“Dad, tell na what happened then”, Sankar murmured again.

“Sankar, You have heard it many times. Now go and get ready for going outside. The story of how I met your Father again is a long story. We will hear it some other time”, saying so Keerthana came and sat beside me.

If there is one thing which a man can ask for, it is to live along with the girl of your dreams. And I was blessed indeed. As someone said “If you truly love someone with all your heart, the whole world conspires to help you achieve your dream”

***************************** THE END***********************************

P.S: I would like to extend my thanks to my friends Preeti, Madhavi & Uday sankar for their threat that if the story had a bad ending that would be my last day in earth. Hope you liked the ending. Thanks to all who liked the story and followed it up from the start and gave genuine feedback.

The First Love - Part IV

I was filled with complete enthusiasm throughout the day. People say that when you fall in love, you can sense the other person everywhere. It was the same with me. I could sense her everywhere. It went onto an extent in which even Prabu’s verbose conversation seemed ‘sweeter’, it appeared as if she was speaking. When somebody laughed nearby, it seemed as if she had laughed. We had a reading session on Physics. I had no idea of what was being discussed. Though I continued doing whatever was said by the teacher, my mind was doing its own somersaults. For the first time, the special session looked fun. Since, her smile in the class had dispelled the notion that she bore any animosity towards me, I was looking forward to see her the next day. We had a triangle bed meeting in my room (Gopal, Prabu and my bed arranged in a triangular design, similar to a round table conference). Gopal was certain, I was ready to upgrade to the next level and that I must propose to her. Prabu was skeptical and was of the view that I must understand her better, before taking the next step. He said ‘I read somewhere that as far as women are concerned, the unexpected always happen’. Even the wise poet Kabir Das had written that one can measure the depth of a sea, one can measure the altitude of the skies, but one can’t measure a women thoughts’. He seemed to have a good point, So the meeting was adjourned, with the upgrade plan put on hold until any further developments.

The next day, I went to the class early on and occupied Gopal’s position. Usually he sits on one end of the bench and Keerthana’s friend Geeta would sit in the bench beside it. When Geeta came in, she saw me sitting on Gopal’s place and understood what I wanted and sat at Keerthana’s place. Keerthana came in after sometime and sat at the end of the bench besides me. During the class, my pen ink dried up. I was wondering what to do and asked Gopal for a replacement. Gopal was still furious at me for taking his place, and didn’t bother to answer me. I was wondering if I should ask someone in the back or front bench when a pen appeared before my eyes. I looked sideways and saw that Keerthana was holding a pen in her hand. ‘You can use this, if you want’ she said. My heart took a plunge yet my hands thankfully did its normal function of taking the pen from her. I smiled back and said thanks. Accepting her pen seemed to be a wrong choice. I spent the remaining time of the period, in admiring the design of the pen and its beauty. Gopal looked sideways to see what I was looking at and saw me transfixed looking at the pen. ‘Vikram, isn’t that the pen which I gave you last month, and which you had misplaced’, he asked. Coming out of my imagery,I snapped at him ‘ don’t disturb me now’. Iam busy.’ Once the class got over, I gave her the pen back, she said ‘It’s fine. You can use it for the day and return tomorrow’. I was happy to oblige. I guarded the pen like a treasure. I kept the pen in the centre of the table and all the 3 of us were looking, I was looking at the pen and the other two were looking at me.

Few weeks went by. We used to talk a little bit during the lunch time or during the breaks. I found it hard to interact with her normally, as when I was with her, my pulses would race up. I couldn’t act as if I was her friend, while I had different feelings for her in my heart. Back in the room, the triangular meeting was called for in lieu of the new development. Gopal, once again as impulsive as ever, suggested the proposal mode. ‘See, she even gave you the pen on her own. How long would you keep your emotions bottled up. Go ahead and tell her what you feel about her’. I just nodded my head and mumbled ‘Yes, I think she likes me too’.
‘I still feel you should wait to get to know her better before you propose her’ Prabu said.
‘Should I wait to know her better till our school ends ??’. What will happen if she changes her mind by then’, Gopal asked. So it was decided that I would go ahead with the plan. The three of us got down into the strategic planning mode. Prabu suggested the best time to approach her would be after the Hindi special class.

‘Yes, yes. that’s a nice idea’, said Gopal.

‘Yes, Just in case things didn’t turn out as hoped for, and if she reacts violently and slaps you, it’s better to face it alone when no one’s there.’, said Prabu.

‘Thanks Chanakya, for your insightful advice. We will follow as you say sa’, I said. Now for a strategic support, Gopal was instructed to brief Geeta about her assistance to make Keerthana stay in the class after it gets over, so that I and she can remain in the class and at that appropriate moment, I will approach her.

