Part II: The Encounter. The Beginning.

You cannot get unluckier than this. You just, cannot. Consider my case, that Saturday night. This was the chain of events:

1. I had my MA-105 end-sem on Monday, and I had more than half of the course left. Talk about hating pure Math.

2. I was there all night, mugging as much I can in GG (Girish Gaitonde lecture hall in the electrical department, for the ignorant lot), and half of what I was reading wasn't going into my head, courtesy of almost two days of sleeplessness.

3. It was 5:45 AM, I was all alone, and was watching the sun rise, yet again for the fifteenth day in a row. The croaking of the innumerable crows outside were making it further difficult for me to concentrate, and I finally decided to go out and have a stroll.

4. No, sleeping was not an option. AT ALL. Do not direct your thoughts in that direction.

5. Out of the many places I could have gone to, I chose the lakeside. Finally some nice, serene place with no disturbance and perfect solitude, I thought.

6. And for the seven million and forty seventh time in my life, I was wrong. Lakeside was buzzing with angry-looking professors, some of them jogging around and some others trying to ape Baba Ramdev.

7. I also noticed Pooja Padhi (our HS-101 Microeconomics Professor) calling out for someone and giving me a disgruntled look. Talk about having a bad start for the day. I wondered how she even remembered my face...I'd hardly attended even 20% of her classes in the whole semester.

8. Pissed, I started moving further down the path which actually leads to the lake, and to the denser tree cover, in the hope of getting some solitude. Everyone other than myself was a piss-off at that point of time. Sleeplessness makes you get irritated quickly and for no reason.

9. I knew there were rumours of leopards roaming around at that part of the lakeside, and it still was quite dark, for there isn't proper sunlight before 6:45 AM in Bombay during winters. I hardly cared. I actually wished I found a leopard or something, for a change. My life was hell boring anyway.

10. Thankfully there was no one there. Apparently Ramdev hadn't taught the professors some exercise to shoo away leopards. I caught a strange glistening insect lingering on a small leaf some way down the side of the lake. I couldn't resist myself and went ahead to have a look.

11. Something happened just then...It wasn't a leopard as I'd anticipated, but was something surely no less dangerous than one, in terms of fatality. A long, brown snake came out right in front of me, from nowhere! It freaked the senses out of me, and as I turned back to run, it was a SLIP! SPLOSH! THUD!, and I was down and out. I looked around to check out the snake, thankfully it wasn't there now. But it surely booked my brand new Benetton T-Shirt for another round to the washing room, plus led to incessant bleeding in my right elbow. Now you know why you can't get unluckier than this, your MA-105 exam being just a little more than 24 hours away. For the next few minutes, I didn't even have the strength to get up. Something inside me wanted me to spend the next few hours lying stomach-down, cursing that unlucky day of January 1991 when the biggest loser ever was born, and tasting some more of the lakeside mud.




"Won't you even care to get up and move away from that filthy place?!".

"No!" I replied, "I don't want to. There's no point, something pathetic will happen to me again. I'm happy being here. At least some poor leopard family will get a week's meal."

Wait!
Why am I telling all that to a dreamy female voice?

Looking up, I saw a female hand extended towards me.
Another result of sleeplessness? I thought.

"Will you get up or not, stupid boy? I don't have all day with me here."

I held her hand and got up immediately. There is something in a strict female voice which makes you lose all your ego.

So she IS real after all, eh!

"Oh my! What a mess you've made of yourself?! And why the heck should you be here at this desolate place at this point of time?"

A scolding was the last thing my already pissed-off brain could have tolerated, that too from a girl.

"I can ask the second question to you too, miss. What are you, being alone, doing here, before the sunlight could even creep in? You came here to save me from the nature's wrath? Eh?"

"Yeah, that's what I came here for. Now would you mind getting out of this place or you want to wait for more wild animals to scare you?"

I didn't reply, just fell into step beside her and followed her out of that wild place. We didn't exchange a word. It was light by then, and now that I could see her more closely, I was awestruck. That, undoubtedly, was the most beautiful face I'd ever seen inside the IIT campus, and probably ever in my life. She was an inch shorter than me, and probably some two or three years older. Of course, she couldn't have been an undergrad there, or she would already have been the talk of the testosterone-charged undergraduate population, something which can hardly escape your ears if you are aware enough. She replied after some two minutes of silence.

