The Krishna Love (Wattpad India Awards Winner)

Chapter 60 - Is Krishna a tribal deity?

Sid stared back at the reflection of himself in the square-shaped mirror. The restroom's orangish lights made everything look yellow. The boy cupped his palms under the tap and splashed some water on his face. The beads of water rolled down from his neck and darkened his navy blue tartan-checks shirt. Instead of using the hand-dryer or handkerchief, he slapped-dried his wet hands on his jeans.

The restroom's door pushed open. The man who entered doubled the boy's eyes in size. At least, he wasn't expecting this. The man was Prakash.

Prakash broke the silence when he reached the washbasin. "Damn, I can't believe this is happening—you versus me, but let me remind you,"—he eyed the boy with a fierce glance—"I'm future you. I believed in the same stuff that you do now."

"Well, I disagree!" Sid snapped in a confrontational tone. "Remember when the first time we met, wanna know why I walked out?" The boy literally waited for a yes/no reply, but due to no quick response, he went on. "What you believed back then, I found it pretty dumb. You believed in a magic man, but I didn't choose the same path as you. So, don't say you're future me because I rejected your belief in the first place."

Prakash's eyes doubled in size, each word felt like a piercing shot of needles, not that he was angry, but those words gave him cuts deeper than the blade. He felt exposed to his vulnerabilities of what a blind believer he was.

How can someone as highly educated as he worshipped a magic man masqueraded as a spiritual guru?

"You choose Krishna, right?" His voice was almost emotionless. "You see, we're on the same page. I'm gonna prove it to you in our debate." He closed the sentence with a peal of evil laughter.

Sid wanted to launch a counter-argument but decided to put a reign over his mouth, saving it for debate. Did a tinge of anger crawl upon his face?

Prakash began to walk away, but Sid's words stopped him for a moment: "Will you change your mind if I defeat you in the debate?"

A sneer flashed across Prakash's lips; he presented it to the boy for a split second and kept on walking.

******

"The debate will commence in five minutes."

This announcement was not enough to silence anyone. Constant murmurs from the crowd made the entire auditorium feel like what school teachers often refer to as a fish market.

These murmurs, however, didn't disturb Sid from the analysis of possible arguments on his laptop. Had his mother watched him this focused, she would burst out in tarty remarks, why the hell you don't focus like this during exams?

The boy was too busy to even give a mental reply to her assumed verbal attack. On top of it all, his ambivert nature was a bigger pain in the neck than anything else.

Now that he was somewhat a star debater, people harassed him with multiple questions: "How come you know so much wisdom for your young age?" "Who taught you to quote scripture like an ancient Vedic sage?"

The boy's introverted self (or should we say nervousness) only allowed a few words to get past his throat.

"Hey, what's up, Siddhant?"

Sid looked up to face the owner of this voice. An awkward smile plastered his face. "Bit busy now."

"Well, I came here just to wish you luck." Mr Hassan flashed a genuine smile on his face, sticking out a hand for a handshake.

Sid couldn't bring himself down to show a lack of courtesy to this kind gesture. He kept aside his laptop and got up from his seat, wearing a welcoming smile.