Preshit

It was just 8.30 in the morning & Bombay was already baking under the June Sun. He missed the rains. He thought he'ld make a nice roast meat dish for the vultures if the queue did not move shortly. He wiped the sweat off his brow & opened his new Lee sack. A bottle of lime water rested on one side of the middle compartment. Heat buster! He took a long swig, put the lid back on & replaced the bottle exactly where it was. A fortyish lady looking fairly attractive in her purple punjabi suit turned her head. He blushed as she almost caught him staring at the curves of her body. She smiled knowingly.

There are women who hate boys checking them out. There are hotties who size up another woman's status by the number of heads she can turn around. There are those who just don't give a damn. And then there are ladies who know just why men gawk at them & let them do it. They understand. Perhaps even feel proud deep inside that they are worthy of it. Blue punjabi belonged to the last category. Preshit shuffled his legs. The queue was now moving forward finally. He was dying to get done with the application & go back to the solace of home.

He had scored an excellent percentage in the HSC board exams with even better scores in the Biology group. Hardly a year ago he wanted to become a doctor. But it doesnt take much to spoil one's dreams given the Indian education system. He had toiled the whole last year & finally managed to get done with medical applications & the entrance exam. He had scored well there too. Had he tried he could have been accepted by any medical college except the top ten in the state. He certainly would have gotten a paid seat & his father had the money. But the process had sapped him. Looking at the general lack of regard for the student, the central purpose of the existance of the entire education system, he felt disillusioned. He did not want to rot in those poultry like medical classrooms packed with stupid nerds being shephearded by ever frustrated lecturers.

He thought he wanted to study in an institution where he could feel at home. A place with a human touch. A place that he could proudly call his own. He had always loved Physics and his tutor for the subject had recommended St. Xavier's as the best in Bombay, perhaps even in the country. He had applied immediately & found his name in the very first merit list. So here he was with all annexures & a form duly filled waiting in queue. It took him all of four hours to lodge his application. Looking at his scores, Prof. Vaman Rao, Vice-Principal - Academic Improvement immediately accepted him. 'Your interview would merely be a formality mister. Make sure one of your folks attends it.'

Preshit walked out smiling to himself, thinking the wait was worth it after all.