"Hey, you're hurt! Here, take this bottle of water and wash your face and whatever else you can. I also have a first-aid kit with me. I keep it handy, whenever I move out for jogging."

She gave me the bottle and a band-aid from her bag.

"Thanks so much! Is someone in your family a Doctor, by the way?" I asked, after getting as much dirt out of my face and T-shirt as I could.

"No. Why?"

"Who on earth keeps a first-aid kit while going out for a casual jog?"

"Hehehe...I prefer being safe."

Somehow, her giggle irritated me more. Every damn thing was irritating.

"So, you're doing B.Tech? First year?"

"Integrated MS. First year, yeah."

"Won't you ask what I do, hero?"

She really was irritating. I'd have preferred being left alone, but then she helped me, and I couldn't have been rude.

"Ok, what do you do here, mademoiselle?"

"I've come here on a semester-long project in the Bio-School, starting from the next semester. I stay at a friend's place whose father is a professor here, so no problem of accommodation you see!"

I never asked her all those details. Hell, I'd caught up with one pesky female. I don't know why her being so beautiful was not affecting me a wee bit.

"Cool. So here comes the gate. You'll go the opposite side no? The professor's buildings are there."

"Nope, I'll go that side, towards the departments. I'm not tired yet, so! You're going that side too na? Good, I'll have some company. I'm usually alone while jogging, you know. Won't mind some company. Hehehe."

Damn!
And that giggle again. Killer. I was doomed.

After another round of silence, she finally broke in.

"So, something is troubling you from the inside, no? Tell me."

I looked at her, surprised.

"Chocolate?" She offered. I shook my head and walked on.

She unwrapped one and stuffed it into my hand. Females could be a thousand times more irritating than boys.

"So go on, tell me everything. What's the problem?"

Silence.

"HeLLO?"

Just keep on walking, and ignore her. She'll shut up automatically. I assured myself. That's the trick, Just keep on walking and be silent.

"Hello mister, I'm talking to you!" She poked my left arm with her over-grown nail.

I'd lost it then. I really had. Enough! I need solitude, and this is not helping me at all.

"What on EARTH is wrong with you? Okay, thanks for helping me and all, but I need SOLITUDE, do you get me? I have my MA-105 exam tomorrow and I haven't slept for the last two days and I got dumped four months ago by a girl whom I'd known for three years. And I'm GETTING IRRITATED BY EVERYTHING. Will you just LEAVE ME ALONE, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE? PLEASE?"

Ten odd IIT Bombay professors stopped whatever they were doing, and turned towards us, eyes fixed. Bull! I never intended to be so loud.
Plus, one thing which I hadn't noticed was how close I'd gone to her in my harangue. I could almost observe the contours of her lips.*gulp*

I'd expected her to be mad. I could guess what would've been going through her mind, at that time.
Just look at this guy! I helped him when he was in complete mess, I'm being nice to him and all, and he's shouting at me as if I'm some roadside slut. Why not just kick him at a wrong place for this act of his?

But unexpectedly, she didn't seem to be angry. The professors continued on their usual monotonous routine, and we proceeded out of the lake-side area. I tried looking at her, and she was looking at me. Quizzically, and not crossly as I'd expected. I kept on walking.

I looked at her again, and her expression was the same.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing. Your chocolate is melting. Eat it."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have shouted."

"It's ok, mister tormented_by_life. And you still haven't answered my question."

sigh

"Told you no, exams and all. Academic pressure, when all you've studied throughout the semester is Philosophy and Arms & Ammunition and Pakistani music history instead of MA-105."

"Ahh. As if this is something new for you, mister Chatterjee. You've been doing this all your life, studying just before your exams. Spare this, and tell me about what happened with the girl."

"How in the name of crazy apples do you know.......??"

"Tell me, quick. I don't have much time. I'll move in a different direction from the YP gate, and that's where we are headed to right now, I feel."

Holy crap! This can't be happening to me. Just. Can't.

"SPEAK UP!"

"The usual story, sort of. We had been good friends for some two years, and been together for a year. Then she went to a different place. She changed, I didn't. I became a loser for her, someone who only cribs and is not 'fun' to be with and stuff. She thought other guys there were a lot cooler than me, she thought she was naive to have even liked me in the first place. She wanted to enjoy life and all...so, you know, she said I should start minding my own business from then on. In brief, this is all I can say."

"Aww...that's sad. But it's four months, dude. Shouldn't this have been enough for you to forget her?"

