It
was a Sunday evening. The first trimester exam of the second year had got over the
previous Friday. The Saturday was celebration after the exams. The whole gang
had gone for a late night show and came back at 1130 in the night. Then they were
chatting till 2 am. Arjun had woken up at around 8 am in the morning had
breakfast and came back to his room. In the previous evening he had picked up
from the library “Moon and Six Pence” by Somerset Maugham who was his favourite
author. He wanted to immerse himself in this book. He was waiting for his exam
to get over. He was so engrossed in the book so much that he had even missed
his lunch. Then sometime along he had fallen asleep with the book on his side.
“Hi
Arjun Are you joining me for a coffee at Aunties?” Udhi knocked at Arjun’s room
and shouted.
Arjun
woke up with a start when he heard Udhi shouting.
“Ok.
I heard you. I will come out in a minute. I just got up.”
“Open
the door you idiot. Unless you slept with nothing on.” Udhi could not help make
a naughty comment. He loved being blunt to shock his audience
“I
am not like you. I don’t sleep naked” Arjun replied as he opened his door.
He
brushed his hair slipped into a sandal and was out.
They
walked together through the garden.
“What
were you doing the whole day? Didn’t see you at all” Udhi asked
“Oh
I was reading” Arjun replied
“I
see. You had gone into one your reading binge!” Udhi replied
Arjun
laughed
“Where
was Raghav yesterday? He did not join us for the movie or dinner” Arjun asked
“Oh
he was out the whole day with Anita. He was helping her with her shopping” Udhi
replied
“Oh
I see.” Arjun replied
“Son,
the way it is going I am sure you can forget about the promise you made to
Ruchika” Udhi added
“I
felt that way too. What you told us when we were back from our summer is true.
When the context and environment change old relationships could wither away and
new relations will build up. That is the nature of life” Arjun replied
philosophically
“These
days they are always together. Both in the day and in the night” Udhi added
“They
are getting to know each other better” Arjun replied with a smile
“In
all senses of the word” Udhi quipped
“By
the way what is news about Rohini?” Udhi
asked
“I
hope what happened to Raghav does not happen to you and Rohini. When Chandy
your old pal visited us last month, he was very sure that this is not going
anywhere”
“He
was always sceptical about us. In fact he has made a bet with me that Rohini
and I will not get married.”
“He
has promised to shave his head to attend our wedding if we get married ever.”
Arjun laughed
“I
don’t rule out the possibility of the outcome Chandy has predicted.”
“Which
prediction? That he would have to shave his head?”
“No,
you will not go ahead with this relationship”
“Let
us see. BTW she may visit us at IMI one of these days” Arjun replied
“That
is interesting. So you are truly cementing the relationship.”
.“Let
her come here. We can do a review of how we are going and how we feel about
each other”
“I
thought you wrote a letter to each other every day. That should tell you how
you feel about each other”
“Not
every day. But very often. When we see and talk to each other in a different
setting, it may also help us assess if there is any change”
“Not
a bad idea.” Udhi replied
“Auntie
make us two strong coffees and give us two cigarettes” Udhi said loudly as they
reached Aunties coffee joint.
They
lit a cigarette and sat down. Auntie came with two coffees for them.
“How
is your romance going on with Salomi? I see that you are getting letters from
Singapore on and off” Arjun asked
"There
appears to be s strong connect. Let us see how it works out. After the second
trimester I plan to visit Singapore and together we are planning for a dive
trip again. This time we may go the Manado. I have to find a way to get into
the bank. It may give me an opportunity to be with her more often.”
“Oh
man you have really fallen.”
“Fallen
or not. I feel I plan to give a serious try in taking this relationship
forward. I plan to go to Harvard for a one year course in International
finance. Then it may be easy to get into the bank”
“Great
Idea. Anyway Harvard is worth the investment” Arjun replied
They
finished their coffee and walked back to their room.
“Man
another two more trimesters and we are through with our sojourn in IMI” Arjun
reflected
“Ya
that is another six months. By the time we reach 6th trimester, we
will have our campus placements. And then the exams and graduation.” Udhi added
“We
should all plan for a trip down south to my province. It is a beautiful place.
I can take you to places where tourists would never reach”
“That
is a great idea. We should pull in Raghav and whoever he is steady at that
time, Neel and Joshi. Joshi will bring along his guitar and we will have good
entertainment in the evenings.”
“How
about your Finance tutorials going one.? I don’t see Chitra these days for the
classes.”
“She
is too busy with Kiran these days”
“I
see that you have taken a liking for Organisational behaviour” Arjun asked Udhi
when he noticed the journal that fell down from Udhi’s hand
“I
always liked to learn about human mind. Therefore intent to audit all OB/
psychology related courses. Course I had taken with Dr Roy last Trimester has reinforced
my liking for this topic”
“I
thought he was a mad cap” Arjun commented
“Man,
his insight to human minds is amazing. The “Hot Seat” session he conducted with
us helped us in deep introspection and to have a better idea of ourselves. It
was quite and intense session.”
“How
does it work?” Arjun asked
“He
spent quite a few sessions on Transactional Analysis. Then using this framework
on a set of parameters all of us were asked to rate ourselves and our
colleagues. Then one by one each of us had to take the hot seat. When you are
in the hot seat you along with the whole team dissect you. It really threw up
many of our on fears, helped us to understand how some of our actions were
perceived by others, what the impression others had about us, and what
impressions we carried about others and how they were formed and so on. Some of
us in the group could not take it. Some even cried and ran out of the seat”
Udhi explained briefly
“Interesting.
I would love to participate in some of these experiments”
As
they reached hostel they retired to their respective rooms.
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