Accidentally Yours

She walked through the dim mess hall in her coconut-oiled plaits ornate by two bright red ribbon strips. The ragging at the girls’ hostel was not even near in competition to that of the boys.

'Hi! You are Shraddha! Aren’t you?’

As her brows rose in question, ‘C’mon, we were at the same interview booth. Didn’t you notice my name and serial no.? It was exactly after yours.’

‘You have good observation power!’ responded Shraddha, unconcerned about the enthusiasm depicted from her side.

‘Hi, I’m Anjali. Come! Let us chat in our room!’

Shraddha followed Anjali into her room disinterestedly. Denying would have been rude. Anjali obviously started the conversation, from introducing herself completely till her admission into the college.

‘So, what are your hobbies?’

Even before waiting for an answer from the other side, ‘I like dancing. However, my family does not like it. They are all very strict. They plan to marry me off as soon as I complete the course. That’s why I have decided to have all the fun before I complete these years, even though it means some dirty fun!’ she winked.

‘ON!’ went the speaker, as Shraddha dozed off in the middle of it. The next morning, she found herself neatly covered in a blanket. She smiled. Maybe, she had found a friend for herself.

Anjali was a complete contradiction to her personality nevertheless they got along well and ended up chatting daily and eating together at the hostel mess hall. They gradually made a common group of friends in the college campus, which unintentionally ended up comprising only of guys. Shraddha and Anjali were the only two girls in it. They could not decipher the reason for this co-incidence but they guessed it was due to one common factor which connected both sides: at heart they were adventurous. They were what the world calls: tomboys! They could jump over walls with ease, play pranks sleekly on anyone, participate in every rebellious gesture; they were just one amongst the group.

Monotonous classes, exciting canteen trips, strenuous exams, depressing results; the semester just flew past. Each one gradually realized the essence of their friendship which went beyond semester grades or financial status or even a friend’s character for that matter. They would stand by each other under any circumstance. Or to be precise, they were partners- in-crime!

Shraddha was on her way to class as usual, when she bumped into someone she already knew.

‘Varun? Hi, what are you doing here?’

‘Uh…Hi…Getting a transfer done to your college!’

‘Oh…Long time! How have you been? And you didn’t tell me about this?’

‘You never check your mails.’ ‘Oh God, I’m lazy at that I admit.’

‘Neither did I know that you had joined here. It’s nice that you still remember me!’ he taunted.

‘Now, at least I know someone in this college.’

That was nice. She had met an old friend or so to say, a little more than an acquaintance, purely by accident. But, a pleasant one! Pleasant enough to skip the class she was heading to.

Varun was her school friend who had moved out of the country following his father’s relocation. Shraddha had kept in touch with him through occasional mails and chats; very random and irregular.

She dragged him to the canteen, all enthusiastic to introduce him to everyone she knew. His discomfort was very much obvious and she could comprehend that. It would be very difficult to join the college mid-session and then easily settle down, as part of the rest of the crowd. There would obviously be a gap in connecting with the rest.

Shraddha went all out of her way to help him with notes of the unattended classes, pending project submissions and relevant books. Mundane lectures, moving as slowly as the rotating fans above, occupied the maximum part of the days. This was however concluded with assignment assistance, peppered with interesting talks in the evenings with her long-lost friend. This made the order of the day for many days.

On one such day, she was yelled at by Anjali when she returned back to the hostel.

‘Hello madam…can I have an appointment with you?’

‘What?’ responded a baffled Shraddha.

‘We all are planning for an outing to the town tomorrow. Better be a part of it!’

‘Of course! Where would I go?’

‘Who knows, you could go anywhere with that newly found friend of yours!’

Shraddha smiled in contradiction and was very much in the college bus with her group the very next day. Chattering, playing and pulling each other’s leg; Shraddha realized that there was a good amount of time she had lost on their group-fun. They shopped and went impromptu for a movie and then it was a scrumptious meal. It was late evening and they missed upon the last bus to the college campus. They however managed to hire a local ‘Trekker’ to ferry them, though at an exorbitant rate by their standards. With jokes and laughter and some toasting their cola cans, it was dark already. While others sang in full volume, the trekker suddenly gave up on its way. This was enough to knock everyone back to their senses. They were nervous. It was not because of the concern of how they would get back. But because Anjali and Shraddha were now their undeclared responsibility!

‘We need to get them back to their hostels first. We guys can even live on the roads.’

