CHAPTER 22-AURANGZEB'S AURANGABAD

Ananya and I were so engrossed in our conversation that we lost track of time but all of a sudden she started feeling cold and started to shiver. So I woke up Savannah Mam and informed her. It was summer and not chilly at all but Ananya being the delicate doll that she was somehow couldn’t take a slight drop in the temperature which was both amusing and frightening at the same time because she was really shivering. Naveed sir had woken up by all the commotion and asked her to put on a couple of pairs of socks too and in a little while she was back to normal. But one thing that did to me was suddenly made me very protective of her. I realized I couldn’t bear to see her in trouble again. The train reached Aurangabad and we all got down. I had gotten into the train with a frown but now I had a huge grin on my face. My friends not coming here was a blessing in disguise. Had they been here they wouldn’t have let me go to the girl’s compartment ever and I wouldn’t have had a chance to know this amazing girl who lived in the same apartment as me, went to the same tutorials as me but had remained a stranger for so many years. I thought to myself Ananya would have remained anonymous to me had I not come here thanks to daddy. And in hindsight when I look at it now I am happy we didn’t have smart phones back then. Had that been then she would have surely been playing candy crush saga and thinking about her crush and I would have been busy chatting on whatsapp with Preeti or my friends in Warangal or playing Ruzzle. But the cricket matches were always in the back of my mind and I am glad I had someone else who shared the same dilemma as me,Kaleem sir. Kaleem sir was only a year older to me and the youngest facilitator among the yuva sena members. He was the guy incharge of all the logistical arrangements and did his job with a lot of passion. He was also a part of the Hyderabad cricket team at that time and had to miss out on the Warangal tour like me because he was needed more here. He was the most wanted man at camps and everyone fondly called him Laalu because his cheeks would become rosy red whenever he stepped out in the sun or got a little angry or upset which was quiet a lot. We reached our stay which was basically a function hall with three rooms and a huge hall. The girls occupied two of the rooms and the boys were to share one room and the hall. As soon as we reached the place we jumped on the nearest mattress and collapsed into a sweet slumber, me more than the others because of the night long rendezvous with Ananya and I only woke up when Laalu shook me by the shoulder and asked me to wake up and get ready for the day. He also gave me the good news that we had beaten Warangal by 3 wickets in the first match this morning. I was very happy with the result and more so because now I knew I had someone here I could talk about cricket with. I freshened up, had my breakfast but I didn’t feel energetic until I saw Ananya look at me and smile and suddenly the day started looking brighter. I was hoping that when we were divided into groups she would be in the same group as me but unfortunately that didn’t happen. But in the bus she sat next to me and kept on talking about how excited she was that Arhaan was in her group. I was really happy for her and gave her a few tips that I thought would help her to get his attention. Laalu stood next to our seats and spoke a lot about cricket,specially Sachin Tendulkar because he was a die hard fan of the little master. We became really good friends after that and whenever he wasn’t busy making some arrangements or the other he would stay with my group and we would talk about a lot of serious stuff like life,future plans,love and the country. He wasn’t like my other friends, he was more mature,spoke a lot of sense and was a responsible person. It didn’t mean I did not like my gang anymore but this was a pleasant change when I wanted a serious perspective on something. That day we visited the Bibi ka Maqbara which is a poor man’s version of the Taj Mahal dedicated to the memory Emperor Aurangzeb’s wife. I had not heard any good things about Aurangzeb ever and this only added to the list that he had no creativity of his own and had plagiarized a monument built for his mother.But then we saw the Daulatabad fort which was enormous and had a three layered protection all around and was surrounded by a moat to keep the enemy away and we could see the Chand Minar,Bharat Maatha Temple and Chini Mahal from there. The tour guide spoke in broken English and gave us interesting details and snippets about the monuments but the most fun part was when Zafar and Salim who were in my group mimicked him and we all had an hearty laugh at how they murdered the queen’s English. The monuments were boring to my teenage mind but on the positive side I did learn a few things and make a lot of new friends. Ananya met me during lunch and told me she didn’t really like Arhaan’s attitude and he was not as interesting as had hoped but now he was paying her more attention that she had asked for and he kept trying to talk to her with some excuse or the other. That was exactly the opposite of what she wanted this morning and I learnt a very important lesson that day-it’s impossible for men to know what women want because even women don’t know what they really want.

