The Khatia Party Continued (The broken heart)....

    We reached hostel at around 9 and went straight to individual rooms. In the auto rickshaw too, we remained silent and didn't talk at all. Shiva didn't share anything about last night and we were not in a position to ask anything. The night mare, the ride and the morning mess up with the pimp made us tired. Our examination was at 2 o' clock that day. We put our alarms and went to sleep. 

   We didn't meet the whole day. We went for college, appeared the examination and returned back at around 5. As it was the last examination of the semester, everyone got prepared to leave for the holiday. And so as me and Rahul. Shiva was not in his room. We packed out stuff and got ready to leave. Then Shiva came and went straight ahead to Rahul's room.

"Hey Rahul, I am sorry for the scooty". Shiva said.

"Hey, its ok man. You don't need to be sorry for this"

"No man, I feel guilty"

"Its ok buddy. It was an old second hand scooty. So better it is gone"

"I will get back that scooty" Shiva said to Rahul.

"Hey, I will not take that scooty any more. If you want to give me something, buy me a new bike with your first salary" Rahul said and we all three burst into laughter.

"I will buy for you man" Shiva said and with that we all got a little bit emotional. We hugged each other. Shiva thanked us again for coming to the pimp in the morning. 

That was the last hug we had with each other. Shiva didn't go for the holiday and preferred to stay alone in the  hostel. He told us that he wanted to spend more time in the hostel as it was the last year and he has to prepare for his MBA. We didn't force him. But, as we left the hostel, we decided to come back in a week to join him and surprise him.

     One week left. As decided, I and Rahul came back. We reached our hostel at around 5 evening. We searched for Shiva in the whole hostel but didn't find him. His room was open but he was not around. Then we headed towards the hostel terrace and got surprised to see Shiva with code '0'. They were sitting in the parapet wall busy in talking with each other. The girl was looking completely different with the red-yellowish sunlight of the evening sun on her face. They were so busy that they didn't even notice us. We went near them and Shiva got surprised to find us. 

"How you guys are here?" Shiva asked with a frowning face.

"We couldn't see our best friend to be all alone in this big hostel. So we came back" I replied with a big smile.

"But, it seems you are not alone at all" Rahul said and this time he didn't give a smile. Rather, he said with anguish.

"No, She just came by to say hello. Let me introduce you guys." Shiva introduced us with code '0' girl and we found out that her real name is Juhi. As soon as Shiva introduced us, Rahul asked "What the name you said".

She replied agin "Juhi". Rahul made a face on her and didn't say anything. I was happy for Shiva. She got a girlfriend, good looking and beautiful and he was happy too. But Rahul seemed concerned. I couldn't make out what made him so concerned. I was planning to sit there and enjoy the evening but before I say something , Rahul announced.

"We are in room and plaaning to go for dinner at around 7. Do you want to join us? 

"Yah sure. We can sit here" Shiva replied.

I again got ready to say yes but as usual Rahul jumped.

"No, we are waiting for you in my room. You just finish what ever you are doing and meet us at 7" Rahul left the terrace without waiting to listen Shiva any more and thrashed the door while leaving. I got myself in a dilemma. I could't decide what to do for a moment. But, as per the situation demands, I gave a smile to both Shiva and Juhi and left.

Rahul was smoking in the corridor. As soon as I reached him, I asked "What happened? Why you behaved so?" 

"How I behaved" Rahul fired me back with a question and he looked tensed. I preferred not to ask anything else as I didn't want to ruin the evening. I borrowed the cigarette. By final year, i have also started alcohol, smoke and all the stuffs thats must for an engineer. We smoked sitting in the corridor. We watched some new porn movies, played carom but didn't discuss anything about Shiva. Shiva and Juhi came to the room by 7. They came straight to Rahul's room. Rahul was busy in his computer and I was busy in debonair. As I spotted the couple, I closed my magazine.Rahul looked at them and didn't react.

