‘All the world’s a stage,
And all men and women – merely players.’
- Williams Shakespeare.
I guess, the Bard hadn’t ever dreamt of the lives today’s 17-somethings lead!
Ah, and very specifically, the students who’ve finally made their way out of the ever-so-over hyped rat-race (read: engineering entrances)… to find themselves all trapped in yet another (read: engineering colleges).
But, after 14 long years of playing the ‘frog in the well’, they are now free, or at least that’s what they think. And, illusions aren’t bad if they help you find your real self.
All this while, all we could come up with, when someone said ‘latent’, was (thanks to Joule and company) ‘Heat’!
But, come January, and the second semester at BVCOE, New Delhi, there’s more talk, and a little more work too!
All walls, all notice boards- splashed with colourful posters (with a poor black & white cousin of theirs trying, all in vain, to tell that sticking posters on walls isn’t permitted in the campus). Whoa! Talk of ignorance. Talk of irony!
Some random people (read: seniors) have taken up the role of event coordinators, as fellow geeks continue to drown themselves in books (red bound with black side face – trademark of the BVP library & book bank).
Somewhere, something is different… and, very much so. Suddenly, there’s a decline in interest, the winter playing catalyst. Lecturers are sleepy, students happy to follow suit. Lab assistants give you such looks if, by mistake, you ask for another apparatus, or worse, (Danger! Danger!) extra time in the labs.
Not many are now crying and spending sleepless nights to complete files. It’s all done in between lectures; last benches don’t help much, though! It takes tact and a bit of pleading and pleasing to find that coveted seat behind some huge (by your statistics) guy! In any case, library and canteen are proud to house them – the ‘into rush- into files- ordering nothing’ variety!
Certainly, something uneven about the even semester!
And if it wasn’t till now, there was something ready to come up… an idea, just looking for a ‘devil-may-care’ mind to get into!
And, since the wildest minds reside in the infamous I.C.E. branch, there couldn’t have been a better place!
Although the girl I’m about to name is the class topper, and had a ranking better than many others in many other ‘elite’ branches,( Ya, we’re still fuchchas, so raving about ranks hasn’t exactly gone) she manages to don the ‘I’M THINKING, EVEN WHEN I’M NOT STUDYING’ cap rather well!
And, now before you scroll down further, let me just warn that the pages following will scream out slangs and lots of Hinglish, really loud!
All because it’s a part of our real life – that’s what I am, that’s what we are!
WE???
Yes, the strange bunch of people you’re about to be acquainted with!
So, Madame SHIKHA, out of the red (Ya, just coz it was red notice board… OK fine… a PJ) read one particular notice, and lo… there was this big group buzzing around her!
As I came near, I got to know the topic, that had suddenly become rather hot – DRAMATICS!
Ok… so what about it?
Well, the University Fest ANUGOONJ was round the corner. Shikha, never too fond of attending classes, thought of giving it a shot. There weren’t many interesting individual contests, so ‘dramatics’ it was!
In came ASHOK, kinda Mr. INITIATIVE of our class, and another round of him being told what all the brouhaha was about.
Next up, I, SURABHI by the way, joined in to get a dekko! And as usual, for I’m the ‘BEST WRITER/POET/ STORYTELLER/SCRIPTWRITER/ PLAYWRIGHT/ SCREENPLAY DIRECTOR’ the world could ever be blessed with (opinion strictly limited to me, but who cares yaar!), proposed, in my distinct impulsiveness, to work on the script.
The ‘R we in? Trio’ - RISHABH, RAJAT, RAUNAK – was told about this new BIMAARI of ours!
Raunak, the ‘PRIM N PROPAH’ that he is, straightaway steered clear of this weird adventure, getting busy in some cat-walking thing! Err… JALWA people, an awesome fashion show, ya really! He won’t run after my life now, I hope!
SAURABH and SUSHANT dropped in next, quite excited about finally doing something in the college after four long months!
Then, there was MANISH, not someone we had actually conversed with much, who gave an ‘on-the-spot’ audition of sorts by screaming at the top of his voice, when someone mentioned the necessity of a loud voice for the actors. Passion, did you say?
On the ideas front, PRATEEK took lead. You know, he’s the under-cover advisor to Ekta Kapoor… the brain behind all twitching brows, kitchen conspiracies &… oh! Did I let out a long kept secret? What? God!! Hey, hey please no going to the press, pleeeease!
Within the next 10 minutes, we had actually made a group… around 20 people… all excited, but clueless!
Crowd dispersed… scene shifted to respective homes!
I called up Shikha. The first time it was. We weren’t exactly the ‘yaar-dost-buddy’ types. It was just by chance, from my side. But, from hers… it was a bit, though unconsciously, about my attitude (which really doesn’t exist)!
And, the credit goes to my ruthlessly spurning of her proposal… stop thinking, you… to join her gang o’ girls for a movie out (Rock On! Ye hai waqt ka ishaara!)
Lemme mention here, even she didn’t come over for Ghajini with some of our classmates. Hisaab baraabar, then! Lol!