CHAPTER 21-ANANYA!

Summer had begun and all I did all day was go to public garden with Preeti and her friends for early morning walks, eat mangoes three times a day, play cricket all afternoon and hang out with my gang till late in the night. I don’t know if heaven exists or not but to me heaven would be a lot like this. No exams or uniforms to worry about, long walks with the girl of your dreams, cricket all day in the summer sun and mangoes which I believe are even Gods favorite fruit. Dad wanted me to come to his shop and help him out a little and learn the tricks of the trade. I don’t know if hell exists but if it did it would be about sitting in the same cushion chair all day long near a table fan which throws out hot air, checking totals with a calculator and smiling at every customer your dad introduces you to and then giving them your mini bio-data as they shoot questions at you. So obviously I wasn’t going there and missing out on the best time of my life by choosing hell over heaven. So when I asked him permission to go to Warangal to participate in the annual tri-series cricket tournament between us (Hyderabad), our arch-rivals Secunderabad and the home team Warangal he refused and said “you anyway play cricket all day,everyday so there’s no point in going all the way to Warangal to do the same instead the Yuva Sena is organizing an educational excursion to Ajanata, Ellora and Auranagabad, if you wanna go out of the city in your vacations that’s where you are going or stay back here.” I cribbed and cried and tried to throw tantrums with mom but it was all in vain. I realized dad’s plan now, he knew that my gang would all be going to Warangal and wouldn’t be interested in the historic monuments and if I was bored and alone in the city I would have no other choice but to go to the shop. So I decided I was not gonna let the scheming work and aptly told him I was going to go to the city built by Aurangzeb, the Emperor who killed his father’s dreams - Aurangabad. I then tried convincing Preeti to come but her parents didn’t allow her and I was left stranded and alone. We were going to go to Aurangabad by train and mom and dad dropped me to the railway station and I stood there looking at everyone who was going with me, I recognized some of them as they were Timmy’s friends and knew these were the guys I was gonna stick to for the next few days and I somehow recognized most of the girls and the facilitators too as they were the usual suspects who came to these camps. At that point I was too worried about missing out on Warangal and the fun with my gang and did not see it as an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends as it turned out to be. The train started and the boys and the girls were allotted separate compartments but the boys had outnumbered the girls and Wajeed sir came looking for a few boys to move into the girl’s compartment. He was very fond of me and I was among the 8 boys chosen to go there. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the trip and gladly grabbed my bag and my chance and went along with him. Once there we all exchanged pleasantries with the girls and the female faculty and tired to settle down. We were all a little uncomfortable as the girl’s compartment had a very different atmosphere to that of the boy’s one. The boys were boisterous and loud and making fart jokes whereas here a few of the girls were whispering and giggling among themselves and the rest were busy playing antakshari. Savannah mam asked us to join them and we started competing boys against girls and singing the lastest bollywood numbers. I tried to make sure that the songs were as romantic as possible to see the girls blush and smile. There was this girl gang of three-Ananya,Medha and Zafeen who were the loudest and the most active singers. I knew them from the tutorials but I had never spoken to them. I used to dislike them because Ananya used to ask a lot of silly questions in class and unnecessarily prolong it and Medha used to act as her bodyguard and fight with anyone who made fun of her.Zafeen was much quieter and simpler and only spoke to these two. It was getting late in the night so Savannah Mam dispersed the gathering and asked us all to get some sleep. I was given the side berth and Ananya was on the one next to me. I wasn’t sleepy and was talking to Mubeen and Nazim who were sitting on the berth below me. So Ananya asked me “aren’t you guys sleepy?” I replied “no,not really” and that’s when the conversation started. Ananya- “who did you have in mind while singing all those romantic songs?” “your girlfriend?” Me- ha ha ha, yeah maybe! Ananya- “you wont tell me her name?” Me- As if you don’t know already. Ananya- Samreen? Me- ha ha ha, no her friend Preeti. She looked a little shocked and said “what???”, I don’t think you guys make a good couple,atleast Samreen is sweet. I smiled and said I disagree,you have to know her better to like her.Mubeen,Nazim,Zafeen and Medha joined the conversation at this point and we sat down talking about crushes,who liked who here,who were the couples on the trip, which guys they found creepy,which girls were cute,which ones were fake and all that till three in the morning after that one by one everyone fell sleepy and went back to their places to sleep and just Ananya and me were left. She asked me to look out of the window and see how beautiful the moon looked,I tried looking from where I was but couldn’t get a clear view so she asked me to come closer to where she was sitting. So I slid closer to where she was and we sat down really close and looked at the full moon and the twinkling stars for about half an hour,she told me about the guy she had a crush on,Arhan,who was also on the trip and she thought that even he liked her because she had caught him looking at her a few times before. I had never really noticed how pretty she was but the full moon night and the cool breeze blowing through the windows accentuated her beauty and i noticed her very fair skin,her shining silky hair and her brown eyes for the first time and felt mesmerized by her, I don’t think she noticed me admiring her because she kept on talking and talking and I just sat there smiling and listening to everything she had to say. I knew right then that this was the start of a really special friendship.

