Chapter - 7
After that, I developed feelings for another girl. Her name was Sunita, and her roll number was right after mine. Mine was 27 and hers was 28 – a perfect combination.
I had an opportunity here, but I couldn't do anything. I didn't even think about her much. She sat on the bench behind me.
During the exams, I helped her with her papers once or twice. That was the extent of our story.
After college, we took the same route home. We were usually either ahead of or behind each other, but neither of us ever tried to talk to the other in that situation.
I only had a conversational relationship with one girl, Priyanka. She called me a scholar. But what did she want? I had no idea. I didn't even try to find out.
She probably liked me, but I never thought of her that way. Our conversations remained purely formal.
Besides her, I had started talking to one or two other girls... but I wasn't interested in any of them.
Manish became my close friend. He lived in the building next door. I often visited his house. He had a large family. He was his father's only son and had three cousin sisters.
Pooja was the eldest of the three. She studied with us at college. She also considered me a scholar, which boosted my morale.
And in the most difficult exam, I passed with a second-class grade. This was my thirteenth year of studying, which proved to be lucky for me. It was as if Pooja's opinion of me had become my source of inspiration, helping me pass with a second-class degree.
Pooja also passed with a second-class degree. This made Manish jealous.
Besides studying, both siblings were with me in college camps and other activities. Because of this, Pooja and I became very intimate.
She was engaged, yet we had grown quite close to each other. Because of spending so much time together, a casual relationship had become a special one for me. A sudden surge of love for Pooja welled up in my heart. It was wrong, but does love ever consider such things?
I had secretly fallen in love with her.
I knew Pooja's fiancé. Everyone in her in-laws' family also knew me.
What could I do? I didn't know what to do.
So, when I met Pooja on the street one day, I stopped her and asked:
"Will you meet me at the library tomorrow morning?"
At that time, a girl from her building was also present. She immediately questioned.
"What do you want? Tell me here. I won't come to the library."
I wasn't hurt or upset by this. But there was a look of distrust in her eyes, which disheartened me.
One thing was certain. She will definitely tell her brother about this... and what will he think?
He wouldn't like it anyway. And Pooja was already engaged.
In this situation, I had told Manish everything.
What should I do? I couldn't understand.
I wasn't upset or sad about this. But there was a look of distrust in her eyes, which disheartened me.
One thing was certain. She would definitely tell her brother about this... And what would he think?
He wouldn't like this anyway. And Pooja was already engaged.
In this situation, I told everything to Manish.
And a great burden was lifted from my heart.
After that, I stopped meeting and talking to Pooja.
The very next day was the Raksha Bandhan festival. I had asked her tie a rakhi on my wrist and then distanced myself from her life.
Another year had passed like this.
And in the month of June, the first semester of Junior BA began.
The rainy season had started. My father had bought a new umbrella for me. There was a forecast of heavy rain on the very first day. So I left home with the umbrella! As soon as I entered the classroom, I hung my umbrella behind the bench.
During the break, I left my umbrella in the classroom and went to the canteen with my friends.
We had tea and snacks from the self-service counter and returned to the classroom. The bench we thought was ours was actually belonged तो the another group of girls' bench. After the break, they came back and sat in their seats, and we had to sit on the back bench.
At that moment, when I didn't see my umbrella, I cried out,
"Oh my God, where did my umbrella go?"
At that moment, one of those girls, holding my umbrella in her hands, asked,
"Is this umbrella yours?"
Looking, I felt like I could breathe again.
"Yes," I said, and "Thanks," and I took the umbrella from her hands and hung it behind the bench.
That was the first time I saw her face, and it was as if she had cast a spell on me. Looking at her face, I remembered a song from a movie:
'There's a magic in your face, I'm drawn towards you.'
I fell in love with her at first sight.
In that single moment, my heart made up its mind.
This time, I wouldn't back down.
I had also found an excuse to start a relationship with her. But at that time, I couldn't even muster the courage to ask her name...I had chosen a long way to find out her name...
"Excuse me."
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"Do you writen notes for all the subjects?"
"Not all of them..."
"Philosophy?"
"Oh, I definitely take notes for that. It's my favorite subject."
"Wow, what a coincidence! That's my favorite subject too."
"That's nice to hear."
I told her. I haven't been able to write notes for the last two days. Could you lend me your notes for a day?"
"Sure! But we didn't have that period today, so I have not with me to day.. I willl definitely bring them tomorrow."
I thanked her.
I wanted to talk to her a lot more, but I didn't have any concrete topic to talk about for a longer time.
The next day, after the period was over, she updated her notes and handed them to me.
I said "Thanks," took the notebook in my hands, and opened the first page.
And my immediate purpose was solved.
I was happy to read her name.
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