A Day to Remember (for
all the wrong reasons!!!)
Disclaimer: All characters
in this story are purely fictional. However, resemblances to real people who
are alive, dead or dying, or to incidents that have occurred in the past, are
occurring now or will occur in the future, if any, are purely not coincidental,
purposeful and intentional.
One ball to go, four runs to win,
me at the crease. I felt the eyes of the whole crowd on me. I looked around for
gaps in the field. Then I saw her in the stands. She had her palms across her
mouth in silent prayer, but our eyes locked and she waved at me cheerily. Now I
really wanted to hit towards the stand where she was sitting. A guy from the
senior batch charged in with the ball. It pitched in short and zoomed towards me,
and I took a wild heave at it.
THUMP! What on earth, did I miss
it? Oh, no! I can’t stand the humiliation! I was struck on the arm and it was
hurting. I sat up groggily. My phone was bawling the newly set ‘Funny Machine’
message alert tone. Aargh… it was a dream, and I had banged my arm against the
wall. Not funny. I read the clock through my foggy eyes – 8:30 in the morning, who the hell woke me up
so early! “wer r u. we r at ward 18. sir cmin 4 ward cls at 10. cme fast” said
the message from a girl in my unit. After a second show movie and a couple of
hours of sweet nothings with my love (time flies!), does she know at what time
I hit the sack yesterday and that I needed to sleep the day off? I decided to
make it to the ward class anyway, still ruing my lost sleep.
Ten minutes later, I was on the road
to the hospital. On the way I wondered, which posting did I have? Pride didn’t
allow me to SMS someone in my unit; I decided to find that out when I reached
Ward 18. Now where the heck was Ward 18? I swallowed my pride and approached a
guard, who, with a knowing smile, directed me to the Surgery Ward. I scurried
there to find the entire unit already there. Wow! Now that’s a surprise! “Sir
is very strict. He came exactly at 8:00
and asked me where the rest were. He wants everybody here with a case ready
when he comes for the class at 10:00”, informed a girl before joining her
friends back on the case. They were actually suffocating the old man with their
enthusiasm, and he was in a bit of pain. I decided not to join them on the case
until Sir came. There was more than a half-hour to go, and I stepped into the
Nurses’ Room nearby to set my bag down. I felt bored and sleepy. I sat at the
edge of the bed there, and pondered on what to do next.
Next thing I knew, I was getting
up from the bed in the Nurses’ Room. “OH MY GOD, I had dozed off!” I looked at
my watch – 10:15 !! Almost
jumping out the door, I stopped short to see Sir taking class to the unit, a
few feet away from where I stood. Luckily, he had his back to me and didn’t see
me. Sheesh! Even the guy who slept through most of the classes was listening
intently. I couldn’t just join the class right then, and neither could I slip
away without Sir noticing. That left the room behind me the only place to go. I
tread into the room
quietly. Panic now subsided, and I thought, “What the heck!” I’m trapped in
this room until Sir leaves, and I might as well relax a bit, I thought with
lingering sleep was tugging at my eyelids, and lay down.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??” I
woke up to the shout of a senior Nurse. “Er… I’m not feeling well, sister”, I
lied. She didn’t seem to believe me; I stepped out. It was noon and all my unit mates had left. I hurried
to college, and this gal who woke me up in the morning had more news for me – I
was to meet Sir next morning. Of course, I’d also willingly enter a hungry
lion’s den.
Lunch from the canteen was
terrible. I gulped down some and went to the Common Room to find the seniors at
a game of cards. I didn’t have to bat an eyelid before joining them. “Aren’t you
coming to the Pathology lecture?” one of my best friends asked. By then the
game was coming to a head, and I didn’t want to leave. So I asked him the
favour of answering my attendance too. How on earth could I’ve known that the
Pathology teacher was my SLP madam in addition to being my next-door neighbour?
He answered for me, and she promptly asked that “I” stand up. Idiot that he
was, he actually stood up! She glared at him. Well, both of us lost attendance
for the class, and I had my second appointment for the next day. Very good.
However, I had a gala time at the card game in the Common Room. Three of my
seniors, in the opposite team, were already wearing the ‘kunukku’ on their ears,
the characteristic symbol of the vanquished.
It was evening, and I walked
towards my dispersing classmates, looking for her. I hoped to catch a coffee @
Essar with her. While I was dodging teasing glances and knowing smirks from my
sadistic classmates who were relishing the ‘day’ I had, there she was, speeding
away on her scooter with ‘Chottu’ behind her. Ah! Probably to catch some damn
old soap on the TV…! I thought bitterly.
What a miserable day… I thought
as I entered the rented house where I lived. I was about to catch up on lost
sleep when the phone rang. “Buddy”, chimed my friend who ‘stood in’ for me at
Pathology class, “How about a first show today?” I tried to excuse myself out,
citing that I’d been to a movie just the day before. He persisted, and I
relented considering that even if it was his fault owning it up, he wouldn’t
have had to go through all that trauma and humiliation but for me. So we went
for the show. A horrible Malayalam movie it was! Dear time and dearer money
gone down the drain! We ate a silent dinner and he dropped me off at the start
of my lane. I walked home to find that the owner who lived upstairs had locked
the gate and let the dog loose. My roomie might be up studying, but it was no
use calling him since he was utterly scared of dogs despite his large frame. Our
ex-roomie, the dark guy, would have coaxed the dog to the kennel. He had quite
a way with dogs, and didn’t they love him as well, I thought, chuckling to
myself. I trudged back to the Men’s Hostel nearby, and phoned my friend there
to expect me. I also messaged my roomie that I won’t be home for the night.
It was almost eleven, and I was twisting
to get some space on my friend’s bed; he was sleeping like a log taking up
almost all the space. It was very hot inside the room, and he didn’t have a fan
yet. Sweat poured in rivers down my neck, and I thought about the day I just
had. Couldn’t attend Ward after being well on time, didn’t get the attendance
for a class I didn’t attend (Um, do I have a problem here? No, attendance is our
birthright, whether or not we attend the class J ), threw away time and
money on a godforsaken movie, and didn’t get to sleep at a place I’m paying
for, under a fan I’d bought on my own. Not to mention my two ‘meetings’ for
tomorrow.
Then my phone rang; I was already
cursing.
It was her! “Hello?” I answered,
a tad tiredly. “Hello dear!” came her sweet reply! There’s always a silver
lining, they say. After an utterly hellish day, heaven is here!!!!
Ram V.
Nampoothiri 2005 MBBS
