HRC- Chapter 5

This post is dedicated to:

1. KANCHAN
2. PRANAV
3. ABHIMANYU
4. APOORVA
5. ANANYA
6. AISHWARIA

This is the Chapter five of my new life and I am floating over the darkest clouds possible. And under them, since it has been raining all day here.

One auto ride, one metro bird-watching and then rains? Yes, I was in no mood of going to college today. Only one period. And over that, those cats and dogs falling on the potholes of ‘our’ common-wealth Delhi. I persisted. I did not turn my face back. I decided to persevere. And there was the canal. Yes a canal between me and my darling. I dared to think beyond obstacles and I waded through it. Soaked with mud and water and various other creatures unknown to me, I finally reached HRC.

To attend my beloved teacher’s ‘Victorian’ lecture. I listened to Jane and I listened to Elizabeth and, I listened to the endless pour outside. And then, as determined as I had been, I decided to wait again: for AD’s home and his own world. I followed ‘my group’ as I always do. I listened to Pranav’s Purely poor jokes and Kanchan’s endless laughter. The canteen part was fun. For the first time, people around me were commenting on me as well. It seldom happens. We discussed Natasha’s legendary ‘fall’ on the stairs and the harm it inflicted upon the college building. We discussed the possibility of Kanchan being a sardar. Gurleen of course doesn’t act as one, as is expected from her name. Apoorva, in his own way tried to amuse himself with these jokes and got a good thrashing from the visibly angry Kanchan. Aishwarya was howling with laughter and Pranav was throwing his own wits at required intervals. Kanchan’s case, of course, being ‘serious’. At one point of time, I had thought that she had indeed been subjected to an excessive dose of ‘laughing gas’. Ananya was serene of course, as usually one expects from her. She periodically gave a pang of mirth but it was controlled in the ‘Darcy’ sense of the word. Abhimanyu joined in to. He is a special person. For him I intend to write an altogether different post.

After the canteen, we proceeded to our usual hangout: the wall in front of room number 45. And again Pranav and Apoorva started pulling the legs of Kanchan. No. I am not using ‘the pulling of legs’ as an idiom. They indeed pulled her legs and extracted from them her sandals. They started playing football with it. Of course there aroused confusion. Aishwarya once again: howling with laughter. Ananya once again: condemning the act, with infusions of smile for Kanchan was in deliriums. Abhimanyu was….no, will be described in an extra post. So all was fun and chaos and noise. I was enjoying the scene: as I usually prefer to. But then something terrible happened. AD appeared in the scene. He saw us (meaning Abhi, Ananya and Aish) with a toothed scorn and howled at us for misbehaving in front of an ongoing class.

Nevertheless, our little group was not to be dispirited so easily. We soon found out a new place: the Hindi honors room. And it became our photo studio. We took many photographs. We (meaning Ananya and Abhi) discussed smoke on the water. We (referring to Kanchan and Ananya) talked on phones. We (meaning Pranav and Apoorva) broke some more ‘physically fit’ jokes. We laughed at them. And we (meaning me) pondered upon them. There was smile on our faces. There was contentment in our hearts. There was a feeling of excitement in our eyes for each other. Because I know this definitely gave me some more ideas about ‘how to live life’. Pure fun and innocent admiration of some of the simplest yet the most significant things. I love you all my pals. But for you I am nothing.