Chasing a dream - prologue.

Hello everyone! Wozzup? It's been a long time since I wrote anything and it feels great to be back to writing :)  I hope you all like this story. Dance has become a very important part of my life and perhaps the greatest inspiration too. Enjoy and please don't forget to leave comments! :D


PROLOGUE.



"I want to be a professional dancer"

My parents gaped at me with incredulous eyes. I knew this moment would not be easy to go by. The planning for this confrontation had been underway for almost a month now. I tried to imagine all the possible reactions that this piece of news would conjure from my parents. Almost a billion different scenarios came up.

Scenario # 1

"What?! Are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you're talking about? And where did this idea come from anyway? You were dead set on doing architecture a few months ago. Everything was planned. And now this? Dance is your hobby Shruti, you can't make it your profession. It's full of risks. Where is the scope? Have you forgotten that you're living in India? Where are the avenues? The means? This is just impossible.."

So on and so forth.

Scenario # 2

Her parents looked at each other and burst into fits of laughter.

"Shruti, this is really funny but this is hardly the time for a joke..."

Scenario # 3

Her father's eyes almost popped out of their sockets and the next second, he was clutching the left side of his chest tightly. Her mom rushed to his side before he could fall down.

"Shruti, call the ambulance, NOW!"

Scenario # 4

"What? But you can hardly dance. I mean, just because you can do a few steps on Munni and Sheila doesn't mean you can become a professional dancer. Wake up and smell the coffee beta. Go study for your entrance"

And they went back to doing what they had been doing before this conversation - Her mom, watching TV and her dad, getting bored.

Scenario # 5

Her big confrontation given a royal ignore.

REALITY.

"How much would you earn? I mean, do dancers earn well?", asked her dad.

Now it was my turn to gawk. Was that it? Was that the only issue that I would have to face? I didn't know what to say. Lying is a nice idea but my overbearing and annoying conscience would not let me live peacefully. Money was good in the field of dance, only if you were a good enough dancer. And by 'good enough', I mean really good.

I shook my head lightly, "Um, yes dad. I mean, it's decent initially, but as I become better the money will become better too"

"How decent...exactly?"

"Uh, well, the instructors get paid around 50K per month, and you get an increment once you're in the company", I was trying to hold this conversation together, but truth to be told, I was freaking out.

"But the economics still don't beat those of architecture, do they?", my mom spoke for the first time. I really wish she hadn't, though.

"They don't mom, but it's not that bad either. Look, this is what I want to do. When I joined classes a year ago I didn't know that dance would end up becoming my passion. Maybe I just never gave it a thought before, maybe I never thought I had the talent, maybe I never thought of it as anything more than a hobby. Whatever it was, I don't know. But what I do know is that dance is where my heart lies", I finished and let out  a huge breath. I realized that my speech was nothing but babbling.

They started staring at me with that unidentifiable expression again. I hated it when they did that. It was like standing in a witness box like a defendant and waiting for the judge to announce the decision. My impatience was increasing with every passing moment and I wanted them to spit their thoughts out really fast now.

My dad finally opened his mouth, "We'll think about it", and both of them walked away.

My shoulders slumped. That was not what I had expected. Each of my scenarios ended with a definite 'yes' or 'no'. There was absolutely no room for a 'maybe'. That word was like a ticking bomb. I also suddenly realized how smart my parents had been. They could now easily persuade me to do whatever they wanted on a daily basis, all because they now had the control to swing the decision of my life in any way.

This was a disaster.

I didn't know for how long their 'thinking' session would go on, but I knew that I couldn't let my determination waver. At exactly 4 pm, my eyes darted towards my wrist watch. It was time for my class. I smiled. It was time to go back home. 

Part 17

What do you want to do in life? You know, after college?

MBA, and then some real solid private job in an MNC

I want to do IAS.

I just want to be happy

I came back to reality as I recalled the last answer. Last year, a couple of friends and I had had a discussion about our future. Majority of them talked about how they would love to get a good job or a good business setup, or a government job and it’s securities etc etc. But one of them just said, ‘I just want to be happy’

Sounds stupid doesn’t it? But for me, right now, it seems like the most valuable lesson of my life. Where is happiness? How does one attain happiness? I turned around and looked at mom. She was fretting over a bill that had not been paid. My mom wasn’t happy.

She was living a life that wasn’t a ‘life’. She woke up each morning, did the routine house management, went to office, came back in the evening, had dinner and went to bed. There was so much to worry about, so much to think about, so much to do all at once, where was the time to be happy?

