Words Unsaid…

Story by an Anonymous Friend

It was a chilly winter afternoon. Although the month of February was here, this part of the country, the Capital, still remained cold. And why not; winter here had inspired a famous songwriter to compare love with this. Was it sarcastically cold or playfully extreme was left to the discretion of the listeners. He had bunked his morning classes for the third straight day. The teacher, a middle aged one. Used to scribble random alphabets on board and somehow called it “Mathematics”. Then end solutions used to be the same as what was assumed in the beginning of the question and the best part was all this took 55 minutes and 4 pages of an A4 register. Having been an obedient and regular student all through his school life, bunking classes and that too on a regular basis was something of a paradigm shift for him. But this university was famous for changing people. Freedom was explored in an all new ways through the roads, corridors and grounds. People always thought this was the hip place to be and hence the high stakes of percentage cutoff to get here. He knew the truth now, it was all a sham! People were living with a fake sense of belonging and no one could be more alone after their time here was up. People sat inside the classroom and noted down every alphabet the teacher wrote on the board. He found it better to sit beside the water cooler and read whatever he could get his hands on. Reading remained his first love. His latest read was about friendship in the terrorist inflicted part of Afghanistan and the sacrifices the friend/servant of the protagonist’s friend made for him. ‘All fiction! Where do you find such selfless love now?’ he thought.

Suddenly the bell rand signaling the end of the class. He never heard it as the story was reaching its climax. A cold hand brushed his hand and closed the book before he could react. He didn’t need to lift his face to know who had done it. For others would have simply passed through the corridor without even noticing him. After a long wait he looked up and there she was, with a touch of anger on her face. Before he could even open his mouth to show his annoyance, she started her trademark speech, “Why don’t you attend your classes? I know you will not go ahead with the subject, but they are important. You need to pass the course in order to go ahead with whatever plans you have.” He should have known better, her primary concern had always been academics whereas it didn’t bother him anymore. People were still coming out of the classroom and filling their bottles in the room beside them which had a water cooler attached. Despite all the crowd, this was their favorite place. It was here that she shared her darkest moment in the past with her. And from then on there was nothing they did not share. This had become their meeting place every day. And truth be told, he sat there purposefully for her to come and find him.

“I don’t find logic in attending the classes. The teacher simply reiterates whatever is there already written in the book” was his reply. He had already made that answer up in the morning when he decided to bunk the class, for he knew he would be facing this question. She was still miffed as she said “You and your stupid logic. I can never get them. And why haven’t you still opened your lunch? I am hungry” The Tupperware container was enjoying being in the bag until that moment. He had saved it as he knew she never liked the food of her PG accommodation. “I should start charging you for the food, will take care of my pocket money for sure” he said while taking his lunch box out. “Hahaha… As if you can ever charge me” she replied. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind but he kept his mouth shut. “Hurry up!” she said getting quirky. “Hey, you want the food or not!” he warned. She made a face that would melt even the strongest of metals. He was just a mere mortal. He hurried up and opened all the boxes to neatly place them on the white marble slab. It was her favorite dish – IDLI. “Wow! Idli, and you took so much time opening it. I will have to eat them fast now” she said as she attacked those innocent white cakes. “Leave some for me” he shouted. “You can eat at home” was what he could make out of the sound as she was half chewing and half speaking. “Slowly, the food isn’t running anywhere”, he reminded her. “Well all of us don’t have the luxury of missing our classes” was her sarcastic reply. They exchanged long looks but she never dropped her spoon. “Aunty makes the best Sambar. I love it” she said to break the long silence. Well if ‘Aunty’ knew that her son gives away most of his lunch and eats in the canteen himself, who knows he might be served for lunch the next day. “I will tell her that” he assured her.

The bell rang again signaling the start of next class. The corridor became alive once again as students started running towards their lecture theaters to avoid getting late. She finished her last cake of Idli and went towards the washroom to wash her hands. “Call me in the evening, I have lots of things to tell you” she said coming towards him while wiping her hands. “I might be busy you know” he said in a serious tone. “You really want to joke right now, I am getting late for class” she said. Even she knew he will call her no matter what. “And start reading text books, exams are near. What is it that you keep reading anyways?” He lifted the book enough for her to see the title. “Oh! I have read it. All fiction! Where do you find such selfless love now?” she said and winked as she walked towards her class. At that moment he swore he could say the line from the book that had stuck in his mind to her, ‘For you, A thousand times over!’