CHAPTER 20- THE FAREWELL

When you are growing up all you ever wanna do is finish your schooling so that you can get rid of the uniform, the long hours of school, the homework and the constant nagging at home. That day was slowly dawning upon us and we were all really excited. There wasn’t much to study as all we did was revision and all the teachers were a bit lenient to our mischief in class as they all knew we would only be there for another few days. Sometimes I wondered what they felt about the whole thing. Did they feel like the farmer whose crop that he has invested so much upon and harvested with his sweat and blood is cut and taken away from him and he will hardly ever see it again and a new crop comes along and he will have to start all over again? Or do they feel like an overworked, underpaid office clerk who is happy that the project given to him is finally over?
But I knew for sure that Tarun and Shah were really happy about it. With all the run ins they had had with the seniors and all the punishment they had taken from the teachers, end of school sounded like getting out of prison to them. The school cricket team had played their last match together a few weeks back and I had then realized that end of school isn’t as fun as it sounded way back when the school year started. My team mates weren’t my best friends but as soon as I realized that it was the last time I had played with all of them my heart felt a little heavy. My mind rushed back to all the fond memories I had with all my friends in school- the sharing of lunch, blaming each other in class for the mischief, making fart noises by pressing you hand against your armpit and accusing your neighbor, fighting with the seniors, cheating in class assignments, standing up for each other in a fist fight, the book cricket in a boring class, the giving nick names to teachers everything would be over soon. Now I was confused was I supposed to be happy or was I supposed to ask myself why did we grow up?
Last day of classes at school, we all filled each other’s autograph books and signed each other’s shirts and sprayed ink on them, we signed the desks in our classroom so that the guys who come after us to occupy those seats knew they have legendary boots to fill and then we all cried. Some silently and muffled like me and Tarun and others like Hardhik and Andy gave each other never ending bear hugs and cried their hearts out . Shah cried like a little girl and sobbed until his throat was dry and we had made a few hundred jokes about his manhood. We met everyone even the guys we knew were gonna be repeating next year and the toppers who throughout the year complained that we disturbed them. We all need variety in life to spice it up and keep it interesting and school life provides us with all the colors in a crayon box, some bright shiny and sparkly others not so prominent and loud but equally effective and important.
Life’s come a full circle and sometimes I reminisce about it when I look at the autograph book and see what everyone thought of me back then and most of them wrote-you are always smiling and cheerful, try and stay the same. I think most of them were just carried away by the emotion or were trying to be sweet but am pretty sure I’ve managed to stay the same.
Schools over, so is college most of us are married and yet we all call each other best friends and meet whenever we can. i guess I just got lucky and we’ve managed to stay together and add a lot more interesting chapters to my life but I don’t think everyone is that lucky. So make the most of your time with friends don’t let your little whims and ego trips ruin a great friendship. Like the marketing guys at aritel said-“kyuki hare k friend zaroori hota hai”

