Here's the 13th chapter.
Enjoy reading.
Anokhi looked at the person standing in front of her her nervously and she hesitantly forwarded the thing towards him that had fallen down.
"Sorry sir... maine aapko dekha nhi tha... yeh... yeh aapka haina... neeche gir gaya tha..."
"It's okay"
The man left silently after taking it from her hand.
"Anokhi... yeh sir to humaare ECE (Electronics And Communication Engineering) department ke HOD the na ?..."
"Achcha ?... Lekin tujhe kaise pta ?"
"Maine dekha tha yaar website pe... mujhe jitna yaad aa rha hai uske hisaab se to vahi lag rhe the..."
"Ohh achcha...", Anokhi replied.
"Achcha vaise Anokhi... vo sir to itne bade ho gaye hai... lekin fir bhi apne saath ch..."
"Reema... aise bina jaane kisi ke baare mein bolna sahi nhi hai... "
"Achcha baba... main kuch nhi bolungi ab... main to bas vaise hi out of curiosity pooch rhi thi... chal chalte hai"
They both then parted ways as Reema lived in hostel.
Anokhi was just going towards the exit gate when her gaze fell on the canteen area.
She saw a middle-aged woman was working inside the kitchen area which was visible from outside and also spotted a waiter who was arranging the table-chairs. Seeing it, a thought strikes her mind.
She hurried towards the lady before she closes the canteen.
"Uhh... excuse me Aunty..."
Tha lady turned and looked amazed.
"Hanji puttar... abhi to canteen band ho gaya... kuch chahiye kya puttar ?"
"N...nhi nhi vo... vo mujhe aapsa kuch poochna tha..."
"Kya baat hai... bolo"
"Main... main Anokhi hu... isi college mein padhti hu... mujhe poochna tha ki kya main yaha canteen mein kaam kar sakti hu ?...", she asked with a ray of hope.
"Puttar... yaha canteen mein kaam karna hai ?... Lekin kyu ?..."
"Vo darasal mujhe... mujhe ek part-time job ki talaash thi... to socha ki agar yaha college ke canteen mein hi kaam mil jaaye to achcha rahega... Main... main koi bhi kaam kar lungi... aap bas ek baar mujhe guide kar dena aunty... please..."
"Achcha... achcha puttar... main samajh gayi teri baat. Lekin abhi main tereko kuch guarantee nhi de sakti. Pehle mujhe is baare mein management se baat karni hogi... fir main tujhe bata dungi... theek hai..."
"Thank you aunty...", she was about to hug her in excitement but then controlled.
"Arre... are itni khushi... abhi to pakki baat bhi nhi hui"
Anokhi passed her a sheepish smile.
"To aunty... aap mujhe apna phone number de deejiye taaki main aapko contact kar saku"
"Achcha... main batati hu... 9412xxxxxx"
Anokhi saved her mobile number.
"Thank you once again aunty"
"Welcome puttar...", she smiled at her.
Anokhi was about to go but then turned suddenly.
"Kya hua ?... Kuch aur bhi bolna hai", the lady asked.
"Uhh... aapka naam poochna to bhool hi gayi..."
The lady let out a laugh and said,"Mera naam hai Parmeet... par sabhi mujhe Pammi Aunty bulaate hai... to tu bhi aaj se mujhe isi naam se bulaana...", she placed her hand lovingly on her face.
Anokhi nodded and bade her goodbye.
"Good-bye Pammi Aunty"
"Good-bye"
Anokhi then headed to pick up Mimi from the Crèche.
They both reached home.
"Mumma... aaj aapka din kaichha gaya ?..."
"Mera din theek gaya Mimi... par maine aapko bohot miss kiya... mujhe apni princess ki bohot yaad aayi..."
"Muje bhi aapki bohot yaad aayi mumma... aapko pta hai... vha mele do dochht bhi hai..."
