Dogging his dreams

5 pm it was, when the seemingly endless chemistry class was on. It was one of the usual classes where Dhruv was eager to elude the session to have a patty or a tomato soup in the near by Mayura's. But the only option was to sit in the class and wait for the final bell to go. His girl of dreams, studying in the adjacent class, was the only motivation to remain seated. The Lecturer’s words sounded like condolences to him. He was fancying the black board to turn into a glass so tat he could see how beautiful his Dream girl looked. He used to wonder if she even knew him as it was only a month since the admissions had taken place. No wonder he had spotted her on day two for the kind of spell she cast on him.

Dhruv, sixteen, had just passed his matriculation to enter the eleventh standard in a reputed pre university college. He felt euphoric to be freed from his uniform and so colourful did everything seem to him after passing out from school. He used to wake up unexpectedly early in the morning to expend more time to select his outfit for the day. He made sure his apparel blended perfectly with his, carefully picked, thick soled footgear. This artless Dandy shaved his inconspicuous moustache on a regular basis on account of tips by his leg pulling pals. He kept swanking in front of his younger brother for comments. But he couldn’t beat his brother’s sleep and hence, couldn’t cut a dash. This didn’t bother him though, for his pet dog did the obeying and wagged his tail in affirmation to his questions like “Do I look dashing!!!”. His mother’s holla for coffee fell on his deaf ears. Somehow he managed to get to the college early by discounting on time for supposedly essential things like breakfast.

It was the thirty first morning in college and fifteen minutes to go before the classes commenced. Dhruv was found near the bulletin board reading the same age old notice which wont come off because of the luckily strong glue. This scene was obvious and regular as it was very close to the entrance of the college and as was common, he hoped to catch a glimpse of his girl’s angelic face as she entered. This routine act of his had built a symbiotic relation between his ocular muscles and aesthetic brain. Notice board was just one of the three locations which he resorted to, in turn. Second one was a phone booth, opposite to the entrance, which had dark translucent panes and enabled him see her enter the college from a considerable distance. Finally, the favourite Mayura's ,from where he could see her walk over a stretch of three hundred yards before entering the college ,taking atleast three minutes which easily measured upto three years to him. All three had their own advantages based on distance and time.

As he was noticing the board, she entered .He felt the electricity from a distance which only intensified as she closed in. He eventually got his much awaited coup d’oeil. Her eyes had the same dampness .For him, they conveyed a kind of helplessness which, only he could empathize and alleviate. He felt that they were the only two souls in the world at the moment. Her smile made him breathe slowly as if he could slow down everything around him and bask the moment. It was godsend for him. He was as afraid of being spotted by her as much as he longed to see her. He moved away from there and went in search of his pals. His biggest goal then, was to talk to her once. His every morning pledge was to accomplish the task of introducing himself to her. He had thus spent twenty eight days unsuccessfully. He felt it was far better to savor his dreams than mess it up by letting her know for he was scared of failure. Oh boy!!! Was he in love or was it just infatuation that every teenager of his age goes through. The trance prevented him from distinguishing between them. It just didn’t bother him as he was oblivious of technical aspects of both. Did it really matter? Why should it? After all he was going through a magical phase of his life which meant so much to him.

Dhruv chose the last bench of the class and had remained an introvert. He didn’t take part in class discussions. He wasn’t bad at his subjects though. All he did in the morning sessions was to plan his venture for lunch break. Nothing significant happened in the break though, as he didn’t dare enter her class without a reason. He wondered if any of his classmates knew her before joining college. The thought of answer ‘YES’ excited him. But it was easier and pragmatic for him to make one of her classmates his friend and know more about the elusive.

5 pm it was, when the seemingly endless chemistry class was on…….Few minutes later, the final bell rang. It resounded in his head like euphony. It was drizzling outside and was season’s first rain. He could smell the sweet aroma of the clay. He had gathered all the guts in the world to talk to her then. It was a perfect set up. He waited in the corridor impatiently for her to exit. All he had done in the class room for the last eight hours was to fantasize his acquaintance with her and how he would instill in her, a liking for him. Tension was building up and slowly was he forgetting what he was supposed to do.

At last she walked out of the class. Every step of her’s was daunting for him. As she drew tantalizingly close he stood there losing everything in the mind on the spur of the moment. She didn’t even seem to notice him. He felt like an ‘also-ran’ but didn’t give up. He waited till she left the corridor and ran immediately towards the main entrance through a different route. He now had a new plan of facing her en route but failed this time too as the exit was too crowded.The thought of being beaten up by the mob for eve teasing struck him for the better. He felt like an outright loser now. The only consoling option was to hurry to the Mayura's and see her walk back all the way from a distance. He did so. He ordered a soup. The drizzling had stopped, but clouds still hung in there turning the whole place into a nostalgic one. He sat there watching her pass by. She tardily disappeared beyond vistas. The sun, though invisible at the moment, was plausibly setting. His soup was cooling.The taunting trees,birds and wind added to his misery. He felt like a baby craving for the elusive moon. He silently left the bakery with a hope of seeing her the next day, hope of talking to her, hope of winning her......