CHAPTER 19-PENCILS,DIVIDERS AND SCISSORS

The victory against Al-saints school had made us instant hits in our school and I was even more popular now but for the right reasons. Before this happened people remembered our gang for always getting into trouble and being really mischievous. I was specifically remembered for getting into trouble where no one could ever imagine, it was like I was in love with trouble and kept chasing it.
It all started when I was in class 6 and we had geometry as a part of math. I never loved math but then our class teacher Miss Rajshree was an extremely patient, sweet, soft spoken lady who worked really hard on us and that’s the first and the last time I got 100 upon 100 in any exam. But that’s not what this story is about, this is about me being at my creative best with a divider and using it as something it was never meant to be.
Everyone who has ever gone to school must have done this prank, placing your pencil on the bench just before your mate is about to sit down, giving his bum a surprise injection, noticing his shocked reaction and laughing as loudly as you can. I decided I was going to take it to the next level by using the divider instead of the pencil.
I used to share the bench with a guy named Roopchandan back then and looking at him you would realize that the name was nothing but ironic or his parents hoping against hope that someday he may use some magical chandan and gain some roop. I had no beef with him but he wasn’t a guy you would get along with easily, because he was clumsy, smelt of hair oil and ate with both hands. We had compulsory Telugu as a subject up until then and our Telugu mam Mrs KP Rao’s sight was enough to make any one hate the language for life. She was stout, loud and strict.Not a single class ended without her hitting someone on the knuckles with a duster.
It was our last class for the day, KP Rao mam hadn’t beaten anyone up so for and the P.A system had just announced for all of us to stand up for our day end prayers. I thought of it a perfect opportunity for pulling my prank. So when all of us stood up for the prayers I placed the divider on the bench and started praying with everyone else but all I could think about was how funny it was going to be, but things did not go as I had imagined. As soon as the prayer was over the school bell rang and Roop just grabbed his bag to go home and wasn’t going to sit down so I put some pressure on his shoulders making sure he sat down on the divider but I may have applied a little too much force because when he got up he had my divider stuck to his ass and was holding his bum and running all over the class room shrieking with horror. I could see the pain on his face and tears rolling down his eyes. I tried to put up a brave face and laugh it off but KP Rao mam was gonna have none of it, she yelled for everyone to stay where the were, then slapped the smile off my face, maintaining her 100% record intact. But my punishment wasn’t over, she asked the class monitor to take me to the principal’s office and tell him what I had done and then pulled the divider from Roop’s bum and sent him to get emergency medical attention. I knew I was in big trouble.
Once at the principal’s office, he asked me what I was there for and when I told him the whole incident, all he asked me to do was close the door behind me, hand him his cane and smacked the shit out of me, all the while calling me names like raccoon, bandicoot and other things I did not know were part of the English language. My friends were standing outside the office and I think they might have heard the sounds of the whipping. My parents were called the next day to inform what I had done and I advised personal counseling with the school counselor for a week. But whatever my punishment was, it was much lighter than what Roop had to go through. He had to take TT injections, couldn’t come to school for a week because he couldn’t sit properly without discomfort and I am sure all his life he hasn’t been able to sit in a chair anywhere without checking if there was a divider or anything else placed there. From that day on, I was always remembered as the kid with the divider but four year later someone else decided it was time to steal my thunder by placing a scissor behind someone’s ass and cutting a vein and almost bleeding him to death. Even though the victim survived, the culprit was suspended from school for good. Thus giving all of us an important lesson, you can always learn from others mistakes.

