CHAPTER-24
OVERLOOKED
Dhilip’s POV
“Hi buddies!”, cheered a slim and tall young gentleman, in a black suit, as he waved, making his way into the mini theatre-like gallery hall.
“Good Morning sir!”, Sameer greeted aloud, as the entire ‘F’ section assembled there, stood up.
“Hey, come on, call me Ramesh! No sirs and madams today! Cool?”, declared he, smiling widely and gesturing a thumbs-up sign with both thumbs.
“Machan, these placement trainers are so damn excited all the time. How?”, asked Jacob, at which I shrugged and chuckled. As we settled down, my eyes rolled hither and thither only to be interrupted by Rohini bulging her eyes and chuckling at Vaishali. She closed her mouth with her left palm and continued chuckling at her bestie who gestured for her to stay quiet.
Oooo, I finally found her! She sat on the third row of the adjacent column whose last previous row I had occupied with Jacob and Sameer on either side. Aye, Dhilip! Why are you looking for her? How does her presence matter to you?! While I looked away from Rohini and tried to immerse myself into Sameer’s discussion on a new adventure game, my heart still bet with an uneasy rhythm. But, why? Dhilip, don’t set your bars high. You don’t know if you can love her. Or, have I already fallen? No, no…I shook my head and sighed.
“Dude, pass my bottle!”, ordered Kareena, calling me from the back seat. As I grabbed her grey metallic flask-like bottle and turned back, Ramesh pointed at Kareena.
“Why do you call everyone ‘dude’?”, questioned Ramesh. The three of us turned back and chuckled at our puzzled friend shrugging at the trainer.
“Ramesh, I think it's because I’m used to it. It forms a friendly bonding with your classmates. It's cool, right?”, asked she, displaying her braces and grinning at us.
“Haa! Nope! I’m afraid I must deny you here, Kareena. Address them with their names. They will feel better”, he suggested, gesturing for her to sit down. She nodded and sat back.
“What’s happening, Machan?”, whispered Sameer.
“Timepass!”, Jacob blew as if he had just swallowed a center fresh mint. I sat erect, as usual, and chuckled at them, hiding my lips with my right index finger.
“Alright! It will be easier for me to address you with your names. Can you quickly grab an empty sheet of paper and fold it to create your triangular nameplates? I request all of you to write your names in bold block letters so that the same are readable to me, standing far, from here, on the stage. Done, buddies?”, announced Ramesh, leaning to the lecturer’s desk on the corner of the dais and rubbing his palms.
I tore the middle page of my rough notes and shared it with Sameer and Jacob. My meek and hesitant eyeballs happened to catch Rohini smiling and folding a sheet of long unruled paper. I blushed, noticing her secretly, as she grinned to herself, writing her name on the paper. She pouted and handled it like a model as she rested its paper base, in front of her, on the desk.
“Shhh!”, she seemed to whisper, as she placed the finger on the lip and displayed both her palms towards the thin nameplate when it was about to fall back. Oooo, her acts are so cute. Why didn’t I notice you back during our original times, Rohini medam?
“Buddies! Here! Listen to me!”, Ramesh declared, directing our heads to turn at him. Hmmm, great angels, give me chances to notice Rohini, at least this time, otherwise, what’s the point of my reliving journey? Oooo!
“I want to divide the entire section into teams. For the same, I need seven volunteers. Team leaders on the dias, please”, ordered Ramesh, his eyes smiling through the glasses, at the student audience.
My friends patted me to go. I got up and followed Kareena. As we lost with others, standing randomly, to form a straight line, the other students too shifted their benches, just for a temporary change.
“OK, start choosing your teams”, ordered Ramesh, pointing at Kareena standing at the onset of the queue. “One member at a time. Yes, start.” I folded my hands at the back and traced their order as she uttered a name followed by Gaurika and then Rohini! I threw my mouth open and smiled to myself at the fact that we were standing close. I stood right next to Rohini. Oooo, the heavens heard me! She chuckled, pointing at Vaishali.
I agree that love is unanticipated. I also agree that the identity of our lover is a true mystery
until we feel the love!
Following the same lines, one thus ends up falling for a bad partner-the wrong love. It's fine!
Making a wrong decision is common among ordinary homosapiens like you and me.
However, correcting our blunder and returning to our right love is a worthy question whose
answer may either be a ‘YES’ or a ‘NO’ or sometimes a combination of both! There is only one
superpower that can answer this query: ‘TIME’
“Dhilip! Hello, it's your turn now! Dhilip!”, waved Ramesh, forcing me to take my eyes off Rohini. I picked Jacob from the crowd. As the sequence continued and my turn came right after Rohini’s, for the next four to five times, I blushed to myself, staring at just a thin air gap between me and Rohini. I happened to spot Vaishali bulging her eyes and grinning at Rohini…Ooo, no, I guess she was grinning at both of us standing next to each other.
