Love is so blind that it just happens unexpectedly.
You may fall for anyone!
Would you let go of your policy if you fell for someone you shouldn't? What would you choose-your policy or your beloved?
"Dude, the last semester when my friends and I had a hard time catching up on Law of Trots, which he taught, we hesitated to approach him. During a free hour, when only four of us were there, he understood that we did not understand his subject and explained everything right from scratch again. He motivated us a tonne. So, yes, he is damn sweet both as a person and as a lecturer. I am sure he will understand your problem and help you out. See, this is our Akshat sir. Now you understood? So, don’t worry, dude”, Vyomi convinced me.
It was the next morning-a fresh one filled with hope and fear at the same time. The clock struck half-past eight. We were waiting inside the staffroom on the first floor of the eleven-storeyed Law block at Janki University. The staffroom was air-conditioned; its white lights fixed to the ceiling were always on, but that morning, all in vain for the staff had already left for their classes.
Vyomi was my best friend back in my twelfth class tuition. She had transformed, after entering the world of college, from an obedient girl with two thick plaits extending till her hip to a chic pretty girl with a high pony. I had left my hair free, distributing it on both sides in the front, and wore big silver-plated rings. I wore a grey T-shirt with a lady's silhouette painted on it, blue jeans pants, and blue jeans coat that day.
I faked a smile and nodded at her. I spoke out, “I tried enquiring about my transfer to almost all the other Law colleges in Pune. It was sad to receive rejections all around. Janki University is my last hope." She patted my back and we turned to look at the rightmost cabin in the first row. There was a triangular nameplate, copper blue in color with ‘Dr. Akshat Malhotra’, written in bold white and cursive on it.
The door behind us squealed. A handsome young pink Saurashtrian man, with a thick black moustache and dressed in a yellow shirt inserted into black formal pants and black coat, hurried towards the cabin behind Akshat’s. “Good morning, sir!”, greeted Vyomi and me, after the former introduced the faculty in my ears,” Dude, he is Dr. Shreyas Mathur. He too is damn sweet just like our Akshat sir.”
Shreyas smiled at us, leaving his bag on the table and pushing his bike's keys inside the drawer. He shrugged at me as he drank water. I explained, "Sir, I am Naomi Dixit. I am not yet a student here. I have come here to apply for a transfer to second-year Law. So, I don’t have my ID yet…” Vyomi supported that we had been waiting for Akshat sir and thought that he would help us in this regard.
The lecturer, carrying his laptop and adapter, smiled at me, “OH that’s interesting, Naomi. All the best! Don’t worry, such transfers may be unheard of in India but they are quite common in the US. I hope to see you soon in my Administrative Law class.” I was taken aback by his open-mindedness for I expected a weird expression after announcing my weird decision; college days are memorable and none would switch their college for such petty reasons, I thought!
I smiled and thanked him as he patted me. He later picked on my bestie,” Vyomi, I will be discussing delegated legislation-a very important topic today. I have your class first. So, better don’t miss it!”
He rushed for classes began at 8.30 AM at the university. I advised Vyomi too to leave as she missing an important class would add to my heap of guilt which had been pricking my heart the past twenty-four hours after what happened on the bus. She opened her WhatsApp to check Akshat’s profile picture so that I could recognize him despite her absence.
But, all in vain, for his profile only had his cute little white Labrador puppy’s photo! I didn’t even know how he looked. How will I recognize and talk to him? What a pity!
Just as Vyomi was about to leave, she observed a thin and tiny red bouquet beside her legs. She bent down and picked it up. I blushed as she read the note on it seriously, "Pony and shoes in jeans pants portray you like a sports girl" She smiled at the compliment, wondering, "Who is he?" I rested my arms on her shoulder and pulled her legs," Oh! I see love striking my bestie's life. Cutie pie!"
She chuckled and left after waving at me. Anyway, I saved Akshat's number and stood there like a lost soul. I looked around, at his table, and at my smartwatch.
It was already half an hour. There were no signs of any faculty anywhere around me. Shedding a drop of tear, still staring at his cabin, I felt futile. I walked backward as my father’s wrath echoed in my heart, “What non-sense? How dare you leave your college in Jaipur without any plan? What if you don’t get a transfer anywhere here, beta? Then a year will get wasted. It will be a black mark on your resume. Alas! Why aren’t you serious in life? Phew! What a silly daughter I have!”
