The Boy Who Never Spoke

The Interview

Fear showed up in the lecture hall, once again. This time, it seemed it be hovering around the stout fat guy neatily dressed in a grey coat with a stripped tie, wearing a priestly smile as he looked across the hall. He seem to be noticing everyone in the hall with a cheerful face, that was in stark contrast with the nervous countenances of the students busy flipping the pages of their notes for written test. "Mr. Malhotra, would you like to say few words to our students"

He nodded.

"We have come here with lot of hope and am sure these students won't disappoint us. We offer the best in class remuneration with challenging roles having ample opportunities of career growth. Give your best and we are ready to give you a place in our family. Good luck!"

"Dude, his bald head looks as polished as few of the marble tiles they produce. Is he too a product of Dalmia Ceramics ?", Manto whispered, surfing his mobile phone. The row giggled  yet Lok was unpertubed. He gave a cold look and continued listening to his speech. Afterall, that guy was the managing director of the third company that had come to the campus that year. Who knew it was going to be the first company of his career. You can't take anything lightly just like that. The speech ended and the crowd got up. They had to go to the adjacent hall for the test. First a written test would be conducted and then the shortlisted ones would be called for interview. The test began. Lok seated himself comfortably at the desk with his roll number pasted on the top. Manto seated in front of him. His eyes ran along the line of desks and traversed back to the adjacent line till it stopped right at its end. There she was, dressed in black coat and her hair neatly tucked behind. She looked towards the desk, seemingly determined and unaware of what happened around her. He tried to hint at her but before she could catch it, the invigilator gave a cold stare. No chances were to be taken now. One more time and you never know before you are on your way out. He promised himself to show up to her after the test. Just as he was about to take his eyes off, a nonchalant face chewing incessantly stopped his attention. There he was, again.

Oh, I see. 'U' comes after 'N' and so there he is, bloody bastard! Oh, I wish 'L' came just before 'S' ! Don't worry, Lok. Calm down. Focus

An hour crawled with the minute hand of the hall clock. Blank boxes on the answer script soon transformed into bar code like pattern. Questions ticked and answers locked. Lok looked at his paper with the confidence of an admiral looking over to his troops before they march into the battle. The crowd rose in chaos as they made their way out of the narrow exit, caught up in which he was, when he saw her talking with Sumit, still at the desk. He tried fighting his way out through the turbulent stream of dressed up mob yet somehow he got stalled. They moved through that crowd out of the door as he could only watch. He pushed aside and nibbled his way out. He searched around frantically in vain and then walked hurried out to the canteen.
It is twelve and she must have gone for the lunch.
He was spot on. There she was in her spot right beside the window with Sumit. He was infuriated as he rushed through the mid day crowd, pushing aside and stepping over wherever required.
"Hey, I have been looking for you? Where were you? By the way, you look gorgeous today."
Lok turned towards Sumit and grinned at him in vindication. He replied," How was your test?"
"The logical reasoning section was good. Technical one was a bit tricky. But I am happy. How about you ? I heard you flunked an exam last term. That got cleared?"
He grinned in satisfaction once again. It was the satisfaction born out of  hurting your competitor tactically. His chest broadened as much as his smile. But, Sneha didn't look much happy. Chewing the last remnant morsel of the pizza, she listened to him. Gulping it, she replied
"Lok, he cleared that just after the last term with flying colours and in fact he is leading in his branch this term."
" Bro, by the way, how many did you attempt in the test?"
" Left just two"
"That's impressive considering there was negative marking."
His breath paused for a while as he fumbled for words. A balloon of bitter truth had been just exploded right on his face.
"Are you sure there was negative marking?"
"Yes. The third point in the rules section said so. Sneha, didn't it?"
To his horror, she nodded in agreement. His mind plunged in utter disbelief as his dreams shattered like a piece of glass. He pretended calm and continued," Sneha, could you meet me today. I want to talk to you about something." His eyes looked intensely into those of hers as he said.

Laxman Rastogi took a deep breath. The entire studio looked into his eyes. At last, the anchor put into words," What happened after that ?" He smiled and sat back.

"If I were to tell you the entire story, would you still buy the book and read it?"

"You have left us all at such a cliffhanger that we are just going dizzy. It is simply fabulous..."

"Thank you. At the end I would say there are many Loknaths around us. There are many who understand what love and relationships mean if it doesn't seem obvious. Love is not about a dashing, charming kind of thing. It all starts with someone caring about you from all his or her soul. With time, it matures just like a flower but you need to give it time. Till then, express it - say it, show it because just as I said - if you don't say it, then others don't listen it and know it. If you are a Loknath, then say it or if you are a Sneha, then give them a chance to say it."

Applause emanated from the hall like a thunder from a cloud. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and so did the anchor. Laxman Rastogi was the man of the moment as he wiped tears from his eyes that he rushed to hide. The show ended and he made his way through the crowd. He almost lost in the humdrum of the crowd till someone standing in the aisle caught his attention.