"Welcome to the Devi Ahilyabai Airport at Indore. The time is 10.20 AM and the outside temperature is 24 degrees. We hope you had a pleasant experience and we wish you a nice time at the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. Thank you for choosing Jetlite"
Tranquility was what was needed at that moment, and even this did not help. Sometimes, even the best voices fail to allay the fears, cool down emotions, reduce the agonies just because they lack the veracity, the sincerity to establish the connect. They are so very cliche.
"How on the earth, these people manage a smile all the day long. Crazy guys with robotic expressions and taped voices", Mayank wasn't looking to appreciate anything around.
16th April was the day. After days of slogging and a much longer wait for the results, finally people saw a smile on his face. He was offered admission to the Indian Institute of Management, Indore. Couldn't have been better!!! Finally an MBA and that too at one of the best places.
He was going to realize his dream, but the imbroglio of adversarial thoughts was too much for him. Leaving home was not something he was ready for, leaving everything behind, all his friends, the streets that have seen him in the most quirky hours, doing the craziest things. It is like chasing the light at the end of the tunnel, and trying to find a way out of this darkness but the path isn't visible. What's in store for you, nobody knows.
On his way to the college, in a prepaid cab, he looked out of the window. All the trees seemed as if they were being left behind. These trees were his friends, those friends who knew him not as a CAT percentiler, but as the kid who stole guavas from the nursery, as a kid who had a stammer till the eighth class and whose passion was football and that it meant the world for him.
"Can you please help me with the way to the Auditorium please", Mayank made an effort to sound good to first face he encountered at the hallowed insides of the IIM campus.
"Hey, I am Rachit. Me too going there. Let's go together, but do one thing, keep your luggage in your room and then we can proceed for registration"
"My room?"
"Yes, Don't you know this?", Rachit was surprised. "All of us have been allotted the rooms on a lottery basis. Come let's check out yours."
The next 15 minutes were the start of that "not just friendship". Even in the most competitive of environments, two individuals nurture and nourish the understanding, the support structure, the zeal and zest to be there for each other in times of need. They laugh and cry together, drink and dine together and this stays on for life, and that's what makes it "not just friends".
The registration hall was dark. It had too many people; too many unknown people. All of it was uncharted territory. You would never know whom you would bump into. He may be that nerd, that would make your life a "relative" hell for the next 24 months with his consistently good grades. New places and that too crowded with strangers were always too disconcerting.
"At Giridih, there aren't many people for such a multitude", Mayank thought and started looking around. His eyes stopped at a pint of white light. He knew her.
But didn't know how. He knew her eyes, her lips, her flowing hair, her voice, he knew the smile, but he couldn't fathom why. He seemed a bug and she a honeypot.
"Hey, Are you listening", Rachit was almost shouting. Mayank was awoken to his senses and tried replying back, "Nothing, just nothing. Was thinking something else." He stopped twice while filling the registration form, one for remembering his address and the other time for his blood group. She seemed to have an effect on him. He just couldn't concentrate. This gravitation was something he had never felt before. That day later, he met her again. In the Canteen.
"Hi, I am Shilpi, You?"
"Oh, I am Mayank."
"Finished with your registration?", Mayank asked, just to start a conversation.
"Yes, but have to finish off the paperwork for my SBI loan. Will do that tomorrow. Chalo, let's have something here"
"What will you have", Shilpi asked.
"Nothing much, just a Veg sandwich will do for me."
"I am giving the order here, you get some drinks, a cola or a juice."
At the counter, Mayank asked for Limca. He knew she loved Limca, but again never knew why. Even if it meant sacrificing a few hundred millilitres of his favourite, Thumbs Up.
"How did you know, that Limca is my favorite", Shilpi was more happy than curious.
The question was not supposed to be answered, but the answer was there, somewhere hidden in the meta-patterns that governed the universe. But it eluded Mayank.
It was some 15 days that passed by. It was the first weekend after the induction and all the things were over. This was the first Sunday, people would be having after 10 days of utter commotion and sleeplessness.
"Hey MT, how about a trip to Mandu. It is a beautiful place, and is even better in the rains", Rachit asked. Rachit was from Bhopal, he knew the places around, quite well. Mayank nodded in agreement. He tried his best, but his mind was fixated as it was a convex lens, converging all the incident light to one point, called the focus. She was the focus, the light was everything else around.
He collected himself and sat on the table. In the search tab, he typed in Mandu. Just to see, whether Rachit was really true in his description, he opened the first link that the PageRank algorithm threw at him. It was the story about some Rani and his lover, Baz Bahadur, the ruler of Rewa.