"Juhi will also join us. Is that fine" Shiva asked.

I looked at Rahul. He didn't bother to listen. So I replied "Its OK".

Shiva went for a shower and Juhi got there in Rahul's room. I said her to feel free and she sat near the study table. Rahul didn't give a damn look to her. I just smiled at her and pretended to be busy in a book. Shiva left us in that situation for almost half an hour. In that half an hour, the room was completely silent. Nobody opened their mouth. Rahul didn't care to talk. Juhi, being a girl and new to us, didn't talk. And the one and only me couldn't figure out what to talk. Anyways, Shiva came around 7:30 and we left for dinner.

We preferred to walk. I and Rahul at the front and the couple followed us. The dinner was also silent. Nobody speaks. I cracked some jokes but nobody laughed. Juhi just gave some smile. Dinner got over and we headed towards the hostel. Shiva went to accompany Juhi to her home. I and Rahul picked some beer and went back to hostel. I thought the most silent evening of my life got over with that but it was not the case. 

Shiva joined us in a hour in the hostel. we had a beer for him. As soon as he joined us, Rahul opened his mouth.

"Whats going on dude"

"Nothing"

"Hmm. Is that? You have a different glow in your face. You are a changed man."

"Am I?"

"Okay, What she is doing here?" Rahul asked with a admonishing voice.

"Nothing, we are just friends" Shiva replied.

Rahul smiled in his unique sarcastic way and said "Friends!! my foot. She is a prostitute".

Shiva got tensed with that and just said "Not by will".

"So?" Rahul asked.

"So What?" Shiva fired back.

"So, these girls are good for a night only. And, you must know that" Rahul said pointing his finger to him.

"May be. But she isn't". Shiva replied and got ready to leave.

I was just standing dumb there and couldn't figure out where this discussion was heading to. As Shiva got ready to leave, I should leave him but I didn't do that and that was my mistake. I called Shiva from back and made him sit with us. I interrupted Rahul and made him to stop his shit. Everyone got stop for a moment. The situation was heavy. Then Rahul Started again elbowing me "hey, ask Shiva how was she? Did she satisfy him". I burst into laughter with that and with that Shiva started

"Enough. I love her."

I looked at him with my eyes extra wide. Rahul got angry with the statement.

"Why not you understand man. That bit** is just using you. She is a slut". Rahul said.

"Enough Rahul. Thats enough. I can't hear anything more. I love her. I know whats wrong and whats right. Thanks for your advice but no thanks. Thanks for everything you have done for me. But please spare me now. I will send a cheque for the scooty. I don't want to talk to you any more". 

Shiva said and left the terrace. With that one of the legs of the tripod broke.

The Khatia Party Continued (The Last Ride)....

   The pimp smiled at us and didn't reply anything for a moment. He was busy in chewing his beetle. After a few moment Rahul asked again "So, Its a deal?". This time the pimp tried to say something. He moved his upper lip and asked "Where is it?" We took him near the scooty. He made almost three rounds of the scooty and investigated almost every part. He took the keys and checked all the lights, honk and every movable part. It was a good deal for the pimp. So at last, he agreed and took the keys with him. We requested him to hand over the rest of the money after the party. He. He went ahead and told something to the code '0' girl.

   Shiva reached hostel at around 1 and handed over the money to Rahul. His eyes were on the lawn searching for the code '0'. 

"Hey, what you are looking for man? The whom your eyes are looking for, is waiting in your room." Rahul said.

"Is it? How did you arrange the rest of the money?" Shiva asked.

"You don't worry man. I know how to collect. You go and enjoy. We will talk later" Rahul replied.

Shiva was excited and was almost ready to ran for his room when Rahul called him from back and put a condom in his pocket and said "Remember safe sex".

Shiva smiled and disappeared in a moment. He was excited, anxious and in the seventh sky but I couldn't see the lust in his eyes for that girl. There was something different.

