"What was the name of the deceased?" Inspector Keshav asked.
"Ratan Singh. He was the watchman of the building of hostel 1." The principal replied.
"Hmm. Who discovered the body and around which time?"
"Actually everyday a 13 year old boy, whose mother is a sweeper in college, used to go to Ratan's room in the morning to learn alphabets. Ratan was teaching him. Today he  

The Placements : Part 4

The preparation for the interviews was a lot more difficult. I had to mug up so many things and prepare answers to different types of questions as well. Fortunately, only HR interviews were to be conducted so Sonal was optimistic that I would be one of the 10 happy guys out of 15 at the end of the day.

The interviews were scheduled to begin at 10 but I had reached college at 8 only to give some time to me to relax and practice interview questions in some isolated lecture room. I intended to sit with Bajrang and prepare but Sonal had seriously warned me against it. Though both of us knew that Bajrang didn't have the required communication skills to crack the interview, Sonal was worried by the 'luck factor'. So far luck had played a vital role in Bajrang's selection in the different rounds. If his luck managed to help him in cracking the interview too then it would definitely be at someone's expense. Sonal didn't want me to share the knowledge of the interview with Bajrang. Initially, I was reluctant but then I gave in.

I came out of the lecture room half an hour earlier and met other guys who were in the lawn, but I couldn't find Bajrang there. Arnav informed me that he had come to the college earlier than me. I was surprised a bit so I called on his cell phone but he didn't pick up. This was even more puzzling. I decided to look for him since there was still time left for the interviews. I found him on the terrace of the mechanical block. The usual smile on his face was missing and suddenly he looked very much tired.

"What happened dude?" I asked him worriedly.
He didn't say anything for a minute, but when he opened his mouth, I felt like a tremor had hit me.

"Why did you do it?" she was shocked.
"I......I just wanted to help...."
"No Padmanabh. By doing this you haven't helped anyone. Instead, you have done more damage. How could you do this to me?" she had tears in her eyes.

I couldn't answer her question. She stood there for a couple of seconds and then stormed out of the room.

Mr. Gupta, who had been a silent spectator so far finally spoke
"You have committed a blunder here. At least you would have asked me before taking such a step."
I just nodded my head and slowly dragged my feet out of the room. 


The things were so simple 2-3 hours back until I had decided to look for Bajrang before the interviews. 

The Placements : Part 3

"Your name is on the list." Arnav, one of the volunteers, informed me outside canteen as Bajrang and I were sipping tea. The nervousness which was visible on my face for past 2 hours disappeared in a moment.

"And yours too Bajji." He added.
"Cool. That means I have something in me. Now I know where I stand among the crowd..."
"28th" Bajrang was interrupted by Arnav "You barely cleared the cutoff" He said before leaving.

I couldn't suppress my laughter. So 28 students had cleared the written out of 30. The competition hadn't decreased as I had anticipated earlier. Clearly everyone wanted to grab one piece from this last pie. The GD round was supposed to take place next day and this round was suppose to be tougher for me since I never had much participation before in discussions even in classes. If it was difficult for me to clear the GD round then it was almost impossible for Bajrang to make it to 3rd round since, in his own words, he hated GD.

"So will you be attending tomorrow's GD or not?" I asked him.
"You know I hate this thing. So I am not sure. What about you? Will you be attending?" He threw the question back to me.
"A... yes. Why not give a shot at GD as well? At least I would know where I stand among the cr..."
"Right. I am coming too."

Yet again I didn't tell him my real intention. 'He would understand' I thought.

Sonal was satisfied but not elated. The litmus tests were the subsequent rounds. Knowing about my weakness   in GDs, she had made me practice whole evening. She didn't want to take any chances so she put me in the group which had the least competition. On the contrary Bajrang's name featured among the killers. He had the least chance to make it to the interviews but he wasn't worried at all. It was just a fun for him but I was under little pressure. Total 4 groups were there. Mine was 3rd and that of Bajrang was 4th. Soon my name was called upon and with a heart beat averaging more than normal, I entered into the GD room.

Bajrang and I sat on the steps leading to the library munching cold bread-pakoda and sipping frooti when Sonal came hurriedly towards us with us with a baffled look on her face.
"What...happened?" I could hardly speak, thinking about what had transpired earlier in the day.
She took a moment to catch her breath "You have your interview tomorrow."
I expected a smile on her face but the confused look on her face puzzled me further. The mystery got clear within few seconds though when Sonal slowly turned towards Bajrang and spoke slowly
"And you too...."

