Episode 8: Exposed !!

Previous Episode

Hey, I never got your roll no. in student's list of UG1, found some other UG3 guy named Parth in the list! BTW, what is your roll no.?

Natasha scribbles me a note in the library the next night. This isn't good. Loopholes in my plan are showing. I scribble back.

Of course not. I joined in final counseling round, so my name and roll no. might not have been updated in student's list. Isn't name enough?

The Salsa workshop organizers asked for roll no. and name.

I smile. This is good. :)

After a few minutes, as if taking time to organize her thoughts, she scribbles.

I saw you teaching your batchmates C programming. Why would you teach them?

Okay now, looks like I'm exposed! :(

This may seem strange, but the professor asked me to teach the class what he was teaching. He was sitting in the last row, maybe you didn't get to see him there. It was a punishment!

Evening class?

Yup! Professors are strange people, isn't it? :)

Phew! She seems convinced because she smiles and nods in agreement.

A few days later after the morning lecture, as I walk out of the lecture hall, Anubhav pats me on my back and thumbs up me with a smile as he walks by!

Few girls of my batch look at me from a distance as if I had committed a crime.

I have no idea what is going on.

When I enter the mess during lunchtime, I see whispers starting in some groups while some others just look at me as I take food and sit in a corner. I don't bother because I am getting late for the afternoon lecture.

Arun comes to me and whispers, "She knows, everybody knows."
I look around and see people looking at me and smiling. This is definitely NOT good.

I walk into the library that night, excited as always, to meet Natasha. I reach our place and see Natasha reading a book holding it close to herself. I wave my hand in the air but get no response. I dance my fingers in front of her eyes, no response. :(

I sit and start reading Alice in Wonderland from where I had left it last time. I scribble a note and keep it beside her. The note stays there, reminds me of our first conversation. Feeling disappointed, I continue my reading.

I see her leaving after an hour. I reach out and hold her arm. She glares at me and I slowly release it. She goes back, scribbles something on the note I had kept for her.

"Our conversation is over, forever."

Apparently girls hate when guys whom they like, lie to them. I didn't know she liked me, learnt it later from her friend I met at the IMAX.

"She must really like you. In high school I've seen her slap guys for making a move at her or doing something stupid or nasty to her."

I sat across D at the coffee shop. I had to know the truth after my truth was leaked by Dilip in one of his casual conversations! :(

"I guess I've lost her. I had a plan, it failed."

"You had a what?!"

"Nothing stupid or nasty!" I smiled in disappointment.

I call her several times. Yes, she had given me her mobile no. during one of our conversations while returning to college from IMAX. Now she isn't picking up my call. I spend a fortune SMSing her, my fingers hurt as well. She doesn't come online on gtalk, or maybe she blocked me in gtalk. :(

The next two days I have the worst time of my life. I again start sleeping in lectures because missing her keeps me awake for most of the night. I write poems and play sad songs (Tanhayee, from Dil Chahta Hai).

After a couple of days, during lunch, I rush to computer lab where I work on my projects. As I walk out of my hostel gate and walk a little ahead, I see Natasha walking towards my hostel. It is drizzling and she is carrying an umbrella. I slow down and feel uncertain when our eyes meet. I look away and walk towards her.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Please let me explain. I know I shouldn't have lied to you. But I couldn't help myself. I had to talk to you, because I'm crazy about you. The first time I saw you ..."

She looks at me with a blank stare all this while. Suddenly she moves forward, wraps her arms around my neck. She gently pulls me towards her, her lips touch mine and she kisses me, stopping my confession speech midway. I feel her touch through my wet t-shirt. I wrap her in my arms, and kiss her, trying to do what I had seen hero and heroine do in movies. All this while everyone walking to their class or lab slow down and look at us.

I kiss someone for the first time in my life! :) :D YIPPEE !!