We stood at the corridor and stared at the window of Shiva's room. Time passed on and the morning got closer. We didn't go to the lawn. We had some beer and just stood in the corridor. At around 4, I asked "Lets have a last ride". I knew that the scooty is never going to come back. I don't know how Rahul didn't care for his scooty. He didn't give a second thought before the deal. At some corner of  his heart he also knew that the scooty will be gone but he didn't care. He valued the friendship more than anything else. I couldn't take that decision if I would be in his position.

"Hey, why last ride? We will get it back" Rahul replied.

For the first time, I gave a sarcastic smile to Rahul and asked "Are you sure?"

Rahul looked at me and didn't reply. He remained silent for a moment and then said " You are right. Lets go for a ride".

Though the keys were with the pimp, still we managed to start it and went for a long ride. We went to the same railway station chai shop and had some Tea there. By 5, we headed back to the hostel and to our surprise, the scene was completely different.

We reached hostel at around 5 past fifteen and found nobody in the hostel. The lawn was in a big mess. It was full of puke and beer cans. Nobody was awake to let us know what happened. We searched for Shiva in each room but couldn't find him. With no other option we set for the pimp. By 6 AM, we reached the pimp's house and found Shiva at the gate only. Shiva was standing near the pimp with his head down and the pimp was sitting in a culvert chewing his beetle. As soon as he spotted us, he started accusing us and used all the slangs. We parked the scooty and I simply joined Shiva in the queue. But, Rahul didn't. He almost started a fight with him.

"How you can do this? What made you to bring him?" Rahul asked the pimp in a high pitch tone pointing towards Shiva.

"He slept with my girl and have no money. If you don't give my money, forget to go back.You all three" The pimp replied.

"Don't create a scene. You are getting more than you have asked for" Rahul said.

"You fuck**, You have made me to wait for 1 hour more. Who will pay for it." The pimp asked.

"Thats why you are getting the scooty. Don't forget" Rahul replied.

"Okay, you want to mess with me. You will never get the scooty back then. Remember" The pimp replied.

"I don't need. Take it" Rahul told him.

"Okay. But, if you ever try to mess with me, then I will create a scene in your director's office" The pimp said.

        

       We preferred to be silent after that. We left the scooty there and headed towards the hostel in a auto rickshaw.

The Khatia Party Continued (The Deal)....

       The party started and everyone indulged. Some danced with the songs. some preferred to sit and watch the girls dancing. And, some made themselves near to the beer only. I was in the first group and when I am finished with my beer, I tried to find Rahul and Shiva. But, none of them were there. I headed towards the canteen to have a beer and in the corridor I saw Shiva. Shiva was standing in the corridor leaning towards the wall with folded hands. He had his glasses on. Shiva uses glasses in two different situations. First, when he got tensed and the second, when he wears his thinking cap. I didn't make out why he is wearing his glasses on a day like this but that set an alarm. I passed him like I didn't notice as I didn't want to ruin my evening. I went straight ahead to the canteen and found Rahul with a bunch of papers.

"Hey, whats up? What are you doing here?" I asked Rahul.

"Hey Viji, just a little bit of calculations. I guess, I have spent something from my pocket" Rahul replied.

"We will share it you know" 

"Hmm, I guess so. We have to." Rahul smiled.

"Hey, what happened to Shiva? He is standing all alone with his glasses on."

"Oops, thats not a good sign" Rahul replied.

We burst into laughter. I took two beers, one for me and one for Shiva. I met Shiva in the corridor and handed over one beer. He denied. He was really thoughtful. He had a lot of questions on his face. He had a different kind of tempo in his voice. 

"Hey, What happened? Why are you here?" I asked.

"I want her" Shiva replied pointing his finger towards the code '0' girl.

"What? Are you gonna mad?" I replied.

Shiva didn't respond. He looked at me and I could see the anxiety in his eyes and could hear the warmth in his voice.

"Do you really mean it" I asked.

Shiva nodded his head.