Almost an hour ago I had came out of the room dejected and a glance on my face was enough for Sonal to gauge that something bad had happened. She instantly grabbed my hand and pulled me in one corner.
"What happened?" She asked in a worried tone.
"Fish market." I replied.
"But how...I mean I had placed you in the easiest group....."
"Dunno. It is last campus so everyone is trying hard to crack it, I guess. The moderator got frustrated within 7-8 minutes only and asked all of us to leave."
"Fine..Fine.. let me see what I can do...." she left quickly as someone called her. This was an unexpected setback for me as well as for her.

Bajrang emerged out of the discussion room 30 minutes later. He was the only one grinning among the seven persons coming out of the room. Rest of the guys looked dejected and a couple of girls were on the verge of crying. It seemed something terrible had happened.
"What happened Bajji?"
"Terrible chaos. The moderator became so furious that he eliminated the whole group from the drive. All 7 kicked out."
"Oh God! I never expected such a mess. Did you get a chance to speak or not?"
"I didn't even understand the topic." He laughed " So I just kept on repeating please don't create a fish market here and lets give everyone an opportunity to speak. Though nobody listened to me, I at least said something in GD."
I just smiled at the naivety of Bajrang. Speaking alone wasn't sufficient to clear a GD round. But I had been proven wrong.

Luck had been in a huge favour of Bajrang. He had cleared the cutoff of written exam by one mark and was one of the two persons selected from his group without uttering any word on the topic given in GD. My path hadn't been so smooth so far though and now we stood on the same platform. I had a lot on the stake and Bajrang's newfound luck was worrying me. He was never expected to go beyond written exam and if he managed to crack the campus then it would happen at the expense of someone else. 

I didn't want myself to be that 'someone'.

The Placements : Part 2

"You are cracking this company, you'll have to."
My hand reaching for the burger stopped in the midway. I looked at her and saw a serious face & determined eyes behind those glasses.

"Are you kidding Sonal? We already had a discussion about..." I tried to protest.

"Ya, we had a discussion but I am bringing up this topic again because it won't be a pleasant experience for me seeing my boyfriends' name among a bunch of losers."
"Losers?" I almost dropped my burger.

"No other company is coming for placements and those who won't be able to get placed shall be called losers only. I am not willing to let that happen to my man." She said stiffly.
"Your man.." I grinned.
"Shut up Paddy. I am the head of the volunteers team and would make every effort to help you but ultimately the outcome depends on you. If you love me then take it seriously."

She picked up her bag and left me in a whirlpool of confused thoughts. I didn't want to go for a job but I didn't want to lose her as well. So it was imperative for me to crack this campus. I began to make calculations mentally. 'Hmm.... 1:3 ratio of final selections and students. 3 rounds including written, GD and finally a PI, HR cum technical I s'pse...'

"Bajji. What are you doing?" I was surprised to find him engaged in a puzzle.
"Just getting a feel of the things before appearing in the actual paper." He said smiling.

"What? You're thinking about cracking this campus, aren't you?" I was little surprised.
"Naa. But I want to make sincere effort this time. Since this is a final campus recruitment drive, why not give a shot at it? At least I will know where I stand among others."

"And suppose you clear the written exam, then?" I asked
" I will never go past written. I hate GDs. Useless thing. I don't know why companies have it in their campus selection rounds? Anyway, what are your plans?" Bajji inquired.
"Mine? Nothing..I mean if you are appearing then I would appear too. Let me see where I stand as well among the crowd. "

I don't know why I didn't tell my true intentions to Bajrang. Why didn't I tell him that my aim is to crack this campus for Sonal? I knew he wouldn't think too much about it so would tell him after written exam results. The truth can wait for a couple of more days. 

Alas! How wrong was I?

The Placements : Part 1

"Why did you do it?" She was shocked.
"I..... I just wanted to help......"
"No Padmanabh. By doing this you haven't helped anyone. Instead you did more damage to yourself."

The conference room looked nearly empty as only 30 students were present. Almost 4 months ago the place was full of engineering graduates eagerly listening about the placement session which was about to kick start. As the companies visited campus and recruited the students, the crowd here began to get thinner and now only 30 students were left to be placed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I was one of them.

Mr. Amit Gupta, our TPO, grabbed the microphone and with his opening words silenced the students.

"This is going to be the final placement drive for your batch. There isn't no other company in pipeline now."