CHAPTER 18-LADY LUCK AND CRICKET

I truly believe in the saying, Behind every successful man is a woman. According to my experience when things are going well for you in your love life the other aspects of your life work well too. Or it maybe just that because you have someone who brings a smile to your face whenever you see them, or someone who allows you to be yourself without being pretentious and share your thoughts, tensions and worries with you and you are a lot more relaxed while doing things making it easier for you to do them well.
Things were great between Preeti and me; we were meeting regularly at Samreen’s place and talking on the phone for hours whenever we got a chance. We would also see each other at Geeta mam’s tutorials and steal glances and smile at each other whenever no one was looking. Tarun and Chottu told me that they had noticed I kept smiling thinking about Preeti during the boring social studies period too and at cricket practice Mizbah remarked-“at the touch of love, everyone finds the goodness within themselves,” suggesting that I was a bit easy on the players when they made mistakes during fielding practice.
We were practicing real hard and putting in the extra hours and effort for the three match series against our arch rivals, Alsaints School, the alma mater of Hyderabad’s greatest cricketer ever produced until Little Flower Schools very own V.V.S Laxman took centre stage against the Aussies with a triple ton, Mohammed Azharuddin. They were the power houses in Hyderabad’s school cricketing structure with more than half of the team playing for the u-16 state team. They had a special coach for cricket Mr. Denny Lahm, a former Ranji trophy captain for Hyderabad and a very hard task master and a tough man to please. He asked for nothing less than perfection and expected his team to win every time they got on to the field. He was feared and respected not only by his team but also by everyone in the opposition. There were also rumors flying around that he would soon be appointed the next coach of the Hyderabad U-16 cricket team and all of us were keen to make a good impression. Our school had never managed to beat them. Once at the Monfort Games Quarter finals our seniors had ran them close to eventually lose by just 1 run and then too Denny sir had smacked his team with a huge cane in front of everyone immediately after they had won the game because he expected them to beat our school, (whose major concentration was on education rather than any other co-curricular activities) much more easily. If we managed to achieve even that feat and give them a close competition it would be a huge moral victory to see the winning side being punished.
The big day of the 1st game was upon us we had made our plans and strategies. We knew there would be a lot of sledging and they would come hard at us and our P.T instructor cum coach Om Prakash sir had prepared us for the worst by saying he didn’t expect us to win but trusted us to put up a good show. We arrived at Alsaints school grounds to a packed house of students ready to give us their most hostile welcome. We were booed as soon as we got off the team bus to the time we reached the players pavilion, which was just a tin shed open from all sides and all of them kept glaring and pointing at us whispering something in each others ears and laughing at giggling at us. All of us very already very nervous and intimidated except Rohan a left arm spinner who had seen it all before and our wicket keeper Zubaif who never really feared anything. Denny sir and his team made their grand entrance and suddenly the boos turned into huge cheers, cat calls, whistles, salutes and standing ovations. Denny sir shook hands with Om Prakash sir and with a huge smirk on his face asked- “is that your team?” The he wished all of us best of luck and introduced us to the umpires and called our captain, Manzoor for the toss. Manzoor was an attacking batsmen and our team was very dependent on him to get the runs, so we had planned to bat first so that he and our other batsmen were not put under any sort of pressure. But things did not go according to plan we lost the toss and they elected to bat first. I was going to open the bowling with Shezil, who was the fastest bowler in our side and the focus shifted upon us. It was a 25 over game with each bowler allowed to bowl five overs each. I thought to myself that if I don’t concede more than 6 runs a over in my spell and smack a few runs when I eventually get a chance to bat at no. 6 or 7 I would be pleased with my contribution. Their captain Vineet, an excellent all rounder who had already played for the state side for the last couple of years, was going to open the batting with Urush, another young talent who had represented the state side. I ran up to bowl the first ball and produced a rank half volley and Urush drove me though the covers for 4 runs and while I was going back to my mark to bowl the next ball Vineet at the runner end remarked, “I will teach you how to bowl with the new ball when its my turn to bowl, I can swing it like a snake”. That fired me up a bit and I tried to bowl faster and bowled three wides in that over and was smacked for another 4 by Urush. After then 1st over the scoreboard read- 