Happy Birthday

The boys in the hostel were standing in a group and talking. The conversation went on for hours. It was nearly midnight. It was Vineet’s birthday. I knew it was his birthday, but I didn’t wish him and went to sleep.

We left the surprise for later.

It was around 3:00 a.m. ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR VINEET, HAPPY

BIRTHDAY TO YOU!’ All the boys in the hostel were up to wish him. Vineet was fast asleep in his room. He heard the commotion and was surprised. He woke up from his slumber. He was rubbing his eyes and it was a delight for his friends to watch his puzzled face. We wanted to give him birthday bumps. We lifted him up in the air and then left him to drop on to the bed. He was just in a state of shock at the sudden surprise.

I gifted him a hand-written card.

Happy Birthday, Bro. God Bless You Always. I don’t bother what others say about you, that you are rude, obnoxious, arrogant and some other unpleasant adjectives. But I know that you are a good human being and my dearest friend. I came to know the true meaning of friendship on the day I first met you. Friend is he who cares about you, and treats you with integrity and honesty….Love you Bro…. Keep Smiling!

Vineet blew the candles and cut the cake. The party was on. I took a large piece of cake and smeared it on Vineet’s face. He had not seen it coming. The boys called it a facial. He was completely taken by surprise. In hostel, birthdays always require a facial. The birthday party ceremony in the hostel was not complete without it.

‘Are you insane?’ Vineet was getting annoyed. He looked like a ghost with his face smeared with cake and white icing sticking on his skin. Looking at him you couldn’t tell that he was Vineet. Everyone burst out laughing.

‘Bro, be polite on your birthday,’ I chuckled. I then took some tissue paper and wiped Vineet’s face.

Everyone enjoyed the birthday surprise in the wee hours of the morning.

Vineet was pleased to hear ‘God bless you, Vineet,’ from his friends.

We attended the morning class session and decided to skip the evening lectures. We, the four of us, Vineet, Aditi, Ruchi and I, were sitting in the canteen. We selected Nirvana Club as the venue for the evening party but Ruchi did not agree.

‘What has happened to you, Ruchi? You don’t want to go?’ Vineet asked. ‘No, Vineet. I am not in a good mood. You guys go and enjoy. I have some work to do,’ Ruchi made a lame excuse.

‘Come on, Ruchi. It’s my birthday. Join us. There would be no fun without you,’ Vineet said, pretending to feel offended. Aditi was staring at Ruchi.

‘You know, Vineet, I am not able to cope with my situation. I am not happy,’ Ruchi said in a flat voice.

‘Stop chewing the cud, Ruchi. I don’t want to hear the name ‘Kanav’ anymore. You are hurting yourself for the person who is not worth a thought. And you are being a wet blanket. You are ruining the fun for all of us. It’s Vineet’s birthday. Do not spoil the occasion for him. What do you mean by saying ‘I am not in a good mood?’ I am fed up with you. Just go and do as you please. Why to squander your life for someone who plays with your emotions and sentiments?’ Aditi lost her patience and she lashed out.

Aditi, Vineet and I got up and left the place. Vineet looked back to see if Ruchi was coming with us. Ruchi was reflecting on her behaviour. She realized she was making a mistake.

‘What am I doing?’ she said to herself, ‘Break with Kanav does not mean end of my life.’

Ruchi was now convinced that she needed to collect herself and rework her life. There was life beyond Kanav. There was her family and there were her friends to be considered. Why did she not care for their feelings and why was she continuing with her miserable behaviour, spreading unpleasantness all round? It is tough to overcome misadventures, but life must move on.

‘So just forget the past and live as if nothing ever went wrong in your life. You need to gather yourself and start afresh,’ thought Ruchi.

She felt better.

...

‘I am sorry to all of you,’ said Ruchi, sheepishly.

‘Oh, Ruchi, please don’t feel guilty and don’t apologise. We know you have gone through a lot,’ Aditi comforted her. She was glad her friend was trying to come out of her shell.

‘Just forget about it,’ Vineet said to put an end to the topic on Ruchi’s affair. ‘Thank you, all of you. It makes me feel good that you understand my

feelings,’ Ruchi expressed her gratitude.

‘No problem, Ruchi. Anything for a friend,’ Vineet replied.

I was convinced that Vineet was in love with Ruchi. The expressions on his face said it all. When a boy falls in love, you can tell it from his face, and he cannot hide it. When a girl falls in love, you can tell it from her actions that how much she cares for the guy.

‘Forget about it, Ruchi. Let’s enjoy the party,’ everybody said to her.

‘Yup, I don’t care a damn for Kanav. Let’s rock this club. Yipee!’ Ruchi said joyfully. She had finally overcome her sadness. She now seemed happy. It made all three of us happy too.

...

First, we organised a cake cutting ceremony again, and this time Ruchi played a naughty ritual and applied facial to Vineet. She just trashed the whole cake to his face. He looked so funny with the cake sticking all over his face, again. Aditi and I burst out laughing. I could tell Vineet was delighted too.

Then Ruchi ordered a bottle of champagne. It was a surprise to me. I didn’t know Ruchi was a dipsomaniac. I knew Aditi wasn’t and I appreciated her for that. The romantic song, ‘Bheege Honth Tere’ was playing and Vineet started dancing in sync to its lyrics. Ruchi joined him on the dance floor. I wanted to dance with Aditi, but I could not gather courage to ask her to join me for a dance. I excused myself to go to the washroom and stayed there till the dance was over.