The next day, i was eagerly waiting for the hindi classes. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice her coming to the class and maybe for the first time, didn’t even give her much glance throughout the day. During the break, we updated Geeta about the plan. She seemed understandable and agreed to help. Later once the Hindi class got over, Geeta acted as if she had some doubts in the subject, and stayed back. Once everyone in the class had left, i slowly packed up my things. Geeta went outside first, leaving Keerthana and me in the class. She gave me a smile and took her bag and was about to leave the class.

‘Keerthana, I want to talk with you regarding something.’ I said

‘Yes. What is it, Vikram’, she replied.

‘I don’t know how to say it. I don’t know to speak in riddles. The first time, I saw you, I fell in love with you’. Probably I don’t know you well enough, but I know that as long as you are with me, I can think of nothing else but only you.’

As Prabu had said, ‘as far as women are concerned, the unexpected always happen’. Whatever the reaction I had expected, her reaction was unexpected. She didn’t give any reaction at all. She just walked away silently. No dialogues which the heroine utters in the movies. I just stood there puzzled, unable to understand what it meant. We didn’t speak for the next three days. Even while passing each other, she would look somewhere else or pretend that iam not there. What else I could do when she pretends that I don’t exist itself. We just went on with the daily schedule.

On the 5th day, after the class while I was about to get down the staircase, I heard a voice behind ‘ Vikram’. I looked back and saw Keerthana standing there along with Geetha. She said ‘Vikram, I do like you, but as my friend and nothing more. You don’t even know me completely. Hence, please don’t waste your time coming after me’. I was completely speechless. I didn’t expect her to come up with such a reply. Anyhow, her proposal would enable me to be with her and keep my chances open’.

I said: ‘Well, since you have accepted that you do like me, it wont be long before you realize my true love for you’. And yea, it’s just a matter of time, before that happens.’. She just looked at me and went away. That night the triangle bed conference was again called for. Prabu was at the center standing in a pose of a military brigadier; about to give marching orders to his troops. Gopal was lost in a deep contemplation. ‘Girls like guys who make them feel special’. So you have to find a way to make her feel special.

‘I already feel she is special. How do I make her feel it.’

‘I don’t know. Ask the experienced guy for an idea’, remarked Prabu. We both looked at Gopal. He had a smirk on his face. Of all things, in such a serious discussion, this expression didn’t help out much.

‘What is there to smirk about’, I asked.

No reply. We realized that he had dozed off while in deep contemplation. Prabu hit him with a pillow. ‘Yes, yes. that’s a nice idea’, Gopal babbled. He claims that he has the ability to hear even while sleeping. We understood how clearly he had heard our conversation.

‘Why were you smirking’, I asked.

“I had a dream in which I was wishing Geetha on her birthday and both of us went out on a date’.

People say that sometimes a bolt of lightning hits you from nowhere. I got a new idea now. I recalled Geetha saying that Keerthana’s birthday was during the half yearly holidays and she would be going home. ‘Thanks Gopal, for a wonderful idea’, I said.

‘What was the idea’, he asked.

Well, i have decided that I will give Keerthana a surprise visit during the holidays and personally wish her on her birthday. That’s sure to make her understand how much I love her. Lets see how she reacts when I reach at her place directly and wish her. The idea of visiting her in person was strengthened by few movies in which the actor visits the girl at her place, and sweeps her off her feet by his proposal.

‘What if she has body guards around her and they break your legs’, asked Gopal.

‘That was very helpful, Gopal. Well, that remains to be seen who would be swept off, and if I will have my legs to atleast run away.”

I was hopeful that her parents wouldn’t have taken the pains to have bodyguards around her. After calculating the cost of hiring body guards, I decided that they wouldn’t go to that extent and hence decided to take the risk. After all, what is life without experimentation.

‘That seems to be a good idea’. But do you know where she lives’, asked Prabu.
‘We have to get it from the registration records’, I said

‘Are you crazy. There is no way you can get your hands on it. The records are kept locked in a room nearby the chemistry lab’, Gopal said.

‘Well, we will find a way to infiltrate it. Guys, think how exciting will it be to do something like this. We should have something to make our exams time more exciting.’
Prabu was skeptical but agreed to help out. Gopal said there is no way we can do this. ‘What if we got caught. Already iam getting battered in exams, I don’t want an extra reason now.”

