Written in the stars

No matter what we do, how we do or when we do, there's one thing that tends to govern each bit of it. It's fate. And that's exactly what this story revolves around

"I won't wait for ages!"

Came Shivam's loud voice, which seemed to have echoed throughout the hostel. And although such loud call outs and shrieks weren't a rarity in there, as all sorts of people had a habit of doing that almost all day long, but this one directed towards me. 

Although, cricket was something that didn't draw too much of attention, as far as I'm concerned, but that night it somehow did. India were playing South Africa in a T20 encounter and guess what? The Indians were getting battered. All out for a paltry total of 92, they were all over the park. Nothing was going right and it seemed as if a contest comprising of men and boys was unfolding before my eyes. And I guess, it were India's failures that compelled me into watching a cricket match, rather than some highlights of a football game because after all, criticizing is something I seriously adore, football or cricket. And I had a decently stable internet connection to thank for such a perfect live stream.

I heard a loud, vexing bang on the door. Usually, bangs and thuds as hard as those piss me off, but this one didn't. Admittance is the biggest confession, you see.

"AAJ AANE KA SOCHA HAI?!!" blared Shivam voice again, with a glint of impatience. Have you thought of coming today?

I jumped out of my bed, careful not to knock my wretched laptop down. My room was a mess, quite as usually. Papers were sprawled here and there, forgotten eatables and their wrappers kept on my table and even on my room mate's were something we hardly bothered getting rid of. My room mate, Vaibhav was in Karan's room, which right below ours. The only thing that was in a rather meticulous and organized condition was arguably the dustbin.

I opened the door and saw Shivam standing outside. Annoyance clearly lurking on his face. "Let's go! I'm too damn hungry!" He moaned, trying to make it clear that it's only dinner that would help him survive. "Wait up lad! India are playing the South Africans and you've got zero regard for your nation it seems!" I replied, as if I there wasn't a cricket fan in the whole wide world who watched it as much as I was that day. His face straightened up and he began to look a bit like the Shivam I knew.

"Accha? Really? Who's batting first?" He asked.

"First? It's a freaking 20 over game and our beloved side have been bowled out for just 92!" I fired back, venting 

out some rather artificial frustrations. If it would've been Manchester United playing, I wouldn't have spoken a word and I would've watched the game silently until the game wasn't over.

He brushed me aside and had a peek at my laptop. South Africa were playing well enough. They had lost a wicket for 32. "Is this a joke or what? We're gonna get beat really bad!" As if didn't know.

I picked up the room key and stuffed my phone into the shorts pocket. I rummaged through the cupboard for my purse and found it, only to stuff it into my left pocket. Those are the essential things I usually carry, when going out somewhere. Everyone does.

" Chal ab. You aren't hungry now, are you?" I spoke and as soon as I blurted out those words, Shivam got up and said "Yeah. Let's move then."

As he made his way out of the door, into the alley, which had stairs towards the ground floor at one end and the washrooms at the other. I locked the room and kept the key on the window sill above the door. It was a monotonous practice just to make sure that both the members have access to the key whenever they wanted.

Outside, the usual hustle and bustle of SG Palya dragged on. Despite of being a street just 15 metre wide, the traffic out there was just as dense as it is during a metro construction at a road back in Delhi. The room was patience at SG Palya was big, but the need was almost negligent. We were lucky that a majority of eateries and restaurants were towards the side of our hostel and close by too. 

The air outside was cool but not too chilly. It was something which is common in Bangalore, and the England-esque weather is something I seriously adore about the place. You'll never shed sweat, and the weather tends to ensure that.

"Where are we going, by the way?" I asked Shivam, who was walking just beside me. On the gravel pathway.

"Food Junction would be my choice. I want a bit of Northie food today." he replied, acknowledging the variety of restaurants in our area. 

We passed by the eatery called 'Refuel', which has a knack for serving excellent sandwiches. But we were too bored of eating sandwiches all day long and it had reached the level of satiation. "How about Refuel?"I asked. Shivam stopped beside me. Thinking, making a choice as if his satiation level hasn't been reached. And it's only later that we realized that stopping was one of the best decisions we'll make in life.

Food Junction, which was located almost 100 steps ahead, just before the left turn towards the Theatre, proved to be our final decision. But, as we began walking, I heard a deafening crash. It was really close to us. As close as we had never imagined. 

It was the sound of cracking and crashing of glass. I looked around to see where it had come from. And as soon as I realized, I recoiled. 

5 metres. It was barely 5 metres away from where I stood, frozen and transfixed for a couple of seconds. There was a minor hullabaloo around as everyone clamoured for a look at what had just transpired. No one had got hurt, fortunately.

Hurt 

I thought as a rather avoidable thought crossed my mind. Barely 5 metres. And that 5 metres could've well have been covered in less than two seconds. And if Shivam wouldn't have halted for 2 seconds right in front of ReFuel, we probably wouldn't have been standing where we actually were. Safe and Sound. I hated to conceive the consequences. 

A chill ran down my spine, as soon as this thought crossed my mind.

It was just meant to be like that. It was written in the sands of fortune that something like this would unfold in front of our very eyes and not above our own heads. It wasn't god who had saved us, it was pre determined. If god was to decide all this, why do people end up succumbing to diseases, ailments and accidents everyday? If this entity up there had the ability to save human beings, why do people die every day, every minute? Because it's decided before we even take birth. 

You can call it a huge slice of good fortune, but I'll call it a part of our fate, our destiny. Something that can't be changed. Something that can't be predicted. And can change in a flash. Life can change in a flash, in a blink of an eye, and we won't see it coming. 

And we didn't see it coming too. Neither did we predict it. But could've changed our lives. We were a pair of happy college kids, going to have dinner and something bad could've happened. But it didn't. It was all fate, nothing more than that and nothing less than that.

"Chal. Let's go." Shivam blurted. Waking me up from my trance. 

I began walking, past the shattered pieces of glass. Past what could've changed our lives.

"That was a close escape. Wasn't it?" Shivam said. 

"It's all written in the stars lad, its all written in the stars" I replied, walking past the thing that could've changed our lives into the unknown...