The Station Leave

And They Were Roommates

"We should play dumb charades or antakshari", Anni suggested.

"What are we ten?" Chitra di asked. "Let's just talk among ourselves." Saying this she got back to telling Preet whatever she was telling him before.

Right now the entire cousin party was sitting in our living room. Jethu, jethima along with baba were out. Ma was the only one home with us. So Chitra di just invited Preet and Dev bhaiya over because she was bored and since Mr. Dixit was also here, they all can have a little reunion.

So here I was. Sitting across my bipolar boss and the person I still hesitate to make eye contact with...bonding, or whatever this is supposed to be. We were pretty much just sitting in a circle doing nothing but eating snacks and talking. Tia was not here, obviously, because "there should be someone to help ma". So I was getting bored here, occasionally talking to Dev bhaiya and Anni.

Anni was absolutely in love with Dev bhaiya at this point. He would ask him questions about what he did and what he liked. I could tell Dev bhaiya was a bit awkward about Anni fangirling over him but we are talking about Dev Chopra here, ofcourse he is used to it. And he too seemed to be getting comfortable with him. So much so that now I felt outcasted.

"What are you guys talking about?" Chitra di asked.

"Dev dada is telling me about how he made it to Dean's list during Uni", Anni replied.

"And how I was a complete heart throb and university girls used to try to enter Boy's dormitory on Valentine's day that too early morning for me. Just so they can wish me first", Dev bhaiya replied smugly. "Yeah, that too '', Anni nodded.

"Dev, which university are you talking about? Because as far as I remember, we went to an all boy's uni. The only female was the cleaning lady who was around fifty at that time. Although she did come in early morning. Are you by chance referring to her-" Mr. Dixit stopped as Dev bhaiya threw a handful of popcorn at him. Preet and Chitra di burst out laughing at the sight.

"I'm talking about the girls from our neighbouring college. You know Aniket, I used to be quite famous. So much so that people from other colleges and universities knew exactly who I am", bhaiya said proudly.

"You guys went to college together?" Anni asked.

"Yes", Mr. Dixit replied. "As a matter of fact, we were roommates. I met Preet via Dev. He went to a different university but we used to see each other often when he'd come over to visit Dev." Preet looked at him and smiled at that statement as if to reminisce. Mr. Dixit smiled back.

"And that university was co-ed and that's exactly how girls from there got to know about me, because I used to visit Preet as well", bhaiya said.

"Can we stop discussing girls?" Chitra di asked. " Rather we should talk about what our lives are like, away from here. You know, our jobs- oh right, Puchki and Tia work for Shivaansh. How's that going?" She looked at Mr. Dixit as if she just asked him whether the blender she lent him last week was working properly or not. "It's going just fine", Mr. Dixit replied clearly not knowing what to say. Chitra di nodded.

I heard ma calling from upstairs so I excused myself out of there. Needless to say I was quite grateful for it at the moment. She wanted my cupboard keys to take the clothes that are supposed to be given for a wash tomorrow. I had forgotten where the keys were so it took me a while to find them, for which I had ma's continuous commentary of my carelessness in the background to keep me from getting bored. After looking around for a bit, I finally remembered that I had kept the keys under my pillow. I gave them to ma and came downstairs after almost getting hit.

By now the scenario had altered a bit. Everyone was actively talking and laughing. The air of awkwardness had disappeared. Even Mr. Dixit was engaging more.

"Did I miss anything?"

Why did I say that again?

"Nothing, just olden days and all. We were actually warning Anni that his glory days are pretty much over now that he's in 12th grade", Chitra di said. "The struggle just began my man. It's a long way from here. You are going to have tough challenges to face no matter what stream you choose", Preet added. His statement took me back to that same moment I was standing in the compound of my school with a crumpled piece of paper in my hand with a heart demanding to burst out of my chest. He had said the exact same words that day too, right? Did he remember that day? Did he remember me? Did his words remind him of that moment too?

I felt uneasy. I looked around to see everyone talking about something or the other. I was the only quiet one here. But no one saw that. No one ever does. Never did. I've been taking part in such conversations for years. My role is that of the silent spectator. But just like a movie or a drama, the characters are unaware of the audience's presence. I've sat through endless conversations just listening, until I'm no longer in the conversation. Until I've evaporated. It's quite easy to evaporate from a situation. The only time the fourth wall breaks is generally when the conversation ends. Other than that I've never-

"Anindita", and just like that, a voice broke the fourth wall. "Are you bored?"

"What? No. I-" I looked at Chitra di and Preet who were now looking at me. Then I looked at the source of the question to answer him. "No. I just zoned out for a minute", I said. Mr. Dixit nodded.

"I won't blame you if you are bored though. I guess Dev got bored too. But he lacks your politeness", Preet said. I looked around and noticed for the first time that Dev bhaiya was not here.

"Where is he anyways?" I asked.

"He said he wanted to use the washroom but it's been about fifteen minutes and he's still not back", Anni said.

I thought it was weird because the washroom was just a few steps away from the hall. He should've returned by now. I felt like I was forgetting something. Something at the back of mind was bothering me but I just couldn't recall-

"Excuse me. I'll go check on him", I said after getting up in a jolt. Before anyone could reply, I walked out of the hall towards the washrooms and then turned the other way so no one could see me heading towards the kitchen.

How did I forget such a thing?

Tia!