Wednesday morning
The weather had turned violent and there was a storm coming. The gale blew fiercely as Jai walked towards the campus. He strode quickly as he didn't want to be late. Hamid and Paolo had left before him. As he walked, he saw three girls coming towards him. He kept his head down as he didn't want them to see him. As they came near, one of the girls spotted him. She spat exactly at Jai's feet and his shoes missed by an inch. Another girl rolled her eyes at Jai and exclaimed 'Yuck!'
Jai didn't respond to any of them. He resumed walking but the third girl blocked him. Then he heard someone being slapped. He looked behind to find Samantha had slapped the first girl who spat at Jai's feet. Beside Samantha was Alisa, a new student who had recently joined their group.
'How did you even dare to come in front of him after what you've done?' screamed Samantha. Alisa shook the other girl aggressively. The third girl was about to protest but the rage in Samantha's eyes made her silent. The three girls started to get their bearings and resumed the walk.
In the classroom
'What happened? Why does Samantha look so angry?' asked Andros as Jai, Alisa and Samantha took their seats.
Remember those three girls who betrayed and humiliated Jai last term? We just met them on the way,' said Alisa. Alisa Shaikh was a girl from Qatar who was a person with excellent character and attitude. She had turned out to be a very good friend to the other students. She was slightly shorter and thinner than Samantha. She was wearing a white dress with blue flowers. She also wore a silver bracelet.
'What?!' exclaimed Andros. 'How dare they even come in front of him?' he asked in horror.
'What did you just say? Are you talking about those three girls? The ones who made Jai look like a joke the last term?' asked Hamid.
'Yes!' shouted Samantha, still furious.
'Did I just miss something?' asked Paolo as he joined the group. Alisa explained everything to him. He was as angry as the others. Surprisingly, the person who looked most calm was Jai himself.
'I'm going to do something about this, I'll talk to them today and give them a piece of my mind.' said Andros angrily.
'Whom do you want to give a thrashing Andros?' said a voice from the doorway. Prof. Albus stood smilingly, looking at the scenario.
'Nobody sir,' spoke Andros with his head down.
'Take your seats quickly, we need to start the class,' said Prof. Albus.
'Excuse me, Prof. Earl, can I have a word please?' a slightly bald man popped his head into the class. It was Prof. Chase, the English teacher of the students. After a quiet conversation, Prof. Albus announced that they agreed to switch lectures and Psychology will take place the next day.
Jai let out a sigh of relief. He knew that Prof. Chase would manage to calm everyone down, especially Samantha and Andros.
Next day before the lecture
'Oh no! Psychology is after lunch today. I was looking forward to this session. Every day the lecture after lunch makes me drowsy,' said Hamid worriedly. Hamid today was wearing a dark blue shirt and white trousers. He wasn't wearing a watch today. Jai wore a white T-shirt with the poster of Hulk on it and green pants. Jai laughed. Samantha smiled. Samantha wore a purple t-shirt and black three-fourths. She saw Paolo ahead.
'Hey Paolo!' said Jai. Paolo responded with a smile. Paolo wore a pink t-shirt and yellow shorts today.
They walked towards the classroom as the others joined them. They entered the class to find Prof. Albus already sitting there.
''WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE?''
This question was written on the whiteboard. The students took their seats. Hamid, Samantha, Andros and Alisa still looked grim. The bell rang and it indicated for the class to begin.
'Anyone would like to answer this? asked Prof. Albus.
'Hatred. The opposite of Love will be Hate or Hatred,' said Samantha. She looked around the class. Most of the students were nodding.
'What is Hate or Hatred?' asked Prof. Albus.
'It is an intense feeling of dislike,' said Alisa.
'Seems like girls know a lot about Hatred,' smirked Prof. Albus. All the students laughed.
'So Hate is the Opposite of Love. Does everyone agree?' asked Prof. Albus.
'Yes,' said all the students.
'Give me the reasons.' demanded Prof. Albus.
'According to last class when we love someone, we care for that person. Then if we don't love, it's opposite will be not caring,' said Paolo.
'Exactly. So tell me what is not caring?' asked Prof. Albus.
'Not caring is hating sir. As we talked in the last lecture, there can be ups and downs in a relationship, but both sides to care and cooperate with each other,' spoke Hamid.
'I have one doubt, sir,' asked Paolo.
'Ask me,' replied Prof. Albus.