After spending time at the disco, we decided to watch a late-night movie. It was around ten and we were getting ready to leave for cinema. That was when Aditi received a call from her home. Her father was not well, and she was asked to come home immediately. We cancelled our program. Both Aditi and Ruchi had to return home. It was Tuesday and there was a taxi strike in the city. The girl’s home was in opposite directions. It was decided that I would drop Aditi and Vineet would drop Ruchi.

We greeted happy birthday to Vineet once again and left. I drove in pin drop silence as Aditi was occupied in her thoughts. She was probably thinking of her father. As we reached her home, she hurriedly rushed inside. I softly bid her, ‘Bye and take care.’

I came back to the hostel and waited for Vineet to return.

...

‘Are you okay?’ Vineet asked Ruchi as she appeared to be dizzy. He also noticed that she was little unsteady while taking steps. Vineet was certain that she was not accustomed to alcoholic drinks. She had ventured into taking them that evening as a display of being a bravado. The champagne had not agreed with her. She was feeling sick and threw up. It was an awkward moment for him.

Ruchi was not in her clear conscience and she kept on repeating, ‘Kanav, why did you leave me?’

Vineet could see that although she was putting up a brave face, the thought of Kanav was still troubling her mind and depressing her.

Ruchi was a sensitive girl and she could not explain to herself the way the circumstances had changed and taken a bad turn. She was not able to overcome the shock of Kanav leaving her. She had been deeply hurt. She needed time, care, understanding and affection to recover from this situation.

‘God bless you, Ruchi,’ Vineet said to her affectionately and kissed her on the forehead.

Her clothes were stained and gave out a foul smell. There was little that Vineet could do. He cleaned her clothes to the extent possible and put his own jacket around her shoulders. She could not walk to her house and Vineet was certain she would fall if she even tried to walk all by herself. He picked her up in his arms and walked towards her home. He rang the doorbell. Her mother opened the door and saw Vineet carrying Ruchi. Vineet walked past the lady and entered the house. He asked for Ruchi’s room.

‘To the left, but who are you?’ the lady demanded.

‘Please do not worry. I am Vineet. I am Ruchi’s classmate. Ruchi is sick,’ Vineet replied. He carefully laid Ruchi down on the bed, covered her with a comforter, switched off the lights and then came out of the room. He felt better when Ruchi’s mother came and offered him a glass of water.

‘Thank you for bringing her home safely,’ Ruchi’s mother said.

‘No problem, aunty. I am Vineet, one of her classmates. May I have a word with you?’ Vineet asked.

‘Sure, please feel free,’ she replied.

‘Ruchi is heartbroken from her recent breakup, as you probably know. She is in a state of shock and is unable to cope with the situation. She needs help to come out from this trauma. She needs care and appreciation and not criticism and scolding,’ Vineet said.

‘I understand, Vineet. Her breakup with Kanav is not the only reason for her depression. She received a severe jolt when I divorced my husband. It happened three years ago. Ruchi ran into oblivion. She could not bear her father’s loss and it affected her emotionally. She had just recovered from that shock when this tragedy has struck her,’ her mother said.

‘I am sorry. I did not know that,’ Vineet apologized.

Ruchi’s mother did not speak. There was a long pause. Vineet understood that she did not want to dwell on the circumstances of her divorce to a stranger especially when he was a classmate of her daughter. She did not want her divorce to become a talking point and create problems for her daughter, mentally.

Vineet stood up and took permission to leave. Before leaving he said to Ruchi’s mother, ‘Please forget the past. You need to live in present. You need to live normally for your daughter. Nothing is more precious than her. Ruchi needs your care and affection. You are her mother and you understand better than me or anyone else. Only you can help her. Leave all worries behind. Live as if nothing went wrong, ever. Cheer up and be strong and tell Ruchi to be strong too.’

‘Thank you. I’ll try my best to make her comfortable,’ Ruchi’s mother replied.

‘Sure, ma’am.’

‘I am happy that Ruchi has a friend like you,’ her mother said gently but Vineet did not reply. He gave a smile and left. He came back to the hostel.

As he reached the hostel gate, he must have thought that I would be inside. But I was standing outside the hostel premises. He had not noticed me on reaching the venue. He tried to open the hostel gate to enter but it was shut and locked from inside. I approached him, slapped him on his back and said, ‘Where were you, you rascal? I have been waiting here for you for the last two hours.’

It was past midnight and he was surprised to see me awake at this late hour and waiting for him. He appeared to be too taken aback to speak.

‘Come on, say something,’ I asked again with some irritation.

‘Calm down, my friend. I’ll explain,’ Vineet replied. He told me what had transpired. I sympathised with him.

We were in trouble right now as we were locked out of the hostel. We requested the security guard to let us in. We explained our situation saying, ‘It was Vineet’s birthday and made some other excuses.’ After much persuasion and pleading with him, he relented and permitted us to enter with a warning that it was the last time he was doing so.

We ran to our room on the third floor and realized that we did not have the key to the room with us. It was now a problem to get into the room. Bad luck was trailing us. First, the security guard was not allowing us to enter the hostel and now we did not have the key to our room.

Then I recalled a scene from a film where the police did not have key to a door, and they had broken the door to enter the room. Vineet and I put our shoulders against the door and pushed it hard. A few pushes and the door gave way finally. It opened with a loud creaking noise. It would attract someone’s attention surely, we thought. Thanks to the loose screw else the bolt would have got detached from our applied force. We quickly entered the room, locked it from inside and went to our respective bed without switching on the light. It had been a bad night. Tired from the day’s adventures and pursuits, we two young lovers fell asleep in no time.

We both proclaimed to be reluctant but ended up in vain. Our efforts were respectable but were left dispossessed.

I don’t really sugar coat my words, but I could feel ambience of love.