One fine night. 10:30 pm. My hostel room.
My roommate looked at me. I showed him a thumbs-up gesture. My other roommate got up from his bed and moved towards our locker. All the three of us gathered around.
Inside the locker, along with the now-dust-ridden certificate holders, lay our stash. My roommate looked at me again.
It was time for the mission.
The three of us walked out of our room. The long corridor of our hostel wing that led to the rest-room was empty except for a guy, unknown to any of us, who was grinning widely, looking at his mobile screen.
"Namma pasangal'la yaaru yaaru ippa paal kudikka povaanga?!" my roommate asked. I gave him the list. A list of four guys. Two of them belonged to the room opposite to ours. The door of the room was shut. One problem was eliminated. Or rather, two.
"So intha room prechana illa. Ippa namma wing la concentrate panna vendiyathu antha 2 rooms thaan!" my roommate said pointing his hand consecutively at two of the rooms where our friends stayed.
"Nee oru room'ku po. Avan innoru room'ku pogatum. 5 minutes eppidiyathu manage pannunga. Yaarayum velila varra vidathinga. Naan poi porul'a eduthutu vanthuren!" I told my roommates.
My roommates nodded and started walking towards the rooms. I shut our room door and walked towards the staircase. I had to reach the next floor and had to ensure that after I retrieved the device necessary for our mission, I had to reach my room without being seen by any of my friends in the hostel.
About 4 minutes later, I was seated in my room with the lights turned off. I was waiting for my roommates. One roommate walked in just then.
"Vaangitiya?! Yaaravathu paathangala?!" he asked me. I shook my head to signify a 'no' and led him towards our locker. Inside it, lay the device along with the stash.
"Enna nu solli vaangina?" he asked me. "Harish nu oru friend ku venum nu sonnen. Avanuku ethum doubt vantha maari therla!" I replied.
"Yaarra Harish?" my roommate asked me, puzzled.
"Yaaruku theriyum?!" I answered him, smiling. He let out a laugh on hearing my reply as my other roommate joined us. He locked our room door as he entered. The three of us looked at each other, filled with excitement.
Our mission was successfully underway.
We ensured that the windows were locked as my roommate placed a long waste cloth at the foot of our door. The stash was taken out of the locker, the plug of the device was inserted in the socket and we turned on the switch.
A few minutes later, there was happiness written in capital letters over all our faces. Our mission was nearing a victory.
And then it happened.
Two knocks on the door.
The three of us looked at each other terrified.
But we had already planned as to what had to be done in the event of such an unexpected disturbance. My roommate grabbed the plug of the device from the socket, hid the device inside the locker and shut the locker's door. My other roommate ran to his bed and lay down on it. I jumped over my bed and played a random video clip on my laptop, inserting my earphones and pretending to watch it. My roommate pulled the waste cloth from the door's foot and waving it wildly in mid-air near the spot where the device had been placed, he threw it on the clothesline. He then checked if we were at our positions and walked to the door to open it.
It was one of our friends. He entered the room and walked towards my roommate's shelf. "Trimmer eduthukaren!" he said as he reached the shelf. Searching around for a few moments, he spotted the trimmer and took it. As he was about to leave the room, he suddenly turned and looked at my laptop screen.
The random video clip I had played on my laptop, unfortunate to our mission, had been the 'Baby Doll' song.
With a loud "Daiiii..." exclamation, the friend sat down near me. I hit my forehead hard with an imaginary hand. The friend moved the video-player cursor to the beginning of the video as it played from the start again. My roommate gave me an angry stare. For the first time, probably, I wanted the video to end and after it ended, I let out a relieved sigh as my friend turned towards me smiling.
However, within a moment, his smile disappeared and his face assumed a questioning look.
"Etho oru vithyasamana smell varala?" he asked me. My other roommate let out a loud cough. I remained silent trying to keep my face blank.
"Velila irunthu etho.." My roommate began but the friend had gotten up from my bed and had walked forward into our room. His nose shrunk and a moment later, he turned towards our locker. Slowly opening the door, he looked inside.
"Ada pavigala dai! Maggi pannitu irunthingala da neenga?!" he shouted, in surprise.
My roommate silently switched on the light and walked out of the room. I started staring pointlessly at the laptop screen as my other roommate arose from his bed with a devastated look on his face.
Mission failed.
Twenty minutes later, 7 other guys had gathered in our room and had seated themselves on my bed and my roommate's bed. They were eating Maggi noodles from their drinking cups.
My two roommates and I looked at the noodles left inside the electric heater. A small yellow lump lay at a corner.
I looked at my roommate sorrily as he looked at my other roommate who looked back at me. Someone among the 7 guys played the 'Baby Doll' video clip on my laptop as a loud cheer erupted.
My roommate looked at me. I showed him a thumbs-up gesture. My other roommate got up from his bed and moved towards our locker. All the three of us gathered around.
