11+ Part 2

                                   

“We are surely late....all because of you!”  Abhishek walked briskly while uttering those words countless times. He’s surely tensed-all because of me.Wow!

“You hear that? Assembly just started; we might have a chance” I said being quite unconvincing to even myself. The gate closes at 8 and it’s already 2 minutes past it.

Me:“Were did our guys go? We were in the same car,weren't we?”

Abhishek: “Yeah they were, and if you were not daydreaming about her, we could have got in by now. Look the gate is closed”.

Stuff got serious!!

“Please bhaiya aaj jane do kaal se nahi hoga. Driver ne late kar diya...bhaiya please”

 After pleading the ‘lord’ for 2 more minutes he finally let us in saying the usual ‘don’t do it again’.Ha! So merciful the security guard is; accepting our plea. If Anu had been that generous! Couldn’t you be?

We joined the rest of the crowd in the assembly, just before the pledge began. The assembly is regularly organised before the school building every morning. It is conducted on the huge stage standing at the foot of the main entrance to the building. Among the group of students on the stage a girl came in front to deliver the pledge. The idea is to follow every word of what the presenter says.

“India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters....”

Yes! Brothers-most welcome, but sisters-nope,never. Not acceptable at all. I mean there’s Anu and am not going to the brotherhood zone. Fact that in previous year she made 6 casualties (friendzone/brotherhood), it is quite imperative that i might end up as them. But then no pressure!!

Wow! I am good at multitasking. I was thinking about all of these but failed to realise that the pledge ended long ago and that i was still holding my hand in the pledge mode.

“Aha Atanu, looks good on you” Urvashi seemed very pleased by my pose. She is the topper of our class and this girl i believe is responsible for spreading the “rumour”.

I had nothing against her and vice-versa nor i was stealing her topper limelight from her(though i stood fourth in class-moment of pride).Anyways i tried to ask her as to why she had to broadcast like in a morning fm radio or news broadcast.

“No murmuring, no talking during the assembly...another word and i will mark you absent for  today”, Miss Manosi , our class teacher,is a very strict teacher especially when it comes to discipline. I accept that it was my fault but then Urvasi talked too na mam? But no, all the blame is on Atanu. Perks of being a topper; and yeah girls do have some kind of virtual powers\weapons through which they get things done. I remember how in the unit tests, girls used to get more marks than us. It’s not that they don’t deserve it but their way of persuading the teacher to increase their marks works every time.

“Sir thoda marks badha dijiye....sir please....step marks de dijiye....please please....” If the same case was applied by us then the teacher would simply find a way to reduce our marks.

“You see bro, we weren’t so late” Abhishek was getting irritated so i cut it short. All hell breaks loose when you best friend loses cool.

“Kya re, bhabi kaisi hai? Hamari taraf se good morning...  

Piyush and Neeraj are buddies rather bffs always hanging out together. They have that unique way of greeting people especially to that close as friends. So i got greeted in a uniquely embarrassing way and the fact that she was a few meters away made my embarrassment to reach at epic proportions. I felt like i should stick my head into the ground like an ostrich. But then you have to face the devil you created. I looked at her by the side of my eye and it seemed she had no reaction. Thank god she didn’t hear it!( or maybe she did-who knows?).

Kya yaar,subah subah le rahe ho...(pause) and what bhabi huh? And great idea guys.....she’s not even talking to me.  

“Such a cry baby” Riddhi chipped in. She sat on the 3^rd bench just behind her seat in the classroom. Classroom is divided in 4 coloumn of seats. 2 for boys and 2 for girls. I along with abhishek sat in 2^nd coloumn 4^th bench. While anu sat on the 3^rd coloumn. I hence got the chance to admire her daily though the distance if reduced would have been great.

Some think that i got maybe too attached to her. But hey why not? Her arrival to school has worked wonders for me. It is because of her that i got more interest in studies. She taught me important topics in her free hours in class, while in journey to home or to school. She stood 2^nd in class...yes she’s good. Most importantly she brought me delicious food. I love food and i love her too.

So after i was mauled and bamboozled by questions from my friends, it was finally time to settle down; go to class, take out our notebooks and study for the next 6 hours(in between there’s lunch).

 Let me just skip the study part cause what we do all day. The 2^nd last period of the day was free as the teacher was absent for the day.  I took this opportunity to talk to Riddhi.

“So did she tell anything? Seems like she’s quiet throughout the day”

Riddhi: o romeo agar itna tension hai to use hi puch le jakar!

We had a deal that if she gave the information i have to arrange two ‘5 star’ chocolates for her. Ok here goes the investment.

Investment is subject to market risks!!

I should have remembered that. What at first happened to be a one to one girl talk soon became the epicenter for the whole girl section of the class. Damn!! Gauging the scene i fled the place and went to play football with my friends.

Goal!! Arun was in form today. He represents the school’s football team as a striker. The way he slid past the defenders is quite mesmerizing. May be one day he’ll play for one of the big clubs. My task was cut short as i was in the same team as Arun. 1^st time in the whole day i felt relaxed, calm. But i wanted to know what was happening in the class.