‘Come on Gopal. Don’t worry about that. You needn’t come in. You can just act as a watch guard. If you help me out, I will sponsor samosa in our canteen for a week’

‘Ok, then. I will just be a watch guard. So when are we going to the canteen’, he said. It’s remarkable how samosa can help convince people.

Then all the three of us sat and planned the Mission ‘Dhoom’. Gopal was of the view that having a movie name in which the actor infiltrates the place and completes his mission successfully would be a good sign for us. The registration records are kept in a room nearby the chemistry lab. Being a class monitor, the hindi teacher had taken me once to keep few records. Our plan was that once the half yearly exams starts, the people movement would lessen. We will make Gopal stand outside the chemistry lab as a watch guard. There is a small broken window to the back of that room. One can enter it through a lavatory, which is at the end of the corridor. From there, one can get over to a parapet, and then enter the room through the broken window. I and Prabu would enter the room and get the record. We had 3 days holiday before our first exam. We decided that Saturday would be the right time to infiltrate it. The next few days went by, with the three of us figuring out all the probable dangers/obstacles which we might face and how we could avoid/overcome it. A long inventory list was prepared for the items to taken for the break in.

On Saturday, after having lunch, the three of us took our exam books and arrived at the place. We told Gopal to be ready and in case of any person entering the room, to warn us off so that we can escape through the window. I and Prabu went over to the parapet to enter the room. The room was quite dark. We couldn’t put on the room lights as people might find out our presence. We put on our search lights and started our search. I took up one end of the room, and Prabu the other end. The records were stacked high in a corner and it took us 30 mins just to figure out the location of our batch records. We found out our class records and started looking for keerthana’s record. Suddenly we heard sound of footsteps outside. We listened with bated breath. Then we heard Gopal’s voice ‘ Good afternoon Sir’. ‘Good afternoon, Gopal’ What are you doing here.’. It was our Chemistry Sir. ‘Sir, Iam studying for Chemistry exam, seeing the chemicals in the lab will help me correlate the formula’s better’, remarked Gopal. That indeed was a stroke of genius. Even Einstein, Newton wouldn’t have thought of studying like that.
‘Don’t waste time moving around the campus. Go and study in your room. You can score good marks by studying in your room too.’ The prof said in an irritated manner, opened the lab, went in and got something he wanted and went back. Gopal couldn’t understand why the prof got irritated. After coming back to the room, we found out the reason. Gopal in his hurry had taken the physics book in his hand. And physics exam was our last exam. The prof realized that arguing with Gopal would only waste his time, so he just went on with his work. Thankfully, this act made him leave the location quickly. Meanwhile, we found her record, and hurriedly noted down her address. We kept the records back in place, so to avoid any signs of intrusion, and returned the same way. Back in the room, we celebrated the success of Mission ‘Dhoom’ by ordering soft drinks from the canteen, while Gopal devoured his samosa’s.

The exams started and all of us got busy in the daily routine of waking up, writing exams, revising for the next exam. I didn’t get to see her much during that time except in the exam hall but we didn’t talk much. On the last day, after the exam got over, I came outside and waited for her. She was with Geetha and few more girls and they just walked by. I had asked Geetha to bring Keerthana to the water cooler. I went down and Geetha was standing there with keerthana.

‘How were the exams’, I asked her

‘They were fine. How was yours’, she asked me.

‘Finally over. That’s a relief, I replied. ‘So when are you going home’, I asked.

‘How do you know, iam going home’, she asked

‘it’s common sense, I wanted to say. Where else would people go during holidays, and especially girls who given a two days time would go back to their home, but thought the better of it and said ‘I heard it from my friends’.

‘Oh fine. Tonight, she said. I gotta go now’

‘See ya soon’, I said.

Well, there was the surprise element. I went back to my room. Her birthday was after 2 days, so i would be leaving tomorrow night and reach her city the next day morning. The plan seemed fine, and after packing up things for the travel, I slept off.

Gopal and Prabu had left for their home by the time I woke up the next day. I left the hostel and caught a bus to the main bus stand. From there, took another bus which would take me to her place. The bus reached the destination by 5am and I directly went to a temple which was near her home. Geetha had said that she visits a temple in the morning which is near her home. It was outside this temple where I was waiting. I hadn’t told Prabu or Gopal about waiting in the temple. They were thinking that I was going to her home and wish her. Confronting her parents at her home, would mean a huge risk, even if the body guards weren’t taken into count. Gopal,Prabu wouldn’t have approved me of waiting in the temple with no certainty of meeting her. yet, I had decided not to tell them and take my chances.

