Where there is wind, the trees sway.

Advise

Abir

My first day at Shabd had been quite eventful. I had been assigned to class four with another teacher.

Her name was Akansha, it meant ambitions, aspirations. I am sure she lives up to it; she looked like it. We both were assigned to class three.

Her hair had been tied up in a sleek bun and she had worn a yellow top which made her face glow. Something about her was so familiar that I found myself wanting to be around her again. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"You don't look so fine today, Mr. Jha." Said Vikram as he plunked his lunch down on the table and sat next to me along with Ramesh.

"Just thinking about work. And please, drop the formalities, Vicky. You know it annoys me."

"Exactly why he does it," said Ramesh, chuckling.

"How is the new project you've been working on? I 'd heard that the funds were inadequate. The VPs are being very stingy."

"I don't want to talk about it. But it is kind of stressful I'll tell you that. Why are they doing that anyway?"

Ramesh shrugged.

Vikram elbowed us both, and we turned to see Dilip making his way towards us.

Dilip was a VP, but no one would have known if he hadn't made a point of including his designation every time he introduced himself. He is the annoying rich guy no one could get rid of. He had a certain charm when it came to making a fool of himself.

Of course, no one dared say it to his face. What he lacked in brains, he made up for with parties. He threw amazing parties, I'll give him that. Sadly enough that was where he had also lost his front tooth.

He had a habit of making others run errands for him; a habit which I'd been subjected to many times.

He also had many nicknames, most of which were used behind his back. Some were too offensive to even think of.

"What's up, people!" he boomed.

"Your weight. Pretty damn sure, it ain't going down." Vikram muttered next to me.

I sniggered but elbowed him worried that Dilip might hear.

Dilip sat down from across me with a thud and said,

"Hey, I need your advice. How do take someone I am interested in on a date when they don't want to?"

'You don't. And why was he asking me that?' I wondered.

"You should probably just ask her and face it like a man.", chimed in Vikram.

"Yeah? When was the last time you were on a date, Vicky?"

"Coaches don't play, man." He replied.

" You should probably leave a note if you're too afraid," I suggested.

"Somewhere she would look", Ramesh chimed in.

He seemed to consider it for a while and said, "I am not afraid" Before walking away.

The moment he left the cafeteria, we burst into laughter.

"I am not afraid." mimicked Vikram. We laughed harder.

"I feel sorry for the poor woman," I said breathlessly.