'We talked the last lecture that loving is caring. But don't you think that a person can care for some other person or display concern for selfish means?' asked Paolo.
Prof. Andros smiled and said, 'Will anyone like to answer this?'
Alisa spoke, 'Paolo answered his question himself. We discussed that Loving is Caring but we never said that Caring is Loving. Both are different things.'
Andros continued, 'I believe that Caring can have many motives. Loving is one of them.'
Prof. Andros said, 'Absolutely correct. Moreover, Loving is not based on just Caring. But it is one of the most important. Love requires truth, transparency, sincerity, and many other factors.'
'But what about today's question? Is the opposite of Love Hatred or not?' asked Samantha.
'Sir, I believe that Hatred cannot be the answer. That is because I think that when we hate someone, then we actually care for that person, but in a negative manner.' spoke Jai.
'Exactly. When we hate someone, we actually wish that bad things should happen to that person. Moreover, Hatred promotes Violence and Revenge feeling. What about that? Most of the crimes that are taking all over the world are due to Hatred and Revenge,' said Prof. Albus.
Hamid asked, 'Then sir, is Hating someone bad?'
'This time I won't be saying it is no good or bad. In this case, Hatred is just Bad. There is no positive effect of hatred. It brings just sorrow and pain. Sorrow and Pain do have positive aspects which we will be discussing in the upcoming lectures but Hatred isn't going to get you anywhere. If someone pushed you back, why waste time pushing him back? On the other hand, by devoting the same amount of time, you can go way ahead of that person. If someone stabs you in the back, recover and defeat that person by being better than him. Not by stabbing again.'
'But sir, if somebody is humiliated in front of everyone and his or her reputation is on the stake, won't that person hate his offender?' asked Samantha.
'When do you think such a situation will arise Sam?' asked Prof. Albus.
'Maybe when the person who is the victim openly gave his offenders a chance to humiliate him. That is the reason such a situation can arise,' said Jai.
Prof. Albus nodded. 'Exactly. It is up to you how much to care for someone. If the person doesn't care for you and just uses you then it is useless from your side to keep trying. There is a saying "Try Try but don't Cry". I oppose this. Sometimes, you just cannot do it. Some things are not meant to happen. For example, if Sun wants to meet the Earth, he can keep trying for eternity but he won't meet the Earth. This is because the Universe won't allow it. If the Sun comes closer to Earth then life on Earth will be destroyed and it will cause an imbalance in the Solar System. Similarly, after a while, you have to stop. If you lose a person, that person can never be retained in a previous manner. Here Hatred takes birth. And the relationship gets destroyed forever.'
'Then what should we do?' asked Andros.
'We should stop caring. I had mentioned this in the last class. This is what we have to do. We should stop caring for that person! If the person really cared for you, that person will realize what happened and will return to you. This is how the brain works! When something stops happening, it realizes its own mistake and looks out how to correct it. On the other hand, if you directly start to hate that person, the brain will revolt and plan to take revenge somehow. That is exactly what we don't want should happen,' said Prof. Albus.
'So the Opposite of Love is not Caring?' asked Jai.
'Yes. The Opposite of Love is 'Not Caring'. And the symbol for the Opposite of Love is Apathy. The lack of emotion, feeling, and concern is what defines the opposite of Love. It is not Hatred,' said Prof. Albus.
'Apathy is something that teaches you how to live. When people don't care, it is time for you to stop caring as well. What I am trying to say is that there comes a point in life where you have to stop thinking about others and start thinking about yourself. It won't do to just think about others and forget yourselves. We have to be a little selfish to live in this competitive world or else, it is going to be a disaster. I hope you all understand.'
All the students nodded and applauded.
After the class
Samantha said, 'So Jai. Seems like you were right after all.'
Jai replied, 'See, I don't care about those three girls anymore. Today I am more knowledgeable, popular, and well respected than them. Let them come back. Let them go away. Let them laugh, cry, hate, love, live or die. I just don't care.'
All the friends smiled at each other and realized how their lives were changing...
THE END
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....NOT ACTUALLY. ATTEND THE PSYCHOLOGY CLASS NEXT WEDNESDAY AND REMEMBER WHAT THE PROFESSOR HAS TAUGHT!
P.S. PLEASE DO LIKE, COMMENT AND SHARE. DO NOT BE A SILENT READER.
THANK YOU.