This was a sensible conclusion. The road was deserted since the college was on the outskirts.

‘You better get us back’, yelped Anjali, her concern converting to irritation.

‘I had always asked not to get these girls along. They are always a problem’, commented another.

In the middle of this chaos, they spotted a distant truck, to their relief. The boys waved to halt it and then negotiated with the truck driver to ferry them to the campus gate. All worrying lines faded as they had huge fun sitting on the sand loaded over the truck. Worry lines were however back when they reached the college. A situation analysis was done by the boys, and they managed to sneak in the girls inside their hostel via the backyard-bushes, just on time. The guys certainly knew the girls-hostel much better than the girls themselves! It took an hour to convince the rotund warden that they had missed upon the evening attendance since they were sleeping in their rooms. Overly exhausted by the entire day, both girls went to sleep, not even waking up for dinner.

‘Ask your lover-boy, what he did yesterday’, chimed in Anjali when Shraddha met her at the lunch hour, the next day.

‘Who’s my lover-boy?’

‘Oh C’mon! Varun punched one of the guys who saw us last night’.

‘Why? Did he complain to the professor?’

‘Are you really that innocent or do you do this to irritate me? He’s in love!’

Shraddha shrugged it off and Anjali went off to her class. But Anjali had already poked her enough. She walked down the corridor innumerable times waiting for Varun’s class to get over. She wanted a first-hand report of what had happened. The class was over and Varun walked past her.

‘Hey, hello! I came to meet you.’

‘Really? How come you are not hanging around with those cool dudes of yours?’

As Varun shoved past her, she interjected. ‘Can we talk? It was an accident.’ Little did she think why she would owe him any explanation?

‘Ok we can talk, but I don’t want to go into that canteen of yours with all of them hanging around’.

‘Library?’

Each of them chose a thick book on the subject they had no idea upon, as they sat across the table. He narrated the incident where he had retaliated to one of the comments by a guy who had seen their group helping the girls sneak into their hostel, the previous night.

‘But why did you have to react like that? I am least bothered on anyone’s comments besides the ones who matter to me!’ she declared in one breath.

‘Do I matter to you?’ he asked, looking into her eyes.

‘Of course, you do but…...’

He stood up and walked away even before Shraddha could think how to complete her sentence.

She did not dine with Anjali that night. Varun’s words were reverberating in her mind and she had a very disturbed sleep.

This incident was however forgotten as she was totally unprepared for the test, the next day. She went to the stationery store, where her friends were getting the customized chits photo-copied for all of them. These bits of paper incorporated all the details in the clear however minimum font and were her saviour for the day. She enjoyed with her group at lunch in the canteen. And they all started dissipating for class, soon after. Shraddha too stood up to take leave.

‘Something is not right!’ Shraddha thought to herself even as she walked along the cobbled path leading to the college building.

‘So, you pay least heed to my advice’, someone murmured behind her back.

‘Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since morning.’

‘l am right here provided you have the time to observe.’

‘Didn’t you over-react yesterday?’

‘I guess so, and all, for someone who least bothers about me.’

‘What do you want?’ Shraddha was now irritated with Varun’s response.

‘I want you to be by my side.’

She wondered whether she was not being a true friend to him when suddenly what he actually meant flashed in her mind.

‘You want me to even stop interacting with my friends? Sorry I am not your possession. I guess I can stop interacting with you right away’, she spoke in complete frustration as she walked away.

Days flew past. All the previous incidents had diluted in her mind and so was everyone’s seriousness towards studies. Playing with chalk- stubs, drooping behind textbooks and proxying for each other’s attendance; all had become a regular activity. Shraddha was very much a part of this crowd and had sincerely earned the title of a ‘back-bencher’. They were called ‘last-minute-preparation’ students who had nothing to do with the class preaching and were present in the class just for fulfilling a minimum-compulsory- attendance requirement. The nerdy lot had reserved the first few rows for themselves.

‘Look, I’m sorry!’

Shraddha was surprised by the sudden encounter. All the previous incidents collected in her mind when this phrase sprang up again. She was however too irritated to even talk to Varun. She increased her pace, completely ignoring him. Varun walked alongside, matching her pace.

‘OK, I’m ready to do what you want, but please talk to me.’

Shraddha halted to respond, ‘Can we just be back to the way we were?’

