Raj couldn't write a single line in the answer sheet for almost half an hour. His mind kept on getting back to the torture he had endured in few seconds in the toilet. He still couldn't comprehend what had happened. He wanted an explanation. A no. of questions were circling his mind and were making him mad. Both Sapna and Raghu were in the same room. He wanted to go to their chairs and scream on them. He took time to cool down and focused solely on the paper in the last two hours. He would seek explanation from them later, Raj had thought.
That was the final day of the practicals. Raj was sitting in one corner of the canteen as he had finished early. He was engaged in some thought when someone shook him. Raj looked up and saw Rajeev grinning at him.
"Hi man. Whats up?"
"Nothing." Raj replied showing zero interest in him.
"Why are you sitting like Devdas here? Everybody out there is happy. 1st year completed and vacations from tomorrow. Wow! Even I'm so excited." Rajeev said.
"I'm not a Devdas" Raj bellowed "You please leave me alone here. I'm not in a mood to become your butt of jokes. Go and pull someone else's legs."
Rajeev didn't go but took a chair and sat in front of Raj who was looking at him with burning eyes.
"Cool down dude. I know what you have gone through in past few days. I can understand your mental situation." Rajeev said slowly, but without smiling.
"No. You don't have any...." Raj was ready to pour all the anger that he had accumulated in last 1 week on Rajeev but then he suddenly realized what he had heard.
"What do you know? What do you mean by......" He asked almost choking.
"Raghu and Sapna. Final day of the exam."
Raj fall back on the chair letting his body lie limp for few seconds. People knew about it. That was the latest gift this sinister week had given him.
"I don't know what was my mistake?" Raj himself broke the silence staring at the walls of the canteen. "What wrong did I do? I guess I won't get the answers to my questions ever."
"Well, I can give you a few ones though." Rajeev broke into a little puzzling smile.
Raj's body suddenly gained energy as he brought his hands quickly on the table.
"What can you tell me?" He asked.
"Raghu feared from you. He didn't like you getting close to Sapna. So he asked Ganga to warn you."
"That's ridiculous" Raj was baffled" Why would he need to fear from me? And if he didn't like my talking to Sapna he should have told me personally instead of sending that goon to me."
"My dear" Rajeev rubbed his chin"You are naive. You don't have any idea about the guys' mentality. For most of them the girlfriends are prized possessions. Within their own friend circle it's OK if she talks and laughs with someone. But for the guys outside their group a sense of insecurity creeps in them. I'm talking about this fear which gripped Raghu too. He thought of you as a threat and such people don't resolve matter by mutual conversation. They believe in a direct warning which was issued to you."
Raj was speechless for few seconds. But then a thought came into his mind, a question he wanted to ask in the first place.
"But I never thought in that manner. I always thought of her as a friend only. I mean Sapna could..."
"Sapna" Rajeev laughed "You really don't know anything about the way this world works. You always thought of her as a good friend but what made you think that she had similar thoughts about you? Equations change in relationships as the time moves. The initial months of the college were different when hardly anybody knew each other properly. Things have changed now but you are still trapped in those 2-3 months. People are pragmatic. You know Raghu's uncle is a lecturer here. How much benefit can one garner in such a situation I needn't tell you. Sapna knew this and she wouldn't have thought twice when Raghu had proposed her. You became 'somebody' then. You have nothing, no power, no contacts in administration and neither you are among the toppers. Why she would have bothered about you? You were a past for her, a 'timepass' she had forgotten. Raghu is her present and I guess the future for at least sometime."
Now almost all the pieces fit in the puzzle perfectly. The question which had been bugging for so long Raj had finally been answered. The truth was so bitter and unbelievable, but when he recalled all the events of the past few months he could sense that there was no better explanation. He wanted to cry but surprisingly tears refused to come out.
The college bell rang bringing the session to the end for them. Raj got up slowly. Rajeev had already moved to the gate and was standing there watching students moving out of classes in the ground. Raj too stood behind him looking at the ground without any expression.
