Revolution 2020 (16 page)

I smashed the fruit,
imagining it to be Raghavs head. As it cracked, a sliver of the shell
cut my finger. People clapped around me. I took the cut finger to my
mouth and sucked the bruise.

‘GangaTech
Engineering College’ - two labourers fixed a metal hoarding in
the muddy ground. I should have felt more emotion. After all,

I had slogged for
months. However, I felt nothing. Maybe because I knew the exact
amount of bribes it took to reach this day. Seventy-two lakhs,
twenty-three thousand and four hundred rupees to obtain everything
from electricity connections to construction site labour approvals.

Shukla-ji had
invited over a hundred guests, including members of the press. We had
a caterer who served hot samosas and jalebis in little white boxes.

Shukla-ji addressed
everyone from a makeshift dais.

‘Three more
years, and this dream will be a reality. This is a gift to my city,
which deserves the best,’ he said.

I sat in the front
row. I kept turning around to see if Aarti had arrived. After
Shukla-ji’s speech the press asked questions. Most were simple,
relating to the courses that would be on offer and the upcoming
college facilities. However, a few tough journalists did not spare
him.

‘Shukla sir,
are you the owner of this college? How much is your stake?’ one
reporter asked.

‘I am a
trustee. I have no stake. It is a non-profit entity,’ Shukla-ji

said.

‘Who is
funding the land and construction?’

‘Mr Gopal
Mishra here owns this land. I want to encourage young talent so I
helped him raise some funds,’ Shukla-ji said and wiped his
forehead with a handkerchief.

‘Funds from
where?’ the reporter continued.

‘From various
benefactors. Don’t worry, somebody has given money, not taken
it. Media is so suspicious these days,’ Shukla-ji said.

‘Sir, what is
happening in the Ganga Action Plan scam? You are named in that,’
a reporter from the last row asked.

‘It is an old
and dead story. There is no scam. We spent the money to clean the
river,’ Shukla-ji said.

This new topic
galvanised all the reporters. Everyone raised their hand as they
scrambled to ask questions.

‘No more
questions, thank you very much,’ Shukla-ji said.

The reporters ran
behind him as he left the site. I stayed back, ensuring that the
guests were served the refreshments.

A truck arrived with
bricks, iron rods and other construction materials. Behind it, I saw
a white Ambassador car with a red light on top.

Aarti got out of the
car upon spotting me. ‘I am so so so sorry,’ she said.
Are the prayers over?’

‘Can the
prayers ever be over without Aarti?’ I said.

                     
Varanasi

         
Three
More
Years
Later

My arrival went
unnoticed amidst loud music and the chatter of people. High-class
parties make me nervous and I would have happily skipped Raghavs
graduation bash that day if I could. I only went because I didn’t
want to come across as envious.

I felt no envy. My
college, GangaTech, was to open in three months. After three years of
working day and night, I had my building ready. I even had faculty
recruitment interviews lined up and had obtained a date for the AICTE
inspection. A stupid BHU degree meant little when I’d be
issuing my own degrees soon.

‘Hey!’
Raghav said in a slightly tipsy voice. ‘Buddy, where were you?’

‘Negotiating
with a computer supplier,’ I said.

Raghav didn’t
seem to hear.

‘For my
college. We are setting up a computer centre,’ I said.

Raghav raised his
hand. ‘Good show. Give me a high-five!’

He clapped my hand
with his so hard that it hurt.

‘You need a
drink,’ Raghav said. ‘There’s the bar.’

He gestured towards
the dining table, on which were beer, rum and coke. People made their
own drinks in plastic glasses. Raghavs parents had agreed to spend
the night at some relative’s house so that Raghav and his
college-mates could have a night of debauchery.

I looked around at
Raghavs pals. Thirty boys, most of them wearing glasses and old
T-shirts and jabbering about job offers, and only three girls, who -
given their lack of fashion sense - had to be from an engineering
college.

I got myself a rum
and coke. I looked for ice. There was none on the dining table, so I
headed for the kitchen. A girl with long tresses, her back

to me, was arranging
candles on a huge chocolate cake. The cake had a gear-shaped design
on it and said ‘Happy Graduation in perky white marzipan
letters.

