The results are out! The results are out!
I got up with chaos everywhere. Joy, in panic, rushed to take blessings from the temple nearby before going to check his result on the noticeboard in college.
I never had a Fail marked on my report card, so the thought of the results made me upset and uncomfortable. I just wanted to escape somewhere while my enthusiasm for the resultsfaded. I climbed up the water tank and sat there alone, trying to avoid all the chaos around. There were many eagles circled around.
There must be a dead rat in the bushes behind the hostel ~ I thought.
I was already uncomfortable and the sound of eagles made me anxious. I was lost in my Lucid thoughts when my mobile ringtone spooked me.
It was Pallavi.
"Hey Pal" - I said, keeping my voice as casual as I could
"Checked your score yet?" - She asked.
"Nope" - I said slowly.
"Out of 150 - Chemistry - 110, C Programing- 135, Graphics Drawing - 123, Out of 100 - 88 in chemistry lab and 95 in C lab.
You scored really well in the rest of the subjects, Avi. I am sending you a screenshot of your marks... in an email... to share with your parents." - Though I had never mentioned to Pallavi that I am angry with my parents for not believing in me, she somehow knew.
"Thanks." - I said in disbelief "Hey Pal - What about you?" - I asked regaining myself.
"I got a good score too! All clear" - She said happily and disconnected the call in a hurry. I sat there for a few minutes and dialed my grandfather's number.
My parents could not believe my marks. For the first time, they realized that there might be a real reason for me to miss the first exam. Mom even apologized and dad offered more pocket money to make peace.
After the phone call, I simply sat there staring blankly at the sky for a few minutes. The sun was coming up high and the eagles had disappeared. The sound of nature was arm wrestled by traffic and human chatter. I looked at my wristwatch. It showed 9:15 AM. Finally, I climbed down the water tank and found Milind coming up to the terrace and said loudly -
"Good score Maga! If you hadn't missed that exam, you would have got an FCD"
"How about you and Joy?" - I asked
"All clear da! But Joy got only First class 65% and I am sure he will be quite jealous that you have scored more than him in most of the exams." - Milind said with a wink
"Haha - yeah! I know." - I laughed Milind's comment out and changed the topic - " Finally I have sent a screenshot to my parents and they are relieved that their son is not in any drugs gang" - I said and we both laughed
Did you download the results from the internet? The website is choked up. I am trying to download the score sheet too. - Milind asked.
"No Pallavi called and sent me the screenshot." I replied.
"Pallavi topped EC da! You must be knowing of course." - Milind mentioned
"Topped?" - I exclaimed
"You don't know? For sure, I topped the EC batch. I need to confirm but she might have topped all sections of our batch. Overall 95.6%" - he said.
"Wow really? I had no clue." - I said scratching my head.
Classes for the first year were suspended due to the results. In the evening, I rushed into an auto, collected a butterscotch cake, a big pack of dairy milk chocolate, and balloons with the note Congratulations, and rushed to Pallavi's house. I had planned to celebrate till late evening that day.
But as I reached the house, I saw a long queue of cars and bikes parked around her house.
What??? They are having a party and I am not invited? - I wondered
Should I go inside or not? I was struggling with the question when I spotted their main gate getting opened and Sharma Sir was saying goodbye to a family with a big smile. He saw me standing there and signaled me to come inside. But before I could reach him, he was pulled in by a group of men.
I looked for familiar faces in the crowd. Aunty was busy with arrangements and making guests comfortable. Then as I moved near Pallavi's room, I found her surrounded by a crowd of 6 aunties and their kids. She looked suffocated in her own room. She was flashing her courtesy smile throughout but her left eyebrow was raised more than normal, which gave me a clue that she was not comfortable atall.
Aunty 1 - "Beta, I have heard that you have a Photo brain. Is it true?"
Pallavi looked confused
Child 1 - "Photographic memory mom not Photo brain!"
And there was a giggle around. Offended aunty scolded the child - "Learn something from didi, you need to learn and take tips from her about how to study & copy her timetable ok?"
Aunty 2 - "It's all the magic of America. I think they taught her engineering during her school time only, here it was only revision for her. Isn't it beta?"
Pallavi struggled to convey the right expressionin response to this comment. She looked around the room, looking for help, and found me near the door, amused at the whole situation.
Her one look was enough for me to understand her cue. I faked a phone call.
"Pallavi, HOD sir has called for you. Can you come this way? You need to take this call" - I pretended a call waving my, on silent, mobile phone."
