sonu kumar
Posted On: 09-04-2019
  1. Home
  2. Story/ Half Girlfriend/Seven

Half Girlfriend

client1

Seven

'A girl in the hostel?’ Ashu slapped my back.‘What a stud.’ My
hostel mates had come to my room. Fat Ashu sat on my bed, making it
creak like crazy. His back slap still hurt.
Ashu, Raman and Shailesh had become my core gang in Rudra.
Riya couldn't be with me all the time, and when she couldn’t, I hung
out with these guys.
'How did you find out?’I said.
'I can still smell the perfume,’ Raman said and sniffed like a
cartoon character. Everyone laughed.
All four of us came front Bihar or Jharkhand, and none of us were
the 'classy’ types you find in Stephen’s. For instance, nobody in
Stwphen's would say they watched Bhojpuri movies. We loved them.
We liked Hindi music, from Mohammed Rafi in the sixties to Pritam in
the here and now. We didn’t understand English music beyond one
song by Michael Jackson—‘Beat it’. Of course, we never admitted all
this to the rest of our classmates. We nodded our heads every time
someone mentioned a great English movie or brought a rock CD to
class. 'Yeah, yeah, cool,' we said.
'Nonsense. Riya and I came straight from the basketball court. No
perfume,’ I said.
'Even a girl’s sweat smells like perfume,’ Shailesh said. I threw the
basketball at his head. His rectangular-framed glasses flew to the floor.
He screamed and held his head in pain.
'You’re trying to kill me or what?’ he said. I placed Shailesh’s
spectacles back on his nose.
'Stop talking like that about Riya,’ I said.
'Oh my, protective and all,’ Shailesh said.
Among the four of us, Shailesh’s English was the best. Of course,
he preferred Hindi like the rest of us but he could pass off as a ‘real’
Stephanian when he spoke in English.
'So, are you guys in a relationship? Things seem to be escalating,’Shailesh said.
'What?’ I said.
Ashu laughed.
‘He’s fucking with you,’ Raman said. He had just learnt the F-
word. He liked using it. A lot.
‘Did anything happen?’Ashu said.
I shrugged.
‘What?’ Ashu said. ‘Dude, did you just do it with the BMW 5-series
Riya Somani?’
‘Nothing much happened,’ I said.‘And stop it, all of you.
‘Is she your girlfriend?’ Shailesh said. ‘Half the college talks about
you guys.’
‘I don’t know,’ I said.
’You don't know?’Ashu said.
‘She’s not sure.’
‘And you?’
I kept quiet.
‘You love her?’Ashu said.
I smiled at Ashu. He had asked me the most stupid question.
Did I love her? Did the earth go around the sun? Did night follow
day?
‘Gone, you are so gone. I can see it on your face,’Ashu said, patted
the bed, inviting the others to join him.
My single bed groaned as three boys lay down on it. They stared at
the ceiling. As self-styled relationship experts, they offered advice.
‘Be careful,’ Raman said,‘of this kind of girl.’
‘What the...’ I said, irritated. ‘What kind of girl? And remove your
shoes from my bed.’
I sat on the study table and snatched up the basketball again.
‘Rich ones. They need toys for time pass. Don’t be a toy,’ Raman
said.
‘Toy? I’m her best friend. Besides, she’s different. Not money-
minded,’ I said.‘You know who her father is?’ Shailesh said, adjusting his glass.
‘Some big-shot Marwari businessman?’ I said.
‘Somani Infrastructure.Your lady’s dad and his brother have a five-
hundred-crore business,’ Shailesh said.
Ashu and Raman whistled.
‘Five hundred crore!' Raman said.‘Why is she here? Whv does she
need to study at all?'
I threw a cushion at Raman.
'Shown what a backward Jharkhandi you are? You remind me of
villagers back home. People could study for other reasons, no?’
'What reasons?' Ashu said, craning his neck towards me.
'She's figuring herself out. Her dreams, passions, desires...’
'Does she know your desires? Her best friend who wants to do her
on his creaky hostel bed.’
Ashu started to move side to side to make the bed creak more.
Everyone laughed.
'Shut up, bastards,’ I said.
I needed real advice to make sense of what was happening in my
life.
'She's invited me home for her birthday party.’
The three sat up straight.
'Can we come along?’Ashu said.
‘No'
'You’re useless,’ Raman said.
'The point is, should I go?’ I said.
'What?’ Raman said. 'Of course you should.Where does she stay?’
'Aurangzeb Road. Where is it?’
'One of the richest areas. In Lutyens’ Delhi.’
'See? That’s why I am not sure if I should go.'
'Why not?’
'She’ll have her clan there. Everyone is going to see me.’
'And you’re afraid of that?’ Ashu laughed. ‘I would be, if I were
you.'‘Shut up, fatso,’ Shailesh said. ‘Listen, you have to go. If you want
to get close to this girl, you have to meet these people one day
anyway.’
‘They will judge me. I can’t dress or talk like them.’
‘What nonsense. Just wear a nice white shirt. Borrow mine,’
Shailesh said.
I kept quiet.
‘Better get it over and done with,’ Raman said after a pause.
‘What do you mean?’ I said.
‘Boss, her rich and classy Marwari family is never going to
approve of a villager. You, me and the rest of us here know that,’
Raman said.
‘The boy is a state-level basketball player and studies at St.
Stephen’s College. Isn’t that sonething?’ Shailesh said.
Raman smirked.
‘Still a Bihari farm boy, no ? ’ he said.
I trembled. The image of rich judgemental parents in a giant
bungalow flashed across my mind.
‘You’re killing his confidence,’ Ashu said. ‘Damn, he loves her,
okay?’
‘So?’ Raman said.
‘She came to his room, no? Ashu said. ‘Madhav, boss, she came to
your room right? Knowing you’re a Bihari?’
‘She wants to visit Bihar,’ I said.
‘There you go.' Ashu said.
Raman rolled his eyes.
‘Go to the party. At least you’ll get free food,’Ashu said and
‘patted’ my back again. Fatso hits so hard, it hurts for days.

Categorias

    •