My Story

After I completed two years of Master’s Degree from Calcutta University I had not yet planned what I will be doing after this. So I went back to Lava my hometown Village. After spending a few months with my families I thought of joining a couching for Competitive Exams. To join a couching I had to be shifted in Siliguri, where my only childhood best friend was waiting for me. Rakesh is my one and only friend with whom I can freely talk and share about anything. ‘’A best friend is better than a brother born in our own house”. If only I get to hear the word friend “Rakesh” pop’s in my head. I came to Siliguri and found Rakesh eagerly waiting to see me after a long years of gap. We stayed 2 or 3 days with few brothers from Kalimpong (district of West Bengal) who were Rakesh relatives.

We had to get our own room immediately to start our coaching in Mahendra Coaching Center. After a long search in much weariness and tiresome days, we were able to get a small room with an attached mini kitchen. This room was at the topmost floor of the building actually it was a terrace but the owner of the house had made a small room and a mini attached kitchen here. May be this room was made for some other purposes and may be it wasn’t actually for rent. BUT I thank we found this room in a low renting budget. Now the problem in this terrace was not the room and the toilet everything I must say was fair enough but at the other side of the terrace, we had a different breeds of dogs as our neighbors, a Labrador, German Shepherd, Doberman. The owner of the houses said that he breeds those dogs to sell its puppies at a very good price. We didn’t complain about anything with the owner because we knew its next to impossible to get a low-budget rent room else-where in Siliguri.

So we finally shifted and it was a new beginning for both of us. Life in Siliguri was interesting, struggle, financially, emotionally, and above all we were trying to figure out our destinies. I didn’t have any ambitions nor was I good at studies, for me everything was a struggle, go coaching and whole hours and hours of lectures. I was never interested in coaching classes it bored me and my mind would always wonder else-where even if I was present in the classroom. I wish I was one like those front desk students, but I wasn’t the one. Now our daily routine was waking up at around 7 or 8 a.m, rushing hurriedly to the coaching class and after the class was over we hang out with new friends for a while and came back to our room to cook and eat our lunch and rest, we hardly opened our books and notes to study. Evening we use to roam about the market places in Hiderpara, sometimes visit those brothers who were Rakesh relatives, coming back to the room we cooked our dinner and rest.

Among all this, the best part was our resting part, because Rakesh and I always played online teenpatti games together. We competed first to be a crorepati. It was almost one month that we were in Siliguri, our banking exam was approaching now Rakesh sometimes was quite serious about his studies, he would solve some reasoning, practice quantitative aptitude, and focus on banking notes. But I would hardly do it. But we both had a fear of approaching the exam. There we found this new guy Nima from Sikkim, he was with us in the same coaching center, in our class. Nima was far better than we were in banking subjects. He too was strong financially than we were. Sometimes Nima came into our room helped us to solve equations, we sometimes did lunch and dinner together and occasionally we used to get drunk. As days were alike following the same routine almost every day. ‘’But when we are with our best friend we don’t mind walking the same path again and again”.

One fine morning we woke up, as usual, went to attain our classes, but something that happened on this day changed my whole life.

After our class got over, I was standing outside the classroom maybe I was waiting for Rakesh I noticed a girl, I knew her, I couldn’t believe it was her, Manisha. I recognized her immediately, even she saw me but confusingly she blinked her eyes, it might be she could hardly recognize me. With no loss of time, I approach her and said “ aren’t you Manisha”, how come you here. Feeling a bit shy or something I don’t know she was numb for a while. Again I continue I’m Rupen, do you remember me? Although she knew me so well she had almost forgotten my name. It was because we were meeting after 8 years. Back then she was just 18 and I was 20, but now we both had grown up and had different changes. Now I was 28 years old well grown-up man, and she was 26.