Anyone Else But You...

by Mallik, Ritwik; Verma, Ananya

  “The pleasure was entirely mine, miss,” Rishav said with a bow.

  “Right,” she said. She leaned and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Bye” she said as she ran like a penguin towards her sector’s gate as Rishav’s ears went from pink to red in the speeding auto.

  SEVENTEEN

  Sahana could point out all the flaws in men (the worst half of species, she felt). All of them really! She could make fun of their perversion, their desperation, their pathetic behavior and their freakiness. The last thing that Sahana wanted was to get cozy with one of the freaks as she called them. She looked at couples and felt nauseas instantly. All that sappy and so called conventional stuff didn’t work for her.

  Sometimes, she did think about the perfect guy for her but in her immediate veinity, she couldn’t find a guy who even remotely resembled him (not Rishav, her dream man rather).

  She was going towards the Accounts section of the school alone when Rishav stopped her in her tracks. “Where are you going?”

  “Well, how does it matter to you?” she replied.

  “Well it doesn’t matter much …just that if you want some company, I am happy to oblige.”

  Poor guy, she thought. I shouldn’t make him try so hard.

  She shrugged and he followed.

  They were walking in silence when Sahana noticed some juniors ahead. She saw a couple with their hands loosely tangled in each other’s and she couldn’t help but gawk. She pointed it out to Rishav. “See that, that’s what I don’t like – holding hands! So cheesy!”

  Rishav didn’t reply. All that he could think was that this girl was way too complicated and one hell of a piece of work. Whether he had the energy to untangle the big mess Sahana was, was the big question.

  On the other hand, Sahana wished that he’d understand she was not playing hard to get but just that she wanted him to stop trying to want more.

  After a few more moments of silence and a few steps ahead, Rishav spoke, “Maybe they like it. Maybe that’s the way to show their love for each other.”

  “True. But I am saying that I don’t like it. Not that they don’t like it.”

  “Okay,” he mumbled a faint reply.

  “Relationships…” continued Sahana. “…are useless, meaningless and a big waste of time! I don’t like them because in the end, I know that one day or the other, those two are gonna break up and I don’t think I have time or the energy to cope with all of that. Plus, I don’t like relationships because you would have to tell your boyfriend or girlfriend everything about yourself which could be turned against you, if you happen to break up. Hence, the conclusion is that they are hazardous.”

  “You don’t have to tell anyone anything. You can omit some things, sometimes,” Rishav replied to her long statement.

  “That’s the thing na. See, if I have a boyfriend, then he would expect me to talk to him on the phone. But I can’t do that because of certain restrictions and stuff. And when I tell him that, he would want to know more…how and why? And I can’t tell him, because in the event of a fall out, he might just tell It to his friends. And I can’t let that happen, can I?” she finally ended.

  “True,” he said.

  “Do you know any other word that that?” she asked.

  “Anyway,” Sahana continued without waiting for a reply. “I sincerely hope that you don’t feel too highly of relationships, or else we might have problems getting along!” she sounded blunt.

  “Why, of course…” said Rishav as he made his way across the winding corridors of Delhi High School.

  *

  Bindu Kalsi stared into the sheet that she was carrying with her on stage. She had scribbled a few key-notes on what to say and on what not to say on stage. But much to her annoyance, she left that sheet back within the comforts of her cabin. She strained her eyes to scan through the list of names.

  She looked up and let out a deep breath of air. She paused and observed the students standing, all so silent, waiting in baited breath to hear something they had been anticipating for over a month now. Almost everything in DHS had revolved around the Council appointments, hence, every single child, teacher and parent alike knew its importance. With the growing silence, grew impatience. Many thought of it to be a dramatic prologue to what Bindu would say but few knew that Bindu was utilizing that time to make up stuff she would have to say. She was bad with speeches.

  “Good morning…” she said in a nasal tone.