Inside the locker, along with the now-dust-ridden certificate holders, lay our stash. My roommate looked at me again.
It was time for the mission.
The three of us walked out of our room. The long corridor of our hostel wing that led to the rest-room was empty except for a guy, unknown to any of us, who was grinning widely, looking at his mobile screen.
"Namma pasangal'la yaaru yaaru ippa paal kudikka povaanga?!" my roommate asked. I gave him the list. A list of four guys. Two of them belonged to the room opposite to ours. The door of the room was shut. One problem was eliminated. Or rather, two.
"So intha room prechana illa. Ippa namma wing la concentrate panna vendiyathu antha 2 rooms thaan!" my roommate said pointing his hand consecutively at two of the rooms where our friends stayed.
"Nee oru room'ku po. Avan innoru room'ku pogatum. 5 minutes eppidiyathu manage pannunga. Yaarayum velila varra vidathinga. Naan poi porul'a eduthutu vanthuren!" I told my roommates.
My roommates nodded and started walking towards the rooms. I shut our room door and walked towards the staircase. I had to reach the next floor and had to ensure that after I retrieved the device necessary for our mission, I had to reach my room without being seen by any of my friends in the hostel.
About 4 minutes later, I was seated in my room with the lights turned off. I was waiting for my roommates. One roommate walked in just then.
"Vaangitiya?! Yaaravathu paathangala?!" he asked me. I shook my head to signify a 'no' and led him towards our locker. Inside it, lay the device along with the stash.
"Enna nu solli vaangina?" he asked me. "Harish nu oru friend ku venum nu sonnen. Avanuku ethum doubt vantha maari therla!" I replied.
"Yaarra Harish?" my roommate asked me, puzzled.
"Yaaruku theriyum?!" I answered him, smiling. He let out a laugh on hearing my reply as my other roommate joined us. He locked our room door as he entered. The three of us looked at each other, filled with excitement.
Our mission was successfully underway.
We ensured that the windows were locked as my roommate placed a long waste cloth at the foot of our door. The stash was taken out of the locker, the plug of the device was inserted in the socket and we turned on the switch.
A few minutes later, there was happiness written in capital letters over all our faces. Our mission was nearing a victory.
And then it happened.
Two knocks on the door.
The three of us looked at each other terrified.
But we had already planned as to what had to be done in the event of such an unexpected disturbance. My roommate grabbed the plug of the device from the socket, hid the device inside the locker and shut the locker's door. My other roommate ran to his bed and lay down on it. I jumped over my bed and played a random video clip on my laptop, inserting my earphones and pretending to watch it. My roommate pulled the waste cloth from the door's foot and waving it wildly in mid-air near the spot where the device had been placed, he threw it on the clothesline. He then checked if we were at our positions and walked to the door to open it.
It was one of our friends. He entered the room and walked towards my roommate's shelf. "Trimmer eduthukaren!" he said as he reached the shelf. Searching around for a few moments, he spotted the trimmer and took it. As he was about to leave the room, he suddenly turned and looked at my laptop screen.
The random video clip I had played on my laptop, unfortunate to our mission, had been the 'Baby Doll' song.
With a loud "Daiiii..." exclamation, the friend sat down near me. I hit my forehead hard with an imaginary hand. The friend moved the video-player cursor to the beginning of the video as it played from the start again. My roommate gave me an angry stare. For the first time, probably, I wanted the video to end and after it ended, I let out a relieved sigh as my friend turned towards me smiling.
However, within a moment, his smile disappeared and his face assumed a questioning look.
"Etho oru vithyasamana smell varala?" he asked me. My other roommate let out a loud cough. I remained silent trying to keep my face blank.
"Velila irunthu etho.." My roommate began but the friend had gotten up from my bed and had walked forward into our room. His nose shrunk and a moment later, he turned towards our locker. Slowly opening the door, he looked inside.
"Ada pavigala dai! Maggi pannitu irunthingala da neenga?!" he shouted, in surprise.
My roommate silently switched on the light and walked out of the room. I started staring pointlessly at the laptop screen as my other roommate arose from his bed with a devastated look on his face.
Mission failed.
Twenty minutes later, 7 other guys had gathered in our room and had seated themselves on my bed and my roommate's bed. They were eating Maggi noodles from their drinking cups.
My two roommates and I looked at the noodles left inside the electric heater. A small yellow lump lay at a corner.
I looked at my roommate sorrily as he looked at my other roommate who looked back at me. Someone among the 7 guys played the 'Baby Doll' video clip on my laptop as a loud cheer erupted.
(The College Diaries is
a shameless attempt to increase the number of posts in this blog in a short
span of time and in the process, recall and cherish various instances and
incidents of my college life that strike pain and pleasure in the heart in this
last fortnight I spend here.)
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