Despite assembling randomly, we were brought together, yet once again. Why? If we weren’t destined to be together forever, why did we always come closer? Urgh! Why didn’t I notice these very positions of ours back then during our real life? Every little sign was left behind, but, hardly did I notice. I swallowed my tears and sighed as we began dispersing to return to our seats.
I blushed, following Rohini as she pushed a few strands of her hair and ascended the steps. My light brown pupils dilated as her high bushy pony hit my face once. I looked down and blushed, as my heart froze for an entire moment. Aye! But, why is this girl affecting me? Urgh! I still don’t know if I can ever feel for her. How will I know? Seriously never until these tiny trailers hit their finish line and proper interactions begin between us…
“Ouch!”, stumbled Rohini.
“Hey! Careful!”, exclaimed I, wrapping my hand around her waist and tightening her firmly as she was about to fall. She turned back to face me. We blushed as her stern dark eyes hugged my meek and hesitant ones.
“Thanks, Dhilip! You have always been there for me. Aww, so sweet of you! Thank you”, she thanked, releasing herself from me. She smiled, heading towards the third seat of the bench. I nodded and blushed alone as I headed to the last benches. There was a gap of a bench or two partitioning Rohini’s team from mine.
Ooo, once again, why did our teams come together along the same column? Hmm, there should definitely be something between Rohini and me. She was always in my field of vision but why did I fail to notice her? I sighed, blushing at her secretly.
The session occupied our entire day. It was full of fun activities wherein we had to bend our heads and run between tangled hands until music played. Two teams were called at once. Hmm, Rohini’s team and my team didn’t get a chance to compete. Ooo, of course, we aren’t competitors. I chuckled at the way Jacob hit his head against Dheeraj’s strong gym hands. Rohini hardly got to run within the net. Both times, she just stood holding hands with Vaishali and Veena.
Dheeraj’s team at the other corner burst into a round of laughter while I chuckled at Rohini calling herself a hippopotamus relating her laziness to choosing an animal’s character. Ooo, she is cute and funny. I folded my hands and sighed as my back stood straight, gluing itself to the backrest of my rolling chair.
We wrote an anonymous message and passed a chit each to the trainer. I chuckled as I happened to see Rohini writing a long list. Sexy! Is she writing an essay? Hassini bulged her eyes from the adjacent column.
“Dude, have you written all of it on your own?!”, she exclaimed, at which Rohini shrugged. Oooo, medam is a great writer. All I felt at that moment was that winning a spot in her life was lucky but harder, for, she was partially an introvert. I’m glad I won but I pity myself for having overlooked the precious gem that longed to kiss another gem.
“Thanks!”, thanked Ramesh, nodding and grabbing the chits Rohini finally handed over from her team. No sooner did she return to her seat than Ramesh began reading out the pile of chits, at random.
“Tarun, your smile is cute. You’re handsome!”, read he. Tarun blushed while his teammates chuckled and hit his back. “Ohooo! Who is she, da?” “You didn’t even tell me!” He shook his head at them. I chuckled at Tarun, blushing for an imaginary girlfriend.
“Who is Dhilip?”, asked Ramesh. I raised my hand.
“Why do you keep saying ooooo? And, why do you keep asking for assignments to all the subject lecturers?”, he read a few chits and condensed the message sent to me. I chuckled along with my team. Rohini looked at me and displayed a soft smile. I couldn’t escape her eyes.
“And Rohini? Send your assignment as soon as you finish it. Always send it across the WhatsApp group for all the subjects”, Ramesh read and shrugged. She turned back to laugh with her friends. She then looked back at me as we chuckled at each other. The class had already burst into a round of laughter.
“Are Dhilip and Rohini quite famous here?”, asked Ramesh, at which I looked down and blushed while the clueless Rohini shrugged at him. Oooo, medam, hardly do you know how far this tag is going to go.
“Looks like people envy them for running behind in assignments and studies. Good students, buddies!”, highlighted Ramesh. Aye! Rohini turned back and chuckled at me again. Oooo, good that finally, one fine incident sowed a seed of thought within her, by throwing light on our similarities.
A complete stranger, the trainer, too, showed a sign for us, here. But, why didn’t we open our ears earlier? Why didn’t you propose to me earlier, medam? Rohini, why did you too take time to analyze and recognize your emotions? Sexy! Yet another similarity in our thought processes, over here! I blushed and sighed a breath of relief, as we happened to stand close, once again, when Ramesh explained the next activity to us.
“Jigsaw puzzle!”, I informed my team.
“Anyone who knows how to draw here?”, asked Sameer, shrinking his eyes and shrugging, as he gazed at the only girl in our team. Ridhima threw her mouth open and shrugged.
Ouch! How will Dhilip handle Ramesh now?
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