  “Gooood morniiiing ma’am…!” There was a stretched out, enthusiastic reply from the juniors while the seniors standing near the back found it below their levels of coolness to actually wish the Principal back.

  “As you already know that we have assembled here for a specific purpose. And that is to introduce you all to your new set of leaders,” she paused briefly to see how people were responding. As expected, everyone pretty much had blank expressions.

  “We had some really good interviews over the past week or so and we have taken a lot of pain to select the best council possible!” she added. “So, these badge bearers will be our representatives in the student community. Respect them and seek help from them whenever required. If they break rules, report them but at no time will you misbehave with them. Is that understood?”

  “Yessss maaaaam!” another sing-song reply.

  “Good,” she said. “I will read out the names, one by one. Starting from the Head Boy and Head Girl and follow it up with the Vice Head Boy and so on.”

  Two people from within those three thousand were barely managing to breathe.

  Jai tried hard appearing cool. It seemed that his calmness had just gone on a vacation. He constantly scratched his head, shifted weight from one leg to the other and rubbed his stubble unnecessarily. He snapped at people who were muttering things like, ‘congrats’ and ‘you’ll be the Head Boy’, around him. He desperately needed some peace of mind; the last few nights had been terrible for him, to say the least. Sleepless nights and then when he finally managed to get some sleep, he was haunted by nightmares of Rishav Sen running around in his father’s dressing gown. It was three years back that Jai was identified as a possible candidate to become the Head Boy and ever since, he had succeeded without any competition. He did whatever he could within his control and also stuff beyond his control to ensure that the moment he was facing went according to plan. Nothing can ruin it, he thought. He’d probably start crying if the results turned out to be unfavourable – such was his desperation for that post.

  On the other hand, in a more contrasting scenario – Rishav Sen stood chatting and cracking a few jokes with people around him. All of a sudden it seemed that these posts didn’t matter to him, he was a different person altogether. I’ve got nothing to lose, he told himself, the moment negative thoughts started creeping in.

  Sahana glanced at Rishav from a little far away, she was afraid that he might just go all emotional if he didn’t get the post. She interrupted Vanya a number of times, just to stand on her toes and keep a check on how Rishav was responding. She was anxious too but she wasn’t too sure on why her heart prayed that Rishav didn’t get the post.

  Siddhant Dalvi, stuck to his usual self. He wasn’t even considered for interview. His chances were all gone and he muttered a chant under his breath that wished Rishav, good luck with his application.

  The attention shifted back to the stage. “And the names are…” said Bindu Kalsi.

  “…for Head Boy, we have,” she began her sentence. “…for Head Boy, it is Jai Chauhan!” she said.

  And the response was incomparable to anything that had ever happened in school before. A sea of thunderous claps engulfed the entire school as there was hooting, screaming and cheering for one of the most popular heroes and figures that stood by the ‘cool’ image of Delhi High School. Students of all shapes and sizes, teachers and assistant teachers alike – all clapped for Jai as hard as they could. Jai got all pumped up and screamed out a few abuses in the air as he walked briskly
towards the stage, bisecting the crowd, occasionally pushing them to make way for himself. And when he was almost through the crowd and nearly reaching the stair case of the stage and when the noise and euphoria had died down, Bindu Kalsi spoke again. “And by discretion as the Principal of DHS, we will be having a slight change in the system,” she said in one go.

  Jai stopped in his tracks; he looked at the Principal with a startled expression. Bhenchod, what the fuck is she saying? He thought.

  As an answer to all the curious faces looking up at her, Bindu Kalsi clarified. “Using my discretion, I announce that this year in lieu of a Vice Head Boy – we shall be having two Head Boys!” she laid enough emphasis on words she had to.

  Some kind of bomb seemed to have exploded because right then, the chatter got replaced by a buzz that spread like wildfire. There were a string of whispers that ran through all present there. Teachers looked at each other with surprised expressions, students pro-Jai cursed Kalsi while the neutral ones tried hard to come to terms with what was announced.