"You say this because you've never been through what I have been. Saying is way too easy, miss."

"So you still love her or something?"

"NO! That would be the most stupid thing I could do. It's over, finished! Gone!"

"Then you hate her because she's been a bitch?"

"No. I don't hate her or anything. She was a nice girl, and she had her reasons, and they were valid enough for her. Why should she become a bitch for wanting to be happy? Naah...nothing like that."

"No love. No hate. Then what the hell is the problem with you?"

"I don't know. Maybe I just want her to...apologize or something. For whatever she's made me go through."

"So you'll continue to be pissed until she apologizes, and literally be a loser."

Silence again.

"Honestly, you know, I don't even want her to apologize." I was looking at her now, and twisted my lips into smile, before continuing. "C'mon! that's not a big thing. It's really stupid, expecting her to apologize when she doesn't care, for a doughnut's sake!"

"You've thought out everything rationally enough. You have enough sense to know what is right. You have convinced yourself that you're being stupid, and you want to move on. WHY THE HELL should you be tormented then, and have no life, my dear boy?"

I knew she was right. Hell, I knew I was right!

Really, why the heck should I be??

We walked silently for the next few minutes. YP was visible by now. I looked at her. She smiled, and I smiled back. Suddenly, I was feeling...free! No irritation. The early morning felt pleasing. The trees, sparrows, pigeons, everything was as nice as before! I was flushed with gratitude for her, really. Even though she hadn't done anything extraordinary, but she had done something which struck me exactly where it should have.

You haven't even asked her name, dumbass!

"Hey, what's your name? Funny that I didn't ask this before."

"I'm an angel."

"Hahahaha. What's your name?"

"Angels don't have names."

Bullshit!

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me. Doesn't matter."

"Okay, cool then. But I am an angel, believe me or not."

I could guess IIT had done something to her mental balance. Couldn't blame her, actually. It does the same to all of us. But her case was obviously a bit over-the-wire. Anyway, we had reached YP by that time.

"So, mister Chatterjee, I have to go now. My destination has a different direction from now on. You're a sweet guy, you know. And handsome too." She winked.

Oh my!

I blushed (c'mon, it was natural). She really was the most gorgeous female I had ever met, without doubt.

"Thanks so much, 'angel!' You've really done me a huge favour. Hope to meet you again, sometime."

"I do not. I only meet people when they are in trouble, you know!"

"Oh, cool then. Let's see if you can avoid me for the next few months. I know a semester-long project lasts for a full semester. Haha." I smirked.

