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It's a very short story. It'll have 4 parts max. Had to write it as it was nagging at the back of my mind and I had to pen it down. Will update rest of the parts below this part 1.

Part 1.

Khanak had been sitting inside the college canteen, waiting for her masala chai, to arrive. The canteen boy was taking an unusually, long time as the crowd was heavy today.

In general, the college canteen had a higher occupancy than any of the classes in the much coveted Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Hyderabad. But today, it was something special. One of the spoilt brats from a rich family was celebrating his birthday and giving treat to almost everyone he knew.

Khanak bypassed everyone and went to take her favourite seat at the last corner, by the window. This was always empty and no one wanted to take this seat….even if the canteen was full….. There were many reasons for it being the neglected one….

It was secluded, separated by rest of the canteen by a small 3 feet wall, was wooden, as compared to other cushioned seats inside the canteen, was far from the food counter and was small……meant for 2 people sitting facing each other….. It was a strange, dingy place inside the remote corner of the canteen, beyond a sharp turn at the 3 feet wall and people found it depressing. So no one wanted it, much to Khanak’s relief, as she loved it. And she always sat there.

She sat on the seat and looked outside the window. A gush of cool breeze hit her face and dried the tear droplets that had rolled down on her cheek. She wiped them and in a hopeless bid to distract herself, she started counting the water droplets that fell in form of rain drops on the small puddle of water, just outside the main door, beside the grass laden path for people on foot.

*Tip….Tap*

The water droplets hit the pool of water and immersed themselves in that bigger universe, becoming a part of it, losing their own identity and surrendering to the vastness of a being.

Another stream was let out by Khanak’s eyes yet again and she wondered if they wanted to compete with the drops of rain outside the window. She had been holding a pen in her hand which she used to scratch on the wooden table near the place where her elbow rested. Her hand on her cheek supported her while other sketched on the table. She couldn’t talk to her friends about her problem, so she found a friend as the secluded wooden table, who had no option other than listening to her unspoken plight, watch her cry and be a support by letting her elbow rest on it and letting her pen scratch it.

She drew two lonely eyes, with long pretty lashes and tears dropping from the eye.

After having her chai, she stood up and left the canteen with heavy steps.

The table stayed isolated, secluded, quiet witness to her misery, for a long time...almost an hour. And it seemed everyone hated it and avoided it too. Except one guy, who entered the canteen, specifically looking for that table and headed straight towards it. 

“Shantanu, I hate that table, you know that.” His friend Jatin stopped him by tugging on his bag.

“And you know that I love it, so why do you always have to nag ?”

“Let’s sit at a better, cheerful place. ”

“And how will you smoke there ? The Profs are going to catch hold of you and throw you out.”

“Shitttt man !! I didn’t realise.”

Shantanu gave a royal smug look to him, victoriously shrugged and headed for his favourite table and seat. He dumped the bag that he had been carrying on the table, which by the stroke of luck, fell to lie over the drawing made by Khanak and hid it. Shaan sat on the seat occupied previously by Khanak, while Jatin sat facing him.

He watched outside the window and observed the same puddle which had now become a muddy stretch coz of drainage of water and gathering of dust and dry-wet leaves over it.

“Why don’t they clean this stretch ?” Jatin asked.

“When you become GS, do it.” Shantanu answered non-chalantly, very casually, while lighting his cigarette.

“You don’t need to become GS to clean filth. Someone will slip there and get hurt. We should get it cleaned. Let’s get hold of the sweeper and get it done, right away.”

“Finish the cigarette first !”

“Obviously……”

They had coffee and bread pakora with the regular dose of two cigarettes and stood up. Shantanu picked up his bag and placed it over his shoulder in a well rehearsed manner and started to make a move. And just when he was about to start moving, the two mysterious eyes drawn on the table, caught his attention.