In life, you hardly get any chance to do something for a person you like most. I got that chance. So I decided to do that for him. But How? That bothered me.

I went to the canteen again and told everything to Rahul. Rahul got surprised to hear that. He said only one thing " Our friend gonna become a man. We should help him".

We took Shiva to my room and the discussion started.

"Are you serious" Rahul asked.

"I am" Shiva replied.

"She is 1500 per hour. You have to spend around 6000 bucks to be with her for the rest of the night" Rahul said.

Shiva nodded his head.

Rahul sat on the chair , thought for a moment and then started

"Ok, We will do something. I have around 1300 cash. How much you have guys?"

"I have around 750" I  replied.

"I have 250 only" Shiva said.

"okay, you go to ATM and draw the cash. I will arrange the rest". Rahul said to Shiva and handed over his ATM card. I too did that.

Shiva left for ATM and we left for arranging the rest of the money. 

I couldn't make out what Rahul's mind is cooking. Because I knew that no one in the whole hostel had money at that point of time. But at the same time I knew that Rahul will made this.

We went straight ahead to the pimp and Rahul tried to convince him

"We need code'0' for the rest of the night. It is four hours more. So it is 6000 rupees. But we have only 2300 cash right now. For the rest of the money, you can take my scooty. I will pay tomorrow and get back my scooty. And, If I don't, then you can always sell it and get your money back. You can get more than 3700 bucks.So Its a deal?"

The Khatia Party Continued(The 'o' girl)....

     Rahul made the detailed plan. He took the charge of arranging the Khatia girls. Shiva assigned with the charge of arranging beers and I was assigned with the task of taking the hostel security into confidence. And, then we left for arranging money. That was not at all a diffcult job. We went door to door and when we reveled the plan, people gave money more than we expected. After collecting all the money, shiva took half of the money and went for beers. Rahul went for arranging the girls. I left all alone with my task. I knew that the security people will never listen to me. So I started to talk with the mess workers first. Like other people in the hostel, the mess workers also got thriled to know the plan and promtly agreed with the idea. Seeing their excitement, I simply delegate my other task of talking to the security to the mess workers. They talked with the secuirty guys and everything got set for the party.

  Shiva reached hostel at around 8 PM with 15 packs of beer means around 300 cans. We removed all the vegetables from the refrigerators and loaded all the beers in it. The mess workers got busy in preparing special tanduris for the night. Everything got ready by 9 and we started waiting for Rahul. As time passed, the hands of the clock started making fun of us but at last Rahul made it. At around 11, an auto rickshaw made an entry to the hostel all through the ground corridor breaking the hostel protocols. Nobody came out of it for the first five minutes and that made people anxious. Then Rahul made his entry with his scooty and stopped near the auto rickshaw. Then a middle aged man came out of the rickshaw. The man in his early 40 was a short, fat and black skinned guy having a tommy bigger than a 10 liter pertrol tank. He had a bittle in his mouth and was moving his mouth like cattle rechewing their food. He was frequently moving his toungue on his black lips removing the red spots of beetel. He had a red tilak on his forehead and he was carrying a handbag  tightly in his armpit. Following this guy, 5 hot chics came out of the auto rickshaw and took attention of almost all guys of the hostel. They had an thick layer of makeup on their faces. They were in lehengas, a bra and a transparent odhni in ascot style. The lehengas were in the lowest level of waist possible with the bra tightly fitted, clealy showing the clevage. All of them had a pierce in their tommy giving a sexy look. In brief, none of them was any less than a ponrt actress. But, among them, a girl was looking tensed, giving a futile try to cover her exposed body parts with her folded hands. Her face was inncocent and looked younger than rest of the girls.

