Safar

Chapter 1

Aashima and I were returning from school. It was 4:30 p.m., but the streets of Delhi were already gulped by the increasing smog. The sky was covered with clouds, and we were hurrying back home as neither of us were carrying an umbrella.

When we reached our housing society, lightning struck. We quickly waved goodbye at each other, and were about to enter our respective blocks, when Aashima called me from behind. I turned around to see her running towards me.

"Ayra" she said, "Main bataana bhool gayi thi, tu meri ek help karegi ?"

-"Haan sure, bataa..." I said

"Ye rakh legi apne paas ?" asked she, holding up a tiny plastic container.

-"Kya hain ye ?" I asked her, lost.

"Ferrein hain, woh Bancho ke liye."

-"Kaun woh section 'D' ka Banchoddas Chhatriwala ? Bubbly Sir ke class ka ?"

-"Haan woh hi." Lowering her voice, she continued, "Kal History exam ke liye. Usne mujhe request kiya, aur badle mein usne mera Biology assignment bhi kar diya. Aur waise bhi mera revision chal raha tha, to maine socha kar leti hoon. Anyways, tu sun. Kal main room number 26 mein baithungi. Tu, Bancho aur uska dost Bhuvan ek hi bench mein baithegi room number 28 mein. To kal subah tu ye Bancho ko de diyo"

I took the container from her, and at that moment thunder rolled again. Aashima quickly thanked me, and scampered back to her block.

"Byeeeeeee....." I yelled after her.

I reached home, freshened up, and sat to study. There were 19 chapters. Fortunately, I had completed my syllabus. I thought of Banchoddas and Bhuvan. I knew them both. Bhuvan especially, was quite popular for his melodious voice and witty sense of humour. Banchoddas wasn't very popular, but still I had heard that he was a nice guy. I had worked with Bhuvan during a music workshop hosted by our school, but my interaction with Banchoddas hasn't been much.
The evening passed with little revision and a lot of phone calls from my friends. The next day was our History exam which marked the end of the hectic examination month. As tomorrow was the last exam, everybody had some plans which we were discussing over phone calls. Unfortunately, I had not bothered to open my bag and take that container out, so I had zero idea about the mess it created the next morning.