Discernment

The AC in the room was roaring. It probably needed servicing.

Shiru yelled looking at Kaji’s eyes and told him that they were popping out beyond limits! Kaji looked back, infuriated, and said… “Aree tera muuh hain ki loudspeaker? Dheere bol. Abhi itni raat nahi hui hai.”

The last month of Sapna's college was a bit hectic because a lot of submissions were lined up. It was a routine these days to stay awake all night with hot mugs of coffee, huge piles of books and large bars of dark chocolate as her final exams were due. Soon she would move out to a new, independent life which she was very happy about.

Sapna was a brave, notorious and sweet teenager who had shifted to Shimla two years back for her engineering studies. She was very loving and had friends not only in her college but also in other nearby colleges. Shiru and Kaji had her eyes on Sapna and they used to hopelessly eve tease her on her way to college and back to the hostel. Most of her friends also had seen this and they were completely aware of how Sapna resented all these things.

One day Sapna got a call from their hostel in-charge who informed her that Shiru and Kaji were to barge in her hostel room that night when she was alone and their intentions were probably not right. Sapna was initially petrified, but then, she called Ruchi and Avanti, her friends in a nearby medical college and discussed the whole issue of eve teasing that she had been facing in a long con-call which lasted for almost 45 minutes.

The night was dark, the hostel lights dim after ten, as per the rules. As usual, Sapna had her dinner and was treating herself to some soft music when there was a knock on the door. She did not pay much attention, when, someone knocked again. Sapna lived on the first floor of the hostel. Without attending the door, she made her way to the second floor through the staircase on the rear end of her room to her friend Reema's room where they both engrossed themselves into studying with intermittent chit-chatting.

And then the screen blanked. Kaji and Shiru had just finished watching the latest Netflix series. Shiru brought them both a bowl of ice-cream. They both enjoyed their ice cream and went upto Sapna’s room only to realize there was no one inside. When they were just about to head back towards their respective hostel rooms, the warden caught hold of them and charged them for indecent behavior levying a fine of Rs. 20,000/- each. Not only that, their parents were notified, they were rusticated and consequentially their education continued in their respective hometowns.

Sapna and Reema continued to study for the entire month together after that night up until their exams as they could solve doubts and understand concepts better in each other's company. Later, Sapna thanked the hostel in-charge for giving them the information and the warden for ensuring the security of the girls and also setting up an example for the other colleges. She also called up Avanti and Ruchi and thanked them for their wonderful suggestion of not staying back in the room that night and informing the warden in advance about what was to happen!