On the way, I had bought a kitten candle, because she liked cats, and a small rose flower. I had been waiting for almost 3 hours. It was 9am now. I almost lost hope of seeing her, and decided to return when I saw her entering the temple. Since it was close to her home, she had come alone. She was stunningly beautiful in a orange and a black chudidar with her hair let loose. I was wondering how would I look in comparison as I was in a completely distorted state. Yet I waited for her to come out. As long as she recognizes me and doesn’t end up shouting, thinking that iam a road side pokiri. After half an hour, she came outside and walked towards the side I was standing. There was a small lane to the left, I went inside it. When she was about to cross it, I called out ‘Keerthana’. She looked around and saw me. She was surprised. Well, surprised wouldn’t be good enough to express her expression. I walked to where she was standing. She said ‘You, Vikram’. ‘Here’

She was speechless. That was an expected reaction. Then she took my hand and took me to back to the lane. It was deserted there. She started ‘you are behaving childishly, why did you come here. Etc etc. All this was expected too. Prabu had told the probable reactions which a girl might express at such a time. Out of the 5 things he mentioned, 2 had already happened. The other 3 that remained on my list was ‘Shouting for help and calling people’, ‘Giving a slap’ or ‘Giving a kiss’. With 2 reactions over, I was wondering which order would her expression take. I was doubtful if she would kiss me after slapping me. Anyway, her rhetoric went on. I just stood there completely lost and was admiring her beauty. She finally ended by saying,

‘You are crazy enough. Why did you come here’.

I offered her the kitten candle and said ‘Happy birthday’, I said. And in a romantic fashion, I bent down at my knees and gave the rose flower to her and said ‘You might think that iam just infactuated by you, but to show how truly I love you, i have come to express my feelings. The first moment,I saw you, I fell in love with you and I have always wanted to be with you. No matter, what you think, I will always love you. Keerthana, I love you.” Her next expression was unexpected. She took out a flower from her puja basket which she had in her hand, and kissed it and gave it to me. That was supposed to be a kiss transfer through a flower. She said: ‘We will be friends and see how this turns out. Iam glad that you came here to wish me. I have to go now. See you soon. Bye’. I stood like a dumb there. I didn’t know how to react. It did seem that she had accepted my proposal, Well, Prabu was right. ‘As far as women are concerned, the unexpected always happens’…

To be contd...

The First Love – Part III

The exams time were like a whirlpool. If somebody had to find out about a robot’s life, they could have observed us. We get up in the morning 6am, followed by a revision (or, last minute book glancing/ mugging, whatever you call it),then rush for breakfast followed by exam at 9am. After the 3 hour exam, the revision for the next day’s exam begin. The school conducted a mock exam for practice(which ended up mocking at us), so every day, we used to write 2 exams, one in the morning & one in the evening. You can imagine our state by then. So when the exams got over, it was like breathing fresh oxygen once again. We had a 5 day break, Being such a short time, I nor my roommates couldn’t go to our home. The warden announced that the routine academic schedule will happen every day during the holidays too. The only consolation was that evening classes were canceled. As usual, the three of us, actively utilized the time in brainstorming and coming up with ideas for helping me approach Keerthana .

Prabu, who generally stays silent, comes up with mind blowing idea, at the least unexpected time. One of his idea was that girls like guys who have good physique. He said ‘Vikram, first impression make the best impression’. I asked him, but don’t you think Keerthana & I have already met and it wont be the first time we will be seeing each other. Prabu replied ‘That was before the holiday. Now when you meet her again, you can make a good impression on her for the first time.’ Not that the idea was bad, but to mould myself into a fit structure in 5 days, was what concerned me. Gopal, seemed more interested in the idea. ‘Is it really true, Prabu’. Does it really work’. Prabu said he had seen his friend brother get abs after visiting gym for a month.’ ‘But cant I do it in a week’, Gopal asked eagerly. Prabu replied: ‘Well there is a technique I have heard that could work, but iam not sure about it’.



Gopal was all ears for it. Prabu went on, ‘There is a 5 day diet program which will help you reduce weight (10-15 kgs in 5 days). On the first day, you eat fresh vegetables (except potato). The second day - fresh fruits, the third a mix of fruits & vegetables, the fourth - a boiled potato along with a handful of rice, the final day includes salads and a handful of rice. Gopal was eagerly interested in it. ‘Do you eat all those items along with your normal course or after your normal course’. Prabu muttered something. Gopal, the items I mentioned will be the normal course. Not in addition to the normal course. Gopal looked aghast. Doesn’t it damage your body? I mean your stomach, he asked. Prabu said ‘ it might work. So if you follow the diet course and work out slightly, you can have your dream physique.’ Gopal decided to give it a try. ‘So, Vikram, when do we start’, he asked putting a hand over my shoulder. I said, Iam content being myself but would be there to cheer him for the crash diet course. We went to the mess room and asked the cook to have the required vegetables ready in the morning. He was puzzled by our request, but just stared at us. The first day went by well, on the 3rd day, I couldn’t find Gopal in his bed. Prabu later informed that Gopal had fallen unconscious while going for a jog. His situation looked like as if he had been on a food strike for weeks. The school physician told Gopal to rest for 2 days properly and eat normal food. [It seemed he was equally interested in impressing Keerthana’s friend Geeta]