"Dost ?... Yeh to bohot achchi baat hai Mimi... aapne itni jaldi dost banal liye... Kya naam hai unka ?..."
"Ek ka naam hai Anya... aul dooshli (doosri) dochht ka naam hai Manu..."
"Anya aur Manu... to theek hai... kal tum mujhe bhi milvaana unse... mumma ko bhi dekhna hai princess ki friends kaun hai..."
"Okkay mummmaaaaa..."
"Achcha ab haath-mooh dho lete hai... fir baaki baate karenge"
Both of them freshened up and had their lunch.
Mimi was taking a nap and Anokhi got busy in her work.
"Ek baar kal ka schedule dekh leti hu... pehle se vo topic padh ke rakhungi to class mein samajhne mein aasaani hogi.
"1st period – Analog Integrated Circuit Design ... 2nd period- CMOS VLSI ... fir hai Architecture for Signal Processing and Machine Learning ... aur last period hai IC Design Lab"
Anokhi did some self-study and after that she got into some thinking.
"Agar canteen mein mujhe job mil jaati hai to fir to bohot achcha hoga... main college ke saath manage bhi kar loongi vo... lekin agar vacancy nhi hui to ?... Main ek baar internet pe bhi search kar leti hu... agar koi kaam mil jaaye aur saath mein canteen ki job bhi mil jaaye to main dono hi kar loongi... "
She visited many websites of part-time jobs but they all were at odd times. She couldn't manage them with her college.
At last, she came across a Swiggy ad that required delivery personnel.
It was a weekend job, which meant she would have to work only on Saturdays and Sundays. The wage was sufficient as per the working hours. She must have to work at least 5 hours a day and will be paid extra if she works overtime.
"Aur koi suitable kaam to yaha aaspaas mil hi nhi rha... main zyaada din intezaar bhi nhi kar sakti... kya karu ?... Yaha apply kar du kya ?...", she thought to herself.
She got into dilemma what to do. Her family's financial condition is not so good and she didn't want to worry them. It's not that they won't help her but the point is that, when she can do it by herself, when she is capable of bearing her expenses by herself, then why to burden others.
"Main jaanti hu... Papaji meri madad zaroor karenge agar main unse bolungi... lekin jab main khud apna kharcha chala sakti hu, jab mujh mein itni kaabiliyat hai ki apna aur apni beti ka guzaara kar saku... toh main kisi par dependent kyu rahu ?... Main tab tak kaam karti rahungi jab tak main saksham hu..."
She looked for more details and found that one can simply visit the Swiggy Recruitment Centre with required documents, join it and start working from the next day. There is no interview process. They just verify the required documents and explain the job responsibilities, salary structure and give app training.
But yeah, all the petrol and vehicle maintenance expenses must be bore by the person itself.
"Ek delivery girl", she thought.
"Ye kaam itna aasaan nhi hai... par...", she looked at Mimi, who was busy in the coloring book, "main kar sakti hu... kuch bhi naamumkin nhi hai..."
After a battle of inner thoughts within her mind, she finally decided to go for it.
She turned off the laptop with a big smile on her face.
"Is job ke liye to mujhe scooty bhi kharidni hogi... chalo achcha hai maine bohot pehle hi scooty chalaani seekh li thi... yeh mere kaam aa jaayega..."
She looked towards Mimi and said to herself, "Kal college se aate wakt recruitment center chali jaaungi, fir uske baad Mimi ko lene jaaungi... hmmm"
It was next day and Anokhi was running late for college.
"Please bhaiya thoda jaldi keejiye... main late ho rhi hu..."
"Ab kya kare madam ji... tyre puncture ho gaya... aap ek kaam karo... hum zyaada door to nhi aaye... aap paise rehne deejiye kisi aur auto mein chale jaaiye..."
"Koi aur auto ?... Yaha aaspaas koi auto stand hai ?..."
"Haanji madam ji... vo vha dekhiye jaha banner laga hai na... use thoda aage jaakr mil jaayenge auto..."