Next Episode

Episode 7: The IMAX experience

Previous Episode

Yawning heavily sitting on my bed after a long day, I write my diary entry.
While recalling our time in the IMAX, I remember meeting her batchmates and rest of the experience.

I went numb, I couldn't move my legs. She went to meet her batchmates, and beckoned me to follow. I smiled weakly and followed. She started introducing me to them, assuming that I didn't know them! I looked around and saw Arun and Dilip looking at us. I looked away, pretending not to notice them.

Suddenly, a girl from my section (supposedly) walked towards us, and Natasha introduced me to her.

"You must be knowing her, Parth, she's in your section."

"Yeah, I've seen her in the class," I said, trying to sound confident.

"But I haven't seen you around, never in the class atleast." She said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Of course you wouldn't have! You sit in the front benches, I sit at the back ones!" I smiled.

That was a complete fluke, but I guess it worked because she behaved friendly after that. :) The seating arrangement is classrooms in our college is according to roll no.s and that girl's name starts with a 'D', and my name starts with 'P', so obviously she would be sitting in one of the front benches. But rotation between rows also takes place, she never thought of that. :)

The guys from their batch whispered something among themselves. One of them called me.

"Hey dude." One of them said and did the introductions.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Some other guy asked, pointing at Natasha. (bah, why would I remember their names!)

"No, nothing like that. I met her a couple of weeks ago in the library, we talked. We're friends." I said, almost sighing.

Booking tickets early helped. My batchmates and her batchmates were sitting in few benches in front of us, so I could keep an eye on them. I also knew that after dropping my plan for watching Avatar with them, I couldn't tell Arun and Dilip that they must have seen a lookalike of mine at IMAX and that I was at my room, watching some TV show! Because they won't believe me.

This must have been the first time I didn't pay attention to a movie I was watching. I looked at her (through those polarizer glasses!) once in a while with the excuse of picking up pop-corn. I observed her reaction and it amazed me how intently she watches a movie.

I beckoned her to leave as soon as the credits showed. She must have thought I had a plan, so she eagerly followed. She saw the climbing wall, with colorful holders and challenged me to it.

"But you're a girl, I don't like competing with girls in such activities." But this excuse didn't work. :(

She shrieked with laughter when I shouted in fear after my leg slipped while climbing the wall, and was suspended in air by a rope. Apparently she had won! Her friend D said to me that I had been a gentlemen to let her win and I said to myself, 'But my hand slipped!' :D

Her friends left but she stayed back with me for some more time at IMAX.

"You love arcade games, don't you?"

"Yup, and this is how its done." She said and gave my player a fatal blow in style.

"Touche!" I said. Her skills were quite impressive.

Ice-hockey, now this was where I expected to win. No, I wasn't being a gentleman! I grab an opportunity when I can, to win. But I guess my clumsy moves suggested otherwise.

"What are you waiting for, give everything you have!!" She was quite aggressive while playing.

"Hey, where are you going?" She asked as I silently started drifting away from her towards my lab when we reached college.

"Have a meeting with prof." I pointed at e-sagu lab, not sure what she would think of it. Couldn't tell her I am a Research Assistant there.

With the guilt of leaving her alone to walk till girl's hostel, I turned and started walking towards the lab.

"Hey Parth!" She said. I turned.

"Today was great!"

"Same here." I said and smiled.

I shut the diary close. I want to tell her the truth, and walk with her in public, and say to every pair of staring eyes, "O yeah, she's my girlfriend and I love her a lot." God almost always listens to my prayers! :) :(

"Guys, try and understand my situation. Please, please don't tell her or anyone else about me and my plans for Natasha. And Dilip, don't make it your subject for gossip! Try to keep a secret sometime!"

Apparently, Arun and Dilip feel betrayed that I didn't tell them about Natasha, and I try hard to control the situation. But eventually the flood gates were opened! :(

Next Episode

Episode 6: Exam days

Previous Episode

The following Saturday, I walk into the library after dinner, excited to meet Natasha. As I step into the library, I see all the tables in the library occupied. I leave the library, realizing that the UG1 students must be studying for their exams on Monday. I didn't want to blow up my cover, not just yet, not the wrong way. Besides, I had few courses to take care of myself!