Once the school reopened, all the subject teachers started distributing the exam papers. I was more interested in getting to know her scores than mine. Being a decent student, I had scored above average in most of the papers except in Hindi where I was below the average. Keerthana too had scored well in all subjects except Hindi where she just passed. The school administration conducts a special course for students who secure border line scores.

Accordingly, being the class monitor, I had to prepare the list of students in all subjects where students have scored border line scores. After making the list, I told Gopal & Prabu that Keerthana is there in the special course. Prabu all of a sudden, shouted ‘I have a plan’. Based on our past observation, Prabu & his plan didn’t seem to get along. So with apprehension, we asked him to share his plan. He said, ‘Since Keerthana is in the Hindi special class, why don’t you join the class too. You will get a chance to spend some time with her & probably get to know her better’. Well, the plan might work. After promising to treat him to samosa in the school canteen, I made a plan to approach the Hindi teacher.
Next day, while submitting the list, I said to her, ‘Maam, I would like to join the Hindi special classes.’ She said ‘Vikram, was surprised to hear it as students generally give me reasons for not joining the class. You on the contrary want to join. So whats your reason ? I said, Maam, in the 20 marks multiple objective section, I had used random guessing in marking the answers, and got lucky. Hindi, being our national language, I want to understand and learn it completely. She got emotional and said ‘Vikram, I haven’t seen such an interested student in my lifetime. You will achieve a lot many things, if you have this attitude.’ Next day in the class, she appreciated me citing the reason and told everyone to work hard like me & take the special classes seriously. Later in the night, Gopal came to the room with a long sad face. I asked him what had happened. It seemed that Gopal got to know that Keerthana’s friend Geeta was also attending the special course, so he went to Maam and adopted the same ruse as mine. The teacher in turn blasted him and warned him to study properly or else she would take strict action against him. Gopal couldn’t understand what went wrong. After narrating what had happened, we found the reason. Gopal had missed the first part of my dialogues (of wanting to learn Hindi properly) and just cited my second dialogue part (of guessing the answers). That too, he had a big smile in his face while telling this. The teacher who at that moment had a heated argument with someone, felt that Gopal was proud of guessing rightly hence the happy smile. Hence, he received the treatment. Now, how can I make him understand that direct duplication doesn’t work, one needs to know the situation also. Somehow we consoled Gopal and we went to sleep.

Next day, the special classes started. I sat in the last bench as she usually sits in the second last row. I made Gopal sit in front of me and used him as a cover so that teacher couldn’t see me. I used to look at her, hoping that she will look back atleast once. While discussing the days happening, Gopal would say, that he saw Keerthana glancing at me twice. That was something news but I felt that Gopal was telling this to cheer me up. But I still hadn’t spoken with Keerthana much. Finally, one good opportunity arrived. The Hindi teacher conducted a surprise quiz on few verses she had taught last week and told us that whoever failed to write it will be penalized. She told us to choose a neighbor and correct paper by ourself and submit the paper after correcting. Keerthana generally sat with Geeta, but on that day, Geeta was absent, so she was sitting alone. I somehow gathered courage and went to her and asked if she can correct my paper. She hesitated initially, and then took my paper & gave hers to me. I then realized that Gopal was looking expectantly at me for the exchange. I mumbled a sorry and asked him to adjust this time. When I looked at her paper, I found that she hadn’t written anything in it. Later, I came to know that she hadn’t been feeling well, so she hadn’t read on the topic. While submitting, I wrote her name in my paper and mine in her paper.



The teacher after collecting the list of students who hadn’t written the verses, announced that these students will write the verses(around 20 of them) 500 times and submit it the next day. She then announced the names of the students. My name appeared at the end of the list. The teacher admonished me and said that Iam not working hard and that I hadn’t written anything in the paper. Keerthana was surprised to not hear her name in the list and since she had checked my paper she was more surprised to hear my name announced. She finally realized what I had done. The teacher called me to the center of the class and told that atleast others have tried to write something, but I have left the paper blank. The whole class was looking at me, while the teacher admonished but none of it mattered, because I was looking at Keerthana & for the first time, she smiled in a friendly way.

