Leave me alone

Rahul was checking if everything he needed was there in his bags .He slowly dragged them out, one by one. His parents were watching him struggle with his luggage, they did not want to help him out, and their hearts would not allow them to do that. It was their only son who was leaving. Rahul managed to get hold of a rickshaw; he was making sure if all his bags were in the rickshaw when he felt a huge arm go around his shoulders, it was his dad
“Son, try and forget all what has happened?”
Rahul nodded and sat in the rickshaw, he did not allow any one to come along with him to the station he wanted to be alone. He got in to his compartment and the train took him along with many others.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Rahul took the keys of his room form the old gentleman
“I don’t know if you would like the room or not”
“Don’t worry sir I will manage.”
The old man smiled. Rahul knew a lot more was to come when he saw that smile. He picked up a newspaper on his way back to his room.
After sometime there was a sound at the door, Rahul’s roommate was there at the door. Rahul got up pushed forward his hand
“Hi I am Rahul I am going to trouble you here for the next few days”
“Yeah great” the guy rolled his eyes and went to take a shower.
Rahul did not like it, he thought it was very rude but what could he do about it? Everyone cannot pamper you right?

Rahul was wandering around in his room; he had to attend his college from tomorrow and did not know how he would go there, when he noticed his room mate’s college I card.
“Sameer Bhatt” good name thought Rahul.
Rahul was noticing Sameer that guy came out after the shower changed into his night clothes, took a book to study for sometime and slept and during this time he had not spoken one word. It’s a breach of the code of conduct for humanity isn’t it??

The night had taken over and Rahul was fast asleep. Sameer was feeling very restless; these times of loneliness haunt and strangle Sameer. He was looking outside the window; the moon was being chased by the dark clouds, however fast the moon ran the dark clouds finally won. That’s the truth about life; memories always catch up on you. The wind blew hard at his face
“Here they come”


The early morning sunrays slowly spread over Rahul’s face, he got up twitching his nose.
He saw Sameer was already ready and was leaving for the college.
“Bro …” shouted Rahul
Sameer stopped and turned in anguish “What happened?”
“Listen bro, I do not know how to get to the college.. So if you could please drop me there …” nothing seemed to be happening “only for today” he added and folded his hands.
“Alright only for today” Sameer replied “I am waiting near the bike”.

Rahul rushed to the bathroom took a shower as quickly as possible, put on crushed clothes and ran below. Sameer was already waiting there tapping his feet

“What took you so long?” asked Sameer.
Rahul found him rude, he did all the running and this is what he gets. “Cant he just keep his complaining out of his life ?” Rahul thought.

Sameer was one of the worse drivers Rahul had ever seen or rather sat behind. The wind blowing had brought Rahul’s cheek to his eyes…at least that’s what he thought.

“Dude” Rahul struggled to get some sound from his throat “are we planning to go to the college or are you planning to go there” Rahul pointed to wards the heavens.

“Get down the bike now”
“What?”
“see if you cannot stop commenting the way I drive my bike then please get down……..

Rahul kept listening like a small kid been brought to discipline by its teacher


They reached the college much before time. There was hardly a soul there; except for an old watchman (Should he be counted among the live souls roaming or dead one’s Rahul is still not sure). Sameer had vanished in thin air..
“so now what do I do all alone in this jungle, no chicks around here….” He said scratching his head… “Life is kinda difficult.”

The college was an East India company headquarters before independence, this building could give shivers to every person worth his salt, at least that’s what Rahul thought. He looked around for any modern structures and he had prepared himself to believe that the most modern building could be around 50 years old.
After a haphazard search for 15 minutes he finally found the auditorium which was not old (that was a pleasant surprise!!!). The auditorium had a huge wooden door which squeaked when pushed to be opened, and boy was it not loud. This was nothing new as this is what happens in colleges like these. The college looks good only if there is an event which is going to happen and the auditorium had a good part to play in it. Despite its poor outer look the auditorium was reasonably good from inside. The floor was neat and had a thin carpet throughout which was hiding the real material of the floor. It had a lot of seats and it had an ambience of a Roman amphitheatre, the only difference being that this one had a roof and that made it look majestic. Wild thoughts started haunting Rahul. He had a wild imagination but never so wild, he could see students being left helpless in front of lions and the professors sitting at one corner laughing their way to glory and the poor student could not do anything. Rahul could not bear the pain and miseries of the poor student, and that’s when he saw someone sitting at the far corner of the auditorium.

“Now I know why I was getting those weird painful and what not ideas….guess whose here the Maharaja of all the pain miseries and what not ….”

“Whats up weirdo?”
“What???” asked Sameer
“Nothing.. What are you doing here?” Rahul noticed some amount of pain in Sameer’s and if he was not wrong he saw a stray tear rolling down his cheeks.
“Can I ask you the same question” Sameer shot back
“Well I pay my college fees and I think I have the right to go to the college auditorium at my free will”….(“ got back to the monster yipeeee” Rahul thought)
Sameer got up and got going.( “did I do it so well?”)
“Where are you going?” he asked
“I don’t think the college pays me to answer all your questions?”
Now that was rude wasn’t it.

xxxxxxx






Days passed by and things did not seem to work out. Everyday Rahul kept trying to get a little friendly with Sameer and he ended up doing exactly the opposite. Rahul never thought that it could be so difficult but you never expect life to be easy do you?.. who knew that this could have happened to Rahul, but that’s how things are that’s how life is.