        Rahul escorted them to the lawn. The mess workers already arranged a khatia in the center of the lawn. The girls made themselves comfortable in the khati and they are offered with tanduris. Rahul called a short meeting in the canteen with the all the people and started

"Guys, as you can see, everything has been arranged. And, we will strat in next 15 minutes. But before that, let me set the ground rules. The girls will sing, dance and entertain us. But, don't try to touch tem.If you really want to, you can do this by spending some extra bucks. If you want them in your room, contact the pimp."Rahul pointed to the girls and said "The girls are sitting in increasing order of their age. The leftmost is of 32 years, right to her 29, the middle girl is 27. right to her 23 and the last one is 20 only. Remeber their codes 2,9,7,3,0; the last digit of their age. The hourly rates vary as per their age. Less the age, more the rates. The rates for them are 500,750,1000,1200,1500."

One of the guys asked "Can't we get a college discount"

Rahul smiled and said "The rates are already inclusive of college discounts. But, if you can bargain with pimp, you may get additional beenfits. But, he is an assho**.The show will continue for next five hours and by early morning, we have to clean the place. There are five girls and we have five hours. So, each girl will perform for at least one hour and for the next four hour she may be with you.So, at any point of time, one girl is always on the stage".

So lets start and dn't forget the ground rule "Don't touch".

Then the party started with a song "Bijli Giri". Everyone except Shiva and Rahul were in the lawn with a beer can in their hand.

The Khatia Party

       As our cab started rolling in the dark road, I lowered down the window. The full stomach and the cold breeze made me sleep. But the lady interrupted "Hey, don't sleep. First tell me who is she?". 

"She! who?" I exclaimed first and then asked.

"She, the girl, who broke your great friendship" the lady asked with a sarcasm.

"There are two girls. Who you want to know first."

"As looks perfect to you"

"Hmm. Lets go in chronological order then" I said and started to tell her the story of Shiva.

        Shiva, a guy with 5 feet 10 inch height, well built and dark skin. With a low emotional tolerance and great helping nature, he was a guy everyone takes advantage of. We made a great friendship in four years. We enjoyed our time and lived our life there. But, within our great friendship too, we had differences. Rahul being the smartest and intelligent guy, was famous in the whole college. Everyone want to have friendship with him. But he loves to hang out with two of us only. Being Shiva my childhood friend, I like Shiva more than Rahul. In true sense, I envy Rahul for being the best. There was another reason too. Shiva likes Rahul most for his extrovertness, easy going nature and extra ordinary attitude of getting things done. So, it was always Rahul who lead us. He made us feel from the beginning that Girls are not trustworthy. Use them else you will be used. So, we generally refrain ourselves from the thing called love and that worked until the last year of our engineering. Shiva got his girl in the last year and to that a Prostitute.

With the word 'Prostitute'. the lady screamed. "Yes, Prostitute". I repeated and continued.

Shiva, with his super helping nature always stands for others. The emotional guy fell in love with each second girl he met but the next moment reminded him of our friendship and he refrained himself. But it was winter of 2005 when he couldn't curb his emotions.

         It was 25th November. The day before our last examination in seventh semester. We, Rahul, Shiva and I, having two beers each struggling hard to solve previous year question paper with no interest at all. By then, we all were placed in big MNCs with decent paychecks. So nobody had a interest to study. It was just a formality to clear the papers. We are forced to sit in that room waiting for one of us to ignite the spark. It was like the situation of gas molecules in a closed box. When confined, the gas molecules remain in the boundary and when open, takes the whole space and got mixed with the air. We three are too confined in that room searching for the hole to leak out. Rahul made the hole. 

"Enough, I can't do this bullshit anymore" Rahul suddenly shouted. The wait was over. Rahul ignited the spark. I and Shiva promptly closed our notes and asked "What to do?".

Rahul behaved like thinking and said "Let go for a movie". The idea was not at all exciting.

Shiva opened his book and said "It is better to be here then". I also nodded with him.

Rahul folded his hand and started with a admonishing voice

       "Guys, this is our last year. We are not supposed to waste it like this. Tell me guys whats the last craziest thing we have done lately. We have done nothing. In a few more day, we will be out of this institution, this hostel. We will join our companies and can't meet anymore. Lets do something. What you say guys?"