And Pallavi jumped out of the chair and rushed towards me. She acted as if attending a call, by lifting the phone to her right ear. She held the sleeve of my left arm, and guided us outside the room. I let the congratulatory balloons off my hand and they started rising high toward the ceiling. A couple of them came into contact with the hot bulb that had been ON for a long time and popped with a loud sound. As everyone was distracted by the loud bang, she pulled me towards the staircase. She moved towards the back of the terrace room, adjusted an old chair kept there, and climbed on it. She turned to face me, Kept her both hands on the terrace top, and pulled herself to sit on top of it. Then first she pulled herself up and then made space for me. Reluctantly I followed her and saw Pooja di sitting there already, reading a Robin Cook novel and sipping Litchi fruit juice out of the Tropicana can.
"Too much sugar is bad for you, give it here" - Pallavi said while pulling the can and taking a big gulp out of it.
"So bad down there?" - Pooja di asked.
"Don't even ask" - Pallavi said while taking another gulp. "One aunty even appointed me as a personal tutor for her 13-year-old son! Can you believe it?"
And we all laughed hysterically.
"I wish we could go for a long drive like that day"- Pallavi said
"Yea yea! But for that, you need to pass through the crowd of Pallavi devotees and get the car keys! Please keep your wishes in check and enjoy the solace here." - Pooja di advised.
"Hmmmm"- Pallavi responded - while lying down on the half-slanted side wall.
"I wonder what is wrong with the people here. They put too much pressure on and expect too much from their children. And what am I supposed to teach a 6th grader?" Pallavi wailed.
"Enjoy the celebrity status, sugar bun." - Pooja di mocked
"Wait a second, they don't know anything about you! In fact, they may even turn their children into your devotees if I tell them what you've accomplished. Wow, why didn't I think about it before?" - Pallavi said animatedly.
Pooja di acted to throw her book at Pallavi who laughed like a kid. I wanted to ask for details about Pooja di's achievements when we were interrupted by my mobile phone. It was a call from Siddharth, a hostel mate-
"Hello?" - I said
"You A******, R*****, B***** PIG!!!" - The other side glared the foul names
Though my phone was not on speaker nut the name-calling was so loud that people sitting next to me could hear clearly.
"Yes, bro?" - I tried to answer in a calming tone.
"Bro ke bachche! We waited for you to open the bowling attack for us. And you vanished without informing us. We had to open with Akhil, you loser!" - The voice on phone was yapping
"Hmm, Target, how much?" - I asked again in a low voice, unaware that the words spoken to me could be heard till yards away.
"169 in 15 overs, you loser" - the voice roared from there
"Hmm, I will come back and talk to you. OK? I am in the middle of something important. I will meet you in a few minutes" - I replied
"Don't you dare return. Die wherever you are. You A**...." - Before the name calling could get into another phase, I disconnected the phone.
Pooja di and Pallavi looked at me as if I was an animal in a zoo.
"What?" - I asked
"What was that?" - Pooja di asked while both the girls giggled.
"Nothing, just my hostel cricket team captain. We play every evening. Today was an important match and I forgot, that's it. Just a normal conversation"- I said carelessly, keeping my mobile phone in my pocket.
"Pallavi, get the dictionary, let's show the definition of Normal to this boy" - Pooja di joked.
"Not today, next time. Today, I need to return and listen to the rest of the foul names" - I said while getting up.
"Why don't you come home these days, Avi? We still have Maths and a few other subjects in common this semester". - Pallavi asked innocently while getting up along with me.
"Because I have a surprise for you.
Do you remember telling me about Natyakendra Dance School?
Of which Bangalore has a branch?
And which is the most difficult to get into?" - I was asking questions with a small break and with every question, her eyes kept widening.
"YES?" - She asked, her voice barely coming out of her mouth.
"I know someone, who knows someone, who worksin high administration at the dance school. They might have an opening in their weekday 5 PM batch. Would you be interested in checking it out?" - I asked, coming near her face as if she was a kindergarten kid.
Tears filled her eyes.
"You are joking right?" - she asked, almost whispering
"From the 15th of this month, a new batch is starting & your name is on priority one & seems like there is a monthly program where your Head Miss - Sadhana, visits the center and reviews the performances and interacts with the students. " - I further said.
She jumped, semi-hugged my left arm, rubbed her nose on my shoulder, and shouted-
"Yes, Yes, Yes - Oh Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou so much" ~ First time in her real American accent with me.
I was embarrassed and looked at Pooja di. She was smiling sweetly at us.