Attention!
“I’d like to thank the honorable Chief Guest Arputham, my department HOD Verona, my co-ordinator Jeyaraj, my best friend Deepan, the faculty, and fellow students who spent their valuable time being here!” Pavithra ended the event, which was followed by thundering applause.
I was
awestruck by her daring act of including my name in the Valedictory speech.
Most of them didn’t seem to notice, but her HOD was stunned and confused by her
sudden inclusion in their decades-old template. Pavithra winked from the stage
and disappeared into the crowd that escorted the chief guest.
Pavithra and
I’ve been friends for almost three hundred days now, ever since she texted me
after reading my blog. She was the first enthusiastic fan outside of my
friends for my writing. She genuinely loved all my works and pointed out the
few she didn’t. She had invited me to her college for a random workshop on
“Girls and how they should be protected.” It was the most backward speech I’ve
heard in years. But of course, what do you expect from a women’s college?
I went to
the college with my influencer friend Dhanush, who has around thirty thousand
subscribers to his YouTube channel. I parked my vehicle and waited in the
parking lot as I called Pavithra. She didn’t pick up the call first, and I gave
her the time, because she was in charge of the whole event, organized by her
department. Then the other girls decided to fade out as she made her shiny
entry.
Draped in a
crisp silk saree, she adjusted her glasses and maintained her conversation on
her phone, stuck between her tilted head and shoulder. She had a unique skin
tone and was certainly taller than me. She waved at me and gestured for me to
come. I went behind her, as Dhanush followed me, still not out of the first-time-women's-college awe. We walked five floors up that
apartment-converted college. It was dark, and the students’ lives looked darker
than the building. They seemed depressed, starved, and probably stunned too.
All eyes looking at me were less creepy than it sounds and were actually fun. I
thanked my grandparents for creating my parents, as they were able to create me
and send me to a college, which was kind enough to send me here.
The next
thing I knew was, I was sitting in a medium-sized auditorium, which was
air-conditioned. I loved the atmosphere, surrounded by hot girls yet cool
enough for me to uncuff my shirt. I was sitting in the front row, with Dhanush
looking around. Girls started to identify him, and he was getting excited. Pavithra
came up to me.
“All okay,
sir? You need something, sir?” she asked with a smirk. I thought of a
comeback, but Dhanush barged in.
“When will
the workshop end? What is it about?” he asked. She turned to him and answered
him in the geekiest way possible. He didn’t see that nerdy side of her and
preferred to stay silent. I laughed.
“Thank you
for felicitating my event with your presence, Deepan”, she said, this time,
with a genuine smile. Now I knew what comeback I had to bring in.
“Well, this
ain’t enough. Thank me on stage. That’ll do”, I told. She didn’t even flinch,
listening to it. She came close to my ears.
“Am sorry to
break it, you’re gonna lose”, she whispered.
“Well, tea
on me, then”, I said, in a cartoony tone.
Here I was,
buying two teas in her canteen, while she was meddling with her phone, on the
counter. I took them to the counter and gave one to her. Dhanush got busy with
his fans clicking selfies with him and praising him. He chose women over tea,
this time. Pavithra must’ve noticed my desperate reaction looking at him.
“Sad that you lost? You look stupid, but I can’t help thinking about how you write some really good stuff. It’s unbelievable”, she went on.
“I’m never
bringing Dhanush here, again. It’s irritating,” I told her. She smiled at me
and took out her phone. That’s when she received a call from her HOD. She
immediately stood up from her chair and attended to it. She definitely didn’t look
well during the call.
“Deepan, HOD
is calling me urgently. I think I’m getting suspended. Don’t drink my tea or
you’ll have to buy me another,” she said before she hurried. I didn’t know what
to do, so I called Dhanush. You won’t believe what I saw, but I literally saw
him cutting my call, as it interrupted his selfie session with his girl fans.
“Deepan,
don’t leave, my HOD mam is coming,” I freaked out once I saw this text from
her. What am I going to do now? She’ll get me suspended, using her powers in my
college, too? Should I reach for her feet once I see her? Should I get her some
tea to calm her down? Will she get calm over a tea? What lady is she, if she
doesn’t settle for this beautiful tea?
She walked
towards me, as Pavithra followed her from behind. It was terrifying, as I
didn’t want to be slapped in front of the whole girls’ crowd. She came to me
and looked around.
“Dhanush
Raj, is he your friend? Has he left?” she asked in a very serious tone. I
remembered his Instagram story where he thrashed the college for their
expensive canteen and apartment building. Somewhere inside, I felt happy that
he was also going to be destroyed in front of his audience. That put me in a
good spot. I pointed at him. She went towards him, leaving me out.
All the
girls around him went back as the HOD went to him. Then she took out her phone
and asked one of the girls to click a picture of her with him. Pavithra burst
into laughter as I went into disappointment. I couldn’t stand that creature
taking pictures with the HOD herself, while I almost peed my pants for a
minute, in fear. I turned to Pavithra and waited for her to completely laugh.
In revenge, I took her cup of tea and gulped it.
She laughed
hard before she took out her phone from her handbag. She opened the selfie
camera and posed. I looked into the camera.
“With the
best writer, there existed the best fan too!” she shouted proudly before she
clicked a pic.
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