Unexpected Encounters

Falling into Place ~1

  "Because what's worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?"
~ James Patterson

***

"Amma, theriyum ma. Time ku sapduven, time ku thoonguven. Daily call pandren.", Nithya whined to her parents, who came to drop her off to college. She is now a first year law student at the Bharat Law School, Bangalore. She was a whole 6 hours away from her home in Chennai, and her parents were as worried as her moving abroad.

[Mom, I know! I'll eat and sleep on time and I'll call you everyday. Don't worry.]

"Adhu lam seri, orunga padipiya?", her mom questions, rolling her eyes.

[All that is fine, but will you study properly?]

Nithya glared at her mom, while her dad laughed at the mother-daughter duo.

"Yeppa pathalum yenna damage pannu!", Nithya huffed in annoyance.

[You always insult me!]

"Seri da, pathu irunthiko. Nanga poitu varoom.", her dad says patting his daughter head.

[Ok da, take care. We'll leave now.]

Nithya nods, pushing down a wave of sadness at the thought of leaving her parents, and hugs both of them.

A few minutes later, she finishes dragging her suitcase into her hostel room and looks around. It was a 3 sharing room, and one of her roommate was just finishing her call with her mom.

"Hey, I'm Kavya. I'm from Delhi.", her roommate walks up to her, greeting her.

Nithya smiles in response before introducing herself. A few minutes later, their third roommate enters the room, her hands full with boxes.

Nithya and Kavya both go ahead and help the girl settle in.

"I'm sorry I have so much guys! I'm Pooja.", the new girl grins sheepishly, introducing herself.

"Hey", both Nithya and Kavya greet her.

"I'm from Hyderabad, actually.", Pooja says.

"I'm from Chennai and she's from Delhi.", Nithya exclaims making conversation.

The three of them chat for sometime, before Kavya excuses herself and goes to meet more people.

"I'm glad I have at least one South Indian as my roommate.", Pooja exclaims excitedly.

"Frankly, me too.", Nithya admits.

"We might have to leave now, orientation starts in 10 minutes.", Kavya states, looking at her watch.

"Yeah, come on.", Nithya grins, getting up and dragging Pooja with her.

***

Currently, Nithya and Pooja were seated in the auditorium and they had found a third friend on the way. They had met Rashmi, who was from Bangalore itself. Nithya knew that, it would be hard to find fellow Tamilians in such a diverse college, but she prayed to god to at least meet some good Tamil friends.

A few induction speeches and cultural performances later, Nithya grew bored. She sighed looking around at the sea of new faces. These were the people in her batch. The people who she was going to spend the next 3 years with. Her eyes stopped at an unfamiliar yet handsome face. The boy was sitting just two rows down from her and he was animatedly talking to the girl sitting next to him. Despite the fact that she couldn't hear what he was saying, it was no doubt why the girl next to him was staring at him. He had sharp features and a charming smile that lit up his face, when he talked. His dark eyes held a hint of mischief, and his black hair fell effortlessly over his forehead. There was a quiet confidence in his demeanor that drew others towards him effortlessly. It drew her to him, she thought a second later.