“Definitely
bhai...You can come to my room
anytime...Nitesh is also there...so...come anytime.” With these words Mannu
felt relieved with some burden of borrowing.
Mannu stood up and gave him a hug that lasted a minute. Discussions with
Nitesh continued for long on how Mannu was to behave in front of Pia, how to
ask for her hand and how to ignore asking a kiss.
The
examination hall was the same as it had been for the past week, except the
faces of the invigilators and the question papers which changed every day. The answer
sheet had also added some pages for a change. Every head in the hall was busy
completing the questions and some were merely busy in filling the 40 pages of
the answer sheet. Within two hours Mannu had completed all the answers,
including one stroke of revision. Bingo! He got an hour to think about the
beauty of love.
The
combined power of destiny and fortune can’t give you in a lifetime what love
can bestow on you just in a moment! With petals of romance in his head, Mannu
was experiencing life in its most melodious rhythm. Whoooaaa! He turned the
answer sheet upside down and gazed outside the window. The skies had never been
so bright. All above the vibrant canvas of earth he could see Pia calling him.
The 2 cm display picture on ORKUT flashed everywhere. Mannu was sure to see
her, touch her this time. The past mis understandings won’t get repeated. That
display picture had changed the person within him and the complete story of his
life. From an average guy to the Romeo of real world! It felt blissful to be a part of
this journey.
“Finished with the paper?” The invigilator enquired. He was a tall
guy and, by looking at the style of his still growing beard, Mannu sensed that
he wasn’t much older to him.
“Yes
sir... I was just relaxing.” Mannu said, looking straight into his eyes.
“Relax
after 12pm Better revise it again else you are out.” He said, pointing his
forefinger straight at Mannu’s nose. His words made a way straight into Mannu’s
head.
“Okay sir.”
Mannu responded, looked down at the paper with a witty smile on his face and
began the revision. To kill time and avoid another round of lecture from the
invigilator he decorated the answer copy with underlines and outlines. Mannu
was acting like a joker for the rest of the world. Even after trying hard to it
secret, all those who knew that Mannu was going for a one-day visit to Mumbai
just to see the girl of his dreams, the girl he has been close with through a
social networking website, had smiles on
their faces and a contradictory emotions in their hearts. Those who were silent
had other ethics on criticism. As a fool Mannu kept on smiling amongst them,
but the big day for the fool had arrived.
Mannu was
lost in the love garden of his virtual world when the last bell rang. On an
unusual day of his life, the unusual was circling around him, that too in an
unusual place, the examination hall. Time was drifting away faster than the
Boeing, taking him much closer to Pia. With wet palms and a sweat surmounted
forehead Mannu made an escape from the hall.
The hostel
was as silent as a sleeping tiger. All the rooms were locked. The first
semester was over and so was the burden of studies. The canteen was plush with
first year. Mannu’s plan was different. He had done all the further planning on
the walk back from the exam centre to the hostel. There was no time to stop and
think. The guards were out for lunch. Even the wardens had had a tough time
managing the students outside the examination hall. The possibility of a check
round was very low. Semester ending demanded a big celebration and that was
granted. Mannu went straight to the bathroom, squeezed the facewash tube,
rubbed it all over his face, splashed some water and he was ready. With the bag
on his shoulders, he bowed in front of Sai
baba’s portrait.
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