The traffic at Sion circle was as usual. The vehicles were lined up in a huge queue, belching out black smoke from the exhaust. July is the worst month for the city of Mumbai when rains are always severe, bringing in along with it, other discomfort like clogged drains and flooded lanes. Ravi got down from the BEST-385 bus, he regularly boards for college. The bus takes around half an hour from Chembur to Sion in normal days. But today due to the rains, the journey took an hour. Ravi’s face was hidden beneath his huge black umbrella. He was also wearing his usual red rainy jacket but his trouser was totally drenched. Wiping his face, he was maneuvering through the traffic. The wind was blowing and his engineering knowledge helped him gauge the velocity of the wind. He instinctively knew that heavy downpour is expected for the next hour. His tall frame could be visible in the midst of vehicles and crowd. He was hurrying up for the ‘Organizational Behavior’ lectures scheduled at 2.00 PM. Professor Mirchandani, though a nice man is easily offended especially when the students turn up for lectures late. Last week the professor had distributed the MBTI forms to the students. The Mayer-Brigg’s type indicator is an effective psychological instrument to look into a persons’ personality. All the students submitted the forms duly filled on Friday. Today the professor would be analyzing the results. Hence the lecture is expected to be very interesting. Ravi reached the class on time. As he entered all the heads turned towards him. His tall frame and chiseled featured ensured that he received a fair share of feminine gaze. He is a bit shy by nature and politely ignored the gaze. Having done his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, having specialized in ‘Electrical’ stream, he has been planning to complete his management degree in ‘Production Management’. He has also got some industry exposure having worked with the engineering giant ‘Larsen & Toubro’ for three years before enrolling for the Masters degree in Management Studies (MMS). At the age of twenty-Four, his future does seem very promising. The ‘MBTI’ is expected to look into his personality and guide which career path will be apt for him. He took his corner seat as usual.
Ritu Shah is a very bubbly girl. She is just fresh out of Degree College having completed her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. Being just twenty years old with a flair for life she is unusually energetic. She is a typical Leo girl with good looks and a very confident personality. She also has a flair for dramatics which ensured that wherever she went, she had a fan following. However, it upsets her that there is this young man in her class who would never even throw a glance towards her. Most men would be around Ritu most of the time. People without confidence would secretly admire her. The girls had by now accepted her as their leader. But Ravi was neither interested in striking a conversation with her nor was he even interested in her histrionics. He is by nature a bit reserved and this girl was proving to be too dynamic for him. However he was friendly with few girls and he had very few male friends. Though, he was always cordial with everyone. But then that is how a ‘Virgo’ male is supposed to be – shy, intelligent and industrious.
Professor Mirchandani entered the room and soon started writing in the black board, dividing the board into six parts. Then he wrote a few students name in each part and asked them to form groups. But Ravi was alone in his group. He could not understand the reason but nonetheless ignored it. Then the professor showed a photograph of a man emptily staring at the sky. He asked each group to write an article of what they have seen. Each group was at their creative best trying to bring out the weirdest imagination. Ravi is a technical person and language was never his strength. However he did write out what best he could manage. Then each group had to read out whatever they had written. In the end Ravi’s write up was judged the best, both by the professor as well as the students. For the first time Ravi realized that he did possess literary skills. He was found to be an extreme in divergent thinking. He is found to be of E.N.T.P type in the M.B.T.I type indicator. Ravi is also a member of the Indian MENSA – the high IQ group. Intelligence is one major attribute in men which woman find appealing. And intelligence with creativity is a lethal combination. Ritu makes a note of it and now her glance changes to stare and that too very piercing.
Ritu stays in ONGC Colony at Bandra. Her father is a ‘Sr.Engineer’ at ONGC. Vidya and Jyoti also stay in the same colony. They were classmates at the degree college and they are classmates even now. Though they are friends there exists some rivalry between them. Vidya and Jyoti are secretly envious of Ritu’s popularity. Now Ravi has become a major topic of discussion in their lives and it has become a sort of a game as to who could woo him. All the three girls are at their charming best when present near him. Ravi was secretly enjoying the fact that these beautiful girls find him adorable but due to lack of experience and also due to his inherent shyness was not able to make a move. And then there were Hema, Archana, Smitha et cetera, who were making their presence felt to him. Ravi is also slightly confused because he could not make out as to which of these girls are genuinely interested and who are just being friendly. There are also few girls who are naturally flirtatious. They behave flirtatious with most males without any intentions. At the age of 24, Ravi was not happy of the fact that he is still a virgin. Most of his friends make very tall claims when it comes to romance, though Ravi instinctively knows most of them are merely making stories. Here he is getting a golden opportunity to experiment. Most of these girls were extremely decent and Ravi knew it would be morally wrong trying to use them in his experiment. Ritu is being the boldest of the lot and Ravi also knew she is a decent girl. However, Ravi could not make out if she was genuine or if she was only playing a game to prove to other girls that she is the best of the lot and hence deserves the best. Maybe it was just his lack of sexual confidence that is making him think in this manner.