15 for no wickets. Shezil also conceded 10 in his first over and things looked to be getting out of our hand very early on. I wasn’t expecting Manzoor to give me another over but he tossed the ball to me and asked me to relax and think about Preeti. That brought a smile to my face but I knew that wasn’t going to help because Vineet was on strike and he looked like he was in a very destructive mood. I bowled another half volley and as expected he smacked me to the boundary with ease. Zubaif was trying his best to motivate me from behind the wickets and all the boys were clapping and encouraging me which was a good sign. Andy who was fielding at mid on came rushing to me and asked me to bowl my slower ball that I had been practicing all week in the nets and that’s what I did. Vineet was two minutes too early into the shot and I bowled him neck and crop. I was on top of the world and made sure I gave him a grand send off with the snake dance. But it wasn’t too much cause for celebration because the next man walking in was Hariram another one who had played for the state and was known for his ability to hit sixes at will. I conceded 40 runs in my five overs and managed to pick up one more wicket of Urush but not before he had made a stroke filled 53 of just 47 balls. Hariram played well too for his 43 of just 30 balls and all others chipped in with the crowd supporting them throughout and cheering their every run. Alsaints eventually managed to score massive 212 for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 25 overs and the figures of all our bowlers looked really bad with the exception of Romit who picked up 3 wickets for just 25 runs in his five overs. All of us kept our heads down as we walked off the field and did not speak to each other but Manzoor and Om Prakash sir tried to motivate us and asked us to just go out there, give it our best shot and try and have some fun chasing down the huge target they had set. Rajesh our steady opening batsmen suggested that we promote someone to do the pinch hitting up the order instead of him and Manzoor really liked the idea. Nazeem and I were the options available and I was eventually chosen because I was a left hander and would be an ideal foil for the right handed Keerthan.
During the innings break I made a quick phone call to Preeti and she wished me luck and said she would pray for our victory. I knew even with prayers on our side this was going to be a very difficult task. Keerthan and I walked down to the middle and he asked me to take first strike, I marked my guard and was all set to face Vineet who was going to be opening the bowling too. His words rang in my ears and I wondered how he was going to swing the ball like a snake. He had a very attacking field set with three slips, a gully and mid on and mid off both up inside the 30 yards circle. All I wanted to do was get bat on ball, take a single and get to the other end before I went after the bowling because I did not want to get out on a Duck. Vineet started his run up with the cheers getting louder as he got closer to the crease. He bowled the ball right up looking for some swing and I got to the pitch of the ball and hit it smack in the middle of the bat through mid off and it raced away for 4 runs. I smiled at Vineet as he gave me the glare and mouthed something and shouted at the fielder to give it a better attempt to field the ball. All of a sudden I felt confident. I felt like I belonged at the top of the order and could bat and that’s half the battle won because once you have the mental strength and self belief, you accomplish anything and not just in sports but life too. That over I smashed Vineet for four boundaries and could see the excitement it was generating in the pavilion. Andy,Zubaif and Rohan were jumping with joy while Manzoor waved his hands frantically towards me asking me to stay at the wicket and calm down. But my adrenaline was on an all time high I was going to try and smack every ball out of the park and it was my day. Everything worked for me, everything I tried came off. I even played shots that I didn’t know I could play when I pulled one of their quick bowlers for a huge six. We could see the crowd support dwindling. The noisy audience was a lot quieter now. Some of them had already started leaving sensing an embarrassing defeat and some of them turned on their own team by name calling and shouting abuses in their direction. Vineet had tired everything he could and was running out of ideas. All the bowlers he tried were put under tremendous pressure and they conceded around 40 extras in wides and no balls adding to his misery. The smirk on Denny sir’s face had been wiped right off and he turned a shade of red with fury. I was eventually dismissed when the teams score was a comfortable 170 for 3 of just 15 overs for a swash buckling 81 of just 46 balls filled with square cuts over cover and point for sixes, and lofted hits straight down the ground off the spinners. Zubaif and Manzoor completed the easy win in the 21st over and all of us rushed on to the ground for our victory celebrations. Shezil and Romit lifted me on their shoulders and for a victory lap and andy tore my tee shirt off. I was on top of the world; my lady luck had worked her magic.

