He had liked her

“Why would a fresher grow upto such an height?” I thought as I kept looking out through my college bus window at a fair,tall,good looking and well built guy. He was walking and chit-chatting along with a group of freshers. A professor stopped him and discussed something rather important. Still, I kept wondering at his height. Just then, the driver got into the bus and started to put on the gear. I zoomed back to reality and turned to my friends to discuss about the upcoming model exams. My eyes fell upon the well built guy again. He got into the bus and headed straight to the boys row. He occupied a seat and adjusted himself  comfortably. He appeared like a film star and he had the looks that would make girls go weak on their knees.

The bus started and the driver played some boring old songs. I preferred to watch outside. After sometime, one of my friends called me,”Hey Poorna, look at that guy who is gonna alight at this stop. Wow! He is so handsome and tall. I have never seen such a guy in our college.” It was the same guy she was referring to.

Soon it became my habit to look at him on a daily basis. It almost became a routine, soon after. Finally, it turned into an unbearable crush. I admired him a lot and it was easy for me as we were travelling in the same bus. But I used to think always,”Why would a fresher grow upto such an height?” It was his height which bothered me a lot. I didn’t mind having a crush on a guy who was junior to me. I was overwhelmed by his handsome look and amazingly maintained physique. Slowly, I was getting desperate to know his name.

Some people say that unexpected things happen at unexpected time. Well, it happened for me too. It was during one of my exams. I was waiting along with other girls, outside the exam hall. Suddenly, one of my friends poked me with a pen. It hurt. “Awww!!!! What do you want? Why did you poke at me?”

“Sssshhhhhh!!!! Just slowly turn back and look at the professor who is coming towards our hall.”

I casually turned back, hoping to find a sloppy professor. But alas! My eyes popped out in an instant. I could feel my heart jumping out through my mouth and re-entering inside.  The professor was none other than the guy on whom I had a crush!

“Whaaaattt????” I opened my mouth to its full length. “Is he a professor? Oh my god! These many days I have been assuming him to be a fresher.” I was horrified to the core. I felt like hitting myself for having fallen to a prey called ‘crush’. That too, on a professor.

“Anyway,” I thought,”Whats wrong in having a crush on a young,good-looking professor? Its not going to cause me any harm.” Thinking so,  I closed my book and arranged it inside my bag.

“Final year Maths students, please enter the hall. Its almost time.” It was he who announced it. He had a manly voice. I felt happy to have him as my invigilator on that day. Thanking my stars, I entered the exam hall. To my surprise, I was placed on the first bench. “Wow! Now it will be comfortable for me to admire him.” I thought. I almost forgot that I was about to take an exam. I frantically tried to remember the answers as it was an allied paper-Environmental Chemistry. He distributed the question papers and answer sheets to all.  I started filling up my register number and other details.

Just then, I heard a soft tap on my desk. I looked up. He was standing in front of me and asking for my answer sheet to sign on it. I felt shy to look at him directly. I made a crazy expression and handed over my answer sheet. I think he might have noticed it. I decided to figure out his name from his signature. But there was no need for it. He signed his full name on the answer sheet, clearly. “Rishikesh Sadhilya”.

Then, he moved on to the next bench. “Rishikesh Sadhilya? What a weird name!” I thought.

I concentrated on writing the exam. After sometime, I heard him discussing about something to my close friend Banu on another bench. “What would he possibly discuss in between the exam?” I thought to myself and continued writing. Soon, the 3 hours passed away. I came outside and joined my friend Banu. I asked her,”How did you do?”

“Ya, it was quiet easy. I answered all the questions. How about you?”

“Yup, I too did well. By the way, did you notice his name?”

“No, I couldn’t figure out from his signature.”

“Why couldn’t you? He signed his entire name on my answer sheet. Didn’t he do the same on yours too?”

“No, he didn’t. Whats his name?”