To be contd

The First Love – Part II

The first week had started taking its rigor on us. At home, waking before 5 am would have been a miracle. But now, every day was miracle. We not only had to wake up at such an eerie time but also get refreshed and start our reading sessions. Someone had said that one must put oneself in other people’s shoes to understand their feelings. I hadn’t really caught on to that until now. But now, I could empathize with the war time prisoners. We were spared the beating which they underwent but all other things food, wake up time and work (studying) seemed common to us both. The only consolation I had were the companionship of Gopal and Prabu. Gopal seemed to be more of a carefree type taking whatever life gave him and then keeping it aside. And certainly, the adage that ‘Experience speaks for itself’ holds very true in his case. His one year of hostel experience had improved his six senses. During the morning reading sessions, while the other people would alternate between reading, dozing, snoring and get caught by the warden, Gopal had an unique talent. He will sit in his place with the book and immediately doze off to sleep yet his posture wouldn’t give any clue of that. He would have the book in the one hand, with his head hunched over the book and other hand on the book as if he had stumbled upon some interesting line in the book. Mind you, his six senses operated in perfect harmony even when he would be dozing peacefully!

The surprising thing was that whenever the warden would come in a close proximity of 3-5 feet, Gopal’s alarm would ring automatically. The funnier part was that on one or two instances, he would wake up and ask a doubt to the fellow sitting next to him as if he was clarifying his doubt, so to convince the warden that Gopal was really studying. During one such instance, Prabu was sitting next to him. Gopal as usual got up from his slumber and ask Prabu something in the Organic Metals chapter in Chemistry. Prabu , poor fellow who was until then figuring out the intricacies of the generic names of the plants was dumbstruck by the invasion of the organic metals into his domain. While Prabu was figuring out in his head, under which family of the plants, did the organic metals come, the warden who was at a close proximity came nearby and started looking at Prabu. Prabu mumbled him a Good Morning. The warden without answering him, kept looking at him, expecting an answer for the question posed by Gopal. By the time, Prabu realized that he was expected to answer the question, the warden rebuked him saying he should learn to be active and hard working as Gopal. He then went on with his rounds. Prabu was fuming with anger at Gopal, who by then had entered his nirvana state again.

The first day in class is always exciting. You see new faces all around you, and people with varied personalities. The teacher had come and she started off by asking us to introduce ourself. Once the introduction got over, she started explaining the achievements of the past students in the school and how her students had gone to top the boards and make the school proud. I leaned over to Gopal and told him “Well, that’s what every teacher claims to have done”. When I looked back at the teacher,I realized that the teacher’s eyes were grilling into me like a one ton barrel gun about to explode. She said “You boy, come over to the front of the class.” I slowly walked to the center of the class. “Class, you have got yourself a new class monitor”. Certainly it wasn’t my day. Being under the watchful eyes of one teacher would be a pain, but being a Class Monitor is excruciating which can’t be explained. Not only you have to spend your free time running to the teachers and submitting assignments, you have to be mindful of your behavior. I guess she would have bet on the fact that by making the trouble maker as the Monitor and the others students will not dare to create any trouble and adhere to the rules, hence maintaining discipline. “And Monitor Vikram (she read my name from the student badge, I had pinned on the chest), now you will go out and stand outside the class for the mis- behavior you exhibited. Let the class monitor set an example to the class how to be disciplined.” What chance I had of explaining to her of my innocence. So, I walked outside the class. It was at this moment, that she entered my life.

As I reached the entrance of the class, she appeared before me. All I could see was her, everything else went out of focus. She was simply beautiful. She had her hair tied in a pony tail. She didn’t have any make up in her face but that added to her beauty. Like an angel radiating freshness and beauty around her, she stood there. I was prompted to ask “Am I in Heaven”? but no words came to me. They seemed to have gone to a silent strike & my tongue got tight lipped. All I could manage was a smile, which seemed ridiculous to me itself. In return, I saw that she had a surprised look in her face. I wondered the reason for that expression, when the teacher pulled me back to reality by saying “Vikram, I don’t mind you guarding the class entrance but can you please let the new student into the class”. It dawned on me that she was about to enter the class and I was obstructing her entry into the class. I gave a sheepish grin, and moved sideways to let her in. She just went in and explained to the teacher about the delay in her arrival and went to take a seat. The next class started but I was least aware of what was happening. All I could do was to gaze at her. Once or twice in the class, she must have seen me gazing into her, and she turned and looked at me. I immediately looked away as if in a deep contemplation. But there was this feeling of elation of finding that special person who you feel has been born only for you. The rest of the day passed in a blur and we came back to our rooms.

