“Is Roll No.19 present,” Our Physics maa’m asked us.
It was our first day at St.Stephen’s. The professor was searching for roll no 19 and we all were behaving like class 3 kids. “Shh!! Maintain silence,” she got annoyed for once.
“Hi, Ishita Manas here,” a girl came close to me.
“Manjeet Singh,” I smiled. “Ahh ,Manjeet !!,” She winked and was busy giving her intro to other students.
Meanwhile our Madam was busy with the roll calls.”Does any one here knows Miss Nikita Sharma,” our Professor asked.
“Wait ,Ishita, did she say Nikita ? ,“ I confirmed . “Yes, I heard Nikita,” Ishita said.
The name “Nikita” is special to me. This reminds me of the beautiful fat girl whom I knew since class 4. She was my first crush. She was Nix to me , my best friend.
“Let’s start with the first chapter,” our teacher said.
“Any one knows Kirchoffs Law,” she asked.
These laws made me nostalgic.
“Manu ,achha tell me why did Kirchoff invented these bloody laws ?,” I still remember that sweet and serene voice of Nix. Nikita used to call me Manu.
“Bloody he, these scientists make some discoveries and we have to study all those useless stuffs,” used to be my reply to Nix. Those were the days of class 9 at ‘Kendriya Vidyalaya’.
“Ok, son, do you know Kirchoffs Law?,” the teacher asked me.
“No, madam,” I said.
“You are here to pursue your Bachelors degree and I presume that you all should be knowing this,” she asserted.
“Silly!!,” she exclaimed.
“Silly, Manu ,tu bhi kamal ka bandha hai ,”Nix used to say during the summer classes where we both studied music.
“Bas kario , Nix ,” I sometimes used to get vexed. She was a sweet kid who never intended to hurt any one. Once she said something which she believed had hurt me badly. She came close to me. I could feel her presence.
“Manu yaar,mujhe maaf kar de,” she was upset.
I pretend to stay away from her. I turned towards the other side. She came next to me
“Manu, aisa naa kario ,Nix se baat bhi kario naa,” She used to say in a typical Delhi accent. I never spoke to her for 20 minutes.
She sat next to the window and wept like anything. “I always do this to you Manu,I’m so sorry,” She screeched. I pondered if anything serious had happened. “Nix,Tu toh meri Jaan hai ,” I used to say .She hugged me. I used to get naughty at times .
“Kaisi hai meri jaan ,” I winked at her.
“Manu, marvaiygaa kya tu meri ,” used to be her instant reply whenevr I called her jaan.
The name ‘Nikita Sharma’ brought tears on my eyes. Everything between me and Nix was over. I soon proposed her after our IIT entrance exams.
“Nix, what do you think of me?,” I asked her.
“Manu, your my sweetheart and tell me aaj toh teer maar rahe ho naaa,” she smiled.
“IIT Bombay ya Kharagpur, bata bata,” she added.
My IIT preparation was hampered just because of this distraction .Nix was what I knew .She was everything to me.I could not imagine a life without her. But, Nikita‘s future was already set. She wanted to pursue a career from IIT. How could I confess my love to her?.
“Yar Nix , I asked you something and still awaiting a reply,” I said.
“Manu, what do you want me to say? You’re my best friend and we are friends,” she said.
“I am currently focusing on my dreams,” She indirectly said no.
I felt dejected and low. I was depressed .Why would she do this to me? Why?. I realized that the Nikita of my class was some different person.She was not my Nix. Soon I came to a conclusion that my friend Nix would be doing her B.tech from IIT Kharagpur or Bombay.
“Ok. Students I want you to revise Electromagnetic concepts while you come for tomorrows lecture,” Our professor said and left the classroom.
My eyes were still imbued with tears. I went to the wash room. When I came out of the wash room my eyes soon got a glance of some one who was walking towards our classroom. She was familiar to me. Her long hairs and the same style of walking and everything. She was someone whom I knew. Was She Nix? I followed her from behind.
“Hey,Meri Jaaan Kaisi hai tuuu,”
“Manu!! Is that you?,”She gently looked behind and yes it was Nix.
“Manu! mere best friend tu kabhi nahi sudhrega!” we both entered the class.
“We are still the same old best friends,” She winked.
“Yes we are!,” I replied back with a straight face.
