Chapter One
First Day, First Show
“Beep, beep, beep, beep…” These sounds disturbed me. It took me a lot of time to understand where it came from; I had not been accustomed to hearing them before. Or may be I was. I didn’t matter, because actually it didn’t make any sense. I thought it was coming from the main deck. The documents had mentioned that under intensive attacks from the enemy, the ship could suffer damages. Beeping sounds were the only way to make out damages to the exterior hull.
“Full throttle, at parsec 4.5!” I bellowed. No one seemed to bother. This irked me no end. The Captain’s orders are meant to be followed, not just heard!
Wait, I’m no Captain! I’m in… where am I? Hold it. Wait, that light is coming at a weird angle. Am I upside-down? No, then what…? Come again. It was very confusing.
After a whole ten minutes, I realized I was in bed and it was the alarm sounding off. I reached it groggily and pushed the snooze button. I needed more sleep…
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed and raring to go. It had been some time since I’d been to any institution. I was looking forward to going to the new place this time. Usually I’m not, who wants to go through the entire rigmarole of making friends again and all that crap? But this was different. This was college, engineering college. I was going to become an engineer. I was going to become cool. I was going to become an elite person. To that end, I was going to an elite college. I was going to change the world. I was going to do so many things! All because I was going to this particular college. The college, RD Mistry College of Engineering. It wasn’t the IIT, but it wasn’t anything less either. It was an exclusive college, very few people eventually got through their entrance tests. People were saying it was going to be the next big thing for engineering students. Classes were holding special batches for clearing the entrance tests of this college. And I had got through! I felt very special and lucky.
The date was June 2, 2006. It was a Tuesday. Maa had made special kheer for the big day. It was to be an orientation day for us. We were going to be formally inducted into this grand institution and then shown around. I was feeling so great about myself; it was utterly childish to say the least. I didn’t crib when Maa asked me to have the kheer. It was a sweet day, so why not have some sweets?!
In the bus towards the railway station, I was wondering how things will be at this college. How it would be different from the others, from the colleges that everyone else goes to. The exclusivity of the entire affair had begun to get intimidating. While I was reminded of the great train rides I used to have until a few months ago, a gnawing feeling had crept into my stomach.
As I alighted from the train and stepped onto the slushy platform, I was pulled back to reality. The rains were here, and here to stay for a long time. The overcast skies dampened my spirits. Dark clouds bored down on me as I looked to my feet. I’d just bought new shoes for the new year, the new place. I’d gone to the shoe shop in the rains, gone back home with the shoes in the rain, and yet it didn’t strike me that I was going to soil them the minute I wore them. My heart broke as I saw the fresh, wet soil cling to the sole of the shoes. Such is life.
I took some time to get to the destination. The roads were clogged and I was taking more care about my shoes more than anything else. After a trek of about twenty minutes on the muddy roads, I finally reached the college halls. It looked magnificent, almost betraying the fact that it was a “college” hall. The outside was so fabulous, I wondered how the inside would be. For a few moments, I forgot about my prized shoes, when someone stepped on it.
“Bhen…”, the word trailed as I saw a behemoth look back at me. A few tense moments and he slouched away. I thanked my luck for not completing my word and cursed the beast. Trying to kick off the muck off the shoe, I proceeded inside the hall.
The inside was nothing short of grand. Chandeliers lit the interior, and the light shimmered down on all of us. Quite a lot of people had already made themselves comfortable. I walked around in amazement. “This is what Hogwarts must be like!”, I wondered. These random, fantastic thoughts kept escaping my mind as I seated myself on one of the chairs put up for us. As I rested my butts and glanced sideways, I start. It’s him.
The beast. Moments later, he turns around laughing and registers me in his sight, while I continue staring at him in horror. We look at each other awkwardly for a while. I blabber, “I’m sorry for what I said…”
“No, I should be sorry for stepping on your shoe. I was in a hurry, you see. My friend was already here…”, he said, pointing to the other side of the chair. A fiddly little boy, with a shock of curly hair looked at me and waved.
I mumbled an acceptance, but we were still looking at each other, with his brows still frowned.
“Mandar!”, he stated suddenly, and held his hand forward. I looked at it like some hammer had been thrust into my face. I looked up again to see him still frowning. I had no other choice but to accept that hand!
