the Cover...one more step towards realising a dream

Synopsis

Love-Hate-Jealousy-Admiration-Amity-Animosity-Friendship-Enmity.

For people in general these may be just words, but for eighteen-year old Abhishek Banerjee these very words turned out to be life-changing experiences over the next five years.

He dreams of studying in a good college, to make new friends there, to have a girl by his side as his girlfriend, and above all, to carve out a niche for himself and leave his mark. He starts realising his dreams when he gets selected in Animus Law School, one of the premier private law schools of the country. But, on the very first day he realises that lady luck is not on his side.

Does he make new friends he yearned for? Does he meet and get the girl he dreamt of? Is he able to make his mark? If no, then why. But if yes, then how.

Full of patience along with an amiable, helpful and jovial nature, and a never-say-die and never-give-in attitude, Abhishek embarks on a five-year long journey called college and on the way experiences life.

Preamble

It was the day of the annual convocation of our college. For the last four years, I, along with my batch-mates, had been watching my seniors receive their degrees. This year it was my turn to do the same - get my degree. I had woken up quite early in the morning. Five o'clock to be precise. Getting up from the bed I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot and swollen. The reason being I had been crying the previous night before going off to sleep. The previous evening had been spent in packing my luggage, and at the end of it I realised that that night was going to be my last night in college. The very thought of leaving this place once and for all was enough to bring tears to my eyes. After all, it is very difficult for any person to leave a place forever, which has had a very deep impact on his life, and has transformed him into that person that he had only dreamt of at one point of time.

With nothing else to do at that hour, I took out the latest Jeffrey Archer novel and started reading it for the fifth time. After all, he is one of my favourite authors. It took me approximately three hours to finish it in one go. I went to freshen up and take a bath, and spent a good one hour there. Coming back to my room I checked the time. It was only nine-thirty and there were still five hours to go before the convocation was to begin. I took out my graduation robe and cap, kept it on the bed and started dressing up for the occasion. I was tying my shoelaces when my eyes fell on a photograph hanging on the wall above the study-cum-computer table. The photograph was the only one on the bare wall, which had been adorned by many such photographs until recently. It was my batch photograph, which had been taken a week ago in front of 'Hell' - the name given to the Academic Block by us. It had been named 'Hell' because of the monotonous and torturous classes that used to take place from nine in the morning to four in the evening. I kept on looking at the eight faces that had changed my life, and because of whom I am what I am, today. Amit, Anshudhar, Chetan, Deepesh, Mudassar, Nihar, Pranay, and...

My mobile started ringing at its full volume. I looked at screen and smiled. It was her. Five years ago I had seen her for the first time. At that point of time she was a far-fetched dream. The only solace I got back then was that she was that dream, which I could see with my eyes closed as well as when I was wide awake. But, today it's totally different. Today, she is an integral part of my very existence and I can't imagine my life without her.

'Hi,' I said, picking up the phone.

'Abhi, why are you crying?' she asked, a bit worried. It was then I realised that I had started crying again while seeing the photograph in my hand. I wiped the tears away.

'I am not crying,' I lied.

'Abhi, don't lie. I know you more than you know yourself,' she said, sounding more concerned.

'Where are you?' she asked, before I could rebut her.

'In my room,' I replied, and the line went dead before I could say anything else.

Few minutes later there was a knock on my door.

'It's open!' I said, without taking my eyes off the photograph. I knew who was there. She came in and took away the photograph from my hands, and kept it on the bare table, which would have otherwise been strewn with books.

'Now, tell me why are you crying?' she asked, turning back from the table to face me.

I looked at her face, which had mesmerised me the very first time I had seen her and every time after that. She took my hand in hers and again asked me the reason for crying.

'There's nothing to worry about,' I said, 'I was just pondering over the last five years of my life, and those memories made me a bit emotional.'

'Oh! My poor baby! Come here,' she said, and hugged me. The feeling of being in her arms soothed the emotional turmoil I had been going through since last evening.

I returned her hug and we kept standing in that manner for some time. She then announced something, which jolted me.

'Your parents are sitting in the auditorium.'

I went into silent mode, and before I could regain my senses, she said something more, which shook the very ground beneath my feet.

'They are sitting along with my parents!'

I was in such a state of shock that she had to literally shake me out of it. Why was I shocked? Because I still hadn't told my parents about her, even though she had been incessantly nudging me to tell them. After giving it a lot of thought I had decided to introduce her to my parents after the convocation. This brought me to another thought, which I was dreading the most. She had recently warned me that if I did not tell my parents then she would have to do it, herself.

'Did you tell them anything?' I asked, trying to sound as calm as I could.

'Yes!'

'And what did you tell them?' I asked, fearing that the worst was about to come.

And, the worst came.

'I told them what you haven't told them until now. That I am their son's girlfriend and their soon-to-be daughter-in-law.'

I took off my coat and slumped on the bed on hearing this.

'How did they react?' I finally managed to ask.

'Initially, they were surprised, but then we had a small chat after which they said that they liked me. And, they also gave me their blessings. Cool na? And I also requested them not to call you right now because I wanted to surprise you with this piece of development and see the reaction on your face. They agreed!' she said, sitting beside me.

'So, all set for your big day?' she asked.

'I think so,' I replied. She held my hand and kept her head on my shoulder. We sat like that for some time.

'Abhi, please tell me the story,' she said.

'Which story?' I asked, feigning ignorance. I very well knew which story she was talking about. She was asking me to tell her the story of my college life, which she had heard innumerable times in the past month. By now, she knew my story by heart, but she still wanted to hear it again.

'Don't feign ignorance. You very well know that I am asking you to tell me your own story.'

She knew me better than myself.

'But we have our convocation today,' I said, trying to deny her request without being rude.

'The convocation, for your kind information, is still four hours away. So, stop playing games and tell me the story!'

'And I want to hear it in the same way you had told me the very first time!' she said, and fell silent.

'While telling the story I would not be comfortable here, but there,' I said, pointing towards her lap.

'You are impossible,' she said, smiling. I placed my head in her lap and she started ruffling my hair, slowly.

'And, refer to me as 'her', and not 'you'!' she laid down the condition.

'OK!' I said, and started telling her the story, which she had heard innumerable times before.