As the din of the crowd cheering the Indian team in the last few overs of their second one day clash with arch rivals Pakistan fills my surroundings, I am caught reminiscing. That first day comes back into mind. First day where? That was a question every one who read the previous post asked me. I would like to clarify that this was my first day in Vikas, Vizag where I had enrolled to do my intermediate (or as some would refer to as senior high) so all the Kharagpur ppl who are already guessing as to who this girl could be can rest in peace. You guys don't know her. Or so I hope...... Anyway........

Break was coming to an end when suddenly a face popped in at the door. It was a girl's face and it was ......... well....... different. That was the first word that came to mind. Not beautiful, not ..... well a lot of things, but .... different. She stood there looking for a face in the chaos that was my classroom and in a few seconds she found it, rather found him, and beckoned him to her. This was what caught my attention. It was something I did not expect. It was a very naughty kind of come-and-catch me call... not unlike the stereotyped seductresses we catch on the tube. And it worked! This guy, tall, dark, lanky broke into a literal run!..... in the middle of a classroom aisle!......... which incidentally, as any student here will tell you, is scattered with the massive book laden bags of a lot of students and even though these bags were to the side, this guy's foot was especially adept at finding one...... and then kicking it....... and then letting him fall face down onto the ground. He managed to regain himself in an instant though and for a second seemed fazed like a person who had not the faintest idea of where or what he was. Another instant later it all came back to him and he resumed his run, the rest of the 10 meters, without incident. I don't think I have ever laughed harder inwardly (I was too polite to let him know I was watching) but it was more than utterly obvious this guy liked this girl a lot.

So I decided to meet him. For the next few days however I didn't. Whether I couldn't or just forgot I don't remember. But he caught my attention again a few days later as part of a group of four guys who kept yakking throughout a tutorial class. Since the lecturer hadn't really taught anything of consequence as yet, he did not really bother them. Intrigued as to what the topic of such elongated discussion could be I joined them the next period after introducing myself only to realize, to my surprise, once they resumed their discussion that it was about pornography on the internet. I didn't exactly join them much after that but I did grow to be good friends with this guy pretty fast. I will not reveal his name..... since people who know this guy well might also chance upon this blog..... This guy however, did not stay in my campus as long as he would have liked. This back-bench company of his, later caused a lot of academic work to pile up for him which constantly increased the pressure on him in terms of unfinished assignments and falling grades. Things got bad till this very girl who had beckoned him on the first day got a campus rank above him in a major exam. A few days later he shifted campus.

This is not what I intended today's post to be about. But I guess I went with the flow -- to remember one of the closest friends I had for that short period of time and a gem of a person whose only fault was being a giver........ he gave everyone a lot of fond memories..... even those back benchers he once hung out with........