"Hi Rahul.. This is my new number. Sheela here.. how r u? Loooong time! "
I am Arun Kumar, doing my 2nd year engineering and living in a hostel in one of those million engineering colleges in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. I had just received an SMS with the above text at around midnight. Basically being a barren land when it comes to girls, I was not sure how to react to that message. It was pretty obvious that the message was not intended for me but I didnt want to let go of this opportunity. A thousand questions ran through my mind as I looked at the SMS for the 197th time in 5 minutes. Should I reply saying Im not Rahul? Should I call that number? Should I ignore the message? What if its an attu piece? Damn! Ive never strained my brain so much in my life. Finally I decided to temporarily ignore the message. Firstly, I didnt want to portray myself as too desperate by replying immediately, and secondly, it would give me time to think..
After a lot of deliberation, I decided to reply next morning from class. Hi Sheela.. sorry for the late reply.. had slept yesterday.. Im doin great.. wazzup with u? Yes, I had done what Madhavan did in Minnale. I knew I was no Maddy in looks, but how would she ever find out through a phone? Nervous and struggling to concentrate in class, I waited for a reply from Sheela. After a wait of around 20 minutes which seemed like an eternity, I received an SMS.
Hey! Im good 2...slept so soon?? I thot guys in IIT hostels dont sleep so early! Anyways, no problems..:).. where r u now? Bunked class? Its been ages since we spoke.. I guess we didnt talk after the school farewell??
IIT. A mini explosion took place in my heart. IIT enga naa enga? No wonder she had messaged Rahul after a looooong time! But I decided to carry on. Confident machi.. confident I said to myself and replied:
Yeah guys in IIT hostels dont sleep early. But you know Im not one of those nerds ;).. and yeah.. a looong time indeed..madam suddenly became super-busy after school :P
Somehow, my hands automatically made me use smileys. Pretty soon I received a reply and we started exchanging messages at a faster rate.
Ha ha! Me and busy? No way! And you not a nerd eh? Then how did u get to IIT in the first place :P?
Still trying to find out the answer. I actually asked my professor after I joined here. He said shit happens once in a while.. I guess that answers it ;)
LOL. Im literally rolling on the floor and laughing uncontrollably. HAHAHA! came the reply.
Was it that funny? Anyways, a part of me felt proud and happy to have made a girl laugh. The confidence urged me to continue.
Chuck that. Hey btw..wazzup with u? What you doin these days?Im sorry I forgot.. you know IIT guys tend to have short term memory loss ;)
Ah..but i thot you were not the typical IIT guy?? :P Im like you.. in the process of wasting 4 years of my life.. I mean Im doing engineering..but not in the IIT! LOL
I had succeeded in my first step - to get some details. But why was she LOL-ing? Whatever. I decided to LOL too. Thought it would sound rude otherwise.
LOL. Yeah I guessed you would be doing engineering.. and Yeah not many people waste their lives in IITs ;) Its reserved for the special (un)lucky ones!
Haha! You are in IIT and you are complaining? But its logical - guys in IIT are never satisfied.. thats why you end up in IIT in the first place!
I went and stood near a mirror. The person from the other end stared back at me and had a million expressions. Some of them being :
* This face ku IIT too much.
* This face ku IIT too much.
* This face ku IIT too much.
* This face ku IIT too much.
* Have you ever seen an IIT campus?
* Have you ever seen an IIT campus?
* Have you ever seen an IIT campus?
* You still have 3 arrears left.
* You still have 3 arrears left.
* You still have 3 arrears left.
But I decided to carry on. Confident machi..confident.
Oh what a brainy girl..you deserve to be in the IIT :P
No thanks. Im happy this way. And hey btw.. how did u find out that I would be doing engineering too??
Oh..that..Its only natural for anyone to jump into engineering after 12th standard right? Especially for girls..enroll in some engineering college.. slog for 4 years... outperform the boys.. draw margins in assignments.. submit assignments a day in advance.. block 2-3 jobs when the guys struggle to get one.. and then finally give up the jobs to marry some rich guy from America.. this is the life-routine for most girls in Tamilnadu right? :P
Ooooohh.. why dont you give some figures about how many girls take up engineering... how many go on to get jobs.. how many get married to America maapilais? That would be interesting..:P
You think Im captain Vijaykanth or what? ;) I am weak in those statistics!
LOL. You are a funny guy. Anyways.. i got to go.. nice convo after a long time.. bye bye
It was indeed a nice convo, not after a long time - but for the first time. I just realised that I had spent almost the entire morning session in messaging her. There are a few ways to check if your kadalai session went well - First, you should lose track of time. Second and most important: you should not remember what you spoke. I succeeded in both and found myself smiling - for no reason.