“Rishikesh Sadhilya.”  I wondered why he had written his full name only on my answer sheet. “Maybe, he felt too bored to write on all answer sheets.” I thought to myself and continued asking Banu,”What was he discussing with you in the middle of the exam?”

“I was writing a chemical reaction. He questioned me whether it was correct. I nodded yes. He asked me to check properly as I had made a mistake. I bet, he is from the Chemistry department.”

I went back home in a happy mood, gaining useful information about my crush. Now, I had the generally required details about him. “Rishikesh Sadhilya, Chemistry department, gets down in Surya nagar.” I made a mental note of all these.

Then, I logged in to Facebook and searched for him. “Rishikesh Sadhilya” I typed. But the search showed “No results”. I was deeply saddened.

The next day, I met Banu and told her everything about my crush. “I knew it before itself. You were so expressive when explaining about Rishikesh” she said.

“But I couldn’t find him on Facebook. He has a unique name. So, I thought I could easily find him. But he doesn’t have an account, I think so.”

“Is it? Then, why don’t you try Twitter?”

“Twitter? I don’t have an account. I don’t even know how to use it.”

Then, Banu explained me the A-Z of Twitter.

“Ok done! I will create an account today and search for him.” I said with excitement beaming on my face.

That evening, I was sitting inside my bus, eagerly waiting for Rishikesh’s arrival. As usual, he boarded the bus with complete valour. But oh! He hit his head against the metal rod at the top of the bus, due to his overgrown height.

“Sssssssssss….” I made a sound as he got hit. Scrubbing his head, he managed to throw a look at me as soon as I made the pity noise. It was a piercing look. I felt embarassed and turned to look outside. But, his look held some other meaning. He was surprised on seeing me.

After reaching home, I registered myself in Twitter as “Poorna Rajkumar”. Then, eagerly I typed “Rishikesh Sadhilya” in the search box. Lo and behold! There he was. There was only a single account in that name and it was his. I was overjoyed and clicked on the ‘Follow’ button immediately. I browsed through his tweets to see when he had tweeted last.  It was 2 days before. Then, I tweeted my 1st tweet,”Hi, this is Poorna Rajkumar, a final year B.Sc Maths student.” Soon, I logged out, hoping Rishikesh would follow me back.

Three days later, Rishikesh occupied a seat just behind me. I felt extremely happy and pretended to listen to songs played on the bus. Just then, he got a call. The ringtone was “Aankhon mein teri ajab si ajab si adayein hai…” I smiled on listening to it. He attended the call and started blabbering something in Marathi which I couldn’t understand. Then, he switched to English. “Hey, what do you say? I am just 23. I have just completed my MBA and joined as a lecturer. Why do you want me to get married?” He spoke so loudly that even the girl in the front row could have heard him. But I held a mischievous smile. I gathered some more information about him. Particularly, I was happy that he was unmarried.

Months flew away. With each passing day, I was growing fonder of Rishikesh. I began to loiter around the campus just to catch a glimpse of him. Occasionally, I had a look or two received from him. Once, I even wished him “Good morning sir!”, for which he politely returned my wish. But, life has its own share of ups and downs. You can’t be happy always. God will surely make you taste troubles too. And that was what happened with me.

I had come to know that Rishikesh’s staff room had been shifted to the Maths block. I jumped out of excitement. Then, I started to stand near to the staff room during intervals and lunch breaks. It was on one such day that I heard something which upset me. I was standing near the entrance of the staff room. Rishikesh was discussing with his fellow professor and I was overhearing them.

“So, are you in love Rishikesh?” asked the other professor.

“Ya, I am. I like her a lot. But I am not going to disturb her. Let her finish college studies. Then, I would surely propose to her.”

“Good! Which department is she?”

I made a scratching sound with my legs as I had turned impatient. There was a pause.

“I think she is from the Biology department.”