I was still in the wonderful state of thinking about her. Prabu on the other hand, thought the punishment of the teacher to make me stand outside the class had affected me deeply and hence, I was in a sad mood. “Don’t worry, Gopal. Such things happen. But don’t you worry. Since you are the Class Monitor, you will have ample chances to make amends and gain a good reputation”. All I did was to smile back and nod my head. Gopal, being brilliant as always figured out that my mood was nothing related to that, and asked instead “Do you know her name atleast”. Prabu was dumb founded by this. The entry of a ‘her’ in the current schemes of things upset his mind grey cells. He didn’t understand what Gopal was referring to. I realized that I don’t even know her name. When the teacher had taken the class attendance, she had sent me to get few notes from her room and i hadn’t been able to know her name.” “Hey Gopal, please tell me her name”, I asked. “What do I get in return, Class Monitor”, So after striking a deal to sponsor 2 samosa’s in the school canteen I got to know her name”. Her name was ‘Keerthana”.

The rigorous schedule of the classes kept on going on. But I hardly felt it. The only thing which occupied my mind was thoughts about her. In the class, I would just keep gazing at her. Though, I felt she was aware of my looking at her, she hardly gave any reaction. She was mostly alone, but sometimes she would be with two other girls of our class. Gopal would say “Dude, you should go to her and tell her how you feel about her”. Yea, I would have done that, if only my tongue hadn’t decided to enter a strike state in her presence. I dunno why but whenever I get to see her alone; my tongue would be coil itself and enter hibernation. All I would end up doing was to give her a smile.

Gopal suggested a plan to approach her. In order to know more about her, you have to know more about her friends. Like Gandhi said “Show me your friends and I will tell you how good you are”. Now, even though I wondered how Gandhi could do that, I thought it was better to keep quiet. Gopal said that I can tell my feelings for her to her friends that I liked her and then the girls can introduce me to her later. The plan seemed really a nice one. We can talk with the girls she was close to and then we can find more about her. Gopal as usual volunteered for the arduous task. He said he will speak to the girls who were close to Keerthana and find more about her. So, I eagerly awaited the result of our plan. Two weeks went by and still no news came. Then it dawned upon me that Gopal had liked one of the girl and he just wanted an excuse to talk to her and I was the bakra who he got. I got angry with him that night and accused him of letting me down. He apologized for the delay and then he introduced me to the girl next day. We talked for a while when she told me that Keerthana’s birthday was coming next week. She said “If you want to impress her and convey your feelings to her, do it on her birthday. Buy her something which she will like and she will then start talking to you”.

Prabu suggested making her something on my own, which will show my feelings for her. Well, since the plan was made, I got down to making her a greeting card and a small plastic rose. Her birthday finally arrived. She was dressed in an elegant manner with her hair flowing freely and some hair tied around. She looked stunning. As the class norm, the birthday student goes round the class distributing chocolates. I was breathing heavily when she was 2 benches in front of me. What was I supposed to say “Many more Happy returns of the day” or “Happy Birthday” or “Wish you a Happy birthday”. Finally she came before me, and offered chocolates. I gave her a smile, and took one & said “Happy day”. The word ‘birthday’ choose to elude me in the last moments. I kept cursing myself for the remaining class for not even wishing her properly. After the classes got over, Gopal nudged me to give the greeting card to her. She was about to leave the class, when I called her from behind “Keerthana, just a moment”. She turned back and looked at me. My tongue as uncooperative as ever, recoiled inside my mouth. I extended the greeting card to her and managed to say “for you”. She looked for a moment as if confused then realizing that it was a card, looked at me and smiled. The smile got imprinted in my heart, and i once again was lost in her thoughts.

The quarterly exams were about to begin in few days. Since this was the first major test, all the teachers expected the students to do well in their subjects. The study rigor got more hectic. Since, we had special sessions starting immediately after the classes; I got to see less and less of her. And everyone was too busy to have any other thoughts. Tomorrow we had our first exams. Gopal, lay in the half in the bed, the other half toppling in the chair. Prabu hadn’t returned back to the room yet. Maybe, he was busily preparing for the exam with someone. As I finished reading the portions, I closed down my book and prepared to sleep. As I lay on the bed, I could think of only one thing – about Her.

To be continued...