His speech made us nostalgic and we also started thinking. "Lets do something funny and interesting" Shiva replied. Rahul gave a thought for sometime and came up with a idea.

"Hey, what about a khatia party".

"Sounds interesting but what it is" I asked.

"You don't know Khatia party" Rahul gave me a surprised look. I looked at Shiva to know whether he is aware of it. But, his pale face confirmed that and fills confidence in me.

"No, I, means we don't know that" I replied.

"Okay, Khatia party is a special kind of party mostlydone in Bihar and UP. Khatia or cot is a must in the party and the people surrounds that. The girl dance on the cot. Famous khatia songs are "Bijli giri by Yanna Gupta and Bipasha in upcomning flick Omkara. The best is "Chuma leilo Rajaji in bhojpuri. Now you guys got the point." Rahul said.

    We took a deep breath and Shiva started "Okay, so do you know where this kind of party happens in Mumbai".

Rahul burst into laughter and said "We will go nowhere. The party will be here". That made us feel uncomfortable. So I started blabbering

"Rahul, you gone crazy. We can't take this risk. And what if we caught by the warden? He will not spare us. Having such party in hostel is no picnic"

As usual my blabbering has no impact. Rahul said "Don't worry guys. we will take advantage of this structure. Remember, whatever happens inside it, never gonna cross this wall. So we are safe."

     We don't have anything to say after that. So, we nodded our head in support and gathered to prepare a plan to make it a success.

Gas Lamp Dinner

         With the end to Rahul's story, I stopped and turned back to check whether the lady is still awake or gone into sleep. To my surprise, she was staring me with her big blue eyes with a lot of questions on her face. I got shocked and asked "Hey, what happened?" She was completely indulged in the story. With my question, she came into sense and said "Sorry, what you asked? I was thinking of Rahul." 

I burst into laughter and said "What you are thinking of Rahul".

"Hmm, just like that. About the story, Rahul, Shrabs and all of them". She replied. She was going to say something more but the cab driver interrupted us. 

"We will take our dinner here" The driver said and turned the cab into a dhaba  near a petrol pump. He parked the cab and left for dinner. He didn't give us a option. As soon as the driver left, I asked the lady "So, what you are saying?"

"Hmm, are we not going to take dinner here?" She questioned me back.

I lowered the window , rolled my eyes and asked again "Do you really want to have your dinner here?" making a ugly face. She not only answered me with her eyes and ordered to accompany her. We came out of the cab and chose a table far away from the crowd. As I got busy in examining the cleanliness of the table, the lady sat down and relaxed. "Don't expect a 7/11 here. Its not your California gas station". The lady made fun of me. I got her and without any further investigation of hygiene, I preferred to sit. A kid came with two 1 liter glass full of water holing in one hand and a gas lamp in the other. He put the gas lamp on the table, then started cleaning the table with the uncleaned towel kept on his trouser pocket and made a hand gesture asking for the order. "Mutton Masala and Butter naan" The lady ordered and asked me "What you want". I have actually forgotten the names of Indian dishes. So with out wasting time I said "Same as her". But before I finish, the kid was gone and I saw him saying "Mutton masala , Butter naan" with his hand raised up having index and middle finger open, to a guy standing far away at the kitchen. I expect the guy in the kitchen and the kid both understood our order. The lady drank a sip of water and kept the glass on the table. I sensed that nobody is going to disturb us for a while. So I started again "So, you are saying something about Rahul".

"Hmmm, The story was nice, romantic and painful. But, this is the story Rahul told you. So, do you think it is real?" The lady fired the question. Frankly speaking I was expecting that. I smiled and replied "Look. This is the same thought we had the next day after the debut match. We also got a little be doubtful. But, as we started spending time with Rahul, we figured out that everything was true. He always started behaving weird whenever we discuss about love, passion and girls. He never talked to any girl in the four years. I mean, why someone gonna behave like this until and unless something bitter happened." I replied.