I don't visit the library for next four nights. On Wednesday morning, as I walk out of the exam hall and walk alone, away from the crowd, I sense someone trying to catch up with me. I turn and see Natasha walking towards me. She smiles at me. OMG, why do I love that smile so much!

"How was your exam?"

This must be second or third time that I had heard her voice. The paper chat thing was working so well I didn't want to spoil it by asking for her phone no.! x(

"It was just fine, attempted all the questions."

"What about the fifth question, what do you think the answer should be?"

"Actually, you know, I don't really feel like discussing the answers after the exam. Don't feel bad, though. After exam I rush towards my room, trying not to allow anything related to the exam reach my ears."

Natasha grins broadly.

I sense some people looking at us. I take my mobile out and look at it.

"Hey got few miss calls, was on silent mode. Will catch up with you later."

"Sure thing!"

There were no miss calls, of course! Atleast now she knows I have a mobile. :)

That night when I visit the library, I see someone else sitting on the seat across Natasha, the seat that had apparently become my favorite seat. As I sit on the adjacent seat, I see her scribbling something on a paper and stretching it out to me. I beckon the person sitting adjacent to me to pass it to me. He obliges but his demeanor suggests he is a PhD student or M-tech student as he simply passes the paper from her to me, eager to get back to his book.

You are late today. So, Mr. Scared-of-exam-discussion, do you really spend your time in library the day exams end?!

Funny, it never occurs to me why she should be in the library. I visit the library because I meet Natasha at the same place, at the same time every night. And our rate of studying has reduced and rate of chatting has increased since last week! Did she also come to library because she expected to find me here?

But my thoughts were interrupted by her waving at me and making a question mark in the air with her hand. I scribble back.

This book, "Alice in Wonderland", I heard its really good. Will give it a try now.

Isn't it children's book?

I am still not an adult! Besides, this book has been liked by both kids and adults.

About the first thing, how old are you, then?!

:)

C'mon... You know what, forget it. Keep your age a secret!

18, Oct 10.

lol... she tells me her age as well. Don't freak out, in reality I'm 21 years old! :) Oct 10 is my real birth date though.

Only a few months older, big deal!

Main thing to observe here is, you are younger than me. Come to think of it, you are shorter than me as well! :D

She grins at the thought and at my troubled expression.

Oh no, that can't be!

But that is !

And she gets up from her seat, motions me to do the same. We stand side by side without footwear, ask the M-Tech guy (probably, guessing! Could be PhD guy, don't know.) to tell who is taller. He points at her!

Only a couple of centimeters. Why is that even important?!

But Natasha is so happy and blushing that I smile finally and feel happy about the whole thing.

Then, for next 10 minutes, I time and again look up from my book and see her reading (wow, she looks so cute when she reads intently!), and a few times we both look at each other at the same time from our books and laugh. After that I scribble to her.

Do you like watching a movie?

Who doesn't? :P

Would you like to go out for a movie with me? Avatar.

:) Sci-fi? I am not very fond of sci-fi.

Its in 3D. :)

I had got the tickets the day the booking started and got us best seats (i.e., at the back) for first day's show. Yes, I had got the tickets before asking her! But, as by Murphy's Law, "when something can go wrong, it will go wrong", it goes wrong.
As soon as Natasha and I reach IMAX, I see my friends Arun and Dilip sipping coke and strolling outside. I get tensed. My nervousness reaches a level of anxiety personally never reached by me, when I see Natasha wave at what looked like a familiar group of boys and girls, the UG1 students. :(

Next Episode

Episode 5: The C tutorial

Thank you Srirang for the 'plane flying below the moon' idea.