The First Love - Part I

“Don’t worry. We will come and see you every month. And don’t forget to apply oil in your hair daily and sleep early every day". My mom went on throwing spears of advice which broke down in front of my shield. I wouldn’t have really bothered about her sayings, if we had been at home. I know for sure that she would do the work for me, if I didn’t care about it. But here, in a hostel, it was an entirely different matter. It was all due to the neighbor living across the street. I had always felt that he had disliked me for some reasons and it was a matter of time before which my prophecy was proved right.

My parents had gone for their evening walk, when they ran into him. As it happens, the topic of discussion started from the incompletely dug and ill maintained roads, then about the state of affairs of the economy and then the employment scenarios. Heck, that did the trick. Two things that will grab the attention of any parent in India (other than politics & cine world) are job opportunities and marriage proposal for their children. My parents got riveted onto his speech on how bad the days were and unless one scores very good marks, one won’t get admission in a good college, and hence, no campus placements and no jobs. “Your child would have to roam around the city looking for jobs”, he said adding emphasis on the words ‘roam around’

The site of their only child roaming around the city would have seemed unbearable for my parents. “Is there no way out of this”, asked my Mom who would have hoped that some kind of yagna or puja would have warded off any evil incident which might happen in future. “Yes, if your son scores high in his boards, he wouldn’t have to face all that”. “Please tell us what to do in this case”, asked my mother. The neighbor who was lucky to have caught the attention of two innocuous people, went on. “No need to worry, sister. Even my brother’s son was like this. But we made him join a coaching institute specially meant for the Boards. Those people ensure that your kid scores well”.

That sealed the fate for me. My parents got the address of this coaching tutorial and I was plucked (withdrawn) from my current school, and joined in the new school. We met the warden, who turned out to be a skinny bald fellow. He looked quite malnourished himself.
My father told him “Please Sir, make my kid score well. I know he has enormous potential but he is very lazy. “Don’t you worry sir, we ensure that even a donkey turns into a horse. He looked at me with a scornful glance, and said “Mend your ways, boy. Your relaxing days are over” Leave your child in our care, we will do the best for him, he said to my parents.
After the meeting, here we were in my so called hostel room. My parents had to leave the place in 30 minutes.. Hence, after cleaning & setting the room for some more time, my parents started to leave. I wonder if there are any tear banks inside our eyes. As soon as they left the hostel, the tear banks opened up and gushes of tears started flowing down. Somehow, I felt strange and odd standing there alone. This was real. I won’t have my parents near me to pamper me, or give me pocket money. I would be spending the next 2 years in this dingy hostel room. This meant no filter coffee before sleeping every night. The truth hit me quite hard and it was mighty enough to open my tear banks for some more time.

There were 2 other beds put up in the room. The other 2 inmates weren’t in the room yet. I decided to go out and explore the surroundings. As I approached the hostel gates, I found another guy standing there bidding farewell to his parents. He was standing there, with his tears banks open and streaks of tears drops in his face. I tried to console him by saying that I understood how he felt missing his parents. He looked at me in a strange manner, and said “I wasn’t crying because my parents left. I was crying because I came to know that our day starts early by 4:30 am and goes on till 11:30 pm. Can you imagine that. Full day studies with no entertainment.” He then went away wiping his tears. My tear banks were in a ready state now. The news itself was quite heart breaking and miserable to open anybody’s tear bank. I guess , it would have been a rumour,I consoled myself.

I dragged myself back to hostel. When i reached it, I found a new inmate sitting there. I came to know that he was Gopal and that he had been living in the hostel since last year. His parents had joined him an year back immediately after his 10th boards. I thought maybe he too had a evil minded neighbor who hated him more than my neighbor hated me. Maybe life is impartial in some ways. “I guess you are a newbie to hostel life.” I nodded my head. Before Gopal went onto narrate his hostel chronicles, another skinny fellow entered the room surrounded by baggage. “Hi, Iam Prabu. I have to get the warden’s signature. Where can I find him”, he asked in a meek voice. “Go to the second floor, last room to the left”, said the all knowing Gopal. Prabu came back after 30 minutes. We exchanged our intro’s. Prabu was also a newbie to hostel life. Apparently his train had got delayed and he missed the hostel admission timings. His parents had left him and then the security guard had asked him to meet the warden immediately. After some chit chat, Gopal lead us to the student mess for the dinner. “We have to be back in our rooms by 8:30. This being the first day, the warden wants to meet all the newbies”.

It was around 10:30 that we came back to our rooms and lay in our bed. The food was ok kind, but what was unbearable was our daily schedule. It was like the other guy said, drill like – a hard routine. I wonder if the warden was training us for some secret Indian espionage agency. As my eyes started drooping, I had very little idea on how my life would change over the next 2 years. How a single person can enter your life and change it forever.

To be continued...