“Hruday”, I replied meekly as he held my hand in his iron grip. I strived to return the grip, but my hand had already been crushed. As he let go, I tried and kept a straight face and at the same time clenched my fist repeatedly to get the blood back to it. A slight groan escapes me.
“You ok?”, he enquires.
“Yeah, fine, yeah, just…”, I mumble.
“Where you from?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean from which city?”
“I’m from here only, Mumbai. Why do you ask?”
“’cause a lot of people are from outside, you know. They’re gonna have a tough time, especially in this shitty rain!”
I looked out the window as he said that, and just to validate his point, I heard a thunderclap.
“Yeah, rains are tough…” I said, trying to continue the conversation. I didn’t know what sort of conversation one could hold with a beast like him. Yet, he didn’t seem so menacing now…
“You met any of the outsiders?” he asked me. His voice just makes me jump out of my skin every time.
“Uhh, no!” I was cursing myself for my choice of seating.
Before he could say another word, the speakers came to life. The sound of music started coming from all directions. “College hall, ki theatre?” I wondered. Fortunately, the beast lost interest in me and continued with his friend. I looked around and started doing what I do best – Bird watching!
There were quite a few chicks here. I mean c’mon, the chicks exist only in Richland. So this has to be where they all converge! But I doubted whether all those babes would decide to take up engineering as a career. Luckily, it seemed quite few did want to be engineers. That felt good!
Soon, the oldies of the college took their places on the podium. After some warm handshakes and hugs, they settled their great frames into the puny chairs. Then one got up and proceeded towards the mike.
“Welcome everyone!”
Sleep session starts now.
A few hours, naps and neck aches later, I heard something that sounded terrifyingly like ‘punch’ coming from the surround sound speakers. A shake to the head and I realized they were talking about lunch. Slowly the entire mass of all the students gathered there rose like a wave and started moving towards the exit. We were going to have an open-air lunch in this rain. The college might be great, but the powers that be must be a bit dumb…
I got myself the cutlery and turned towards the buffet, when the beast appears out of nowhere!
“Hey!” he exclaims. I return it with a wave.
“Come join us!” he said and grabbed my shoulder in those big palms. I was being steered like a car. We now stood among a batch of men, or boys, because that’s what they actually were!
“Hey guys, look, I got another localite! Saala kuch toh log hai, joh yahin ke hai!” he hollered at them. They all laughed in unison and in appreciation of the fact that I was a local. “Hi, dude”s and “wassup”s ensued forth. I tried and returned as many as I could, but they were just too many. Introductions were made, though I wondered how many I would remember. A few more courtesies, and again I was alone. All my life I have craved company, but for the first time I was happy to be alone. Weird as it seemed, I proceeded to have my lunch.
After lunch, we went into the hall again to listen to some more crap. But this time everyone was set for a nap. A few snores later, we were told we could leave. I was relieved that this formality and everything was over. Just as we were set to get up, the speaker said he had a final announcement. “What more now, asshole?!” I said under my breath. Surprisingly, the beast was beside me again. He looked at me just as I realized his presence and chuckled. I returned it and waited for the damned announcement. We were getting a free Mumbai tour the next day, so the details were being dished out. I faintly noted them in my mind and went towards the exit. More hurdles. We were being given bags and a notebook and a cap and more such piddly stuff. “How fucking sweet!” I swore. Taking this luggage in the rain was another concern now. As I turned around, the beast walks up to me.
“Where do you stay?”
“Borivali”
“I stay at Malad. I’ve got a car, I can drop you till there…”
“No, it’s ok, I’ll manage…”
“You can take a bus or something from there…”
The offer was a little tempting. I decided, ‘what the hell’ and agreed. You sometimes just can’t give up a free ride.
In the car, I realized that he isn’t such a beast after all. A football fan, supporting the glamour team Manchester United, and an avid car fan, he seemed very human to me now. As I alighted from his car with a thousand thanks, I felt good that I had made my first friend, albeit towards the end of the day. There would be someone I know the next day when we go for that trip.
I reached home soon after without much hassle. It had been a tiring day even without doing anything. An early dinner, and I was out cold at 7:30 pm. As I drifted to the other world, I just wondered what tomorrow would be like. This was just the first day. It’s first show.