There was a deafening silence in the room. I think the guys were anticipating more bad news and Mr. Gupta didn't disappoint them.

"This company would recruit maximum 10 guys from this batch. So, in the end, 20 guys among you would still remain unemployed. I hope the most deserving candidates make the cut this time.

'Most deserving candidate' I smiled. I knew what Mr. Gupta's definition of most deserving student was. The list included 3 of his favorite students who had failed in each of last 13 campuses and I knew he would leave no stone unturned to make sure they get the jobs this time. But there were few others too who actually deserved the job. I turned back and looked at few anxious faces.

There was Ashish in Far right corner who in spite being brilliant had flunked 5 interviews. To his left was Imran who had cleared almost half written exams but his communication skills had let him down in subsequent rounds. In the second last row Ritu was engaged in her own thoughts. She had been one of the consistent performers of the class but, due to her Hindi background, had never been able to clear english section in any written paper so far. Her boyfriend Rohit too had had a bad luck as his 12th percentage had allowed him to appear in only couple of campuses so far which he couldn't crack.

Finally I settled my eyes on the person sitting right to me. My best friend Bajrang was busy scribbling something in his notebook. I was sure he would have hardly paid any heed to what our TPO had just said. I don't want to comment about others but I was pretty sure that there were only 2 guys in that conference room who didn't deserve this job - my best friend and me. Reason behind this assertion - we both didn't want to get placed. We didn't want to do jobs actually. His father had a small factory and my father had a solid export business. Who cared for the job?

I hardly knew that destiny was brewing up something very different for me....for Bajrang... and for Sonal.

Well .. I'm Back : Part 2

"I .. the train has arrived .. I am getting late ..."


"It won't leave the platform for next 20 minutes, Sid. Don't dodge my question? Why have you been lying to me all this while?"


I tried to say something but words barely escaped my mouth. It was an awkward situation. I was getting torn between two choices - telling her the truth or try to force my lies. She watched me struggling with my thoughts for few seconds and then spoke up. 


“I had seen you long before you saw me Sid; when I had entered the platform. I couldn’t understand why did you go and sit in the farthest corner of the station, far from any person. You loved being with the people, making new friends whenever you got a chance. That’s why I sat at this bench because I knew that eventually you would pass from here and after seeing me here would stop. Then when you begin to talk, I could clearly see that you were lying. Is everything right between you and Radhika?”


I took a deep breath. She had clearly seen through me; lying was of no use now “Nothing went right after college. Everything fell apart. I tried a lot but couldn’t do anything.” I said shaking my head. 


“And that’s what you have done to yourself? Do you remember a Priyanka who used to get into trouble with every person, who was always so arrogant and selfish, someone whom everyone hated? Look at me now. Is there a even a slightest trace of Priyanka left in me? Who brought this change into me? You did. I always wanted to be like you. A person whom everyone loved and adored. A person full of life rather than hatred and frustration. A person who didn’t find fault in everything but who appreciated even the small things of life. I ... I liked you  but I was jealous with you and Radhika at the same time. You people were together and had everything I wanted to have....ever."

To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. Someone who had spent whole 4 years with this girl in the class would understand my state of mind at that moment. 

She continued like she hadn't spoken in years. "Then college ended and for the first time I faced the hardships of life away from the home. My nature always produced hurdles in my life and then one day I thought about you and decided to change myself. Look at me now. Whatever I’m today is because of you.”


I didn’t say anything. She paused for a second and then continued.


“I don’t blame you or even Radhika. Sometimes the relations just don’t work out. But it looks like you are blaming the whole world for everything wrong that has happened with you. I don’t know but I feel like you have moved away from the social life of yours, your friends and may be your parents. I don’t know this pessimistic, cynic Sid. I always knew one Sid and he was always cheerful, happy and ready to mingle. I don’t want to give any speech. But look at me. If you can bring change in me without even knowing it why can’t you change yourself…?”


Priyanka was interrupted by the shrill voice of the announcer. Her train too had finally arrived. She took a deep breath and said "It was so nice catching up with you after so many years. I always wanted to do so, but the memories of the dreadful Priyanka always stopped me. Good bye Sid."


She didn’t say anything more but picked up her luggage and soon disappeared in the crowd moving towards the train. I too stood up. Train was about to leave and I couldn’t afford to miss it.