       The lady took a deep breath and paused for a while. After a moment, She started again "But, you never seen Shrabs, her pics, her love letters anything that prove her existence. May be, Rahul was just making a story" 

With that, the lady put me into a deep thought actually. I was forced to give a second thought about this. But the thing that really made me thoughtful was not the truthfulness of Rahul's story but a question, framed in my mind."Why the lady is trying to prove Rahul's story false".

In the mean time, our dinner came. The same kid brought our dinner with three plates one above another in the left hand and another plate having salt and chillies in the other hand. He put the plate with salt and chilly on my side and the other three on the lady's side. I got confused for a moment by his action. I couldn't get what the lady will do with two plates of mutton and one plate of naan. And, what I will do with salt and chilly. The next moment, the kid exchanged the foods in the plates so fast, everything looked perfect. He didn't do any magic but spectacular. He placed the second mutton plate on my side, picked one naan from her plate and kept on mine. He then picked a pinch of salt and a chilly from my plate and kept it on her plate. Everything is done. I got amazed for a second. With the first bit of naan, I started 

" I believe Rahul. May be he was making a story but I have spent 4 years with him. So I believe him though I have never seen Shrabs. May be she doesn't exist at all. Whatever, I am confused. Do I sound confused?"

The lady smiled at me and asked "So, is Rahul still single"

"No, not at all. He got someone, more lovable, beautiful and caring. I guess, they have been married and they must have some kid by now" I replied.

"Hey hey, excuse me! What do you mean by 'I guess'? You don't know" The lady asked with a shocking face.

"Yes, I don't know. And thats why I am here." I replied.

"And, what about Shiva?"

"I don't have any contact either of them"

"Why? I thought you said that you guys are best friends"

"Yes, we are. But, the things don't go as you expect. Thats why someone said that always expect the unexpected. Shiva got split from us in the last year of our engineering. And, I got split from Rahul in the mid of 2006 when he was going to marry. After that, we never met each other, never talked to each other" 

"Why you guys split?"

The same "girl". I smiled with that answer.

"Ufff. then who is this girl then" The lady asked me.

I was just going to answer the lady and the cab driver showed up. "Lets go", the driver said.

We finished our dinner in a hurry and get back to our cab. The dinner was awesome. Gas lamp, open sky with stars and a beautiful lady. As soon as we entered into the cab, he put the life into the engine and we started rolling again.

The Debut Match Continued6 (The end) ...

         We dressed up and went to the Nescafe kiosk in the hostel ground floor. Rahul put his ass on the security guard's chair as soon as we reached and hold his head tight. "Uffff " Thats all he said.

"What kind of tea you need" Shiva asked Rahul.

"What you are going to do?" Rahul backfired him.

"You said you need tea" I barged into and yelled at Rahul.

"Yes, I need. But I need a cutting chai and not the machine made Tea" Rahul replied with a smile on his face.

Shiva and I looked at each other and said simultaneously "What?".

"Yes, Cutting chai. If you need it, you get it" Rahul said and closed his eyes.

I started to blabber.

"How we can find your chai at 4 o' clock morning. You can't do that. You have to complete the story now. You have to drink this Tea. We can't arrange chai now. Its impossible. How does the Tea matter? It is same. Have you ever tried this Nescafe Tea. It is good. You will like it. Have one first"

I stopped after a while and looked at both of them. Nobody said anything. Rahul didn't care at all. And, Shiva knew my blabbering was never going to work. I sat on the chair with frustration. Shiva lit a cigarette and after the first puff, he said "We can get it in Railway Station". 

"Yes, Thats right" Ragul said.

"What! Railway station! Are you mad?" I exclaimed.

"At 4 o clock morning, we can get tea only in railway station" Shiva said again.

"Okay, then how are we going there" I asked.

"We will take a bike" Rahul answered.

"And, where you gonna get that" I asked.