She just smiled, in a 'poor you' way. And patted my back. And walked away towards the direction of the residential apartments. I stood there fixed for some time, confused, but then finally walked away, watching her slender figure disappear in the early morning fog.


~~~~~~~~~~


The next morning after the MA quiz, I was at the lakeside again, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. I couldn't find her anywhere. I didn't see her ever again, even after many attempts to find her in the subsequent mornings. One day I actually went to the Bio-School and inquired about the students doing a semester-long project in the next semester.

There were none.

Part I: The Incident. The End.

"I'm not happy with you, Kshitij. Is that not enough? I know it hurts, but at times you have to be selfish. And please be quick, I don't have much balance and I can't recharge now."

I had not seen this coming so soon, no. Alright, I was aware that things were not going right. But I had always thought that everything would be great again, all problems will be sorted out in a single day, and life will be great as ever between me and Ritz.

I didn't know how to react to that. Tears started flowing incessantly. My throat was choked. I wanted to say a thousand things but nothing came out.

"Please, Ritu, don't do this. It's just a small problem. All will be great as ever again. Please, I'll change. Give me one more chance, please! I beg of you."

The usual story, begging, crying, pleading for one more chance, promising to change.

"It's over, Kshitij. It's not working now. I can't give you so much of my time everyday, you're too demanding. Frankly, I'm sick of all these obligations of talking and calling. I don't think we're destined to be together, Kshitij. It's not due to only some reasons. Please try to understand. I'm not happy with you, is that not enough for a reason?"

Those are the times when you hardly have any power of reasoning left in you. Those typical "Why? why? why?" and "Why me?"s are what engulf your mind.

"Don't do this to me, Ritz, please. I love you so much, still. I'll be shattered to death. Things can always work out. You're just angry, Ritu. Just cool down a bit, okay? Please. You're not in your senses. You're not like my Ritu. Just think over all of it again, Ritz, don't take this harsh a decision just because you're angry or pissed. Okay baby?"

"I'm sorry, Kshitij. I AM in my complete senses. And I have thought over it a thousand times. I'm not going to change my decision now at any cost. Accept the reality, will you? I don't love you any more. And honestly, I think I never did love you. I thought that I loved you, but I didn't. And stop all this 'love, feelings' crap, will you? Stop being so immature. You'll get loads of better girls than me, okay? Please, Kshitij, forget me and move on. Swear at me if that would help. I can say nothing more. My friends are waiting for me. I don't have time now."

I was crying like a wailing baby now. I had lost all senses of control, crossed all limits of sorrow. I think only the death of a loved one can come closer to the amount of gloom one gets in while being dumped like this.

I tried to say something, but all that came out was a faint "Pleeasse, Ritu, don't do this, please. For my sake. Don't be so selfish. I still love you Ritu, more than ever. Please, try to understand. Pleeaasee!"

I don't know how much I pleaded to her, in a last glimmer of a seemingly lost hope. But you can't always delay the inevitable each time. Life is sadly, not a bed of roses.

"YOU try to understand Kshitij. I don't want to talk about all that any more. It's over, and I have a life to live. Don't irritate me now by discussing it further, please. Just focus on your own life and let me foocus on mine. We can still be friends if you want. And for heaven's sake LET ME GO now, I'm getting late and I have some work with Abhay and he's getting pissed at me for being on the phone for so long."

The tide of hopelessness had swept in. Maybe some anger too, at the mention of that guy. How can some freaking Abhay get pissed when MY Ritu talks with ME?. I don't think she'd give a damn to any Abhay or Vijay or whoever while talking to me. Oh, how can she change so much? Is this real? Is this a dream? Will things be great again when I wake up tomorrow? I literally pinched myself. But that was stupid, even in any amount of senselessness.

I had stopped crying by then, and held myself up a bit. Some sense came back, and I turned more serious.
"Alright Ritu, I'm sorry to have taken up your time. Please forgive me for this, and for all the times I've made you feel bad. I really am very sorry."

"I have no time for your sarcasm, Kshitij. I'm hanging up now."

Blurting a sarcastic comment was obviously one of the worst thing to do at that time, but some things never change.

"Alright, just tell me one last thing. Is there some other guy involved? Please, Ritu, answer honestly if you've ever felt any wee bit of a thing for me."

"Why would YOU bother now, Kshitij? I don't understand. And anyway, other guy or anyone else has nothing to do with why I decided to break up. I gave you my reasons earlier, and those are the real reasons. Think whatever you want to now, I'm tired of explaining. I don't want to talk about all this, and don't call me back now. Bye! Take care."

And she hung up.

