The next day was fateful because we experienced laziness after a day's sleep.Waking up was a struggle like Sisyphus rolling the stone up the steep hill.I was the first to wake up.It was 6.30 am.After a big yawn,I looked around the room. My shelf was filled with books and coins lying higgledy piggledy.With books and objects in a neat pile,Vivek's shelf showed neatness and order.I ventured out of the room.The cold air was being cut,as if by a needle dipped in honey,by the Ayyappa devotional songs by K.J.Yesudas,the legendary singer. The nearby temple played the same set of songs every morning for the three years of our stay in the room.
Vivek woke up at 7 am.He removed the blanket from his body and got up with a yawn that was wide enough for three hornets to enter his mouth simultaneously.He was moving in the direction of the bathroom while I was outside,inhaling the fresh air.If there was anything that created a discordant note in the harmony of this serene musicality of the atmosphere,it was the barking of the dog of our neighbour.By the size of the dog,the sound it produced felt uncanny.
''Buddy,you could have called me when you woke up.'',Viek said.
I turned around and looked in his direction.''Sorry buddy,I only thought of not disrupting your sleep'',I replied.
He nodded, went inside,took a book of poems and began to read.Once entering the room,I took William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet.'After reading the 'To be or not to be soliloquy,I dropped the book on the table.
'Buddy,he is very philosophical.'
Who?
Hamlet.
He nodded his head and went back to reading.Nothing passed between us that morning till the fateful minute.That was when Vivek came of the bathroom in a towel that he tied around his waist after drying himself up.''Arun,your bathing is not ordinary.It is the grand bath of a Maharajah ('Neeraattu' in Malayalam).''
I took a lot of time to bathe.That was why Vivek made this coment.When we were out of the house,there were only fifteen minutes for us to reach the class before the deadline.After locking the door,Vivek threw the key at me.I kept it safely in the biggest folder of y bag.Breakfast was out of the question.Yet when we neared the N.S.S.Canteen,I asked hi -''Vivek,what about eating?.''
''Let's eat '' ,he said.Theory can be learnt any time,breakfast can only be eaten in the morning.So we started.As I was not interested in Dosa,which Vivek pronounced as 'Dosha',I ordered paratha.Sambar was free.
''Buddy,paratha is not good for your health,'' he warned.I knew this,but couldn't help it.We continued to eat,nodding the head at times.It was like terrorists having their breakfast in ''Baba Kalyani.''That was when Vinayak entered the room.
Vinayak was the Mahesh Babu material of our college.A six feet tall young man in T-Shirt and jeans slowly moved towards us.His neatly polished boots glittered in the sunlight that was entering the room through the side windows.He gave us one of his smile that made one of the beautiful girls in the campus to fall in love with him.
The end of Part 2.
I AM SATISFIED WITH THIS POST.
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