*****************
The next few weeks saw me completely addicted to my mobile phone. I took it everywhere I went. Literally everywhere. You usually have an entire lifetime to waste when you are in an engineering college and I made maximum use of it. My daily routine was simple:
1. Wake up in the morning and either send or receive messages like :
Morning Coolness,
Rising Sun,
Singing Birds,
Melting Dew,
Along With This
Little Heart
Wishing You A Very
Glorious Good Morning.
2. Go to class and continue messaging
3. Go for lunch.
4. Send/receive messages like :
Give laugh to all but smile to ONE.
Give love to all but heart to ONE.
Give life to all but live for ONE..
Have a cool evening.
5. Continue messaging
6. Continue messaging
7. Send/ Receive messages like:
In this lovely night,
I pray to the sweet moon to protect you through the night,
The wind to blow away your worries,
and,
the twinkle stars to guide you the way,
Sweet dreams and Good Night.
Who are you messaging at 2 AM da? Raj, my roomie asked me suddenly.
Taken aback, I stuttered and replied Not messaging da.. playing a game on the phone.. not getting sleep so just killing time
Ooooho.. sounds very convincing.. show me your phone.. Ill also play the game.. even am unable to sleep
Battery low machaan.. got switched off just now.. gonna sleep now..gnite, I said and immediately deleted my inbox.
There was no way I could tell my friends what I was up to. There are some drawbacks of being a gethu gang ( member in college - you were not allowed to talk to girls. Friends would first tease you. Then warn you not to trust girls. Then ignore you. Then abuse you. The guys in hostel would think I was some villain and leave me out of their plans. I was not going to let that happen to me.
Hey.. gotta go now..ill be dead if my friends find out im messaging a girl so late in the night..dont ask me why.. thats how these idiots are in hostels :(.. do not reply.. ive deleted my inbox.. will msg you tomo.. gnite! I sent her an SMS before sleeping.
The addiction got worse each day. I ignored food, I ignored sleep, I ignored my studies. All I cared in life was the SMS from her. I succeeded in almost everything - I got to know about her, I got to know about Rahul, I made her get addicted to her mobile as much as I was to mine. But there were a few questions which I couldnt find answers to. Firstly, is this love? Secondly, is she an attu figure or good figure? Thirdly, how and when am I going to tell her the truth?
The second question didnt really matter because I was too addicted to her anyways. The only problems seemed to be the 1st and 3rd questions, and there was only one way I was going to find answers to those - ignore her. Time would solve my confusions, I thought and started ignoring her. Yes, I decided to stop sending or replying to her messages from then on.
It was easier said that done though. My hands would itch to grab the mobile and send her a message - especially when I was sitting bored in a stupid lecture. The first 2-3 days were very extremely difficult. I would get a forward or two from her, which I read and ignored. If the first few days were difficult, the next 2-3 were unbearable.
Hey.. wassup?, Hey..too busy or what? showing off that you are an IIT-an to me eh? Thought you were not one of those nerds? ;) , This is why I HATE IIT!. These were a few messages that I got from her. She would never receive a reply.
A week passed, and it was getting clearer to me that I couldnt live without her. The first question was answered. Call it love. Cal it friendship. Call it whatever. I wanted to talk to her. But the week also taught me an important thing - that I cant continue this for long. I HAD to tell her the truth. But how could I suddenly give her such a shock? What if she stops talking to me? What if she goes to the cops? A million questions ran through my mind when my phone beeped.
Hi.. look I dont know what happened to you all of a sudden.. its been a while since you contacted me.. I dont understand why you are avoiding me..but let me tell you one thing.. I dont think I can be normal without messaging you..I dont know what else to say.. all I can say is plzzz reply! Miss u :(
I was happy and sad. I was happy that she missed me. I was sad that I had put her through this. An important question had just been answered. She indeed felt the same way I did. But there was an important and unanswered question. How will she react when I tell her the truth? After all, I was neither Rahul nor an IIT-an. Continue acting - told a part of me. Tell her the truth, said another. I decided not to think. I took my phone, closed my eyes and typed as fast as I could.
Look Sheela.. I have a confession to make.. I dont know how to say this. I am not the guy who you think I am. I am not Rahul. My name is Arun Kumar. I do not study in IIT. I am just another engineering student in just another engineering college like you. I realised the very first day you messaged me that I was not the intended recipient but decided to carry on. I know I was being cheap, but I didnt think it was wrong. It started as a timepass thing but it became much more than that over the weeks.. I dunno if you are fair. I dunno if u r fat. I dunno if u r good looking. I dunno if u r ugly. But I do know that I dont care. All I care about is YOU. And yes, I do know that I love you. You can choose to swear at me. You can choose to reject me. You can choose to accept me. But please do not choose to ignore me...(i dont know what smiley to use)..
I sent the message. I didnt bother to read it again. My eyes remained close till I heard the next beep.
Look Arun. I too have a confession to make.. I dont know how to say this. I am not the girl who you think I am. I am not Sheela. I am Raj - your roomie. Please come immediately to the next room.. all of us are waiting for you :D :D :D
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