The D-Day had finally arrived. Within the next few hours, a new chapter of my life will be written. I didn't need a job as I had mentioned before too. But I just couldn't let Sonal down. My failure would hurt her and I just couldn't allow that to happen. So yes, I was very nervous for an altogether different reason from those of the other aspirants. I was sure that there was only one guy who was not sweating - Bajrang.
The preparation for the interviews had been 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 18 at the end of the day.
The interviews were scheduled to begin at 10 in the morning but I had reached college at 8 only to give myself some time 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 before the interviews and met other guys who were waiting on 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 the call. 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 could have asked me for a piece of friendly advice 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.