‘Gopal!’
Aarti said as she saw me struggle with the ice-tray I’d removed
from the fridge.

Her voice startled
me.

‘It’s
been like,’ Aarti said, ‘a year?’

I had not kept in
touch with her. ‘Hi,’ I said.

It’s not like
I wanted to evade her. But I saw no upside to remaining in touch
either, I found it more productive to scream at construction workers
than hear stories about her dates with her boyfriend. I started
avoiding her calls and soon she too drifted away.

‘Yeah, I am
sorry, my fault,’ I said. ‘I got very busy at the site.’

She took the
ice-tray from me, twisted it to release the ice-cubes and put two of
them in my glass.

I am not asking for
an explanation. I understand I am not that important to you now.’

‘That is not
true. I had my site, you had Raghav,’ I said. ‘We have
our own lives and...’

‘I have a
boyfriend. Doesn’t mean it is my entire life, okay?’
Aarti said.

‘Well, he kind
of is, isn’t he?’ I said,

I offered her my
drink. She declined. She went back to decorating the cake.

‘Nothing like
that. No
one
person can be that important.’

‘Why?’ I
said. ‘Something wrong?’

‘No, no,’
she said, too quickly I thought. ‘It’s great. Raghav’s
graduated. He has a job offer from Infosys. My aviation course
finishes soon. It is still as strong as ever.’

‘What?’
I said.

‘Us.’

‘Us?’

‘Me and
Raghav,’ she said.

‘Of course,’
I said.

She lifted the cake
to take it to Raghav.

‘I’ll
keep in touch,’ I said.

‘That would be
nice. I haven’t sat in a boat for a year’ she said and
smiled.

The confusing,
confounding Aarti had returned. What did she mean? Did she miss the
boat rides? Did she miss being with me? Was she tossing a bone at me
or was she just being witty? I came out of the kitchen, lost in my
thoughts.

Everyone gathered
around Raghav. He held a knife in his hand. Aarti stood next to him.
Raghav cut the cake. Everyone clapped and hooted. I guess graduating
from college is a big deal. Raghav fed the first piece to Aarti.
Aarti offered a piece to Raghav.

As he opened his
mouth, Aarti smeared the cake 0n his face. Everyone guffawed and
clapped hard. I felt out of place.
What
the
fuck
was
I
doing
here?
Why
did
these
guys
even
invite
me?

‘Speech!
Speech!’ the crowd began to demand of Raghav. Aarti took a
tissue and wiped his face.

‘Well,
friends, congrats to all of you on your graduation,’ Raghav
said. ‘We have spent four fabulous years together. As we get
ahead with our lives, I am sure we will always have a special place
for our campus in our hearts’

‘We will still
be together, dude,’ a bespectacled boy interrupted him, ‘at
Infosys.’

Seven people raised
their glasses high in the air. They all had offers from the software
company.

‘Cheers!’
they said.

Raghav kept quiet.
‘Actually, I have an announcement,’ he said. ‘I
won’t be taking up the job offer.’

‘What?!’
people exclaimed in unison.

‘Yes, I have
decided to stay here,’ Raghav said and draped his arm around
Aarti’s waist, ‘to be near my love.’

‘Yeah, right,’
Aarti said, wiping a blob of icing from Raghav’s cheek. ‘Tell
them the real reason.’

‘That is the
real reason,’ he chuckled.

‘No,’
Aarti said, turning to the crowd. ‘Mr Raghav Kashyap is staying
back to join
Dainik
as a reporter.’

Murmurs of surprise
ran through the crowd. Raghav had edited the college magazine, and
even done a newspaper internship. However, few knew he had the
courage to chuck Infosys to become a newspaper reporter.

Raghav chatted with
his friends. Aarti sliced the cake for everyone. The music became
loud again. I made another drink and leaned against the wall,
wondering if I should leave.

Aarti offered me
cake on a paper plate. I declined.

‘So, when does
your college open?’ she said.

‘In three
months GangaTech starts admissions,’ I said.

‘Really? Can I
apply?’ She laughed.

‘I’ll
print you a degree if you want, you do not even have to attend
classes,’ I said.

‘Really?’
she said, wagging a finger. ‘Yeah, give me an Electronics
Engineer degree like Raghav’s. But better marks than him.’

