tryingdxtramile

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Stars in my backyard - 1


Friday

3:36 p.m

        The room appears to be silent, which is quite unusual for its occupants. Martin Scorsese was smiling at us from the huge wall poster that was stuck in the faded beige wall. A small cot occupied most of the space available in the tiny room and Krish was lying on the mattress. He is a second year med student in VSB medical college. He is just another typical guy whom you are likely to find among the millions in our country.
     
          He was staring at the ceiling with his arms and legs positioned like Leonardo da vinci's-Vitruvian Man. He has been waging a battle in his mind with a high tide of emotions. He talks to me every now and then, to discuss his issues, but often he tends to go inside a shell. Today, he has promised me that he would vent out and so I'm here to listen to him. I'm Phantom, his room mate and I've another name too (which isn't really important now).

'Still staring at the ceilings, Krish ??"

'Sorry man. I didn't realize that you were here. I feel like talking to you, man' said Krish.

'I'm all ears,bro. Hope you have got something to say'

'Yaa.. yaa man. No games and I'm dead serious this time'. said Krish and he was staring at his knuckles to begin his story.

        'I'm pretty much sure that you are the right person to share... nope.. confess my last two days. There has been a series of events occurring during the last two days and it has left a void in me. Before bringing the events into light, I would like to tell you something interesting. Most of my friends in the college call me a nerd, because of my ideas and visions. You know about me, I'm not the stereotypical guy and my rationale is put to shame when I find people wrapped up in themselves. They call me a jerk, geek and all terminologies found in the vocabulary to degrade me'. 

          'Do you think, I look like an eccentric guy?? To be honest, I don't 've a charming or a pleasing look either. I'm a typical guy, who thinks that every girl that passes him is beautiful. What's your go about that, Phantom??' asked Krish.

'You mean the girl or your eccentricity. I was just kidding, I don't think you look like a nerd but....'

'I know what you mean Phantom, the other day I came home with a broken cheek bone. Is that what you are saying??" said Krish.

I nodded my head in agreement and Krish chuckled. He sighed heavily as if preparing for a lengthy speech and he narrated the event behind that bruise

            'All the conventional or the so called symptoms of a normal guy have been slowly wading away from me in the last couple of days.They (supposed to be my friends) told me that I'm behaving in a weird manner. Let me tell you something that happened at my cafeteria on Wednesday (day before yesterday), which will give you a rough idea.

It was just another day at my college cafeteria with students buzzing all over. Couple of my friends and myself were occupying the table at the corner of the dinning hall. It has become an unwritten rule and we were squatting that place. The chit chat began with our assignments, anatomy lectures and our mockery about the guy, who passed out at the sight of a cadaver ('cadaver' means dead bodies).

              Everything was so good and seemed so hilarious until one of my friends, Mahesh passed a remark about a girl.

"Did you see that girl in yellow salwar ?" said Mahesh.

"Are you talking about the voluptuous one or the gal over the phone?" said Sebastian.

"hahaha.. You have a craving for buxom clad ladies,!!! My man, you are right, it's her" said Mahesh

"What's interesting about her, bro? did you screw her?? said Mahesh 

"you mean fuck her?? no way!!! I saw her hanging out with our bio chemistry lab technician" and Mahesh chuckled. 

" aaahhhhhh!! now I know how she made  20 in her pracs (practicals).. Holy shit, man !!! What do you think she would 've done to him" said Sebastian.

         All my rage came pouring in when Mahesh made a vulgar reply to Sebastian and the whole crowd erupted in laughter. I could tell from the stares across our tables, that the comment would 've reached many ears. All I could manage was a single comment that was implosive in nature.

"Do you want to hear about your sister Rekha's dirty secret??" 

            Everyone fell silent, before Mahesh in an anxious tone,

"what the fuck are you talking about?? shouted Mahesh.

"About Rekha, your cute little sister. If you guys are interested I'll show something kinky about her? 