She ended up bunking class again discussing this exclusive topic. And it ended on a positive note, at least for Shraddha. However, things were never the same. She could gauge Varun’s annoyance whenever he saw her with the group. This disturbed Shraddha and hence her meetings with Varun started decreasing.

With every passing semester, Shraddha’s group also started disintegrating gradually. Not from being partners-in-crime but from spending time with each other. Each one’s time was now being spent more on their respective love stories and less with each other. The campus was already churning out multiple couples.

The love stories would either start with class-notes or cold-drinks and were then sanctified by the ever-teasing friends. Most college relationships were authored by friends who did this out of the fun of having a ‘LIVE’ romantic story for entertainment in between the boring college schedules. This however, actually ended up triggering feelings for each other between the confused pair. Some time ago, her entire group had fun watching these pairs and betting upon how long each relationship would last. The results would be alarmingly variable. And now, some of them were in the process of joining this crowd.

Exams were round-the-corner and Shraddha was totally involved in it like a genuine last-minute preparer. She had by now lost the count of the number of days of not having met Varun. There was a drastic decline in Anjali trying to spice up their relationship since she too was busy. One day, Shraddha ran into him again all by accident at the quiet stationery shop.

‘The shop is closed for today’, he clarified on behalf.

‘How are you?’ She smiled back trying to look unsurprised.

‘Just the way I look.’ This time, she actually wasn’t surprised, by his answer.

‘Why are you always like this?’

‘Because, I really care for you.’ There was a second of silence and it took her a few moments to recover from this answer. Varun tried to explain, while she shoved him aside and walked on.

‘Look, I genuinely care for you and I don’t like this idea of not meeting each other.’

This however, didn’t deter her from walking back to the hostel. He did not follow her, as anyone could have easily noticed that. Shraddha reached her room.

‘I got a call’, screamed Anjali.

‘I don’t want to talk to him’.

‘I am talking about myself. Who are you talking about?’ asked Anjali.

Shraddha had no option but to narrate the entire incident as Anjali hooked on to every word with all anxiety. Shraddha however felt relieved since she had divulged all, out of her system.

‘It’s called proposing’, interpreted Anjali for her.

‘Thanks! Whom did you get a call from?’

‘A proposal from my lover-boy’, smiled Anjali.

Shraddha had no option but to listen to Anjali’s story though, she was mostly preoccupied with her own.

‘I guess its Valentine’s Day for both of us today!’ concluded Anjali.

The comment was however not funny for Shraddha, not anymore.

Pursuance had now become the order of the day. Varun wanted Shraddha to sever her friendship with the rest. And this dominance was hugely unacceptable to Shraddha. She tried to bridge the gap between the two. His discomfort and possessiveness was however, very obvious in his behaviour. She would retort and walk off, only for him to be on his knees to apologize again. Shraddha, wondered why he would do that every time she walked off.

‘Maybe his ego gets satisfied on winning you back to his side’, conjectured Anjali.

‘He wants you exclusively for himself!’ But Shraddha was determined not to fall

for it.

‘I’m fine with him, if only he wants us to remain as friends’, she declared.

The placement season was now on and saw everyone around studying for one last time. This drilled the reality back to her senses as well that she too had to get in the grind if she had to make a career.

Staying away from Varun was something she was determined to do. She had completely disconnected from him and had totally dedicated herself to both the placement and MBA entrance test preparations.

If at all she would chance upon him, she would totally walk past him, as if he wasn’t there at all. It seemed like he too had now decided to give it a break. He would not follow her or call from behind when she walked away.

In no time, placements were completed for all and finally college was over. Surprisingly, Varun did not meet her even on the last day of college. Shraddha did not make any efforts either. As always, all the friends pledged to keep in touch.

The joy of getting through a management institute completely submerged the fact that it was not well ranked. Shraddha was delighted and decided to go for it.

‘Unlike previously, I shall put my heart and soul into all that the college had to offer.’

Her name not having appeared in the result-matrix of multiple colleges she had taken the entrance tests for; she had struck a deal with God that if her name featured at least in the last college, the result of which was awaited, she would work with all her sincerity throughout the years with gratitude.

While God stuck to his side of the deal, she was unaware what else the college had to offer.

‘Oh God! …….What are you doing here?’

‘Taking an admission!’

Varun was completing the compulsory signatures required on the forms.

‘What a strange co- incidence…………incident….. Accident?............ Again? How would I survive this one?’ thought Shraddha.

Could she have been an exception to the crowd?