Chapter 3: "Welcome, Trouble"
Payal found the library after some enquiries and soon paid for the library membership. She went right away to the literature section . The books were arranged in an alphabetical order . Her pink kurta whirled lightly as the wind blew in from a big window right across from the section. Payal moved from left to right, along the shelves, trying to find an interesting book to read.
A ..B..C..D..E..F..G..H..I..J.....
And there it was .Jane Eyre ,One of her favorite books. Payal immediately took it out of the shelf . It was an old version; the smell of originality filled her nostrils when she sniffed the pages. Involuntarily, her lips curled up into a smile . She looked around, there weren't many people in the library and it was too silent for her liking. Payal sniffed the book once again and marched towards the entrance of the library and reached the librarian's desk.
"Excuse me ,Madam. I'd like to check out this book ",Payal said in a low voice, smiling softly at the old lady behind the desk .
The librarian, who was busy reading her own book, looked up and returned a sweet smile and whispered ,"Of course ,dear".
She took the book and the library card from Payal and started filling out the check out register.
The lady looked a little over 60 . Her fair flawless skin was crisscrossed with wrinkles . And her smile was so sweet ,it reminded Payal of her own grandmother back home.
The Librarian looked up again and with the same smile ,returned the book to Payal along with the card and said ,"Here you go ,dear. Have a nice day".
Payal thanked her and walked out into the hallway with the book held close to her chest.
It was 2:30 pm. The lunch hour was apparently over and all the students were rushing back into their class rooms. The corridors were crowded .However, Payal squeezed through the crowd and when was finally out of the building ,she sighed loudly ,wiping the imaginary sweat off of her forehead.
Payal looked around to see that she was standing in front of the canteen which was, by now, quite empty. She decided to go in . There were numerous round shaped tables with 4-5 chairs around each of them. The walls had large windows which kept the hall quite cool. Payal noticed five boys ,sitting in the right most corner of the canteen ,chatting . Payal found a random table ,away from the boys, sat down on one of the chairs and opened the book to read.
All this time, she had a tiny smile playing on her lips, that would go almost unnoticed ,but it was there . She was happy . She was happy she could earn herself a seat in one of the best colleges in India. She was happy she had a nice roommate. She was happy she had found the library. She was happy the librarian was nice to her . All in all, she was happy because she was happy. That's how Payal was. She didn't need a reason to be happy. She found her own reasons to be happy in such small things.
Fifteen minutes into the book ,Payal felt eyes on her. She slowly looked up to see five guys sitting at her table, watching her. The same guys she had seen when she had entered the canteen fifteen minutes ago.
Her eyes widened . She hadn't heard them come and sit in front of her. She didn't know from how long they had been there ,watching her. She felt her heart beat quicken . They seemed older than her. She decided that they were her seniors . All of them had stubbles and were dressed in what looked like kurtas from were she was sitting.
Nevertheless, Payal didn't show the dread she was feeling and smiled slightly at them. Four of them smiled back, but the one sitting across from her didn't . He continued to stare . He was dressed in a black kurta .His hair was styled in a way which made him look like the handsome villain Payal had seen in a Bollywood movie . Payal gulped and quickly went back to the book in her lap.
Although her eyes were on the book ,she couldn't comprehend a single word she was reading. Her mind was on the guys sitting in front of her. A minute later , she heard someone clear their throat. But she continued pretending to read until a deep voice fell on her ears,"Kab tak ek hi page padhti rahogi?"(How long are you going to read the same page?)
Her head snapped back and she realized that the voice belonged to the guy in black kurta .The other guys chuckled lightly. Her cheeks colored red in embarrassment.
He knew she was pretending.
But again ,Payal feigned confusion by raising her eyebrow ,questioningly.
He ignored her look and asked again ,"Fresher ho?"(Are you a fresher?)
They were seniors.
Payal smiled and nodded her head,even though her insides shivered.
They were seniors.
"Naam kya hai tumhara?"(what's your name?),the other guy sitting beside the one in black kurta said.
" My Name?" ,Payal asked again acting as if she didn't understand them. She had to find a way to avoid them.
They were seniors.
When the same guy nodded,she replied with a proud smile,"I'm Payal Mahale. English honors. What about you guys?"
They raised their eyebrows in surprise ,as if they hadn't expected her to question them back .Even Payal herself was surprised at her audacity.
They were seniors.
Soon their surprise was replaced by small smiles and they started introducing themselves. The guy on the right end was Milind. The left end, Sagar. The one on the right to the guy in black kurta was Naman and to the left was Rishabh. And finally, the guy in black kurta himself, was Siddharth Mehra. Payal smiled at each one of them in greeting.
Then ,Rishabh asked her," kaha se ho tum?"
Payal resumed her acting and raised her eyebrows at him.
They were seniors .
They might be planning on bullying her. Ragging was a punishable offense ,but it didn't stop students from ragging their juniors here and there.