             That's when I realized a blow has landed right across my cheek bone. Mahesh was all over me, swearing and trying to wrestle with me. Soon, everyone came around to watch us bleed. Sebastian pulled me out of the brawl and he had to literally drag me out of the hall. With the sick taste of blood in my mouth, I was trying to stroke my swollen cheek and Sebastian came near me,

"Are you nuts? asshole !! why the hell did you talk to him like that??" asked Sebastian.

"why not??"  

"Because it's her sister. Don't we all know about her?"

 I laughed, "Don't you people realize that even the girl you were mocking is someone's sister???"

I could see the reaction in Sebastian's face, full of fury and defeat.


"you are a fucking freak, Krish !!"

                 'Now you know why I have a swollen cheek and a cut lip' said Krish and he began to search his anatomy textbook. I knew what he was after, something that I've been hiding away from him.

                                                            ------------------------------

5:52 p.m.

               Krish was humming a song with all smiles and I could sense what's happening in him. The amphetamine is doing all tricks in his brain. If you are a med student, its not difficult to find such drugs. Krish has told me a lot about it, how students take drugs to suppress anxiety, but I've seen the worse side of that drug. Last time, he couldn't find it, but on this time he was clever enough to find it out my hiding place. Damn !!

"Phantommm !! what's bothering you man ??" asked Krish.

"It's you man, you, asshole !!. I've been warning you, not to use that bloody drug, but you never listened to me. You fucking asshole !!"

"Yeah! Yeah!! stop it man. I'm not listening to you" shouted Krish.

"Do you know something, tomorrow is your birthday! your dad has sent a gift for you, Krish. You are on to fucking drugs" and I gave him the gift wrapped bundle to him. Krish hesitated to get the gift from me and his palms slowly began clapping,

"Birthday gift from dad!! great !! great !!" chuckled Krish.. "I wouldn't touch it man. Its full of sin and its sickening to see that. Throw that  away, Phantom!!" shrieked Krish.

"What's now?? you can't be complaining about everything. I'm seriously annoyed with you man".

"Yeah, Phantom !! Do you know when a son hates his dad??" asked Krish.

           "Do you remember the last time I went to my home, that's when I found out, why he wanted me in a hostel. It was his birthday and I thought I would throw him a surprise without realizing the nightmare waiting for me" whispered Krish.

            "Our house was never the same, after my mom's demise. No matter how elegant or expensive the furniture were, it always bore a deserted look. I was across the hall and I saw a school bag lying on the couch. It was half open with few textbooks scattered aimlessly. I picked one of the books and it was labelled as 'Sheila X- A'. That's when I heard a loud laughter from upstairs and I could definitely tell that it was my dad's.

              I climbed the stairs all the way towards his room. His door was half open and I could hear a woman's voice. I pushed it open to witness the sickness staring at me. I saw a girl with a bare back on top of my dad in his bed."

"Fuck! fuck ! fuck!" yelled Krish.

"Can you believe it, Phantom?? My dad is a pervert, who fucks 16 year old girls. Shit man!! shit!! shit !! said Krish with silent tears rolling down".

 I felt like giving him a hug, but I couldn't do it. I never had the courage to go near him and all I did was watch him sobbing. A little later he passed out, with a trickle of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.

                                                      ---------------------------------------    
           
Friday

6:42 p.m.

           If you think this world is the most ideal place to live in, then I might have something different to tell. This guy Krish, who is lying down there, is a victim of this society bathed in heinous crime and vicious people. Selfish people who loves to complain the government about bad roads and at the same time never cares about littering their neighborhood. He never believed me when I warned him about the darker side of this world. He used to mock me saying, "Stop it Phantom !! don't be so pessimistic !!"   

            For them, we are a group of maniacs living on our own agenda. They categorize people with logical values, as eccentric guys. They brand them as 'depressed souls' and they fail to understand that, one way or another, they had been responsible for our unprecedented melancholy. Krish was never like this, until he saw the true color of his fellow men. 

               "it was a Monday morning and you can pretty much understand how we would have felt. 


          (more in  the sequel of stars in my backyard - 2)













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