CHAPTER 17 HOME VISITS

CHAPTER 17- HOME VISITS
So now that mom had found out about me and Preeti we were very careful not to get caught talking on the phone or anywhere else. For a few days we decided to tell my friends too that we had broken up. The only people who knew the truth were Preeti’s friends Samreen and Shruti and their boyfriends so that we could communicate with each other using them as messengers. We gave up seeing each other in front of people and only spoke on the phone and that too had a process. When one of us was home alone we would give the other one a missed call and that was an indication to call back as quickly as possible. The thrill and excitement of all this kept us on her toes all the time but after a while it became frustrating because when one of us had something urgent or exciting to share we had to wait for the right moment when no one was around and more importantly when you are teenager in a relationship you want to flaunt it not hide it from your peers. Today’s teenagers have it easy with their easy internet access, facebook, cell phones and blackberry messengers but for our generation, the only easy thing was falling in love but as I found out keeping it going was real hard work.
After around a month and a half of these shenanigans something came our way. Samreen’s parents were going to USA for good to earn dollars and live the American Dream and she was going to stay back in the care of her aged grandma so that she could complete her schooling here. So now, whenever I had a chance I would call her and Preeti would come down to her place and we would chat for hours, so much so that now the phone booth from where I usually made the calls recognized me instantly and gave me a stool to sit down and make myself comfortable because my endless, meaningless gibberish and puppy love were good for his business. Our conversations usually fluctuated from important stuff about what had happened in school, and what I was planning to do after the 10th class to silly stuff like how mom had yelled at me, how she had fought with her sister for her favorite nail polish but always interspersed with our grand confessions of how much we loved each other after every three and half complete sentences and a million flying kisses in between. Things were smooth now and mom too had eased her vigilance on my whereabouts and actions but the problem with us teenagers was that whatever we have is never enough. Samreen’s grandma used to go to prayers for a couple of hour’s every evening and Shurti’s boyfriend Ameet came up with the novel idea of using that time for the six of us to meet up at her place and enjoy a delightful rendezvous. I was very reluctant and hesitant initially, not because I wasn’t excited to see Preeti but I was afraid about what would happen if we were to get caught? But Preeti and Rajesh talked me into it and I finally decided to go with the flow. So everything was meticulously planned from how the three guys would be together around that time and how Samreen would call Rajesh as soon as grandma was out of the house. We also planned on saying we were going to Pappu’s house (one of Samreen’s neighbors) if the watchmen asked us where we were heading. We decided to avoid using the elevator too and use the stairs to climb up the six floors to decrease the chances of anyone who knew us or our parents seeing us. Everything went according to plan and the girls ushered us inside. Rajesh and Ameet felt more at home and seemed really relaxed about the whole thing; even the girls were pretty cool about it and I felt like I was the only one who was tense, maybe I wasn’t as brave as them or maybe I wasn’t as stupid not to care. I kept glancing towards the front door and asked Preeti to make sure it was locked properly. We spent a good hour there and I had to literally drag the guys out of there before grandma made her presence felt. Our first attempt had been successful and we were proud of our selves and because it had been so smoothly executed these home visits became a weekly affair and even my nerves were eased a bit now. Life was good for us and we were having a great time and now we decided to inform my gang too about the whole plan of faking the breakup so that they could cover for my absence in tuitions and if my parents asked them anything. But if you ask me what all went on in the house I would tell you what I told Billu and Timmy whenever they got really curious- “I am a gentleman, I don’t kiss and tell.”