All of a sudden, I dashed someone behind me. Apologizing, I turned at once and noticed some papers fallen off on the ground after loosening themselves from the bundle someone had carried. I then looked up and was shocked for it was him whom I had owed a twenty! He wore a violet-colored plain T-shirt and black jeans pant.
We recognized and chuckled at each other. The very next thing that I did was grab a fifty rupee note from my handbag which also had the required documents in a blue file. “Yes, I broke the heap of guilt in my heart!”, thought I, handing it over to him. He smiled surprisedly and so did I.
“Waah! You searched the entire city and finally came all the way till here for this. What a detective you are!”, mocked he. “No, not at all. In fact, I had come here for work. So, it’s you who must have been behind me for your money, I think!”, suggested I. We cheered, in chorus, “Coincidence!” and laughed our hearts aloud.
While he was still reluctant to accept my loan, I compelled, “No, please do take it. I am paying you along with two days' interest. It’s all yours and you must claim for it” and forced it into his shirt’s pocket. I was standing very close to him which I realized then. He caught my clean and fair right palm resting on his shirt. He threw his meek vision deep into my eyes. When I tried to take my palm off, I couldn’t for he held it firmly. I had never been this close to a guy ever before.
“Sir, shall I sweep away all these papers?”, squealed a young woman in a plain light blue saree-their uniform. She was standing behind him who refused her highlighting that the papers were answer sheets of the recent backlog exams. She said that she will come later and left.
He sat down and picked the five papers which had disentangled from the bundle. I too sat down and helped him arrange them roll number-wise and fix the bundle. Before an athlete could reach his destination and win his marathon, he placed all the papers on Akshat’s table, two feet behind him, and sat back on the chair inside the cabin.
I interrogated him, “Wait for a second…Get up! “He shrugged at me as I forced him to stand up and pulled him out of the cabin. I rebuked him, “How dare you sit there inside a faculty’s cabin? Is this your father-in-law’s house?”
He stood speechless as I continued, “I can’t believe that you are so stupid. Who are you, first of all? Do you even know how to respect the faculty? So ill-mannered…. And yes! For your kind information, getting back to an earlier part of our conversation, I hadn’t come here desperately looking for you to return your money. It was just a coincidence that I met you here when I had come to meet Akshat sir.”
When he looked away, smiling, I yelled at him, tightening his hand in mine like a cop catching that of a criminal, and ordered, “And you, stay here and wait till Akshat sir comes. You must apologize to him today. How dare you? Do you think you are a superhero here? I have never seen such a number one fraud like you. Why don’t guys like you respect teachers? They build us, the future generations-the nation’s hopes.”
The poor fellow stood beside me. He was startled at me; he seemed very soft and sweet-the way he stood there like a calm baby. He continued to remain speechless. “Don’t you feel sorry even now-even after I tried to make you realize your mistake?”, asked I. He continued to maintain his silence. I shrugged and looked away, judging, “You are not only a scoundrel but also not a human being in the first place. You are a big fat glacier of Antarctica that’s of no use at all. Phew! The human race is indeed going to donkeys.”
The atmosphere of silence was broken after a minute or two when Vyomi returned.
“Good morning, sir!”, she wished him.
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe that he was a lecturer there. OH shit! What have I done? I felt screwed…. I can never forgive myself for my tyranny.
She rose her eyebrows at my hand holding his and signed at me. I released his hand at once. He and I were looking at each other again; he gave me a cool wide smile.
I couldn’t yet find a way to digest what she had just told me. I couldn’t believe all this while I was lecturing about respecting a guru. Look at how I had behaved with one. No, no! I can’t be like this!
I doubted my ears. Staring back at him, I confirmed with Vyomi,” Dude, is he a faculty here?”
She nodded, adding,” Dude, he is the Akshat sir you wanted to meet! Dr. Akshat Malhotra, my Law of Trots sir.”
I turned back to face him who still smiled at me, raising his eyebrows and shrugging.
For the entire next minute, I lost my heartbeat. I could feel it again the second minute but I got goosebumps on both my hands. They disappeared in the third minute but both my legs went numb. When my legs returned to normal, I could feel a deep concussion inside my skull.
For one final self-satisfaction, I also dialed his number-the number that Vyomi had shared before leaving for her class. I could hear the beautiful lines of ‘A thousand years’ beside me. He took out his phone from his pocket, saw an unknown number, and asked me if it was me.
I asked him, “Akshat sir, why? Why didn’t you tell me all this while? Why were you listening to me just like that?”. I fainted right away.
Will Akshat sir help the girl who messed with him?!
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