THREE MONTHS LATER
I had returned home after three months. It was February and the morning breeze seemed so nice. My parents didn’t know that I was coming and I wanted to give them a surprise. I had just moved out of station when I found myself face to face with Rajan, once my best friend, and his wife.


There was a silence initially as our eyes met. No body moved. Then I smiled and threw myself on to surprised Rajan. We had hugged each other after such a long time that we stood like that for many seconds. When I moved away, I could see a small tear in his eye.


“It has been such a long time.” He said


“Well, I’m back” picking up my luggage I quoted a dialogue from my favorite movie.


“It is so good to see you back, Sid”


I looked at Radhika. Two tears had rolled down her eyes. I was seeing her for the first time after that altercation which had ended our relationship decisively. 


“Thank you.” She said


“Don’t thank me.” I answered smiling. “Reserve this thanks for someone else.”

Well...I'm back : Part 1

It is very strange that how a person becomes cynic over the time. Winters were always so special for me and trains running late never irritated me. Today, however, it was so difficult killing even a second in this cold night. Train was running exactly two hours late and I could do nothing other than cursing the ministry and its officials.

The night was getting colder and darker with each passing moment. The platform looked deserted. Already very few people were travelling in this train and most of them had moved inside the station to shelter themselves from the cold. Only a handful of people could be seen on the platform other than the vendors.

I was sitting on a solitary bench in a far corner of the platform. I had been sitting there for last 1 hour or so. But now it was getting difficult as wind had gained speed and I could feel its sharpness. Finally I decided to move from there to some other lonely but warmer place. I picked up my luggage and walked towards the plat form.

This is my hometown but I hated returning to it. In the past one year I had made only a couple of visits here. I had barely spent 3 days here on my latest visit and now I was returning to my workplace. I had even forbidden my parents to come to the station. I didn’t want anybody to know that I was here.

My eyes suddenly fell on the biscuit packet on one of the vendor’s trailers. All this while I had forgotten that I had left for the station without eating anything at home. As I bought the packet and began eating, my eyes fell on a girl sitting alone on a bench just a few meters away. She was sitting underneath a tube light and was engaged in a novel. I felt as if I knew her. Then as she adjusted her glasses a bit, I recognized her.

Priyanka was my classmate in the college. She was a very bold and arrogant girl with a lot of attitude. In the three years of college, she had a numerous altercations with the students as well as the faculty. Very few people liked her. After graduation she had moved to Mumbai for job. She didn’t have glasses then though, nor were her hairs so long. I didn’t expect to see her here in these odd hours waiting for train.

There was still an hour before train would enter the platform. It was really getting tough for me to kill this time. I thought it would be better if I spend this time talking with Priyanka. It won’t do any harm. I folded the packet and moved towards her bench.

She was startled a bit when I called her name. Even she wouldn’t have expected me there in such odd hours.

“Sid. Wow! What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect to see u again after so many years here, at the railway station.”

“Yeah. Even I didn’t. May I sit here?”

“Sure. Please have a seat.” She shifted her luggage a bit and I sat there.

Now I gave a close look to her face. To my amazement she looked pretty, in her glasses and long hair. Her face wasn’t showing that ‘me-I only’ attitude but was flashing a beautiful smile.

“How’s you?” she asked smiling.” What are you doing these days? And how’s Radhika?”

“Well, she’s fine. Very fine indeed.” I replied

“It was always so good to hear about you folks. You two were perfect. Radhika is such a lovely girl. You will always be happy.”

I was surprised. Priyanka and Radhika were always at the loggerheads in the college. I don’t remember how many times they would have argued with each other. There was only one person who would pacify them, my best friend, Rajan.

“When you two are getting married? Any plans soon or already did? Don’t forget to call me. And where is Rajan these days? What is he doing?”

“Yeah I will surely invite you.” I said quickly."Enough about me. Now let’s talk something about you. I thought you had moved to Mumbai…”

And then we kept on chatting for more than 2 hours. I never looked towards my watch during this whole time. I couldn’t just believe that I was talking to same Priyanka whom I resented so much in the college. She had transformed totally. Now here was a new Priyanka who talked sensibly, who actually laughed and who hadn’t uttered a single word against any one person we talked about. Even I felt so much comfortable talking to her, though we had very few chats during college life. It was only when the announcer announced about the arrival of the train did we break the chain of our talks.

“It was so good talking with you Priyanka. I really had a very good time. I never expected it.”

“Tell me one thing Sid. What has happened to you? Why did you lie to me?”

I was startled. Did she know something, or rather everything?