Stopping by school on a rainy afternoon…

It was almost evening when I reached our school inside the IIT campus. The sweet drizzle was going on. And it was all green surrounding the lonely building. To a true connoisseur of colour it could surely have been an aesthetic upliftment. Well, there was none to greet me in the silent corridor. Its silence was however shattered soon by the footsteps of a man in his early fifties with specs over his nose. Even the almost opaque glasses could not hide the confusion in his eyes, as I found out. He was uttering something, to and fro. His single line message was finally conveyed in a couple of minutes when I understood that he is proceeding to his native place by the evening Steel Express. Goodbye, Sir ! Have a safe journey.
As soon as he left, I found a young aged man with slim features and a brand new sports-shoe entered the building. I felt relieved, ah! Now I will get the book on six sigma. I enquired whether it is there in the library. He was pretty confident, “yes yes, anything you ask for”. He hurriedly searched through the first rack and pulled down a thin little book. He gave a satisfying smile – this is your book. But, how come the Breyfogle’s book became so thin. My god! It was some nondescript Burlington of operations management. I felt like sinking. I asked for the library catalogue, but there is no such thing called catalogue. It will be prepared, he assured smugly, within a year. He did not forget to add his trademark assurance – “ anything you need don’t hesitate to …”. Convinced, I came out.

Lets go the hostel. As  I reached the main gate, another well-built gentleman with smiles galore in his visage approached me. His posture reminded me first of a kathakali mudra and then a familiar punch line – there is more to acrobat …” – Classroom habits die-hard. But, yes, I gained from this encounter – a decent packet of Bengali sweets changed hand. I thanked him profusely and also the person who was carrying those bagful of packets.

And then came THE CAR – the biggest in IIT. With no one except the tall dark driver inside, it probably, arrived with the message that Boss will appear very soon. Everything around disappeared behind it; the young lad of IE department, the younger lass he was talking to whose skin colour reminded me of Mediterranean sunshine, the beautiful trees setting up a romantic backround and even the pebbled lane soaked by light rain. Understanding the vulnerability of my presence, I resumed my solitary journey towards the hostel. It started raining again.

New Delhi, September – 2004