Siddharth asked her ,this time in English,"You don't know Hindi?"His tone was incredulous, as if he couldn't believe it.
Payal just shrugged, not really confirming it as true. The situation was just like the one in the epic Mahabharata ,in which Yudhishthira declares ,"Ashwathama is dead".
It was not true ,but it wasn't a lie either.
Siddhartha snorted at Payal ,so did his friends. Then, his eyes glinted in an evil way.
This was it.
Payal mentally facepalmed. What did she think? She would pretend she didn't understand Hindi and they would pity her and let her get away without having their "fun"?
She had probably given them more reasons and chances to make fun of her .Trust Payal to get you out of such deadly situations.
She had heard about how seniors ragged. They made juniors sing, dance, find out the area of a room using a pen , tell them jokes and worst of all ask them to do inappropriate things and make a fool out of the juniors .Her heart began to race painfully.
He turned to his friends with a smirk and said smugly,"Mohtarma ko Hindi nahi aati! Kya kehte ho bhai log? Punishment to banti hai na?"(The lady doesn't know Hindi! What do you say, brothers? Punishment is surely a must,right?)
Naman butted in,"Aur nahi to kya? Hindi apni rashtrabhasha hai bhai. Aise kaise nahi aati. Iska kuch to karna padega."(Of course. Hindi is our national language. How can she not know? We must do something about it.)
All of them agreed .Payal, although understood them clearly, maintained to keep the confused look on her face,the book in her lap long forgotten .
She gulped as Siddharth called, looking behind him at the counter,"Ramu kaka".
All the guys held playful smirks on their faces as an old man, Ramu kaka, walked up to them in a waiter's uniform and smiled slightly at them ,"Siddharth baba,Kaise ho?"(How are you, son?)
Siddharth smiled back and replied,"Mai theek hoon ,kaka."(I'm fine, Uncle)
He then glanced at Payal ,evilly and asked,"Would you like some coffee?"
Payal gave him a small nod, not wanting to anger him.
They were seni....
He smiled sweetly at her and turned to Kaka,"Kaka, Mohtarma ke liye ek coffee. Par cheeni ki jagah mirchi aur namak ,swaad anusar." (Uncle, A coffee for the lady. But chilly powder and salt, instead of sugar.)
Payal slightly paled,but hid it by smiling at Ramu kaka.His plan was to make a fool out of her supposed ignorance.
How cruel. But she wouldn't let him.
The other guys snickered loudly.
Ragging . Ragging . Ragging .Ragging . Ragging . Raggi...
"Baba , bachhi ko kyu sata rahe ho?"(Son, why are you troubling the girl?) Ramu kaka chided him.
But Siddharth just laughed and sent him away. Now all the guys had that smug look on their faces, but this time, Payal smiled sweetly at them. Something was going on in her mind too.
"So ,where are you from?"Asked Sagar, folding his hands to his chest.
"I'm from Davangere ,Karnataka",Payal answered sweetly.
They nodded.
"And what were you reading?" Siddharth asked with a smirk ,reminding her of the embarrassing moment.
"Uh..It's Jane Eyre. My favourite book."Payal grinned at them and added,"What are you all studying ,by the way?"
"B.com final year."Siddhartha replied shortly.
Payal was about to respond but was interrupted by a cup being placed in front of her. She turned to see Ramu kaka looking at her with pity. Payal smiled thankfully at him and looked down at the cup of what was supposed to be coffee. It was slightly reddish in colour due to chilly powder and hot steam arose from the liquid. As soon as it met Payal's nose ,she had an urge to sneeze . She quickly backed away and looked at Siddharth, who smiled at her and nodded towards the cup ,gesturing her to drink.
Time to burst their little bubble.
Payal said to Ramu Kaka sweetly,"Kaka, kyu na aap in janab ke liye bhi yahi recipe banake le ayein? Waise bhi mujhe theeka pasand nahi .Aur rahi baat Hindi jaanane ki , wo to apni rashtrabhasha hai bhai. Jaanani to padegi". (Uncle, why don't you serve the same recipe to these gentlemen? I don't like spicy food/drinks, anyway. And about Hindi, it's our national language ,after all. We must know it.)
All the five of them sat there, dumbfound, while Ramu kaka laughed and patted Payal on her head and walked away.
That was a very stupid move. She knew it. She had not only made a fool out of them, but she had made a fool out of them in front of Ramu Kaka and he had laughed at them. The difference was huge. She had heavily bruised their ego . And they were going to take it as a challenge, there was no doubt in it.If anything, she had dug herself a grave on her first day. How lovely! Well, college and drama go hand in hand.
Payal stood up ,clutching the book tightly in her hand and turned to walk away.
Just then, Siddharth called her name making her slowly turn around.
"Before you go, let me tell you something . The President of Student's union is dangerous, especially for smartasses. You might want to be careful",he said with an expressionless face.
Payal nodded and smiled warily,"Have a nice day".
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