"Theek hai bhaiya thank you... yeh leejiye"
"Arre nhi madam... paise rehne do"
"Please bhaiya... aapne yaha tak to chod diya mujhe... uska charge hai ye... please rakh leejiye"
The auto driver smiled at the generosity of the woman standing before her and took the money.
"Jaldi kar Anokhi... pehla lecture miss na ho jaaye... lift bhi under repairment hai aur ab mujhe seediyon se 6th floor tak jaana hoga... mere saath hi aisa kyu hota hai...", Anokhi mumbled to herself climbing up the stairs.
She had just reached the last step but in haste, her leg twisted and BOTH fell down with a thud.
"Ughhh..."
Anokhi looked at the person and her heart skipped a beat seeing his face.
"Hey matarani... main firse inse takda gayi..."
The other person stood up and sifted his clothes.
Anokhi too stood up and composed herself.
"S... sorr... sorry sir... vo mai... maine... aapko..."
"dekha nhi tha", he completed the sentence for her.
"J... j...ji sir"
They began to go towards their classes with Anokhi following him oblivious to the fact that their destination was same.
Both their feet halted at the entrance of same class.
"Ohhh no !!!... Sir to yaha ruk gaye..."
"Iska matlab... iska matlab to ye hua ki vo mere professor hai... Oh no!!! Pta nhi vo mere baare mein kya soch rhe honge... main kal bhi unse takra gayi thi... par ab meri galti thodina hai... mera pair twist ho gaya to main kya kar sakti thi... vo bhi to thoda dekhkar chal sakte the vaise..."
"Ab aap andar aayengi... ya baahar khade rehne ka hi iraada hai ?..."
Anokhi's trance broke and she looked at him who was standing inside the class with his hand on the door knob. His expression was giving her vibes that if she will stand outside even a second more then he will close the door.
She quickly went inside and to her fortune, she saw Reema sitting on the second bench. She went there and sat down.
"Good morning sir", everybody greeted him.
"Good morning everyone..."
He placed his book on the table and adjusting his spectacles, he started his lecture.
"First of all... I introduce myself. I'm your professor and mentor too. I'll be teaching two of the core subjects in your batch. First is VLSI Design Automation... and second one is Analog Integrated Circuit Design..."
"The next two years are going to be full of experience for you all. You should make the most of it. You will get many opportunities throughout the year and you should be able to make the best out of it"
"So... now we start with today's first lecture"
"Can anyone explain me what does VLSI basically deals with ?..."
Only few students raised their hand but only one girl caught his attention.
"Yes you... please describe your views...", he said pointing to a girl.
Anokhi stood up and spoke, "The procedures involved to manufacture an integrated circuit is VLSI Design. It can be mainly divided in to front end and back end design. Front end design deals with design and development of RTL (Register Transfer Level) and verification of the functionality, whereas, back end design deals with physical Design of the RTL"
He was a little surprised seeing Anokhi's extra knowledge about the topic but he brushed off his thoughts. He moved onto to the next question.
"Which type of simulation mode is used to check the timing performance of a design?"
"Gate-level simulation, sir"
He asked some more questions regarding the relevant topic and each time the number of hands raised decreased but our lionhearted girl tried her level best to answer all his questions. Even the other students were looking at Anokhi with their mouth hung open.
He was impressed seeing the audacity with which she was answering every question. A fresher having the knowledge to such an extent was appreciable. But he didn't pay much attention to it and at last, he said, "Your answers were correct... sit "
Anokhi sat down and felt good that her preparation and self-study worked well.
The lecture passed and he gave an intricate idea about the subjects they would be going to encounter in their first semester.
It was time for the next lecture and the bell rang.
The professor, after picking up his book from the table was about to leave the class when a boy's interruption made him halt on his way.
"Sir !!!... Aapka naam ?...",
The whole class diverted their gaze to the professor.
He passed a fake smile and finally said,
"It's SHAURYA..."