Once Upon a University Campus

Maaya -a magic

The tiny bells at the ends of her dupatta clamored for attention that was in all fairness, due to the woman wearing them. The new grey chiffon pleated anarkali with rose border, Annika thought surprisingly looked good on her. She had not expected such muted tones to make her 'look' happy. But now that she was actually happy, she did not have to worry about 'looking' happy. Shivaay was wearing an almost shimmery charcoal full sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers. Neither of them wore fancy clothes that the rest of the world thought was appropriate for a dance party. Here were two people who lived their lives by their own rules. Hand in hand they walked into the open air venue which was in the farthest corner of the resort, away from the beach. The music was already loud, too loud for a meaningful conversation. But the dance floor was still empty and a few early birds hung around at the bar. Annika spotted Khanna ji along with a few other men whom she had met earlier that afternoon. But she did not know them well enough to join them at the bar. They noticed Shivaay and hollered for him. Shivaay had to go but was apologetic when Annika prefered to not join him with the other stags. Annika happily urged him to join his classmates, after all this was a class reunion and that he did not get to meet these folks every day unlike her. Shivaay on his part left her with a pina colada.

The music was getting too loud so Annika looked for a quieter nook hoping for a more amiable company before the evening wore out. She was not carrying her book, so she was at the mercy of the inanimate company around her. Meandering away from the noisy dance floor, she spotted a small shallow pool was brimming with colourful fish. She sat on the low parapet wall lining the pool watching the obese fish languidly swin. If only she had a few crumbs of bread, she could have had a closer look at them. She wondered if the fish heard the remnants of disco music that almost tore her eardrums? They certainly must be feeling the vibrations, at least her heart was picking it up with its own palpitations. Having been used to the privilege of a large tranquil green campus, she was a misfit in such loud dance parties. She chuckled aloud at her strange situation.

"You scared me" a feminine voice squealed from the other end of the pool startling Annika. Annika turned around to find a petite woman with a dark shoulder length hair at the corner behind the other end of the pool.. A large diamond on her nose glittered in the dim lights, so did the studs in her ears.

"You scared me now!" Annika chuckled again.

At once Annika felt a kinship with this woman because, unlike the other women she had met in this reunion, this woman did not seem to care for fancy clothes. She was wearing what seemed like a pair of dark denim trousers and a plain white shirt. There was no other jewelry on her. If not for the nose stud and her very feminine voice, Annika thought the woman could easily be mistaken for an adolescent boy.

"Too loud out there?" The woman continued.

"hmm.. I was hoping for a quiet spot. Looks like you were looking for a quiet spot as well?" Annika was pleasant to the chatty stranger.

"I was to attend a conference call but the call got postponed. So waiting to hear from them" The woman kept checking her phone.

"Working on a weekend?"

"What difference does the name of the day make. Saturday is just another day, as good as any other to get things done." The woman replied with a shrug.

This woman so much sounded like Annika herself. They had much more in common than the kind of clothes they wore.The woman was glued to her phone for a few minutes and abruptly went on a rant of expletives.

"Damn! Damn these men who cannot keep their pants on." She went on before picking up a glass of golden liquid in front of her and downed it in one go. She went on another expletive filled rant before calming down. "Sorry. I apologize. It is just frustrating at times to be a part of a problematic work culture but too helpless to do anything about it.Two senior executives are accused of sexual harassment and I as the legal counsel I should do the right thing. Bastards, Every intern is a fair game for these lecherous scumbags." The stranger opened up to Annika's consternation.