With each passing day, I felt as though I was losing her to an unknown darkness, and fear that I might not be able to get her back hit me like a ton of bricks. She seemed out of reach, out of contact. I wish I could do something to make her happy. Anything.

Last year, I was determined to choose a similar life for myself – becoming a businesswoman, running an establishment, making money. But now, that determination has started to waver.

I walked towards her and gave her a hug from behind, “Relax mom, it’s gonna be okay. The bill will be paid, okay?”

She smiled at me and said, “I know, it’s just that the due date’s passed and these guys might-”

“We do have candles”, I said sheepishly. She just stared at me for a while, shook her head and started smiling. My suggestion wasn’t practical, but the idea of a candlelight dinner with mom made me happy. And that was enough.

_______________________________________

“I love to paint trees in my paintings. They’re just so calm..and serene..and lively at the same time..”

Nandita is still morose. I don’t know how things are at her house. We still haven’t talked about that little fight we had yesterday over Varun. It still bothered me to remember her reaction. She should have been happy.

“..it is a really beautiful song. Have you heard it?”

I don’t get the deal with her parents. They’ve been going around beating the bush since the past two years, and the only thing they’ve done is make Nandita’s life worse.

“Naina? Naina?!”

I jerked back to reality, “What? What?”

“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?”, said Ayush exasperatedly.

I was at his little ‘secret’ place. The place had a certain charm about it. Last time I had spent time here, I knew that it was a place I’d want to come back to. Singing was special to me. This place was full of it. And perhaps it was because I wanted to cherish music again, when I thought of ‘calmness’, this was the only place that came to my mind.

Ayush accepted my request after a little hesitation. This was his hiding place, afterall.

“I’m sorry. I just slipped into some third world for a while. What were you saying?”

He sighed, “I asked – do you like this song?”

“Which one?”

He started to pick up an album cover from the floor to show it to me, but then dropped it and said, “Why don’t we just play it?”

I grinned, “Surprise me”

15 seconds into the song and I knew which one it was. Before I could stop myself, I yelled, “Oh I love this song!” It was ‘Maeri’ by Euphoria. I remember dancing to this song years ago when it had come out.

I didn’t realize when I started singing along. It was probably a bad performance, but I didn’t care. Ayush didn’t care. It was the zest that mattered. For a moment, I forgot all about my problems.

When the song came to and end, we were both sitting on the floor and clapping for each other.

“You know what, you sing well”, said Ayush  excitedly. I brushed it off, “It’s amateur”

“Yeah, but the talent’s there”, he pressed on. I looked at him for a moment before shrugging it off again, “Forget it. Let’s do this again. What say?”

He played the guitar once and said, “Voila!”

I grinned, “Have you heard of the song..”

It went on for hours. There was homework piled up at home, and yet I was here, spending my Sunday evening in a hidden hut. Usually I would just be running around like a wild goose desperate to get the work done, but today, the physics worksheet was the last of my worries. I thought about how lucky Ayush was to have such a haven-like place tucked away safely behind his house, that too accessible at any point of time.

School was such an obstruction to doing what you wanted. It’s ironic, since education’s essential aim to help one find their way. School pretty much beats the purpose by stopping us from doing just that.

I finally looked at my watch when another song ended, “Crap. It’s 8 in the evening. I have to get going”

Ayush looked slightly perturbed, “Oh..but you can stay for another song?”

I opened my mouth to say something when he cut me off, “C’mon, just one? We were just beginning to drown into these notes”

He was an artist alright. No one spoke like that nowadays. I sighed, “Fine. But just one, okay?”

He bowed his head, “Yes, Senorita”. I narrowed my eyes and gave him a cut-the-crap look, “Shut up”

We ended up singing another five. I don’t think I’ve ever spent this kind of time at the dhaba either. Knowing that it was getting too late, I finally decided to make a move or else I’d end up spending the whole night here, “Thanks for today. It was great”, I said, meaning every word.

He looked up packing up his guitar in it’s case, “Not a problem. Actually, I’m glad to know someone who shares my passion”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, and sings like a frog”

Mild laughter ensued. Would anyone believe we used fight like small kids a week back? I got up started to walk towards the door when he said, “Oh and Naina?”

“Yeah?”

“Good job kicking Varun’s ass yesterday. I’d like to see that again”

The way he said it made me smile, “Sure. I’d love to”. Turning around, I waved my hand and said, “Bye Ayush”, and walked out of the door.