And there it was, the answer to the question. There it was, the potrait of the queen. There it was, the testimony to the fact, that History repeats itself and Life too, and that not too far away from Rewa.... Indore was only 96 kms away.
Tranquility was what was needed at that moment, and even this did not help. Sometimes, even the best voices fail to allay the fears, cool down emotions, reduce the agonies just because they lack the veracity, the sincerity to establish the connect. They are so very cliche.
"How on the earth, these people manage a smile all the day long. Crazy guys with robotic expressions and taped voices", Mayank wasn't looking to appreciate anything around.
16th April was the day. After days of slogging and a much longer wait for the results, finally people saw a smile on his face. He was offered admission to the Indian Institute of Management, Indore. Couldn't have been better!!! Finally an MBA and that too at one of the best places.
He was going to realize his dream, but the imbroglio of adversarial thoughts was too much for him. Leaving home was not something he was ready for, leaving everything behind, all his friends, the streets that have seen him in the most quirky hours, doing the craziest things. It is like chasing the light at the end of the tunnel, and trying to find a way out of this darkness but the path isn't visible. What's in store for you, nobody knows.
On his way to the college, in a prepaid cab, he looked out of the window. All the trees seemed as if they were being left behind. These trees were his friends, those friends who knew him not as a CAT percentiler, but as the kid who stole guavas from the nursery, as a kid who had a stammer till the eighth class and whose passion was football and that it meant the world for him.
"Can you please help me with the way to the Auditorium please", Mayank made an effort to sound good to first face he encountered at the hallowed insides of the IIM campus.
"Hey, I am Rachit. Me too going there. Let's go together, but do one thing, keep your luggage in your room and then we can proceed for registration"
"My room?"
"Yes, Don't you know this?", Rachit was surprised. "All of us have been allotted the rooms on a lottery basis. Come let's check out yours."
The next 15 minutes were the start of that "not just friendship". Even in the most competitive of environments, two individuals nurture and nourish the understanding, the support structure, the zeal and zest to be there for each other in times of need. They laugh and cry together, drink and dine together and this stays on for life, and that's what makes it "not just friends".
The registration hall was dark. It had too many people; too many unknown people. All of it was uncharted territory. You would never know whom you would bump into. He may be that nerd, that would make your life a "relative" hell for the next 24 months with his consistently good grades. New places and that too crowded with strangers were always too disconcerting.
"At Giridih, there aren't many people for such a multitude", Mayank thought and started looking around. His eyes stopped at a pint of white light. He knew her.
But didn't know how. He knew her eyes, her lips, her flowing hair, her voice, he knew the smile, but he couldn't fathom why. He seemed a bug and she a honeypot.
"Hey, Are you listening", Rachit was almost shouting. Mayank was awoken to his senses and tried replying back, "Nothing, just nothing. Was thinking something else." He stopped twice while filling the registration form, one for remembering his address and the other time for his blood group. She seemed to have an effect on him. He just couldn't concentrate. This gravitation was something he had never felt before. That day later, he met her again. In the Canteen.
"Hi, I am Shilpi, You?"
"Oh, I am Mayank."
"Finished with your registration?", Mayank asked, just to start a conversation.
"Yes, but have to finish off the paperwork for my SBI loan. Will do that tomorrow. Chalo, let's have something here"
"What will you have", Shilpi asked.
"Nothing much, just a Veg sandwich will do for me."
"I am giving the order here, you get some drinks, a cola or a juice."
At the counter, Mayank asked for Limca. He knew she loved Limca, but again never knew why. Even if it meant sacrificing a few hundred millilitres of his favourite, Thumbs Up.
"How did you know, that Limca is my favorite", Shilpi was more happy than curious.
The question was not supposed to be answered, but the answer was there, somewhere hidden in the meta-patterns that governed the universe. But it eluded Mayank.
It was some 15 days that passed by. It was the first weekend after the induction and all the things were over. This was the first Sunday, people would be having after 10 days of utter commotion and sleeplessness.
"Hey MT, how about a trip to Mandu. It is a beautiful place, and is even better in the rains", Rachit asked. Rachit was from Bhopal, he knew the places around, quite well. Mayank nodded in agreement. He tried his best, but his mind was fixated as it was a convex lens, converging all the incident light to one point, called the focus. She was the focus, the light was everything else around.
He collected himself and sat on the table. In the search tab, he typed in Mandu. Just to see, whether Rachit was really true in his description, he opened the first link that the PageRank algorithm threw at him. It was the story about some Rani and his lover, Baz Bahadur, the ruler of Rewa.
And there it was, the answer to the question. There it was, the potrait of the queen. There it was, the testimony to the fact, that History repeats itself and Life too, and that not too far away from Rewa.... Indore was only 96 kms away.