For some minutes I was completely emotionless. On the roof of the hostel, I was alone, beneath the starry night, staring at the stars. Enjoying their beauty, there were so many of them! What were we, insignificant human beings on an insignificant planet, smaller than the smallest quark with respect to the grand, majestic and indefinite universe. I laughed, laughed heartily, because of no reason. All of that was so stupid. All these emotions, crying, love, bla bla bla. I thought nothing more about the convo at that time. There was a cool breeze blowing, which was soothing my nerves. I went back to my room. Fatso was fast asleep. I rolled up my mattress and the bed-sheet, and took it somehow up the roof. Spreading it up, I slept to a hearty night's sleep. All was pleasant, calm and serene. Maybe all of that was really a dream, after all. There was nothing to worry about. Not a worry in the world.

Chocolate Shake

The day was one of September, 2008. The weather was surprisingly cloudy, and as I came out of DPS after giving the first B.Mat test, I had a whole evening to have some time off studies. No one studies after six hours of exertion, isn't it? I never studied the whole Sunday after any mock-test.

Yeah so, I checked out my purse. A hundred rupee note and not a single penny more. Sufficient enough, I thought, for either a good eat and a soft-drink, or a cheap eat and some nice dessert. Not both for a hundred bucks, as I couldn't spend the whole amount. Had to keep some change with myself too. As I was not too hungry, I decided for the latter. The best option would have been some pani-puris + a shake at Krazy Kool.

As the weather was nice and cool, I decided ride around a bit first. The area around Maroda was quite green, as always, and I set out for that side. Driving nearby Rajiv Sir's place was a good idea, as some old memories would be refreshed. Many months had passed before I last went that side, so I was somewhat excited.

I reached the Market square first. The Samosa guy saw me and smiled. I smiled back. Funny that he still remembered me, I thought. It was the favourite place for me and Dhruv to have a quick tummy-filler before 'the' class. But that day I was not in a mood for Samosas. I wasn't too hungry. Pani-puri (or gupchup was we call it here) was what I had to go for. I went a bit further, in the hope of finding the familiar gupchup waala. Damn, he wasn't there. But there was another man, much older than the previous one. And yeah, he was selling gupchups too.

Surprising, I thought. Maybe they were related. He didn't even have a 'thela', as the earlier bloke had. It was just a small make-shift kind of double conical thing, something on which they usually sold chanas and stuff. I went near him and asked:

"Wo pehle waale bhaiya kahaan hain?"

"Kaun pehla waala saab? Ek mahine se main hi baith raha hoon idhar. Gupchup khilaoon kya?"

Okay, might be that the previous one found a better business somewhere else. Who cared? I was tired enough to search for another place, and moreover my ultimate aim was the chocolate shake at Krazy Kool. It was some time (read months) before I had one. Mom didn't give me much money those days so I couldn't have afforded to spend sixty bucks on a shake more often.

I nodded in the affirmative to this man. He gave me a plate. I saw it, it wasn't clean. Maybe his business was not flourishing as of yet. The fully filled bag of panipuris confirmed my thought.

"Bhaiya, isko saaf karke do na! Ganda hai."

He smiled a bit with his broken teeth, tried to show some concern, and cleaned it with a cloth he had.

"Ho gaya saab!"

He was making me feel real awkward now by adressing me by 'saab'. If not more, he was at least four times my age. But I didn't tell him anything. I didn't want to waste much time there by engaging in useless conversations. He took some time in making the 'masala'. It wasn't ready beforehand and he was pissing me off now by the amount of time he was taking. It was going to rain in some time, as the dark clouds and the wind were suggesting, and I wanted to be off that place as soon as possible.

"Pyaaz daalna hai kya masala mein?"

"Rehne do bhaiya, aur thoda jaldi karo. Baarish hone wali hai."

Onions were costly anyway, and I didn't want to him to get a lesser margin on his already stagnant business. Needless to say, my time was saved too. He gave me the first pani-puri.

"Paani theek hai bhaiya?"

Okay, bhaiya was not so awkward. Good that he stopped his 'saab'.

"Haan, sahi hai. Kitne ke diye gupchup?"

I realized that I should have asked this beforehand. Not that it mattered much, but just for the sake of formality.

"Do ka teen."

Hey, that was cheap. At all other places it was either "Paanch ka Paanch" or "Paanch ka chaar". His gupchups were fine enough, at par with others. So his lesser rate was another proof of his business not taking off.

It was after gulping down the third gupchup that I actually paid some attention to the small kid sitting on the nearby "puliya", as they say. I can't recall the English word for it. It's just a small brick-cemented backless bench, stuff on which you can sit. The kid was studying something from a book, with full concentration. And the old man feeding me was checking him out intermittently. Maybe the kid was his grandson. He was in the familiar school-uniform of government or BSP schools, sky-blue shirt and navy-blue shorts. Might have been some seven-eight years old. What was impressing about him was the concentration with which he was trying to remember the stuff written in the book. It was funny, actually, the way he was reading and then closing his eyes tight, trying to mug up the stuff. A short smile came up on my lips, mouth filled with the gupchup-water. Trying to smile more resulted to be a bad idea, as I splattered the water down on the ground. It was more comic than the kid trying to mug up.