Part 10

I’m sitting in my room, still staring at the pamphlet. Broken shards of memories slashed through my mind, arising and then dying, all in a split second. I slowly closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
People call me brave, but I know that somewhere I’m not. Had I been brave, I would have been capable of facing my past. But I’m not. I’ve always been an expert at sweeping the issues under the carpet, but frankly, I don’t know what to do when the same issues wriggle out through the other end of the carpet, and slam squarely into my face.

I broke out of my reverie as my phone rang. It’s dad, and seriously, I couldn’t have been happier.
“Helloo”

“Hi, what’s up?”, I said, as cheerfully as possible.

“Nothing much, just on my way to Delhi”, he asked in his usual, funky voice.

I suddenly sat up in my chair. Did he just say that he was on his way to Delhi?, “How come?”, I asked excitedly.

“Have to reach Noida by 7 pm, so I thought we could have lunch together”

I almost jumped. Dad and I hadn’t met for a long time, and I didn’t realize how much I missed him until now, “Cool! Will you be here by 3?”

“Yup. I’ll be there by 3”, he replied

“Okay! See ya”

I had partially forgotten about the workshop as I disconnected the line. Or maybe I just didn’t want to think about it right now, like I said, I’m an expert at sweeping things under the carpet.




Dad and I are sitting in Pizza hut, our classic hub for lunch outings. We always hog the pizza like hungry maniacs, and never seem to eat so much in a desi restaurant. He seems to have found a new fascination with long hair, and is now carrying a pony (Remember SRK’s pony?) He thinks it looks cool on him.
“So, why’re you going to Noida?”, I asked as I took a huge bite of my pizza.

He shrugged, “Some quality issue. Actually, all they want to do is see my face and be relieved about the fact that I’m alive. My factory is alive and all the other shit”

I nodded slowly, “I see. Business really is all about making your presence known, isn’t it? I mean, who said your ‘social capability’ doesn’t matter in the corporate world?”

He nodded, “That, and other things. Definitely not education and useless degrees”

We both chuckled. My parents have never brainwashed me into believing that ‘school’ and ‘marks’ are as important as breathing. Both of them know that it really doesn’t matter how well you did in school or college, what really matters is your capacity to handle shit. Because that’s truly what’s life’s all about.

“How’s mom doing?”, he asked after we stopped laughing.

“Good”, I replied, and gave him a brief update on the status. In spite of everything, my parents didn’t end things on a bad note. My mom being the kind of person she is, didn’t really ask for alimony, but just asked my dad to give as much as it was possible for him.

During the lunch, I was briefly tempted to tell Dad about the workshop on alcoholism, but then stopped. I realized how that subject is still sensitive, for all of us. Plus I didn’t want to screw the little time I had with him, so I decided to swallow my urge. We talked about everything and nothing, I told him about the maths project, and how Nandita was trying to hook me up with Ayush. He really started laughing at that, not at the idea of Nandita trying to hook me up with someone, but rather the idea of me having a boyfriend.

“Um, you and a boyfriend?”, He said between laughs, “Right. Pigs can fly too”

“Ha Ha Ha. Very funny dad”, I replied in a fake ‘pissed-off’ tone. But somewhere he was right. I was just not girlfriend material.

He told me about his work, our dog (My dad has one) and generally about everything. We debated about whether Avatar was a good film or not (we always end up debating about something), and just when the debate was heating up, we realized that we were literally yelling and burst out laughing.

After lunch, I hugged him before he left for Noida and I made my way towards home, feeling happy. I always have a good time with dad, with him, time seems to fly. We had once gone to Bangalore together and I remember all the khoofiyapanti we did there. It was like being on an excursion trip with my best friend. Moments like these, they make me happy. But they also make me sad when they’re over.




“Okay, so this is what we can do. We can burn the edges of the poster so that it looks like those old, burnt scrolls. I think it looks really good”, said Nandita.

“Hmm, I guess your right”, replied Ayush, thoughtfully.

Nandita and Ayush were discussing the project over the phone. Nandita was the kind of person who would die to share her idea when it struck her, regardless of the time. And hence, at 11 pm at night, she called Ayush to share an idea about the poster that occurred to her a while ago. Luckily for her, Ayush was an insomniac too.

“Yeah, and you can shade it with a little brown and yellow color, if you can picture the blend. You know, the ‘authentic’ kinda look”, she said.

