1981

forty-vasu

"what the actual fuck just happened?" exclaimed aesha.

i opened my mouth to say something but changed my mind. i looked around, confused. It looked familiar, but so differ-

wait, this was the side of our school. what were we doing here? we were supposed to be at the pond. "why are we back at school? did i black out or something?" i mumbled, rubbing my eyes. i felt out of place, my body strangely lighter and streched out. so weird.

"both of us blacking out and someone taking us to the side of the school and leaving us there with no explanation whatsoever? i doubt it."

"true."

i spotted a dairy milk wrapper lying on the ground next to me and looked at it in disgust. i never got the hype around it; it literally tastes like wax but aesha likes it, for some reason.

the wrapper looked...odd. the text was purple on a white banner with yellow lining. the font was bolder too.

"what's wrong with this, now?" i said, bending down to pick it up and handed it to aesha.

she frowned, examining the plastic film. "i remember this. i studied the evolution of logos in that advertising class that mumma forced me to join. 'It'Ll bE gOoD fOr YoUr RéSuMé' she said, yea right. anyways, it's the dairy milk logo from the 80s. i have no idea what it's doing here tho."

"what kind of hoarder would keep a dairy milk wrapper from forty years ago? sounds like my dad, to be honest." it was an inside joke. my dad was a minimalist and believed in the philosophy of 'less is more'. on the other hand, i was the one who often got labeled as a hoarder. i mean, sure, i had a thing for vintage designer clothes and what about it?

aesha smiled. very cutely, may i add. -VRRRRR-  a white van with the ivory logo on it's side pulled up beside us, interrupting our conversation. the helper hopped off, and kids rushed in haphazardly. aesha and i exchanged confused glances, i took her hand and whispered in her ear, "these kinds of vans are used for town trips na? let's check it out..." aesha nodded, and i could sense her nervousness. i squeezed her palm to try and give some comfort.

we got on board and sat in an empty two-seater. as the van filled up, i, being the observative one, noticed that the other students' uniforms were a bit different from ours. their uniforms were dark blue rather than black. the school crest was on the left pocket instead of the right, and some of the girls were wearing skirts. that was weird, considering the uniform for all students was trousers. 

i nudged aesha, sharing my observations. she looked about as clueless as i felt.

"something's off...wait, why are we heading left? at the police station, we usually turn right."

"shit, you're right. we've been closed off from that town since we started at ivory. too many pickpockets or something."

aesha stood up, probably to ask the driver why we were going to a prohibited area. 

HOLD THE FUCK UP

a sudden realisation dawned upon me and i pushed her back down.

"what was that for?" she asked, surprised.

"remember the cadbury logo?"

"yeah...?"

"and the uniforms i told you about?"

"yes, what exactly are you getting at, vasu?"

"the fact we're going to a town that's been prohibited for at least eight years?" i asked, growing impatient.

"get to the point, please."

"my point is, buddhu, that we're in the 80s?..." my confidence faltered a bit.

 it just couldn't be- time travel was nothing more than a fantasy, wasn't it? but it was the only reasonable explanation. and the feeling we felt...i assumed i had a concussion but all we had done was time-travel; which was nothing compared to a concussion.

she rolled her eyes. "sureeeee. and i'm secretly priyanka chopra in the disguise of a high school student. first you force me to skip school for some shitty lake, then we both black out and now you claim that it's time travel. seriously, vasu, you are imposs-"

she faltered mid-sentence. her face got pale and her eyes widened, her hands shaking lightly. "aesha? are you okay?"

she pointed a trembling finger to the window behind me. the van had stopped, and i could clearly read the poster she was trying to show me. it had a picture of a young amitabh bachhan and rekha. the movie title was 'silsila'. at first, i thought it was just a throwback poster to appreciate it's anniversary. then, i noticed the text at the bottom: 'coming soon to theatres'.

"what year was the movie released, again?" i asked her.

she still seemed taken aback. taking in a deep breath, she spoke only four words.

"exactly forty years ago."

~a/n~

sorry about not posting earlier, we forgot ✨ but hey, it's out now, so if you'd like, please vote and comment. we'd really appreciate it!

see you next monday <3