My heart sank. My eyes welled up with tears. I couldn’t control myself. I thought I was going to collapse. In a fit of anger, I tore a bundle of clipped sheets which were lying on the table outside the staff room. Just then, Rishikesh came out. He searched for something and then noticed me.

“Hey you!!!” He called out to me. He snatched the torn sheets from me. “My lecture notes! Oh my god! What have you done? You stupid girl. Don’t you know how to behave? I am going to complain this to your HOD…” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

“I am so..sor..sorry…sir…” My voice turned shaky and I trembled with fear.

“Have you turned mad? What made you to behave like this? I won’t spare you. Come on, tell me, whats your name?”

“Poo..Poorna, sir.”

“Who is your HOD?”

“Mrs.Rajalakshmi. Sir, please I beg your pardon. I didn’t do it intentionally. I am really very sorry. I thought they were just rough sheets. Please sir….” I literally begged him to spare me.

“What were you doing near the staff room?”

My heart jumped out to say “To see you sir.” But all I could say was, “I had a fight with my friend. So, I just came out to free myself from stress. It was at that time I saw those sheets and tore them in anger. I am sorry sir.” He could see the pain written all over my face.

“Okay! But I will punish you. Come inside the staff room.”

I meekly followed him.

He pulled out a book from his case, along with some white sheets. He handed them to me and said,”Turn to page no.132. Start copying the lines which I have marked, onto the sheets. Complete it within 15 minutes.”

“Sir,please..I have a class.”

“Thats ok. I will inform your subject teacher. You start writing.”

I was completely embarrassed. I was being punished by the guy on whom I had a crush. I started writing and finished it within the alloted time.

He looked at the copy and said,”You may go now! And make sure that you don’t come in front of me anymore. You should not be in my sight till the end of the year.”

Those words killed me. It was a painful moment. I could not digest the fact that I was punished and warned by my own crush. But, as days passed away, I forgot that incident. Nevertheless, I completely forgot about him and vowed myself not to see him again in my life. I even deleted my Twitter account. Finally, I completed my graduation successfully.

3 years later..

“You are 23 now and you say you are not in love with anybody. Then, why don’t you get married to the person whom we choose? Come down to Chennai soon.”

I was pursuing my MBA in Bangalore. My mom was pestering me to get married. She was calling me up everyday and spoke about my marriage. Though I was not interested, I reluctantly flew down to Chennai to meet the bridegroom and his family.

The D-Day arrived. I was dressed up in a heavy silk sari. I gave final touches to the makeup and waited for the bridegroom’s family to arrive.

After a few minutes, my mom called out,”Poorna…”

I came out with the tea tray in my hand. I served tea to my future in-laws and to my would-be. I did not look up to see the bridegroom’s face. I just moved away and stood in a corner.

My future mother-in-law spoke,”My son told me that he had liked her in college.”

My thoughts swirled,”What??? Am I going to marry one of my classmates? Who could it might be? God, please help me. I don’t want someone whom I had not liked during my college days.”

“He also told that he had messed up with her once. But he regretted it later when he realised that he loved her.”

“Oh! My memory is too weak. Who messed up with me?” I scratched my head to remember.

Then, my dad asked my future in-laws,”Whats your son’s full name?”

“Rishikesh Sadhilya.”

And then, I looked up. There he was. The ever smiling Rishikesh Sadhilya.

2 weeks later..

“I love you soooo much. It was actually love at first sight. From the very first day when I saw you inside the bus. I went out of control when you followed me in Twitter. Soon, I started noticing the change in your behaviour. I didn’t want to disturb your studies by proposing to you. That was why I acted indifferently. And I knew that you were there when I was speaking about my love to the other professor in the staff room. So, I lied to him being in love with a girl from Biology department. And the rest you know. But I asked you to be out of my sight only till the end of that year. What made you to be out of my sight for 3 long years???”

“Hahahaha..” I laughed as a drop of tear rolled down from my cheek and fell on my engagement ring.

__END__