“I think we should paint the background black, to give it a ‘darkness' shade, you know? and then I was planning to draw two fire torches at the bottom, to depict ‘enlightenment’. It’s kind of symbolic”

“I think I can imagine that. I like it, we should do it”, said Nandita

“Really? So far everyone seems to have rejected it. Both Vivek and Naina hate it. Particularly Naina. Jeez, if there is something known as ‘Chalk and cheese’ award, then we should really get it”

Nandita chuckled, “Yeah, she’s a little different. It’ll take time but you’ll get used to her. Anyway, I like your idea. We’ll battle it out with Vivek and Naina. Don’t worry”, she replied

“Yeah, sounds good. So we’re meeting on Sunday?”

“Yep”

“Okay, see you tomorrow in school then. Bye”

Just as Nandita disconnected the line, she heard the noise of glass being shattered from the kitchen. Startled, she ran outside her room and to the kitchen, only to see her mom glaring at her dad, and her dad returning her deathly stare. She sighed and shook her head. When are they going to stop bickering every single day?

As if tuned in to this habit, she quietly turned around and walked back to her room. She could hear faint voices. I lost him because of you!

It was always the same.




No, please don’t fight, please don’t fight, chanted a little girl as tears rolled down her cheeks. She stood in one corner of the house, staring at her parents screaming at each other, unaware of what they were really saying. It just went on, she wanted it to stop, she wanted someone to bring to a stop...

I snapped my eyes open to absolute darkness. I was taking deep breaths, trying to recover from the dream. Jumping out of bed, I quickly ran and turned on the light. I have this inexplicable fear of the dark, I feel lost and helpless when there’s no light. It had been a long time since I had one of those nightmares, but this workshop had started to act as a trigger. It had kicked into the well settled sand once again.

I had never shared with anyone, not even myself, that my parents were alcoholics in the past. I don’t want to attend this workshop.

Part 7

Ayush nodded and walked towards us. I had a hint as to why Nandita had done this on purpose. She was trying to bring Ayush and me closer. Damn, what's her problem ? I love her, I really do, but sometimes she can get way too intrusive.

"Okay, so now we have all the groups ?", our maths teacher said. The class nodded in consent and the teacher wrote down everyone's name. I was still looking daggers at Nandita for doing this. Great, now we're stuck as a group for a month and a half. Brilliant. I can already imagine myself strangling Nandita to death.

My thought process was broken by our teacher's voice, "Okay, so I want you all to discuss and tell me the topic of your project. You can choose any topic from either your maths book, or any other theme related to the field of mathematics. You all have to prepare a powerpoint presentation and a chart depicting the summary of your project. The powerpoint should have a minimum of 30 slides"

The entire class groaned. 30 slides is really no joke, and considering the number of ppt's we've made this year, none of us wanted another one to be added to the list. Our group sat down together and started discussing. We all agreed on one thing - The topic should be simple and easy. No complication.

"I think we should take up 'Historical mathematicians', that's the easiest of the lot", I said as soon as we sat down.

"Yeah and boring as hell", said Ayush, "We'll want to dump this theme halfway through. There's no fun there"

"Fun is not on our priority list Ayush. We need to get this stupid thing done as soon as possible. And I'm not interested in killing my head for 1 and a half months over this useless project", I replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yeah ? Then why are you even doing it?", he was beginning to get irritated too.

"What's the alternative ?", I replied, now completely irked at his 'I-wanna-be-a-good-student' attitude.

"Calm down guys. Relax", chipped in Vivek, "Jeez. We've not even started doing anything, and you guys are fighting already"

I sighed and mumbled, "Whatever". Ayush kept quiet too. Nandita's gaze flickered over both of us for a while before she said, "Okay. Let's do this. Let's write down our choices on small chits and jumble them up. We'll pick out a chit and whatever topic comes out, we'll take it. Okay ?"

We all nodded in consent as Nandita fished out her notebook from her bag. She tore a paper and then tore it again in smaller pieces. We all wrote down our choices, and since I was miffed already, I chose to be adamant and wrote down 'Historical Mathematicians' in bold with my permanent marker. Nandita gave me a 'Stop-being-kiddish' look, but I didn't pay much heed to her.

All the chits were then jumbled up properly. Nandita extended her hand and picked out one. She paused before saying it aloud, "Um, Historical Mathematicians"

"Ha!", I exclaimed before I could stop myself. A grin played on my lips as I gave Ayush a victorious look. I was being extremely childish, and I didn't know why, but it felt good to know that my topic had been chosen. Ayush's shoulders slumped. I wasn't done, I really wanted to rub this in his face, "Fair enough Ayush. It's not like my suggestion was given extra preference, right ?"

