[a desi bus romance] Vijay and Nila have only one thing in common - they take the same bus at the same time everyday. What if this mere commonality steers their life into a whirlpool of uninvited feelings, wholesome conversations and unexpected conn...
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Nila couldn't help but look around the college like she was at a tourist spot. It was the second biggest academic campus in the city and had beautiful infrastructure. When she had come in for the entrance and interview, she had been too nervous to marvel at it. Well-groomed lawn and neatly placed trees added freshness to the urban grey pavements and roads that ran through the campus like thick veins. There were people lounging on the benches under the comfortable shade of the trees, but the crowd was concentrated in the sports field.
It was a vast expanse of brownish orange land, specially vetted for the sports day. Bordering the field, there were colourful tents supported by thick wooden rods housing the raging crowd of students. The people under each tent were dressed in a different colour, rooting for their department. Farah had asked her to come dressed in pink so before Krish could lead her to the tent, she spotted it already.
Farah sat on one of the chairs, hiding her face from the harsh sunlight with her pink scarf, using the ends of the fabric as a fan. When she saw Nila approach, trying her best to look like she belonged to this campus, Farah stood up and beckoned her over enthusiastically. "You're actually here! I can't believe it. Did the security ask anything?"
"No. We are good," Krish said, taking a seat beside Nila, both of them sandwiching her. They asked her about her overnight trip back to the city and she had to yell to answer them because of the dreadful dual language commentary in English and Tamil. The commentators must be thinking they were hilarious because most of the jokes landed poorly. Nila took some time to take in the entire picture and smiled. The event was chaotic but in a good way.
Suddenly, a sneaky pang of yearning needled her way into her heart, wishing luck had been on her side when she had applied for this college. But even if she had gotten in, she didn't know if she would've met Vijay and his friends or had a chance to wear Vijay's ID card around her neck and surprise him.
Nila loved surprises. She also loved giving them.
Hands kneading on her lap, she wondered how Vijay would react. Her stomach flipped when she imagined him seeing her in the sidelines out of the blue. She could only hope he was a fan of surprises too and wouldn't be too mad at her for lying to him about coming the day after.
"Vijay's event is next," Krish said. He put his arm around her shoulders and leaned her towards his side to help her get a glimpse of him. "Can you see him? That pink shirt and the pink band on his forehead."
Nila could see him.
But she couldn't control the laughter bubbling inside her. "If Barbie was a boy, it would be him. Oh my god, we should take a picture."
"Already did," Farah said, unlocking her gallery. Nila giggled into her fists when she saw the scowl on Vijay's face as Krish put on the band on his head. There were so many pictures of him --- him with a smirk, him showing off his arms and making a pout, him holding Krish in a headlock and him glaring at Farah.