‘Sure,’
I said.

She laughed even
more. I had tried so hard the last four years to get over Aarti. Yet,
one laugh of hers had set back years of effort. Suddenly it felt like
we had never been apart.

I had to leave. ‘I
better go,’ I muttered.

‘Why?’
she said, ‘You just came.’

‘I don’t
fit in here.’

‘It’s
okay. I hardly know these people either. All nerdy engineers. Come,
let’s go to the balcony.’

                                                           ♦

We sat in Raghav’s
balcony. I took little sips of my drink. The breeze blew Aarti s hair
in my face. I moved away a bit.

‘You finished
your course at the aviation academy?’ I said.

‘Yes,
Frankfinn ended two months ago. I am applying to all the airlines.
Let’s see if they call me for interviews,’ she said.

‘There’s
no airline in Varanasi.’

‘Yeah, I’ll
have to move to Delhi or Mumbai. There’s even a new low-cost
airline in Bangalore. It depends.’

‘On what?’
I said.

‘Where I get a
job. Of course, now it is complicated as Raghav’s here.’

‘He can be a
journalist in other cities too,’ I said.

‘I guess,’
she said as she tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘But he likes
Varanasi. He knows this place and the issues here. How is your drink?
Can I take a sip?’

I gave her my glass.
‘How much does he get paid for this
Dainik
job?’ I
said. I had to know how much Raghav made.

She took a few sips
and kept the glass for herself. ‘A third of what Infosys would
give him,’ she said.

'Wow. And his
parents are okay with it?’

'No way! They went
ballistic when he told them. It isn’t just about the money, he
isn’t using his engineering degree. They are still upset.’

‘So?’

‘So what? He
doesn’t care. He feels the revolution begins at home. Society
changes only when individual family norms are challenged.’

‘Revolution?’
I said.

‘Oh yeah, he
is quite into that. The Great Indian Revolution. Oops, I finished
your drink. I am so sorry,’ she said and touched my arm in
apology

'It
’
s
fine. I’ll make another one. And you are cool with his career
choice?’

'Of course, I
believe one should follow their passion. Am I not working towards
mine? So an air hostess isn’t the same as a revolution, but
still, that’s me.’

‘What exactly
is this revolution?’ I said, irritated.

‘Well, Raghav
believes there will be a real people’s revolution in India one
day, that’s his thing.’

‘Why?’

‘Ask him, he
will explain it to you. Wait, I will get us more drinks.’

She went back in. I
waited in the balcony. I did not want to be with the smug software
types inside. I imagined a day when students from my college would
get jobs. I wondered if big software companies would ever visit
GangaTech. Of course, we had to open for admissions first.

She came back with a
tray. It had two drinks, and a plate with sandwiches, cake and potato
chips.

‘I thought you
might be hungry’ she said, Aarti cannot help but be the caring
mother types.

‘Thanks,’
I said, taking my glass.

‘Now tell me,
why did you forget me?’ Aarti said.

‘Who said I
had forgotten you?’ I said. Our eyes met. It felt awkward alter
about three seconds. I blinked first.

‘I have a
mobile phone now. Do you want my number?’ she said.

‘Sure,’
I said. Shukla-ji had given me a cellphone too. We exchanged numbers.

‘I’d
like to see your college sometime,’ she said.

‘Let it open.
I’ll do an inauguration,’ I said.

‘Is the
college your passion?’ she said.

‘I don’t
know. It’s the best opportunity life gave me.’

‘Have you felt
passionate about anything, Gopal? It’s an amazing feeling,’
Aarti said.

I remained silent as
I stared at her, my passion.

‘Anything?’
she said.

‘Money, I want
to make lots of money,’ I said.

She threw up her
hands in the air. ‘Oh, come on,’ Aarti said, ‘That’s
not passion. That’s ambition.’

‘I don’t
know, let’s go in.’ I stood up. I didn’t want
Raghav to see us alone.

‘Stay here,’
she said cajolingly and pulled me down by my hand. ‘We haven’t
met for ages. What are you up to? Do you have a girlfriend?’

I shook my head.

‘You should
get one. It is amazing to be in love. A feeling even better than
passion,’ she said.