He glared at me and said, "Fine. Let's do it"

I arched an eyebrow and nodded, "Finally"

We informed the teacher about our topic and decided to start working on it from the next week onwards. Since I was the well known powerpoint maestro, it was decided that I would be the one handling the presentation. Ayush was good at calligraphy and art, so he decided to take up the chart work. Nandita and Vivek offered to do all the research work.


As the last class got over, Nandita and I decided to go for a little chuski treat (A small stall was right next to our school) before heading home. I needed to talk to her about certain things. We sat down on the small wooden stools next to the stall. Few minutes passed before I said, "Mom's a little worried. There's, uh, a little financial problem going on"

She looked at me and said, "Hmm, I guessed. You seem a little off since the last few days"

"Yeah, everything's just not falling into place. I don't know what to do", I replied in a softer voice. Nandita simply leaned forward and took hold of my hand. She nodded empathetically at me. It wasn't the first time I was sharing the fact that our financial condition was rocky with her. And somehow, she always understood. It was something I was extremely grateful about.

I took a deep breath and said, "Dad called. He just discovered his new passion - Online poker", and our faces broke into a smile at that. My dad was not just my dad, he was also my buddy. We were really more like friends. He wasn't the 'I-wanna-protect-my-daughter' type father, he was the 'Find-your-own-way' kind of dad. Infact, once when I was a kid, I fell down while skating and hurt myself pretty badly. He just stood outside the ring, giving me a sheepish grin. I had to ultimately stand up on my own. After the practice, he had said to me, "See, that's why you're different. You don't need your dad to stand up on your feet. You can do it on your own"

"Uncle's always been quite the fun guy", said Nandita. I nodded, "Yup. Can I say something really nasty ?"

She shrugged. I smiled and said, "Divorced parents are the best parents in the world"

"Uh, Tell me about it. My parents keep bickering all the time. For no reason. You're right, you know", she replied while making a face. I laughed at her expression and shook my head.

"What ?", she asked with a blank expression. "Nothing", I said and got up, "Let's go. It's getting late"

She nodded and got up. We were about to leave when I suddenly stopped and turned around. She jumped slightly and staggered, "Shit. Naina. Are you nuts ?"

"And what the hell was the whole morning drama about ?", I slipped into my angry demeanor and barked at her. She still had the blank expression on her face, "What drama ?"

"Don't act innocent. Why did you ask only Ayush to join our group ?"

Then it seemed to hit her. Her face relaxed in realization for a moment, "Oh that", and the next moment she had a nonchalant expression on her face, "Nothing. I want you to be his girlfriend that's all", and with that, she walked past me, leaving me with my mouth agape.

I quickly regained my self-control and started walking. I'm going to kill her.

Part 6

As soon as the first period got over, everyone shuffled back to their original seats. Nandita came and sat beside me. I was in the process of finishing a few notes when she said, "You're quite enjoying yourself with Ayush"

Something odd about her tone struck me, but I waved it off and said, "What do you mean ?"

She suddenly became excited (No, not in the typical girly way), and snapped her fingers infront me, "Hey, hey look at me", I sighed and reluctantly looked towards her. She continued, "Look, you're a bloody loner.." I started to protest but she cut me off, "Shut up. You're a loner, you have no friend except of me. Which, sweetheart, is not healthy. I have friends too. They're not as close as you are, but there are a few. Oh and not to mention, I had an almost-boyfriend last year too" I rolled my eyes at that as she continued, "But YOU are something else man. No friends, no boyfriends. You're an alien."

She waited for my response, but getting none, she mellowed down and bit and said, "Maybe you can be friends with this Ayush yaar", before she could say anything else, I raised my palms up and said, "No no no. I know where you're going with this. It's not gonna work. Drop it. Forget it. Screw it, okay ?"

She sighed and shook her head, I knew that she was probably annoyed at my 'anti-social' behaviour, but I she needs to understand how difficult it is for me to let someone in my boundaries. I let her in, because over the time I realized that she's someone I can identify with, but not anyone. Yes, I laughed a bit with Ayush but that doesn't imply that we're on the verge of becoming friends. And knowing Nandita, I'm pretty sure she would have already linked us in her mind. This is something that I really don't like about her. It makes her seem like one of those typical teens.