We went back after a brief period of football,just 5 min before the final bell of school. I scanned the room and saw three girls surrounding her. Better not to disturb the hornet’s nest.

I took my bags and started to leave when she dropped the bombshell.

 “Tell the driver not to wait for me, i will return on my own, and

Atanu..... I never expected this from you!!

What? Is that a no? It definitely seems like that....i saw her face and looked into her eyes for sometime.... It was for sure not a face of disapproval, i know her, i love her. But then what does it mean?

I told this to Abhishek before boarding the car.

“Better not be optimistic, na kiya to kya hua, koi dusri mil jayegi” Abhishek tried to cool things down.

“But she didn’t say no yaar...maybe it’s something else....i know her man...” i tried to reason with him though a part of my head says that maybe he is right. Maybe she’s not that into me.....

......or is it.

11+ Part 1

There are many things which we hold very dear, keep it very close to ourselves. For there is a sense of oneness, act of love build around it. At one instance when we get so engrossed and attached to  the one that any change in it becomes unacceptable. The change even it seems sudden had grown with time which we fail to perceive and then the moment of reality beckons. Are we up for it ? The question remains....but my story has just begun. Follow my story and you may understand my point.

Beep beep...beep beep beep....beep beep....beep

Maruti Omni is ready for war.

The pool car driver honked for nearly 7 minutes now.  Ganesh , the driver was growing impatient now for it is only the second pickup of the day.

"7.15 now and the kid is already late. What is he doing?" Ganesh helplessly asked Abhishek . School gates will close at 8,so the driver was quite worried(very responsible indeed).

"Bye mom" I ran as soon as i left my home.Usain Bolt must be impressed by now....man i can run.

"Sorry Ganesh" I said  with a lot of guilt face; enough to escape from his wrath. Only reaction from Ganesh was the nod of disagreement. Good for me!

After what happened yesterday I don't know what to do. The effect was that I couldn't get any sleep. Though it finally arrived at 5 in the morning,so i was bound to be late.

Abhishek: Dude, what happened ?

Me: Nothing yaar, i just overslept.

Abhishek: Not that. I mean with you and.....Anu.

How in the world did he know that? Damn... These girls can't even keep a secret to themselves. Now i have a thing to explain or may be not to tell anything.

Me: huh? what? what are you talking about?

Abhishek: Man don't play dumb. The whole class knows that you proposed to her and that she left in a scuffle.

Me: (long silence) ummm...that....oh....well....i just don't know yaar.

Abhishek: Seriously? Hiding from all of us even at this stage now especially that everyone knows your aashiqui .  Anyways  brace yourself...(laughing)

"Yeah" ....wait a minute....oh god....the next pickup ,it is her....yes it's anu. I stayed at a distance of around 1 km from her place. Her family shifted here a year ago and by god's grace enrolled in my school. She is an angel to me. It's like there is a aura around her ;so serene ,so beautiful. I literally froze physically, mentally in the morning for like a year now. But this time it was different. The serenity  was there, she was looking prettier but there was sense of seriousness looming around. She used to smile at me daily upon pickup but not today. I thought of not making any eye contact but that plan failed. I opened the door and smiled at her hoping to cool things off. Result-she just got in the car and sat opposite me.

Hello am i invisible? seems like i was to her. The situation is quite awkward. The journey to school was filled with fun. We used to laugh, make jokes on Abhishek and others in the car. Amazing how one thing can overhaul the environment. Ek idea jo badal de apki duniya!!

3 more pickups and the silence was still there. Fellow citizens-you are not helping. All were watching the both of us. You sly demons! I could see the eye coordination among the others and peeked at her, then quickly withdrawed my gaze. God, she is damn serious. It's like she can hit me anytime now considering she has a yellow belt in karate. Cool Atanu cool....just keep calm...

"Kya baat hai,aaj sab chupchap?" (what happened everyone is silent today?)Ganesh chipped in the silence like a hydrogen bomb.

"Kya huwa Atanu?kuch huwa hai kya"(what happened Atanu?did anything happen?)

Really? Why me? couldn't you pick someone else...good day it is...huh.

"bhaiyaa sab thik hai; bas thora tabiyat kharab hai"(evrything's okay,just am not feeling well) safest reply to me since others are not helping.

"Oh really?" said anu for the first time."Since when?" ,the rage in her eyes or so as i percieved it to be made me stare blankly at her.

Abhishek was laughing sheepishly. Nice man very nice. Suddenly the whole car burst to laughter except both of us. Helplessness is what a feel surrounded by hound of wolves and then there is the lioness ready to rip me apart.

After 5 more minutes in the 25 min journey the school finally arrived-Kendriya Vidyalaya Fort William. The omni stopped and everyone started to get down from the other side including her. Abhishek after waiting for a minute or two for me to get down now came to me and said

"Dude she has gone...now getup and let's go to the assembly...it is already late now"

Yes the assembly...right....maybe i can pray to god that he may tell me a way to let me know what she is feeling now. Common God, a little help maybe....