Rajesh is the son of Director General of Police, Bihar. He is a well built Punjabi man, who is very good looking though immature. He liked Ritu from day one in the college. Ritu was very friendly with him but then so was she with most other boys. Rajesh was not appreciating the fact that Ritu has taken a fancy for Ravi. He was also very vocal of his displeasure. He dare not make his dislike be known to Ritu for she would not take any nonsense from him. But he has started being caustic towards Ravi, and Ravi being a soft spoken person preferred to ignore him. But Rajesh was the only person in the room who could predict an imminent danger from Ravi. Others ignored it, because they had formed an opinion about Ravi by now and knew he would never take the matter to the next level. But Rajesh knew that it was Ritu who is pushing hard and she is not going to settle down with a negative answer. By now, Ritu was also losing her patience. Ravi’s shyness has created a barrier and she was unable to cross it. Also whenever Ritu makes an attempt to strike a conversation with Ravi, few other boys and girls would deliberately interrupt and Ravi would develop cold feet and back out. He was terribly scared of getting into a committed relationship and more so in a wrong relationship. Hence he wanted to be discreet, so he can gauge the other person well and if he finds her unsuitable would move on to the next girl. But Ritu was adamant and bold. Ravi started feeling sorry for Ritu and started being sympathetic towards her.
Ravi talked about his dilemma to his childhood friend Anand. On hearing the story, Anand suggested that if he was uncomfortable, he should try and build up a rapport over the telephone. Ravi liked this idea and started digging for Ritu’s number. The next one month, Ravi was regularly phoning Ritu. Both of them seem to enjoy this arrangement. Ravi had made it known that he would like to be discreet and Ritu did not seem to mind it. However, Ritu was not appreciative of that the fact that Vidya and Jyoti were trying to win Ravi’s heart. One day, while returning from the college, Ritu told Vidya everything just to make it clear once and for all that Ravi and she were having an affair, if not physical. Vidya could feel a sharp knife penetrating her heart. Vidya could not keep this news to herself and immediately narrated the whole story to Jyoti. Next day in college, after the lectures when Ritu tried to speak to Ravi, Vidya felt as if her head is going to burst. She could feel the sting of jealousy in her. While returning home Vidya said to Ritu, “Maybe Ravi is just fooling around. If he was genuinely interested why would he hide the fact from the world?” The first seed of suspicion has been planted into Ritu’s mind.
That whole night Ritu could not get sleep and being a very proud girl, she could not digest that she is being taken for a ride. However her heart would tell her that Ravi is not a cheat and there must be other reasons for his abnormal behavior. She took a decision that she will not encourage his phone calls in the future and if he is genuinely interested then he has to make the affair Public. With this decision she is blocking this channel of communication with him. But then she is opening up many other channels elsewhere which make her vulnerable to brain-wash and other forms of slander. But by now she was filled with suspicion and silent rage that she started ignoring the other warning signals. She openly allowed others to interfere in her private life and rest assured they filled her mind with venom. By now Ravi could get a feel of what is happening. The sudden change in behavior, got him confused but seeing her and others behave in this fashion, he could make out that Ritu has spilled the beans. Not that he cared much but he did not know how to handle it as she was already in other’s influence. He acted cool for a few days hoping that things will settle down in the future. But his cold behavior made her all the more aggressive. She started being openly hostile towards him. He did not understand why he himself is being so discreet. Is it that he has no confidence in her, and he fears that his ego will have to take a battering? Is it that he does not wish to hurt other’s feelings? Or was he a rascal that he wants to initiate a string of affairs? He was not very sure of himself or what he wanted from this relation.
As the situation became tenser, Ravi knew he has to live to Ritu’s demands or risk losing her for ever. It is only now that Ravi has started to realize how much he loved her and how much he missed her. He was suddenly feeling depressed in life. He was very anxious and apprehensive that he may have to lose her. One day he made a decision to formally make the affair open. He discussed it with his friend Aruna and she promised to help him out of this mess. The following day was a formal get-together of all the students in the campus. Aruna took Ritu to the college canteen and talked to her about the whole issue. Ritu felt very happy that Ravi has confessed to her and also was ashamed that she suspected him and spoiled the whole show. She went and apologized to Ravi. “Do you genuinely love me?” she enquired. “Yes, I do. I cannot live without you” he replied. Ravi was more than happy to get Ritu back and it was a lesson he needed to learn. The lessons that he learned in this episode will prevent him from taking anything for granted in the future.
And, like a typical bollywood movie,
THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER……….
Short Story by…
Sunder Rangarajan
40 years old
Virgo, 06/sept./1968
Male and stays in…
3/63, ‘Shri Laxmi’, Pestom Sagar,
Road No: 2, Near Amar Mahal,
Chembur, Mumbai
INDIA-400089
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