Unattainable
Akash hurriedly pulled up his old ragged jeans. It was already 8:40 and the exam was due to start at 9:00 A.M. Reaching the college on his bicycle would take another 10 minutes at least.
Today was the last paper before he could call himself an engineer ("the last one provided I clear all of them" he mused and shuddered at such a weird thought!!). Hurriedly grabbing a pen and a ruler he climbed down the hostel stairs.
The exam hall was as usual full when he reached. The invigilator shot him a disdainful look while handing over the answer sheet and he sheepishly went to his seat which was the second last desk in the first column.
Catching some breath he cast a cursory glance (or so it seemed!!) at Vasudha's desk which was almost diagonal to his (seat) in the adjacent row.
She was wearing a maroon and white starched suit today and the contrast made her skin glow a little more. Her hair was tied in a careless pony tail. He could easily make out a sketch pen set, pens(black & blue) , pencil, eraser, sharpener and ruler neatly laid out in front of her and wondered how on earth did she get the time to use this paraphernalia of her’s in a short duration of 3 hours. It was an absolutely justified bewilderment on his part knowing that the same time span was barely sufficient for him to scrape through his paper.
His reverie was broken by the shrill sound of the ringing bell. He started with his paper trying to put Vasudha at the back of his mind.
Three hours seemed like an eternity today. He finished his paper 10 minutes early and submitted it to Mrs. Ghosh. She seemed uncharacteristically concerned when she remarked "Akash, I hope everything is alright with you". He mumbled an incoherent "Yes Ma'm" and darted out of the hall. Was not even aware of the fact that the whole
class had burst into an instantaneous laughter on Mrs. Ghosh's question.
Rushing down the stairs he took his notes register from a window sill and checked it to make sure that the card was there. On the ground floor he sat on stairs in front of the Computer Sc deptt. and started waiting for Vasudha.
It was almost 20 minutes past 12 when he saw her coming and maybe only for an instant but his heart stopped beating.
"Hi Vasudha"--said he, gearing himself for the conversation to follow
"Hey Akash. How did your paper go? You left early, right?"
"Yup, a little bit. The Paper went off Ok" he replied back smiling that she noticed him leaving, oblivious of the fact that almost the whole class did so.
"Had something more important to do"--commented Akash, desperately wishing that she would catch the hint.
"Ohh..ok" was all she said.
"So all set to join INFY?” --he couldn't let this conversation end and so shot back another question
"I am so sorry that I forgot to tell you- I don't plan to join INFY anymore"
"What happened? Why can’t you do that? “said he, in a tone that he immediately regretted.
This was not the way he wanted this conversation to shape up.
"Actually I am going to US to pursue my MS. You know Amit Uncle naa?"
Akash nodded his head in yes hardly remembering if he actually knew any entity by that name.
"His son Rohan is also there pursuing his second year of MS so I will not
face much of a difficulty in settling there", quipped Vasudha
"So is it Amit Uncle's son Rohan or your would be Rohan?” - He heard a bantering feminine voice and turned to find Krutika (Vasudha's best friend) joining the conversation. Aghast, he looked at vasudha who had an impish smile on her face.
To anybody else the smile might have answered all further questions yet he waited to hear it from Vasudha.
She, recovering from Krutika's surprise revelation, turned to Akash and said
"You will have to attend my engagement in..." the rest of the conversation trailed somewhere in the background for him...
The only sentence that kept hammering through his head was an innocuous comment by his roommate yesterday "Akash aur Vasudha ka milan toh sirf Kshitij par hi sambhav hai (Sky and Earth can meet only at the horizon)"
Today was the last paper before he could call himself an engineer ("the last one provided I clear all of them" he mused and shuddered at such a weird thought!!). Hurriedly grabbing a pen and a ruler he climbed down the hostel stairs.
The exam hall was as usual full when he reached. The invigilator shot him a disdainful look while handing over the answer sheet and he sheepishly went to his seat which was the second last desk in the first column.
Catching some breath he cast a cursory glance (or so it seemed!!) at Vasudha's desk which was almost diagonal to his (seat) in the adjacent row.
She was wearing a maroon and white starched suit today and the contrast made her skin glow a little more. Her hair was tied in a careless pony tail. He could easily make out a sketch pen set, pens(black & blue) , pencil, eraser, sharpener and ruler neatly laid out in front of her and wondered how on earth did she get the time to use this paraphernalia of her’s in a short duration of 3 hours. It was an absolutely justified bewilderment on his part knowing that the same time span was barely sufficient for him to scrape through his paper.
His reverie was broken by the shrill sound of the ringing bell. He started with his paper trying to put Vasudha at the back of his mind.
Three hours seemed like an eternity today. He finished his paper 10 minutes early and submitted it to Mrs. Ghosh. She seemed uncharacteristically concerned when she remarked "Akash, I hope everything is alright with you". He mumbled an incoherent "Yes Ma'm" and darted out of the hall. Was not even aware of the fact that the whole
class had burst into an instantaneous laughter on Mrs. Ghosh's question.
Rushing down the stairs he took his notes register from a window sill and checked it to make sure that the card was there. On the ground floor he sat on stairs in front of the Computer Sc deptt. and started waiting for Vasudha.
It was almost 20 minutes past 12 when he saw her coming and maybe only for an instant but his heart stopped beating.
"Hi Vasudha"--said he, gearing himself for the conversation to follow
"Hey Akash. How did your paper go? You left early, right?"
"Yup, a little bit. The Paper went off Ok" he replied back smiling that she noticed him leaving, oblivious of the fact that almost the whole class did so.
"Had something more important to do"--commented Akash, desperately wishing that she would catch the hint.
"Ohh..ok" was all she said.
"So all set to join INFY?” --he couldn't let this conversation end and so shot back another question
"I am so sorry that I forgot to tell you- I don't plan to join INFY anymore"
"What happened? Why can’t you do that? “said he, in a tone that he immediately regretted.
This was not the way he wanted this conversation to shape up.
"Actually I am going to US to pursue my MS. You know Amit Uncle naa?"
Akash nodded his head in yes hardly remembering if he actually knew any entity by that name.
"His son Rohan is also there pursuing his second year of MS so I will not
face much of a difficulty in settling there", quipped Vasudha
"So is it Amit Uncle's son Rohan or your would be Rohan?” - He heard a bantering feminine voice and turned to find Krutika (Vasudha's best friend) joining the conversation. Aghast, he looked at vasudha who had an impish smile on her face.
To anybody else the smile might have answered all further questions yet he waited to hear it from Vasudha.
She, recovering from Krutika's surprise revelation, turned to Akash and said
"You will have to attend my engagement in..." the rest of the conversation trailed somewhere in the background for him...
The only sentence that kept hammering through his head was an innocuous comment by his roommate yesterday "Akash aur Vasudha ka milan toh sirf Kshitij par hi sambhav hai (Sky and Earth can meet only at the horizon)"
Comments
I loved the names of the characters and the meanings they acquire in the last line.
Thanks buddy..once u start relating,it is not only the KNITians but most of the college going love lorn youngsters!! n as for the sequel..lets see if the story actually has a next part to it
har koi na jaane itne karib se zindagi ko samajhana aur samjha paana..
kuch jazbaat patte pe tehri subah ki oos ki boond se hote hain..
is kahani k ehsaas bhi aise he the..
apne itne nazuk se unko cchhua ki boond bhikhri nai aur mann nam bhi ho gaya..
in one word " KHOOBSURAT"
mast likhta hai tuh...........