udaan I the art of flying

ｓｅｌｃｏｕｔｈ

S e l c o u t h - unfamiliar, rare, strange yet marvelous

ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

FLASHBACK

The first day of college

Lehan sat amongst the chaos of his room, unpacking and organising was so fucking tiring. Honestly, he needed a cup of hot cha specially made by his mother. He didn't know he'd feel this homesick after arriving. He was so consumed by the excitement of reaching his dream college; AIIMS that he completely forgot about how he'd feel living away from his family.

he missed his fights for remote with harry, he missed his baba and ma. he missed home.

the hostel room was entirely empty and lehan was clueless on how to make it more lively. he should probably put up a few posters he's packed from home. he rummaged through his bag and found a few posters of cricket, of his favorite team; KKR and a few that had his goals written on them. he also had a few medical pictures printed from pinterest.

He had been a fan of kkr for a long time now and putting a poster up on his side of the room made him feel a little like it was his home. 

Just as he was about to settle down with his writing pad where he brainstormed most his ideas, there was a knock on the door. Lehan hesitated, wondering who it could be. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a guy around his age, who was vigorously shaking, he looked tremendously nervous.

"Hey, I'm Ayush, your roommate," the guy said, extending his hand. Lehan shook it and ayush looked up from staring at his shoes. 

"I'm lehan, nice to meet you ayush. you can ease yourself. I'm not going to harm you, I'm a very harmless person." lehan says trying to moist the situation ayush was in. the poor guy looked scared.

ayush's eyes widened and he shook his head, showing a 'no'. "I'm not scared of you. it's just, that it's my first time being in an entirely different place. i just need time to get used to stuff. other than that, I'm a cool guy, i promise." hearing that lehan laughed out loud, he was not bad company.

"alright my man, i trust you." lehan jokes as ayush takes in the whole room. books were scattered all around and a few posters were on the floor. paint brushes?

oh, lehan tried to write something on the wall too, ayush frowned at the mess his roommate had made; random notepads flew around, a thin liner smeared with blue paint was left in the open, and his clothes unfolded and dumped on the chair. lehan immediately realised this room wasn't entirely his and he had to clean it up, don't blame him, he liked his stuff messy.

 lehan tried everything out in life, from painting to writing; from music to dance. everything. Apart from excelling in his academics, lehan was a pretty good writer and a messy painter.

 When he was back home, harry couldn't stand the mess lehan always created so harshit often cleaned their room but now he's in a shared hostel room, he obviously has to clear everything.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry. i didn't realise that you'd be coming today. give me a few minutes. I'll clean everything up and you can have your side of the room." lehan says stumbling on the pile of books and ayush manages a timid smile despite his frustration of the untidy room.

"no worries, let me help too," saying that ayush helped lehan declutter his stuff and organise it in his place. 

while decluttering, ayush's eye caught of on of the paper that was lying on the ground, it was lehan's story; something that he'd written on his own. lehan was busy clearing the same sport for 20 minutes now so ayush picked the paper up and began reading.

anirudh, probably in his 50's something sat on a chair was seated against his 20 year old son who was just about to begin his college. his face; wrinkled and his hair was a shade of faded black dye, making his white hairs more prominent.

rohit; his son stood up and sat next to his leg, looking up to him with eyes that held so much passion yet so much fear.

but, courage is not "not having fear", but it's the ability to conquer and overcome them.

anirudh's son asks "pa, how did you feel during your college days? how was your first day? what kind of friends did you make there?"

the older man breaks out a smile upon hearing rohit ask that question; what those days were. he reminisced.

" i won't tell you much about my first day except for the fact that i found my lifelong friends." 

"but papa, you don't talk to them anymore."

"i don't need to talk to them, but when we meet again, it will be like college all over again. un saalo ne mera life ko meaning diya hai. they have taught me how to have fun.

(Those idiots have given meaning to my life.

"it's about the memories you make with those friends rohit, it's not about what kind of marks you get or how you pass out of the institution. college is meant for breaking your limits and partying."

"college will give you trauma, beautiful lessons and friends. it's your choice what you want to remember at the end."

Rohit listened intently, hanging on to every word his father spoke. He had always admired his father's wisdom and wanted to learn as much as he could from him.

As Anirudh spoke, his eyes sparkled with memories of his youth. He remembered the late-night study sessions, the endless conversations about life and the future, and the carefree days spent exploring the city with his friends.

lehan looked up to spot ayush who was now reading from his drafts. lehan's eyes widened and he grabbed it from the latter's hand almost tearing it,

"i'm sorry for the rude behaviour, but this is my rough work. it isn't edited nor written properly." lehan says as a shade of red creeps upto his neck.

Ayush chuckled, "No worries, man. I was just curious. Didn't mean to invade your privacy."

Lehan smiled, relieved that Ayush didn't seem offended. "It's all good. I'm just protective of my writing, you know? It's like a part of me."

"you like cricket?" ayush seemed to ask in the right time as lehan looked flushed, he didn't want to talk about his trashy stupid work. this work of his was specifically a bit personal as it was close to his heart. but, it didn't matter much. ayush looked like he would keep secrets, he would, wouldn't he?

"oh yeah- I loove cricket." lehan replies as his mind completely wanders off to his favorite ipl team to the indian team. he was a maniac.

"kkr huh? i bleed yellow. thala fan here."

"aha, i see. looks like we'll fight about who's better; virat or dhoni; quite often," 

"you're a virat fan? i thought you liked kkr."

"hey, just because my team is kkr, doesn't mean my first team isn't India. anyway, how can i not like virat?" 

"How can you not like mahi bhai?" ayush replies as they both ease in to their rooms. Thier backs leaning to their respective cots now.

"i don't hate him, i just like vi better."

maybe getting to this hostel and being paired up with ayush wasn't so bad afterall.