 "We can borrow it from senior" Shiva said.

I don't know why drunk people behave so smart. They think that they can do everything, achieve anything. Try to act sober, smart and intelligent. The same happened with Shiva and Rahul.

After Shiva's proposal, Rahul stood up and they both marched towards the seniors hostel. With no other option, I followed them but I have already smelled the tornado waiting for us there.

        "Hall Of Residence 5" was the name of our Senior's hostel. With all rooms locked, we heard some noise from the third floor. We marched there. As soon as we reached the end of staircase and the start of the corridor, we saw around 5 seniors busy in discussing Cruel intentions. They spotted us instantaneously and got excited to see us. Three drunk freshers, one week older, in seniors hostel and to that at 4 o' clock morning. The situation was like three innocent animals walking to slaughterhouse willing to be butchered.

"Hey, you fuckers. come here." one of the senior asked us.

We went straight to him.

"So what brought you here" Another senior asked.

"We need a bike sir. We want to go station to have some tea" Rahul answered vigorously.

Three big bang sound. The whole corridor echoed. Three big slaps on our chicks and then down on the knee. "No questions asked. Be there as next command comes" One senior said. 

Then they got busy in their discussion again. With kneel down, we prefer to remain silent to prevent any other worse situation. We saw one by one all the senior left. As the last senior left the corridor, he asked us to leave. But, again the alcohol showed its temptation. "Can we have a bike Sir" Shiva asked again. This time, good luck was with us. The senior smiled and gave us a key and said the location of the bike. We thanked the holy hearted senior and ran for the hostel gate. It was around 4:45, means, 35 to 40 minutes of kneel down. After reaching the gate, what we spotted was enough to ruin our plans but we didn't loose hope. It was not a bike but a HeroPuch AG, a moped. Still, we loaded all three and set for the railway station.

        After 20 minutes of long and miserable drive, we reached the railway station. We spotted the cutting chai special shop and ordered three tea. The tea arrived and with the first sip, I asked "So, what after that". Rahul lit the cigarette,took one sip and started:

                                                                 After Shrabs left my room, I ran behind her but she has left the hostel. I couldn't sleep on that day. I just lied on my bed watching the revolving fan. I couldn't figure out what has just happened. I wished everything to be a bad dream but that was not. Everything was real. As soon as the clock clicks 7, I ran for the college to see her, apologize her and to express my love to her. But, as I tried to speak her, she behaved normal like nothing happened and politely excused herself. I asked her for a walk. She denied. I waited for her the whole day. She didn't show up. Afterwards, she tried to avoid me and didn't talk to me at all. I wrote several letters, texts several messages. But, she didn't reply. I got frustrated, depressed and the things got worse when I spotted her with Vikash, the lecture. The things happened same as with me. The same coffee shop, same walk and everything was same except I was not there. I glumly tried to move on and live my life in a disoriented state, but I never succeed. More I tried to forget her, I felt more close to her. Then I started all the stuff alcohol, smoke just to get far away from her thoughts. That also didn't work.

Rahul took a hard breath with that and stopped. We also remained silent for a while. But, the curiosity didn't let us stay calm.

"so, thats all. She never spoke to you again" I asked.

No, thats not true. she spoke to me once and that to in my room. The breakup left no interest in me in living and pursuing anything. I almost cut myself off from the rest of the world. I left my studies far behind. She showed up in my hostel room when my 12th board exam results came out. I was flunked. She came to let me know my result. She just said one thing "You are a fool". That one sentence made me realize the whole thing. I lost my one year, lost my career and in return I learned the best thing. 

       Rahul started bawling with that. We made him relax. I and Shiva couldn't make out what to say. We spent some more time in the station, just looking at each others face. Around 5:30, when the sun started to come out, we left for the hostel. Alcohol, the cold shower, the 40 minute kneel down and the 20 minutes miserable drive made all of us tired. We reached the hostel and went for a good sleep.