CHAPTER 16-THE MAIDEN GETS CAUGHT

The next morning mom was shocked to see my swollen eye and red cheek. I had tried to rub ice on it all night long and made sure I did not come out of my room before 10.00 am because that is when dad left for work. Mom was curious to know what had happened but she didn’t have to ask anything just the look in her eye was enough for me to understand what was going through her mind. So I told her a story that we had come up with and said that a few guys tried to steal money from Timmy’s friends and when we tired to stop them they hit us and ran away from there. I don’t know if mom bought my story or not but she didn’t say much afterwards and returned back to her chores in the kitchen when the phone rang and I ran to get it. Mom asked who it was and I said it was Tarun calling when actually it was Preeti who was very worried about the events of last nights and started throwing questions at me rapidly. I tried to explain it to her that mom was around and I couldn’t disclose much right then but everything was alright now and there was nothing major to worry about. She was not satisfied and said that she wanted to meet me tonight and see for herself. So I told her I will meet her at our usual place after tutorials.
So in the evening I went to the tutorials with a band aid on my forehead even though I wasn’t hurt there just to increase the affect of injury and get all the sympathy love I could get. After tutorials I went to our secret place behind the apartment in colony and waited for Preeti to come and shower me with love and tell me how proud she was of what I had done and how thankful her friends were. For around 25 minutes I strolled up and down the alley and kept peaking at the way where she was supposed to come from. There was no sight of her anywhere and I wondered what had happened. Finally my patience ran out and I went home dejected, disappointed and worried because never before had Preeti failed to turn up for a date.
I guess I wasn’t able to hide my disappointment at the dinner table because mom kept looking at me in a funny way. She looked to be angry at something but I wasn’t really interested in anything and kept thinking about how I was ditched. Next day while on my way to school I stopped at a telephone booth and called her place but her mom answered and I slammed the phone down and went to school. Throughout the day all I could think about was why hadn’t Preeti turned up to meet me. Bad thoughts ran through my mind and I even thought of trivial issues like maybe the band aid that wasn’t really required that had pissed her off. At cricket practice I did not bat or bowl and just stood there and yelled out instructions to the juniors taking out my frustration on them. I couldn’t wait for the evening when I could go to the tutorials and ask her what really had happened.
Usually when I get home I have my lunch and straight away head to my room to watch some TV but that day I sat in the hall by the phone waiting for Preeti to call and quickly answered the phone every time it rang but her call never came and I was dejected once again. I got ready earlier than usual and left for the tutorials and waited near the gate for Preeti to come with her gang of girls. All passerby’s kept asking me what I was doing near the gates like a watchman and all I did was smile meekly and said I was waiting for a friend to bring me my notes that he had borrowed. But going by my reputation I don’t think any of them bought my story.
Finally Preeti arrived and I was expecting her to be angry at something and throw a lot of tantrums instead she straight away came to me and started apologizing vociferously. I knew the ball was in my court now and my time to call the strokes so I asked her with a glum look on her face that I needed a very good reason from her for not turning up and apologizing just wouldn’t do. She looked surprised and told me,
“You’ve got no idea what happened, do you?”

I vaguely replied “no”.

She then narrated the events of last night and said that after tutorials when she was about to come to meet me, my mum along with Timmy’s mum had caught hold of her and told her she knew what was going on between her and me and asked her to keep away from me. She also warned her to never call me ever again and if she caught her doing so, the consequences will be extremely bad for her and she will even go to her parents and complain about this inappropriate behavior.

I was left stunned while Preeti was saying all this and shook my head in disbelief when the events of the last couple of days came rushing back to me. I realized that mom had eavesdropped in our complete conversation with the cordless phone she had kept in the kitchen with her and since then had been acting wierd. I knew now why she looked angry at dinner and hadn’t spoken much to me since then and that is when I recollected something. Dennis the menace, the cartoon character was a pretty funny kid but he did say a few things that made a lot of sense and that day I realized something he uses very often to be extremely true, “you can fool some people all the time and all people some of the time but you can never fool mom.”

Thankfully Preeti had taken it all very sportingly and our challenge in maintaining our relationship had increased ten fold but as all normal teenagers with their rebellious streak, the more they tried to stop us the better we got at doing it.