  What’s wrong with this fuckin’ woman!” scowled Jai. He nonetheless, grumpily, walked ahead and got onto the stage.

  “As the second Head Boy, we have an equally deserving candidate – someone who in a short while has done wonders for the school and I am sure he will not let me down. The second Head Boy of DHS, please come up on stage, Rishav Sen!” she announced with great pride. She smiled like never before.

  The moment he heard his name, Rishav’s heart burst into an array of emotions. He couldn’t think and feel like a normal human being then. All he wanted had just come true and it would take something more than time to help him come to terms with it. His vision was blurry, there were people patting him, some shook his hands. He could feel people grabbing him and congratulating in their own personal way but Rishav tried hard searching for the face he wanted to see the most. He looked all around frantically to locate her. He needed to catch a glimpse of her before he went on to the stage and there she was.

  He finally managed to see Sahana, a little away from where he stood. She was visible, yet concealed from his view in a way.

  She was smiling. They looked at each other for a few seconds, Rishav smiled back. Some kind of unspoken communication took place between them. He wanted to thank her for being there in his life and give her a hug to let her know how special she was, but then came the second call for him. With a quick last look, Rishav broke into a jog and tried reaching the stage before his dream ended…

  EIGHTEEN

  Rishav stood on stage with the twenty other students who were privileged enough to be chosen for the Council. And the list did include the likes of Hardik, Chintan, Tarun and Rishi. In short, most of Jai’s ass lickers had found their way into the Council – much to the delight of Jai.

  If one felt that Rishav’s tough times had ended, well then it wasn’t to be – as the tough times had just begun for him.

  The moment Rishav’s name was announced, there was an immediate lull that crept in. Everyone had an opinion, but no one was sure enough to share that opinion. As a result of that, Rishav didn’t get the most overwhelming response like Jai did. His was a more lukewarm one.

  He could hear a few boos too, mostly coming from the senior lot. There were some derogatory remarks too, as he moved through the crowd. And finally when he reached the stage, Jai’s expression was that of a person whose pride had been hurt. And when you puncture the ego of the royalty, you don’t really escape unscathed.

  Rishav nervously glanced at Sahana, from above the stage. She seemed all confident and chirpy. He looked around, while the Principal spoke. He saw the faces and apart from a couple of guys – Rishav couldn’t really relate to a single person. Yet, he was there – the Head Boy of Delhi High School.

  The road that lay ahead was a difficult one as he would have to slog his butt out to manage to hold on to this post. By the end of Class XI, only one student would be retained as Head Boy and the other would be relegated to a lower post. And this decision would be taken purely on a merit basis – so said the almanac. However, Rishav knew how heavy Veer Chauhan’s wallet was and how good Jai’s chances were of retaining the post.

  A lot of tact was required and for an impulsive, passionate fool like Rishav Sen; tact was something difficult to achieve.

  *

  “You did it! Congrats,” said Sahana, all smiling.

  “Yes, I did,” Rishav replied, slightly morose over the response he had just got.

  “What happened? You should be happy, Mr. Head Boy.” She tried her best to cheer him up.

  “Happy over the fact that they booed me? Yes, right! I am happy, see…” he grinned artificially.

  “God. Are you kidding me? You are sad because those ugly superficial bastards didn’t cheer?” she replied.

  “Uh huh,” he started moving towards the school building. Sahana closely followed.

  “ Would you get over it already? Where’s my treat first? Gimme my treat and then you can depressed as much as you want” she asked.

  “Yeah, sure. Let’s celebrate that a loser just became the Head Boy!” he exclaimed.

  “It doesn’t matter. And I think a person who is sensible and who has enough brains to comprehend logic would get that,” Sahana said as she grabbed his arm to ensure that Rishav got every word of what she was

  saying.