"Just forget what you went through or whatever happened with you. look forward to the next year when you will move in new class with new people. And everyone out there is not bad." With these words Rajeev stepped out of canteen in to the ground.
But after taking a couple of steps he stopped and slowly turned back towards Raj
"By the way" he grinned "Welcome... to the real world."
Raj nodded, and for the first time in last few days a smile broke out on his face
"Hi man. Whats up?"
"Nothing." Raj replied showing zero interest in him.
"Why are you sitting like Devdas here? Everybody out there is happy. 1st year completed and vacations from tomorrow. Wow! Even I'm so excited." Rajeev said.
"I'm not a Devdas" Raj bellowed "You please leave me alone here. I'm not in a mood to become your butt of jokes. Go and pull someone else's legs."
Rajeev didn't go but took a chair and sat in front of Raj who was looking at him with burning eyes.
"Cool down dude. I know what you have gone through in past few days. I can understand your mental situation." Rajeev said slowly, but without smiling.
"No. You don't have any...." Raj was ready to pour all the anger that he had accumulated in last 1 week on Rajeev but then he suddenly realized what he had heard.
"What do you know? What do you mean by......" He asked almost choking.
"Raghu and Sapna. Final day of the exam."
Raj fall back on the chair letting his body lie limp for few seconds. People knew about it. That was the latest gift this sinister week had given him.
"I don't know what was my mistake?" Raj himself broke the silence staring at the walls of the canteen. "What wrong did I do? I guess I won't get the answers to my questions ever."
"Well, I can give you a few ones though." Rajeev broke into a little puzzling smile.
Raj's body suddenly gained energy as he brought his hands quickly on the table.
"What can you tell me?" He asked.
"Raghu feared from you. He didn't like you getting close to Sapna. So he asked Ganga to warn you."
"That's ridiculous" Raj was baffled" Why would he need to fear from me? And if he didn't like my talking to Sapna he should have told me personally instead of sending that goon to me."
"My dear" Rajeev rubbed his chin"You are naive. You don't have any idea about the guys' mentality. For most of them the girlfriends are prized possessions. Within their own friend circle it's OK if she talks and laughs with someone. But for the guys outside their group a sense of insecurity creeps in them. I'm talking about this fear which gripped Raghu too. He thought of you as a threat and such people don't resolve matter by mutual conversation. They believe in a direct warning which was issued to you."
Raj was speechless for few seconds. But then a thought came into his mind, a question he wanted to ask in the first place.
"But I never thought in that manner. I always thought of her as a friend only. I mean Sapna could..."
"Sapna" Rajeev laughed "You really don't know anything about the way this world works. You always thought of her as a good friend but what made you think that she had similar thoughts about you? Equations change in relationships as the time moves. The initial months of the college were different when hardly anybody knew each other properly. Things have changed now but you are still trapped in those 2-3 months. People are pragmatic. You know Raghu's uncle is a lecturer here. How much benefit can one garner in such a situation I needn't tell you. Sapna knew this and she wouldn't have thought twice when Raghu had proposed her. You became 'somebody' then. You have nothing, no power, no contacts in administration and neither you are among the toppers. Why she would have bothered about you? You were a past for her, a 'timepass' she had forgotten. Raghu is her present and I guess the future for at least sometime."
Now almost all the pieces fit in the puzzle perfectly. The question which had been bugging for so long Raj had finally been answered. The truth was so bitter and unbelievable, but when he recalled all the events of the past few months he could sense that there was no better explanation. He wanted to cry but surprisingly tears refused to come out.
The college bell rang bringing the session to the end for them. Raj got up slowly. Rajeev had already moved to the gate and was standing there watching students moving out of classes in the ground. Raj too stood behind him looking at the ground without any expression.
"Just forget what you went through or whatever happened with you. look forward to the next year when you will move in new class with new people. And everyone out there is not bad." With these words Rajeev stepped out of canteen in to the ground.
But after taking a couple of steps he stopped and slowly turned back towards Raj
"By the way" he grinned "Welcome... to the real world."
Raj nodded, and for the first time in last few days a smile broke out on his face
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