Wake Up !

 

Let us do some time travel , my third semester at IIT and my Mathematics course and Prof. Roshan Lal, not to stentorian, a class room full of 53 so called creams of this country, and suddenly the Prof. stopped on my name asking me to stand up, not a routine affair for me, i could not figure why this violent creature has choosen me to stand up. Anyways the story went on like this..

Prof: Are bhai, aapko kya lagta aapki attendance kitni hogi iis semester mein ?

Me : Sir, i guess itni to honi hi chaiye ki main exam mein baith saku....

( At IIT Roorkee 75% minimum attendance is required, otherwise a cool proffesor is what most students long for)

Prof: Waah, aapko to kaafi bharosa hai apne uupar, kamal hai !!

Me : (Silent, trying to laugh at my friends who were trying to laugh at me...you see this is a pretty weird situation when  there are endless muted recriminations )

Prof : Baith jao, aur exam mein baithna hai to baaki ki saari classes attend kar lena.. (with a cruel smile on him face )

Me: ( not able to understand the gravity of the situation and still laughing, unaware that i could cry in near future if i dont take this situation & show some gravitas) Yes sure sir, but could you let me know how many classes are left for me ?? (puzzled)

Prof: bilkul bata sakta huu, ab bas ek class bachi hai aapke liye,tabhi aapki attendance 75 % ho sakti hai, ab to bhagwan hi aapka maalik hai

Me:( Suddenly my heart started pumping at double the rated speed and i didnt knew what to say or may be how to feel, i saw a back paper coming !!) Ok Sir !

Everything turned grey for me after the session, i had not imagined a backlog coming my way, i was feeling ill and my hospice was the class that was to be held a day after. So, every second was like an hour for me, drowned in thoughts of the next class.....mixed intractable feelings flashed in my mind .....backlog....a letter to my parents...a lot of bellitling...another course.....another grade sheet mentioning the back....questions in my placements interviews....questions in my CAT interviews(if i was selected)....ashamed and hectored in front of fellow students....God knows how i retraced myself into the present. It was hard for me, i wanted a cicerone for letting me out of this trouble, i was buzy in my own thoughts, my D-day was to arrive, although i knew that my feelings were quite ephemeral and would not last long but then at that moment of time you don't know what you want to do !

The heat in the in the surroundings gradually cooling down, sun going towards the west filling the lithosphere and the places beyond in red orange, birds chirping and calling their relatives back home, gentle wind  filling the ambience with music of its own, the fan roaring some strange noises, vehicles passing in my rear-view but all that could not make me feel better, i was still at the same depth of the well in which i was just to get drowned and alas i could not do any better; yeah what i could do was to talk to my amigo's and sprinkle out some odd words for that humanitarian who had runied my day. But i didn't, just sat down alone, may be trying to coalesce with the almighty and praying to not do what he, i mean i thought was wrong for me.

Hours later, the darkenss inside me matched with those in surroundings, i picked up my cell phone and called everyone to WAKE ME UP for the class that held my destiny, turned on all types of alarms in all the electronic gadgets present nearby, hoping to get a sound asleep before hearing the judgement. Everyone went to bed and so did i, but i could not sleep, clock ticked 2 in the morning and what was i doing then, when the others were dreaming - some romancing, some having erotic, someone lavishly living, someone bereft of love, someone wet with horror, and all other kinds of social dreams. I went to get over the bottle of water, water could have let my throat go wet and my mind relax, blood cool and my heart run at the orthodox speed it does while we were sleep, how much water i needed more, already had three bottles. I jumped out in the balcony and thought of counting the stars present, i could recognise the Ursa Major and Pole star, hoped to get some more, so here was i, counted 8 stars so far and it continued, (you know it is the best pastime in the time, do sometime when you feel bored and lonely), 9,10,11,12,13...........101,201,301.....and then the confusion started, had i counted that one already or am i being presumtous? No, i have not counted that again; it wont matter. I dont remember how much i counted, but what i remember i just crossed the 1000 around 4.30.....and then i slept.......not aware that i was near to missing my dream class (which was the 8 AM class), i may have slept in my dreams, i dont remember, i could not hear the phone bells ringing or the alarms cacophony; there in my dream i felt someone calling my name and said " WAKE UP", you would miss your class, i dont remember it was a male or female,white or black or brown, i liked resisting to be awake, it then punched in my face, and i was there, sucking nostrils full of air that then rushed to my lungs to get more oxygen to supply to my heart which had quadrupled its pumping speed, i guess, to supply more fresh blood to my brain, which was having some telepathetic conversation with someone i didnt recognized. I looked up at the watch which read 8.05 AM, realising i was in a great trouble, ran straight to brush and then to cycle, no need to redress as i was wearing a decent one when i was trying to sleep last night, thinking to avoid this particular item from my itinerary on the D-day, turned the nitrobooster on and flashed like a jet.

When i reached the class, it was over, no one present, started feeling to cry at my heart but could not avow my feelings, rused to the teachers room and found some others like me wandering near the proffesors cabin, he called us one by one and gave asked for some execuse why he should not deprive of the end-term examination, and then converted some dot to "P", that letter i would never forget in my life which brought joy and laugh on my face, i felt at being on top of the world and wanted to hug someone, its like you just saw GOD and wanted to discuss how he talked to you with someone on this holy earth.

I thanked that "it", whatever it was for waking me up ! I know you are always there when one needs help, i know you always will and for that we will always love and worship you.