Previous episode

"Butterscotch Cornetto"
"Chocolate nuts Cornetto"
"Chocolate?"
"Yup! I love chocolate!"
"Girls like chocolate."
"Guys do too. BTW, what's great about butter scotch?"
"Its the best flavor for an ice-cream, haven't you tasted it?"
"Nope. As a kid I used to think the ice-cream had alcohol in it, butter with scotch! You see, I don't really want to get drunk and lose my senses."
Natasha laughed.
"That's so lame, Parth!"

We walked back on the road leading to the hostels while eating our ice-creams.
OMG, she looked so cute while eating the ice-cream.

"Hey, that's Venus over there." I pointed out to a lighted celestial object in the sky which didn't twinkle.
"Venus is visible just after sunset, its past 11 pm now." She said and smiled at me.
"I see. It must be Saturn then." I said and shrugged. Suddenly I saw an airplane approaching the moon and the line of trajectory it followed suggested me that it would come directly below the moon. I had seen this beautiful spectacle before!
"Hey Natasha, look up at the plane." I pointed at the dark silhouette of an airplane slowly approaching. She looked up and stopped, didn't move for a few seconds.
I saw the moonlight fall on her, after the plane had passed from below the moon. I felt the same way I felt when I saw her jogging, I felt I could live with that moment for the rest of my life. Before I could absorb her beauty in the moonlight, she looked at me and said, "That was lovely, Parth!"

"Parth, dude, class is over!" Arun pats me. I see all the students walking out of the class. I had spent the whole class thinking about my time with Natasha last night!

Today, all my efforts to avert the C tutorial session are in vain.
Plan A: I call in sick. The Professor doesn't accept the excuse, suggests I do a video-conference or take the tutorial the next day. :(
Plan B: To think of another plan.
A light bulb lights in my mind, I remember a chat done with an alumni a couple of weeks ago. And I have another plan.

Later that morning, at UG1 lab, which I visit as a volunteer to help some students with their PCs, I sense her walking towards me stealthily while I am installing Karmic Koala (latest Ubuntu OS) and feel her poke on my shoulder.
"Hi! You must be a labcom (a person from UG1 who has prior experience in handling PCs, and could help his batchmates who are new to PCs), could you please help me? I installed Linux, then I installed Windows and now I can't find the Linux I had installed." Her mannerism is completely formal, as if she is talking to me for the first time. But her tantalizing smile doesn't give me chance to think much about anything at all! I leave that guy's PC and go to help her!

At 4 pm, when I walk into Seminar Hall 2, the chattering ceases and murmurs start at some parts of the class, while others simply stare at me. With my body sweating profusely, I take a deep breath and in a harsher voice, I start the tutorial.

The moment I sit across her in the library, after dinner that night, she scribbles a note and passes it to me.

Hey, I didn't see you in the tutorial today.

Yeah, I missed it, slept off.

I scribble in short, and keep my reply to a minimum and don't look at her.
She scribbles real quick.

The tutor looked hilarious wearing a monkey cap and a jacket in the month of August. Oh and yeah, he wore black specs and also had spots on his face! He looked like a complete clown!

I look at her, she looks amused.

I want to know everything! :)

And as she narrates me her experience at the tutorial, I remember about the chat with the alumni. He asked for my suggestion for a disease that doesn't affect his health but renders him useless to work. After some discussion, he suggests conjunctivitis but finds something better! I use this one. Chicken pox easily conceals one's looks, so I used this one as well.

But honestly, people did stare at me while I walked from my hostel to Seminar Hall 2.

Next Episode

A Good Boy

The man in suit looks at the bald man with fear in his eyes.
The bald man calls his own mother and asks her, "Tell me ma, that I'm a good boy, that you'd love me, no matter what."
His mother replies in affirmative.
The bald man empties his loaded pistol into the man in suit.

Episode 4: She talked to me

Before starting the next episode:
Thank you Rahul and Sushanta, for discussion on name of characters.
Thank you Rahul, for discussion on character sketch.
Thank you Srirang for removing some unnecessary parts in the conversation and some valuable suggestions...