Rest of the classes dragged. With Nandita annoyed at me, there was hardly any talking. At one point of time I was on the verge of apologizing, but my ego came in the middle and I dropped the idea. The last class got over and the bell rang. Nandita picked up her bag and walked out of the class without saying 'Bye' to me. I will have to sort this out with her, later. I slowly picked my bag up and walked out of the class.


"No mom, I had lunch, seriously", I spoke into the phone. Mom can be such a mom at times. She calls me up everyday at exactly 2:40 pm to know whether I had lunch or not. She's made me so independent, and yet she gets worked up even if I don't have lunch on time. I finally hear silence which means that she has believed me. "Okay", she said, and hung up.

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the computer desktop. There really was nothing much to do today, except homework ofcourse. But I'm going to procrastinate. For now, I want to do something creative. Instantly, I grabbed hold of my mouse and hovered over the 'Sony Vegas' icon. Video Editing is something that I learnt last year during the holidays before board exams. I love editing, It really brings out the creative side of me.

I hardly watch TV, but I really enjoy watching 'Bones' and 'Hustle', that air on Star World and BBC Entertainment respectively. I had downloaded a few clips last month, and without further ado, I imported 'Hustle' clips into the project and began working my mind.



The bell rang at 9:30 pm. I walked upto the main door and opened it. Mom was home. As usual, I hugged her and fetched her a glass of water. She kept her things (Neatly - she's a cleanliness freak) in their respective places and went inside the washroom. We're going to rant and whine till 10:30 pm, I'm sure about that. We always sit down at the end of the day and whine.

As predicted, we did talk till 10:30. My mom's an entrepreneur, she has her own software company. But 'enterpreneurship' and 'women' do not go in the same sentence in India. It's been a tough ride for her, it still is. I'm trying my best to support her in every which way possible. Infact, I'm so involved with the activities in the firm that she takes my advice alot of times before venturing into something new.

We dissected every aspect of the day's activities before having dinner. There's a little financial crisis going on. Payments are delayed, and we don't have enough projects in hand to keep the cycle running smoothly. But we are the kind of people who have learnt how to live on hope. Each day begins with hope and ends with hope.

"I've mailed a few venture capitalists, let's see if they respond soon", I told her as I put the dishes in the wash basin. She nodded and said, "That's good. Forward me the mail if they reply. I'll follow it up"

"Okay, I'll do that"


At exactly 11:00 pm, My mom's eyelids start getting droopy. Her entire system has programmed itself in such a way that her body reacts to a certain function at the right time. I know I'm making her sound like a robot, but she's not. She's just a disciplined person who is dead tired by the end of the day.



Nandita is still miffed with me. I sighed and sat down next to her.

"Listen, will you just let that go ?", I asked, with a hint of impatience in my voice. She didn't reply. God, this girl can be such a pain. I shook my head and started speaking, "Nandu, you know it's not easy for me to just make friends. I'm a little anti-social and you know it, so why push me ? Ayush is nice but we're not even close to becoming -", I couldn't complete the rest of the sentence as the teacher entered.

I decided to save the talking for some other time. If we're caught by our maths teacher, then we're screwed. We opened our books and waited for her to start teaching. Our maths teacher is another item. When she speaks, it seems as though someone has attached a mike to her kurta. Her voice literally booms. Students avoid sitting on the front bench in her class. They might get deaf.

She wears those huge, old, 60's kinda glasses. You know, the type that look bigger than your face. And she's huge. Gorilla type huge.

"You all have to submit a group project to me by the end of next month. It carries 10 marks", she said as she stood infront of the class, "You can make your own groups, with 4 students in each group. We have a double period so you can decide and let me know now"

Everyone started chattering about who was going to be in whose group. It was obvious that Nandita and me would be together, but we needed 2 more people. She called one of her guy-friends named Vivek to join the group. Everyone else seemed to have formed their groups so we decided that we'll have to make do with 3 people.

"Okay, now I want each person from one group to say the names of all members of your group. I need to note it down", said our teacher.

"Ma'am, we just have 3 people in our group. Is that okay ?", enquired Nandita.

"Hmm", our teacher looked around the room and spotted a group that had 5 members, "Surbhi, you have 5 members in your group. Maybe one of you can join Nandita's", she said.

Nandita's next line took me by surprise. No, 'shock' would be the better word as she did it deliberately. "Ayush, why don't you join us ?". My head jerked towards her, "What ?", I whispered. She simply gave me a smirk and winked at me.