“Thinking about how unfair life is??” asked the old man
“Yes uncle, but tell me one thing how do you know everything?” asked Rahul throwing a stone in the puddle in front of him.
“Like I have always been telling you I am not one of you. I am different …”
“Let us not discuss that again.. Now tell me what to do?”
“You know I never have an answer to that” he said with a glow on his face. Rahul had always noticed that he always had a heavenly glow on his face and his white robes always reflected purity. There was something about this man which brought peace in Rahul’s heart and soul. It was strange Rahul never knew who he was and how he always appeared from no where and disappeared in thin air, or rather he’s just got used to it (expect all the crazy things from Rahul).
Before Rahul could say a word the guy had done what he always did, he had disappeared again
“Thank you, I was enlightened after that great conversation dude” shouted Rahul. He got up and started walking towards his room. The sky was heavy with dark clouds by now, there was a flash of lightning every now and then and finally it started to pour down. Every drop touching his body, every flash of lightning took Rahul somewhere, somewhere he never wanted to go again. He sat on a bench near by, covering his face trying to run away from something which was inside him, deeply rooted and refusing to leave him alone.

He felt some one keep his hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was; it was the same old man, the man with a big heart, Kalb al Kabira…
“Finally you got my name”
“What’s your name?”
“Kabir, good name isn’t it?”
Rahul was glad that the old man was there with him again, and yes he also thought that Kabir was a nice name, but it sounded a little too young for him.
“Rahul tell me something” he said interrupting Rahul’s thoughts
“Huh ... what?”
“What is the thing that troubles you the most?” he asked
“Memories…some of the memories which bring me a lot of pain”
“I want you to think about them again.”
“And why is that?”
“The answer is simple; life is like a coin with two sides”
“Yeah and my coin is gone for a toss….”
Kabir was smiling “good answer but like I was saying life has two sides to it and your memories are no different”
“How can there be a good side to it, and if there is something what could it be I wonder, the best thing is that I met you for the first time, but that’s bearable at maximum not good” Rahul smiled at Kabir and continued “ now I understand my coin also has two sides bad and worse”
Kabir had disappeared again, Rahul was smiling, and he got up from the bench and went to his room. Rahul’s burden had lightened but only for a while.

Sameer was hiding his head from the rain under a small tapri , it is something like a tent the only difference being that it is used by the financially disabled as a home. He was staring at his Davidoff slowly burning away, all it left was ASH. He turned the packet and saw a small tag on it; it said “Smokers Die Younger” a wry smile came to his face. It was the same tag which took him to smoking. Today he knew with every drag, he might lose a few minutes of his life “just wished it took out a little more than that”.
He threw the butt and stepped out of the tapri and went to his bike. The rain was slowly soaking him. He stepped on his bike and zoomed away. He kept driving as fast as he could, trying to runaway from himself.

Rahul sat on his bed feeling just a little but numb because of the rain. He sipped his coffee reading the Men’s world; it was telling all the quick ways of getting a good six pack abs. That got him thinking…” six pack huh…I wonder how many chicks would fall for that” and there the magazine had an answer to that also it said “57.7% of the women want a guy who has a good six pack”. Rahul raised his eyebrow 57.7 chicks in hundred “I will let Sameer keep that 0.7 girl and I will keep the 57” Rahul chuckled.
Sameer pushed the door open; he was completely soaked with rain. He had a cigarette burning in his mouth. He threw it from his mouth on the floor and crushed it with his leg. Sameer changed, his head still wet. He pulled his blanket and went straight to sleep.
“Well I guess then I will have to keep that 0.7 also, I cannot let her suffer at the hands of this monster” Rahul said with a very innocent face.

Rahul noticed Sameer’s face getting red, especially near his nose. He was catching fever and that too a bad one. He touched Sameer’s head; he definitely was catching flu. Rahul looked around, he poured the bottle of cold water he had got in a bowl, soaked a clean handkerchief in it and started rubbing Sameer’s head with it.



“Never did this thing before but got to take care of this guy, he is absolutely out of his mind. Man I really don’t understand…how can a person become so emotionless, so rigid doesn’t even care about his life neither about those around him. He is living in a world of his own.”

Rahul was right.. Sameer was in a world of his own, he lived there, and wanted to die there never wanted to get out of that place and that seems to be the only problem.

Rahul checked Sameer’s temperature, it was still 400 C. It was going to take some time to go down. Rahul turned towards the watch, It was 2 in the morning, he saw the hands of the watch slowly moving ahead. He had only winked once or twice but now he could not focus on the watch anymore, he rubbed his eyes trying to focus on it 10 AM it said; He got up astonished … he did not even realize when he fell asleep.
“Where is Sameer?” he asked himself. Sameer was not there on the bed. Rahul got up from his chair looked around in the room but could not find him. It seems Sameer had got up and left for college probably.
“Man that guy is a crazy nut he’s gone to the college; he’s running high temperature man”
At that moment Sameer came in to the room, he was wearing a long rain coat over a warm woolen jacket, but he was still shivering
“Where were you buddy?” asked Rahul