Previous Episode

Yawning heavily sitting on my bed after a long day, I write my diary entry.

Unlike Metallica and Linkin Park playing in my i-pod, today I play "Pehli baar mohabbat". It feels so right.
While recalling my conversation with Natasha, in the library, I remember that moment of anticipation when I take that note from her, and rest of the experience.

She returned the note to me, in the same nonchalant manner. It read:

Hi! I'm Parth (with an open palm gesture)! We're batchmates, just not in the same section.

ok, So?!

Well, I didn't know what to reply! Nonetheless I scribbled back, after about a minute.

That's quite an interesting book you're reading!

Honestly, I had no idea which book she was reading! :D :P

This worked I guess, because she smiled and promptly replied.

Maths! Really?!

You seem to be doing some intense work... not planning to sleep today here, are you?

I read the note, and smiled back. Deadline for my assignment was approaching, and she seemed to be starting a conversation. I had to choose...

Well, if I sleep, I know you'd wake me up! :-)

Wasn't it obvious I'd continue the conversation! :-)

Don't be too sure of that!

Wow, you write fast, and your writing is... legible! :D
So, do you go out anytime?

She didn't reply for a few minutes. I waited, trying to look busy to her by doing my assignment.

Nope!

I started to reply but realized that the sheet had filled. I tore another sheet from my copy. I could see her looking at the copy while I was tearing the page.

After a few minutes:

Ice-cream?!

What?!

Are you game for an ice-cream?

Not really!

And she resumed her study. And I thought girls like ice-creams! :-(

Since she ended the chat, the sheets stayed with me. I slipped it into my notebook.

While leaving the library, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Natasha was standing behind me, clutching her bag on her shoulder.

"Are you still game for an ice-cream?" She asked.

After finishing my diary entry, just when I close my eyes to sleep, I get an e-mail alert on my mobile.

Parth,

Take a combined tutorial for first years' on all the different data types in C.

Prof. R. G. V.

Next Episode

Episode 3: Doomsday 2012

Previous episode

With the first set of conversations ending in disaster, I decide to take a break and wait for a better opportunity.
Next morning while jogging back to hostel, I see her jogging along with other first years' as a part of morning session of Physical Training. Each and every passing moment feels like a lifetime as I impulsively slow down and stop, absorbing her beauty in morning freshness...
I feel a tap on my shoulder as the PT instructor asks me what the matter is.

After lunch, just like every other day, I check my gmail inbox, and viola! I get an unread mail:

'[Just Like That !] New comment on Undercover Lovers.'

and with the excitement of receiving yet another comment on my post, I open the mail.

Natasha has left a new comment on your post "Undercover Lovers"

Nice post. :)

This can't be a coincidence. These are signs, indications that I must not give up! :D
My sister pings me @ yahoo messenger that instant. During the course of our chat, she is surprised to learn that I don't have a girlfriend till now. She always suspects that I don't tell her everything, but today she believes me and advices me to get active in this course... the reason she gives is the coming of doomsday in 2012...

Due to some urgent work, i.e., meeting deadline of a procrastinated assignment, I pass on the movie 2012, and visit library after dinner. I sense her walk across the table to the other side, to her favorite seat.
Hold on... did she change her library timings? I wonder.
She glances around, a few seconds more at me, and settles down to study by placing her notebook, rough copy, textbook etc. in a desirable position.

She doesn't acknowledge anybody's presence while she's studying. And my mind vacillates between doing the assignment and trying to talk to her.

I decide: To hell with patience and manners, doomsday's coming ...

I scribble a note and hold it on top of her book, shaking it in front of her line of sight.

She looks at the note, then at me. Yes, she does recognize me the way she looks at me. She takes the note, opens it and scribbles something on it, while I look at her, waiting in anticipation.
She hands over the note back to me.

Next Episode