The Final Countdown

6 months ago…

More still half an hour to go. This was torture. Don’t human rights activists do anything about this! Block math periods must be banned, deemed illegal I say. Everyone was bored to death. And then it happened. She turned back. Our eyes met and I knew there was spark though there was no current in the class. She was arguably my most prized possession. That spark burnt her image forever in my eyes. That spark was the moment I have been waiting for.

2 and a half years ago I joined college. I was proud to have finished schooling finally. Now in an entirely new surrounding with no one I know, I felt lost, like everybody else. Well not everybody else. She was the prettiest thing ever. She was like a teddy bear you want to hug all day and never let go. She came late to class. That was when I saw her for the first time. There was something about her, a grace that I fell for. It took me a month to know her name, school and other details. It took the rest of the semester to just admire her character.

We were brutally separated in the next semester. My hopes to get to know her were virtually destroyed. But I was just not about to give up. Not yet.

I never forgot about her. Finally the day came. She looked me in the eye and smiled and there was light! And the fans began to turn too. Well the current was back (yes, even I was surprised. No one knows how or who did it.) and the class was over. It was the starting of a long weekend. Hope I can talk to her someday.

4 months ago…

The last month was one of the best in my entire life! An opportunity that gave me something more than just knowledge, it gave me wisdom. A month internship with my favorite automobile company was more than what I could have asked for. On the last day we all had a day off before we left for our respective colleges. Germany was a beauty by day and a gift by night. The clear European sky and the classic chill weather definitely beat Chennai summer. As we were strolling by the streets a particular tiara brought back memories my princess back home. I had never been more eager to be back home.

On my very first day in college after the intern, things hadn’t been quite well. This got me worried and scared. My attendance had been accounted for by the college but one particular faculty decided his ego had to play a part in my life. To add to all misery my close friends decided that they need to get new friends and forget about me. In spite of all this there was one thing that uplifted my spirits out of this world. As the last class was done, she walked up to me and gave me a bag of chocolates and said she had gotten them for me. Can you believe it! A WHOLE BAG OF CHOCOLATES JUST FOR ME!!! But more importantly she knows I exist!!!!!

3 months ago…

I have been talking to her ever since I accompanied her that day in the bus ride back home. She lived not far from my place. She waited for me at the bus stop in the mornings and I adored her for caring to have waited. I didn’t have many friends and the few I did made it obvious that I didn’t matter to them the way they mattered to me. She was pretty much all I had and I’m not complaining.

2 months ago…

I think she’s seeing someone. In the mornings she didn’t wait unless I met her by chance at the bus stop. She didn’t speak much. Whenever I asked her if anything was wrong she laughed it on my face. Is she hiding something or am I just being paranoid. I feel like time is running out faster than before. What if I never get a chance to tell it to her?

As the month progressed things changed, but not for better. Every day was a bad day. Sulking in class, walking alone and being an invisible faceless entity became norms. She began avoiding me in college. What do I do? Give her space and fear letting her go or confront her asking for the truth and fear losing her forever? Wouldn’t matter much; guess I’ll ask her…..

1 month ago…

She stopped going to college by bus. In college she was virtually unreachable. She was now surrounded by my old “friends”. Music was all that gave me company and joy if there was any left in this world. I guess avoiding her might help but kept bumping into her in corners and meets. At the canteen, in front of the lab, everywhere I turn, she was just there. Was she trying to talk to me? Trying to explain? Or give excuses?! Was she circling me like a scavenger or just happened to be at the place at that time?

1 week ago…

Formalities have been filled. Authorities have been notified. This was finally it. This was all life was; ups and downs, highs and lows, enemies and pretenders. Looking at what happened a year back, this wasn’t that painful, or maybe not painful for the flesh. I believe heart-broken is the expression. Every day as I walk out of college, I turn back to see what I may never see again. Guess that’s life.

The very next day…..

The dean of the institution called for a sudden meeting with the students. Students filled the hall in utter commotion and confusion and evident dislike. Well though as long as a class is being cut there won’t be complaining. The dean takes to the stage and addresses the students on a very grave issue.

“Today was a beautiful day. Look properly as to who is sitting beside you. You will probably know them by this time, but what you will not notice is that one among you is missing. Yes, you all will know by now whom I’m talking about. Diagnosed with blood cancer and refusing to undergo the terrible ordeals that come along as the treatment and given a year maximum to live, he chose to continue his education till death does him apart. Such commitment is what is required in today’s youth and the passion and quest for knowledge is to be …………….. (Boring blabbering) …………………….

Finally I request you all to stand in silence for a minute and then disperse to your classes.”

Epilogue

The one minute silence was never kept. People hardly knew who the guy was. He was not going to be missed. And as for the people who once knew him, well, they were never in the hall at that time. In fact they had gone out for a movie bunking class. So had she and never noticed him missing. EKSI!!!