  He remained silent, she continued, “They either want you to be cool in lingo and behavior and stuff or hot by appearance. And since, you are none – they kind of don’t accept you as much as they accept Jai. No offence intended,” she smiled slyly as she explained it to him.

  “That’s really flattering, Sahana. And what do you mean by - I am not accepted? Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?” he sounded pissed.

  “Why do you take so much of offense for no reason? Just listen will you?” she insisted.

  “No, thank you!” he fastened his steps. She walked a quicker to catch up with him.

  “Sen, you are annoying me now. Don’t show me your anger, geddit?”

  “Um, excuse me,” he stopped midway. “But I’m not showing you my frustration. I am just telling you that my sadness is kind of justified.

  “To a certain extent, yes. But just because some people don’t clap for you doesn’t make you a loser. They are not as familiar with you as they are with Jai. And I order you to be not sad when I am around. When I am not, well then you can scream, shout, mourn, or whatever you want to do.” she said sweetly.

  He smiled. “Where’s my hug?” he asked.

  “You don’t ask for a hug. Ok? It’s weird.”

  “Oh shut up. Just tell me if I am getting it or not?”

  “Horny bastard. Stay away,” she said while taking her tongue out.

  “And what if I say that a hug is the cure to my sadness?”

  A lopsided grin reappeared, “Go to Veenu, she’ll give you a tight hug, I am sure,” she laughed.

  Rishav almost had a pretty disjointed sentence formed in his head when she started speaking again

  “You get it when you earn it. Just like that chocolate, you know. That fine, dark delicious chocolate.” she said the last bit while licking her lips.

  “Hahaaa. Fine, fine…no hugs. Happy? But I get to treat you don’t I?” they entered the classroom and took their window seats.

  “Yes you do. Chinese, bitch. Mainland China. Nothing less than that will be accepted.” she said in a dead serious tone.

  Rishav’s jaw dropped for a moment, “What?” “Mainland China, isn’t it like a little too…”

  “Tres expensive? Yes, I know,” she completed him. “But I still want you to treat me there.” She took her tongue out.

  “Alright,” Rishav said hesitantly as his mind started working on how he would arrange for cash that would sustain a date at Mainland China.

  Sahana broke into laughter as she saw Rishav’s face contort. “I was just pulling your leg. Don’t worry I won’t burn a hole in your pockets like y
our girlfriends will do in the future. Get me Crackle if you want to. Ok? Money to me, mon ami, doesn’t matter. Remember that.”

  And just when Rishav was going to say something really praiseworthy of Sahana, she put a few more words to her previous sentence.

  “Though if you see it practically money does matter you know…” she said. “…or else, you know, I can’t really kill all my options of being treated by you at expensive places,” she winked.

  Rishav rolled his eyes. “Will you give me the chance to drop you back home again today?”

  “Again? Umm…Wasn’t it like just a week back?” she asked.

  “Didn’t you eat food, like just yesterday?” he countered.

  “So, you are comparing yourself to food?”

  “Yes, I am a necessity in your life,” he calmly replied.

  “Nothing other than money is a necessity, babe. Stopflirting with me now.” she gave hints of her snappy self.

  “Oh yes, trying too hard am I now?” Rishav casually mentioned.

  “Whoa! When did I say that?” she was surprised.

  He knows that I think he tries too hard. Wow, she thought.

  “Yeah, I said something about you feeling that I try too hard,” he took off his glasses.

  She narrowed her eyes, “I don’t feel that at all. Stop assuming things. It’s what they say when you assume, you make an ASS of U and ME.” she stuttered. She tried looking in all directions but at Rishav.

  “Okay. But you should know that I do know how you feel. It’s not just you who gets to read what I think and understand what I am feeling,” he added.

  A semi-stunned Sahana looked on as he spoke. “…at times, even I get to know what’s going on in your head. Remember that and now, I seriously need to go and use the washroom,” saying so, Rishav said while patting her arm and walked past her towards the classroom door.