Once Upon a University Campus

A chutney shower and an irresponsible clown

Annika's long morning had gone by pretty quick. Two lectures, a discussion with Prof Phatak on the thesis chapter she was working on, quest for a long lost article in the dustiest aisle of the seven storied library had all been squeezed into the session before lunch. She was so hungry that the rumble in her empty tummy had broken the silence in the library and a bespectacled girl sitting on the other side of her table looked up to shush her. Even so, she barely made it to the lunch hour at her hostel mess. Subzi and Rotis were exhausted. Only a big bowl of cold rice and dal were sadly abandoned on the table for super late comers like her. How she wished for a nap that afternoon but she had to finish up with her notes for the day's lecture before dinner. Post dinner she had a tutoring appointment with a School of Arts and Aesthetics fresher who called himself a painter. Annika was not really sure he was one. They all claimed to be one, she had concluded suspiciously.

Lectures that day was on a particularly difficult mathematical model and it took her a great part of the afternoon to digest it.So much so that she could not get out of her room to get her afternoon Chai. Though she was a research scholar -doing her PhD and was not required to attend those lectures, she diligently attended the lectures for the two new course that were launched in her department. All for the sake of learning.

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Khichdi was being served for dinner, something that was hard to qualify as food. As she approached the food counter, mess helper Biharilal give her his broadest smile. She shared pleasantries with him, and asked about his son, whom Annika had tutored for board exams a few semesters earlier. Biharilal surreptitiously placed an extra spoon of pickles on her plate. She gave him her warm smile and asked him to behave well, something they both knew was a reference to his drinking problem. An on going cricket match meant she was her own company that evening. Sighing at the thought of a lonesome meal, she reluctantly placed her plate of kichdi on the flimsy table and was sat down on an adjacent bench. Suddenly, someone put their plate next to her and whispered a barely audible 'Hi'.

She looked up, it was the tall gentleman with shoulder length hair, a calm gentle smile shone from behind his stubble. A lone stud glittered on his left ear..

'Om' she was startled but also glad that she finally had company, ''You know it is kind of sad to be eating alone in this huge Mess when there are like 300 people living in this hostel.I am happy to see you'' she continued between morsels of food " cannot care for company when dinosaurs are playing kabbadi.'

Om gave her a quizzical looks "dinosaurs playing Kabbadi"?

"Dinosaurs play Kabbadi in my stomach" shrugged Annika.

Om smiled in acknowledgment and sat on the closer edge of the bench perpendicular to Annika's.. One mouthful and he put is spoon down. 'I am sorry, I generally am not disrespectful towards food' he whispered 'but this khichdi is bad? It is .. it is' he stumbled to pick the right word to describe.

Annika's looked up at him. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead that humid September evening., 'you mean like ... ''Bland'?', watching him nod awkwardly, she continued ''well there is boiled rice and cabbage as an alternate, or you go to Biharilal Ji and request for some pickles. You see it is my third year here. I am used to all this and more'.

Om looked around to search for the mess helper who could save his meal- Mr.Biharilal but there were a bunch of helpers around, he could not figure out who among them was Biharilal. Sensing his confusion, Annika pointed out the right person. But Biharilal was not as obliging to Om as he was to Annika. Unable to ignore Om's helpless looks, Annika went to Biharilal and pleaded Om's case..

'Biharilal Ji, cricket match going on, no one will notice our trays or pickles, please give him some pickles. Poor fresher, he is not yet used to this food!'. Biharilal complied but grumbled about residents being harsh on the mess staff.