Sequel to 'Love in Train, Heartbreak in Bus'

Not many passengers accepted chocolates from the weird heart- broken stranger. As a result, when he got out of the bus, Rohan still had many chocolates left in his Ferrero Roche box. He so wanted to kick that box on NH 17. Instead, he offered it to his hostel security guard, who accepted it with a big grin. The money borrowed from his friends seemed worth it and he managed a smile that had escaped him through the ugly turn of events of the fateful day.

Trying to sleep that night, a zillion questions hijacked his mind. ‘Why so abrupt? Was holding Nisha’s hand made her think he was going too fast? Didn’t he deserve a chance to clarify himself? Could she actually be involved with some other guy? Was it a just a trick played by one of her friends?’  Being an optimist, he still thought that Nisha might realize her mistake and contact him. Anxiously waiting for a week, he finally started to come to terms with the harsh reality.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy coming back to his normal self. Plus, his fourth semester exams were approaching and like a typical engineer, he had to be ready enough to study for at least the duration of the exams. He had to make peace with himself and move on. If only he had a picture of Nisha, flushing the same might have helped. So, a different strategy was needed.

After a lot of deliberation, venting out his angst, disappointment, frustration and melancholy through an email seemed to be the best option. And the process of drafting ‘The Email’ commenced. After two days and three nights, the email was finally complete. It was the longest email he had ever composed or received till date. Sitting in the computer lab at midnight, as he was about to hit the send button, an unseen power stopped him. ‘Golmaal hai bhai sab golmaal hai’, he could hear the tune playing somewhere in the background. So, discarding the original long email, all he could send was, ‘Don’t do this to anyone else, it really hurts’.

 

That night, he felt much lighter and finally managed to get some sound sleep. A dream took over shortly, in which he was still ‘The Romeo’ walking with Nisha across a scenic landscape in Manipal, and singing ‘Teri yaadein mehfooz hai, baaki sab fizool hai’. It was a song they had composed impromptu in real life while strolling on their second date. Rohan did not realize that he was singing that song at the top of his voice in his sleep. Mohit, his roommate woke up with a jolt. All polite ways to stop Rohan from singing at 3 AM in the night had failed. Slap on the face was the only option left with Mohit. ‘Nisha, what happened now?’ Rohan blurted as he woke up startled from the slap. ‘Nothing my dear, I was hoping that you would kiss me good night’, Mohit said with a mocking feminine voice. Both of them had a good 3 AM laughter and crashed to bed again.

The following days saw Rohan studying as never before. His internal test scores had already taken a hit, thanks to the ‘Love Fever’. So, he needed to do well in the main semester exams to cover up. This was a chance to prove to himself and specially his friend Jai Dhawan who had mockingly drawn the declining graph of his marks from the time he had met Nisha.

He fared well in most of the subjects except Engineering Drawing II. In response to one of the questions to draw the projection of a Hexagonal nut, he drew something that was beyond the comprehension of any mechanical engineering professor. On closer inspection, it turned out to be the side view of a girl’s face. Of course, he got his share of mock from all stakeholders for his piece of art in the semester exam. So much for the final withdrawal symptoms of love.

The much awaited inter college festival ‘Incident- 2002’ was scheduled just few days post the start of next semester. So, this time, as an exception, he decided against going home for vacation after the exams. Instead, the thought of practicing for the music competition captured his mind. This year the fest was happening in PES Bangalore. And he was more than excited to visit a new place and interact with musically inclined folks. Nisha’s college, KMC Manipal was also participating in the fest. A thought crossed his mind, ‘What if she is a part of her college band or just planning to visit to support her team’? He feared any encounter with her.

Meanwhile, Rohan was experiencing changes he never anticipated. Earlier, music for him mostly meant Kishore Kumar songs. Before he knew, Pink Floyd and Metallica took control. Outings to pocket-friendly Beer serving pubs graduated to hostel rooms stuffed with Old Monk. He could experience for himself what peace lay in a grass joint with Pink Floyd playing in a dark room with a revolving lamp and why this was a considered a cult experience in engineering hostels. The solace from rock music couldn’t have come at a better time.

Time was ticking, and it was just two weeks left for the fest. Rohan was convinced that instead of participating in the Eastern musical genre that was his forte until then, he would give western music a shot. ‘Nothing else matters’ from Metallica was chosen as the track his team would perform. This time he also got engaged in a fusion song along with two colleges from Manipal- KMC and MIT. This was to be a non-competitive song and some seniors from the participating colleges thought this would be a novel idea. Rohan along with his band had to travel to MIT Manipal for practice sessions for the fusion song. Sandra, an easy going girl, was one of the lead vocalists in the song with Rohan. She was from KMC, and during a casual chit chat had mentioned about Nisha, her classmate. ‘She has been performing in the fest for the last two years, but this time she doesn’t seem interested’, Sandra remarked.  There was an immediate uneasiness that showed on Rohan’s face. It was a girl’s natural talent in perceiving emotions that made Sandra understand much more than what was revealed. They never talked about Nisha in the subsequent practice sessions.

The D-day had arrived. Rohan, along with his band members was all set to rock the stage. It was a typical pleasant and windy Bangalore evening. The western musical competition had gathered heat as popular numbers from Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden set the stage ablaze. There was a huge round of applause when the KREC team performed ‘Nothing else matters’. ‘Once more, once more….’ , as the crowd roared, Rohan felt a kind of high never experienced before.

It was now the turn of the fusion number that the crowd was anxiously waiting to listen. Three colleges, three versatile teams, collaborating for a fusion of Sufi and Rock was a first of its kind performance in an inter-college fest. As the members occupied their places on the stage, sound check commenced. Surprisingly, there was no microphone on the stand which Rohan occupied. And worse, Sandra, his co- vocalist disappeared all of a sudden. By the time Rohan could sense something fishy, his ears strained to hear, ‘Teri yaadein mehfooz hai, baaki sab fizool hai’. The lights focused on the two girls standing across the stage with a microphone between them. Sandra, one of those two girls, gave a wink to Rohan who was struggling to hide his emotions. The season of surprises was back again with a bang!!