Chapter 1

November 12, 2006

Chennai city

 

 

“Don’t lock the door when you go to sleep. I can’t bang on

your door daily to wake you up,” my mom said.

“Okay, okay!” I said, irritated. This was like the thousandth

time she was telling me this.

I lay down on the bed staring at the ceiling for a while. I

stifled a yawn and soon was asleep. It was around midnight

when I heard a noise outside. I woke up instantly. I opened

the window and looked out. The backyard was silent and

eerie. Maybe it was a cat or a stray dog.

As I returned to bed, I knocked over the stool right beside

the foot of the bed and the glass ink bottle sitting on

it smashed into bits. The red ink splashed on my legs.

S**t!

I walked over to the sink and splashed some water on my

legs. The ink wouldn’t go.

Damn it! Stupid ink!

I looked at my face in the mirror. My hazel eyes glowed from

the light of the night lamp. Although skinny, I had some

special features. My friends often told me I had beautiful

eyes and well-shaped lips. Personally, I liked my hair best.

It was short, black, and wavy, and contrasted nicely with my

skin tone, which was fair like my mother’s.

A guy will be proud to introduce me as his girlfriend to his

friends! I giggled at the thought. But I didn’t have a boyfriend.

I was never going to have one! I had always hated the concept

of dating. That didn’t mean I was reserved. I had always been

a bubbly girl. Having fun and hanging out with friends were

always been in the top of my list. Luckily, I had a whole bunch

of friends with a similar motto; Sheetal was one of them. I

had met Sheetal four years back when I joined college.

It was the first day in college at the PRM Institute of

Technology on the outskirts of Chennai. I was an innocent

girl back then, a bit afraid of the new environment, fresh out

of school. I sat on the last bench of the class, which didn’t

mean I was a backbencher in the literal sense. I sat there, with

a nervous look on my face, like a child pushed onto the stage

with a large audience in front of her. I looked around to see

some happy faces and some forlorn ones. So I was not the only

one who had butterflies in my stomach! I thought. It made

me feel better. Suddenly, a hush fell over the class as everyone

looked in the same direction. The teacher had entered. He was

tall, skinny and bald. His glasses were so thick that I could

see three set of eyes. He looked like he was in his early 30’s.

He introduced himself as Sivakumar and told us he would

be teaching the subject of computer graphics. A computer

subject right in the first year? Oh brother! Now that made

me shake! I took biology as my major in high school, which

had nothing to do with computers. Unfortunately, I missed

the medical seat by a narrow margin. So obviously, I didn’t

know much about computers. All my seniors in college had

advised me not to get jittery because the first-year subjects

had more to do with general engineering rather than with

computers. Now the thought of studying a computer subject

in the first semester made my situation even worse. I looked

out the window for the rest of the class. The classes which

followed all began with introductions all around. By the end

of the day, I was tired of saying my name and where I was

from. I was packing up my bag when I heard a voice beside

me.

“Hi, I am Sheetal,” the voice said. I turned to see a plump

girl with a radiant face. Her hair was long and dark brown,

her complexion not so dark, and her eyes were a deep black,

unlike my hazel ones. She was wearing a yellow top with

some embroidery work on the front and brown pants. She

was holding out her hand to me, sporting a dashing smile.

“Hello, I am Reena,” I said, shaking her hand.

“Which school are you from?” she asked.

“I am from St. Anne,” I said, with pride. My school was the

best one around when it came to academics.

“Cool! I know that school. The famous one, right? Then you

must be really brilliant” she said.

“Not really. Actually, I am from the bio group. So I’m not

very much comfortable with computers,” I said.

“Oh! That’s not a problem. I can help you. I am from the

computer science group,” she said. There was genuine

concern in her voice.

“Really? I’ll surely need that! Thanks,” I said, feeling relaxed.

I was so excited to have made a friend on the very first day

that I just stood up to leave, forgetting my bag.

“Don’t you need your bag?” she asked.

“Oh! Yeah. Forgot. Thanks,” I said, feeling embarrassed

That was four years back. The memories came flooding back

to me. My college life ended last month. Ours was one huge

group of friends. There was Sheetal, Rajesh, Ramya, Shekhar,

Suji, Priya, Ayesha. We used to skip college and go out quite

regularly. We would always go out during our Tuesday

afternoon classes when Ilamaran sir taught us engineering

graphics. Man! What a stupid subject!! I hated drawing or

anything remotely related to drawing. Even when I was

in school, I wasn’t very good at drawing diagrams for the

biology class. I think we had attended only two of Ilamaran’s

classes during the whole of the first semester! If we skipped

the class, we usually went to the nearby cinema theatre if

our pockets were full; or we hit the zoo if we were low on

cash. Even though I had about a dozen friends, the only one

I was really close to was Sheetal. She knew everything about

me. I had always felt she was a good adviser when it came to

personal problems. She was from a well-off family. Her dad

owned a chain of restaurants and her mom was a doctor.

Most of the time, they were not at home. An old maid was

at her service all the time doing all of the work which her

parents were supposed to do. Sheetal had often confided to

me that she felt lonely.

I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was half past one.

I knew Sheetal would be in bed, reading. Sheetal was an

avid reader. She would just lie down and read for hours at a

stretch even without eating her meals, mostly during nights.

I took my mobile and messaged her. She replied instantly. So

my guess was right. I dialled her number. She took it on the

second ring.

“Hey pal! Which book is it now?” I asked.

“The Fountain head. What are you doing at this time of the

night, lazy bug? You usually go to sleep at ten, right? Any

romantic calls?” she said teasingly.

“Stop it, won’t you?” I said.

“Okay, okay, chill!” she said controlling her laughter. “Hey,

I forwarded my resume to one of the consulting companies.

What happened with your interview yesterday?”

“Gone in the HR round! It will take at least ten interviews

to get a job, I guess. Skip it. So how is Rahul?” I asked her,

trying to avoid the job-hunting topic.

“He is fine. He invited me for the football game in Vellore

tonight. But I wasn’t interested,” she said.

“Oh! So, are your parents around?” I asked, even though I

knew the answer.

“Nope! Dad is out on business. He won’t be home till day

after. Mom had a call two hours back. She left to the hospital

in a hurry,” she said, solemnly.

I could sense the sadness in her voice.

“Hey! Cheer up! Can I come over to your house, hmm,

maybe in the morning?” I asked.

“I am okay. Don’t bother,” she said.

“Nothing like that. I just wanted to go out. Feeling bored,”

I said.

“Oh! Then come over. Lunch with me?” she asked.

“Okay. No problem!” I said. I heard her doorbell ring.

“Done! Hey I got to go. Mom is at the door. See you tomorrow

then. Bye!” she said in a hurry and hung up.

That was the last time I spoke to her.