Dorm 4, Room No. 21

Dragging his palm on the coarse concrete patterns on the wall, he slowly walked through the dark corridor of the dormitory. Somehow he dint want to engage in his routine chat over a smoke with pals, post dinner. It had been one and a half years in the B school and meals had anyway become a mere formality to keep oneself alive through the grind.… But that night he was totally aloof from the world around him… as if put inside a sound proof glass dome.

Entering his room, he locked it from inside, and silently settling down on the bed with his laptop, he logged on to the social networking site… the best way to be amongst millions and yet be invisible…

And then, he read what she had to say about him... for the zillionth time...

Fraud
Lies liberally
Can’t flirt to save his life
Fulltoo movie buff
Thinks he knows more than me
(Umm… He doesn’t…)
Wishes he could marry Cricket… as if it’s not been screwed enough already…
Can talk about nothing for hours
Never gets tired of trying
Invariably calls up at the wrong time
Falls asleep while talking on the phone
“Ill call you” means That’s all folks!
Celebrates life
That’s him. The fraud.

His eyes searched the room for the candle she had gifted him on his birthday last year. It sat near the mirror along with a beer bottle given to him by his ex roomie and a dear friend… He had lit it only once before. A part of wax from the top had melted forming patterns on its sides.... It had lost its sheen and become a paler nuance of blue from the bright sky blue color that was.

He recalled the blooming orange colored shawl she was clad in that morning. And how her laughter had filled the classroom as their class rep, Diggu, cracked a stupid joke. He smiled absent mindedly.

Suddenly a shrill voice filled the air, almost making him jump from his bed.

“Pyare! SCOP club meeting’s at 1… immediately after the QSP quiz tomorrow!!… We’ll wait for you in the hall.. ok!”

Diggu. Only he can be crazy enough to shout his kidneys out like that…
QSP… He weighed his chance of getting a ‘B’ in the last quiz…

“Pyare?? You slept or what… you egghead!!”

Frowning, he shouted back… “Affirmative!! And get lost before I get your brain baked and served for breakfast tomorrow!!!”. He could hear Diggu’s chuckle fade away into the dark of the alley.

He let out a long breath. Should he speak his mind and just tell her? It had been a long and a painful wait already. He checked the chat window. She was online. The status said: 'available'. He stared at the screen for a few minutes studying his heartbeat… then logged off and quietly kept the laptop aside.

Resting his head on the heap of three cushions stacked at the end of his bed, he looked at the blue candle near the mirror... closed his eyes... smiled... and said to himself...

"Fir kabhi…

....Kal… Pakka…"