"Kya hua bhaiya, paani teekha hai kya?"

"Nahin paani badhiya hai, gale mein chale gaya galti se. Kitna hua abhi tak?"

"Do aur to das ka ho jaayega. Aur khilaana hai kya?"

"Nahin das ka kar do bas."

I took out the hundred rupee note and handed him.

"Chillar nahin hai kya bhaiya?"

"Nai hai. Bas sau ka note."

He sighed. Checked out his pocket. Just 3-4 ten rupee notes and some coins.

"Ruko bhaiya main chillar leke aata hoon, hai na. Paas hi hai dukaan. Jaldi aata hoon."

The market square was some distance away. I thought I'd go and get it instead. But then I didn't want him to feel insecure, by not paying him and going off too far.

"Theek hai, jaldi karna". He would take at least ten minutes, I knew. But I had no other option. Mr. chocolate shake will have to wait for some more time now.

He went off. I went closer to the kid, who seemed to have eventually lost his archer-concentration in his book and was gazing dreamily at the birds chirping on the tree. I checked out the book he was studying from.

English! Now that came as a real surprise. I'd not expected him to read English, no. And it wasn't a Hindi-medium English book. It was a proper second standard English book, though state board.

"Angreji padh lete ho?"

His chain of thoughts was broken. Maybe he was flying along with the birds by that time. He might surely have cursed me for getting him back onto the earth.

"Haan", he replied, a bit rudely, still looking at the birds.

"English medium mein padhte ho. Yahin Maroda waale school mein? School ki fees kaun deta hai?"

I came directly to the question which was bugging me. Even Government English medium schools had a significantly high fee. I knew there was only the one in that area, in Maroda, where the younger of the two children of my domestic help studied. I had heard her complain about the high fees there compared to the Hindi medium ones.

"Dada", he replied, pointing at the man who was busy getting change of hundred rupees at a distant shop.

I was stunned. The thought of his grandfather paying off the kid’s school fees with the amount of money he made through his panipuris was unbelievable. The maximum amount of profit he could have made in a day would not be more than Rs.30-40. I’d thought they’d struggle even for their two square meals a day. It was really surprising. And then I thought of his “dada”. He might be somewhere around 65-70 years old. For how long would he be able to feed both of them like this? For how long, would he be able to pay off his exorbitant fees? I just hoped he lived for at least ten more years without any ailment.

"Maa-baap?"

He looked at me now, as I asked him that question.

"Nahin hain. Maar diya unko raat mein bandook waale ne. Maine dekha. Mere saamne maara. Bhai ko bhi maar diya. Ek saal ho gaya hai."

All of that came so suddenly. It was shocking. I swear I'd never in any crazy thought imagined that such would be his reply. I saw a teardrop trickle from his eye, down his small and dirty cheeks, onto the ground. Another one fell on almost the same spot, but not from his eye this time. I knew my stupidly emotional self quite well.

"Mereko paisa kamaana hai. Bahut paisa. Doctor banoonga. Dada bolta hai mereko pakka doctor banaaega."

I kept silent. Even if I’d tried, it would have been difficult for a word to come out. I just kept staring at his face, blankly.

"Sote kahaan ho? Ghar ka kya hua?", I asked, after I was finally normal.

"Ghar duur gaaon mein hai, Dantewara. Wahaan se bhaag gaye hum log. Abhi yahin sote hain." He pointed at a pile of rags under a small shed, which was supposedly their bed. I could see some books and one or two copies nearby, neatly piled up.

And I now knew who might have killed his family. Dantewara is one of the most Naxal-infested areas in Chhattisgarh.

I gingerly patted his back after a minute or two of silence, and smiled at him reassuringly. He smiled back.

"Banega chotu, ekdum doctor hi banega tu. Bas padhai kabhi mat chhodna. Padhte rahega aise hi to jaldi doctor ban jaayega. Koi kaam karne bole to bhi padhai nahin chhodna. Theek?"

"Theek", he replied. His smile widened, baring his two big teeth in front, with a small gap. I checked mine. Strange coincidence.

I sat there for some time, looking at the child, thinking about him, myself, his future, my future. His life, my life. A water drop fell on my hand. It wasn't a tear this time, sheh. I looked up and it was just starting to drizzle. The boy ran under the shed. I could hear some heavy running footsteps now. His "dada" was coming back, counting the money in his hands. He was almost 50 metres away.

Just at that moment, something crossed my mind.

I sprang up, on my Dio, started the ignition and sped off. I could hear the old man shouting behind me. I didn't slow down until I was some 500 metres away. Then I looked back. I could see both of them, under the shed, looking at me like dreamy statues. I smiled and looked up. Raindrops fell on my face; the rain had become quite heavy now. I thought about the chocolate shake. I didn’t know when, and whether, would I be able to have one again, without thinking about the kid. My pocket was empty, but my mind was filled with endless thoughts. I didn't think about the shake again, at that moment. Honestly, I was ashamed.

I only hoped that the kid did not belong to 'general' category. And that those ninety odd bucks would help him, whatever little bit, in becoming a great doctor one day. I could only hope, actually, because in the back of the “practical” and non-emotional part of my brain, I half-knew that he was pursuing a seemingly lost cause.