Mannu’s lectures took pace for a while and again there was
lull as and when the date of the Fresher Party was announced. The lecturers
started giving tips on the importance of maintaining decorum that night and
motivated the students to bring out the best within them. The Head Of
Department was called for a special lecture. After the class was over Mr.
Neeraj who taught Mathematics glorified her lecture. He considered the class
lucky that the HoD had visited them and moreover asked their names one by
one.
“What a lucky batch...”He said and left.
And in full swing the preparation for the fresher party
began. The fresher’s itself were made to do the decoration, paint the walls
with graffiti and make invitations. This really brought out the best within
them! The toil was doubled. Attending the lectures and after the college hours
the first year were to decorate the campus! It was exciting as the girls were
also involved. Refreshments were served from time to time and there was no stop
on interaction. Not even on one to one interaction of a boy and a girl. Here
too the seniors tried to take space. In the disguise of introduction they spent
hours with the girls and the first year boys after a long wait made way back to
the decoration. One had to be really quick to grab the opportunity. Mannu was
feeling composed because he did not consider himself as a party in the race. He
felt that commitment to Pia gave him a sense of satisfaction and calmness.
The hunt for Mr., Ms. Fresher had started. Even before the
auditions, the final names seemed very likely. Gargi, a girl from Himachal, had
become close to a senior from Mechanical Branch. He was the head of the
organizing committee. The say in the campus was that she had already won the
contest. In the mess and the hostels, boys were busy criticizing the seniors
for their monopoly. The criticism was not directed on the tentative outcome of
the contest, the boys would be glad if she won, but they were disheartened
because their chance to approach Gargi was nullified.
Among the boys Vipul had registered his name
for the contest. Mannu was willing to contest it too, but the organizing
committee permitted only one event per person. He preferred to register in a
solo guitar performance. Nitesh was a contestant for Mr. Fresher. This
closeness of Mannu and Nitesh had lead to a recent turf between Vipul and
Mannu. Vipul was feeling uneasy about Nitesh’s frequent visits to room 510. He
feared that Mannu would reveal minutes of his performance to Nitesh. Vipul
didn’t talk much directly, but got the message conveyed through a senior. It
came like a warning to Mannu. Courageously, Mannu ignored it. Meanwhile Nitesh
had given a good list of songs that Mannu could play on the night. He had asked
the girls of his branch and they had asked others about their choice and
finally a pop song medley was decided. A guitar was arranged. Room number 510
became a hotspot after dinner. The medley was forcefully side lined and Mannu
had to attend requests from the boys. The favourites were songs from the band
Jal, Band of boys. Rock was not so popular, but Mannu inserted a melody in
between to give the boys a taste of rock. The lights were closed usually after
three and the morning started by eight. Mannu had promised Pia to e-mail her a
recording, but he couldn’t find time, sometimes a vacant seat, to access the
net lab.
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