She always sat beside me in the classroom. We shared a desk with my friend Ram on the other side. I always wished that he did not exist, when inside the classroom. Outside the classroom we were inseparable. I always cursed the heavens that I had the worst luck to be put in a classroom that supported 3 people on a bench. I also thanked God that I had the fortune to sit next to Leah.

Oh Leah! My one and only love!

Once Leah and I persuaded Ram to find another seat so we can have the desk all to ourselves. But then Ganesh took this as an opportunity and flanked Leah during the next class. With so much space on left on the bench with both of us sitting as close as possible withour getting an uproar from the class or the professor, we could not deny Ganesh the place either. So back to Ram, myself and Leah on the desk.

All the classes and so many lectures went by everyday. She took notes in alll the subjects. But my thoughts always revolved around her eyes, her nose, her lips, her hands, her fingernails, her dress, her legs, her ear rings and so on. Only my eyes looked at the black board. But I was lost in the land of puppy love.

I was the happiest when a lecturer did not turn up for a class. She would talk about everything under the sky. And I would look at her and listen to her, happily, with no other care in the world. The noise made by my classmates was not a disturbance, because I never heard it consciously.

One day we decided to go went mango hunting. It was  high mango season and we decided to cut class one day and go to the mango groves nearby. What was going to be a private thing turned out to be a threesome (again). No snickering or wild imagination folks. It was not what you think it was.

So Leah, Ram and I went to the mango grove. Ram and I were pretty soon downing mangoes from the trees by the dozen with stones that lay nearby.  We were in a frenzy with Leah keeping a count of the number each of us have downed. It was a pretty tough competition between us. And we stopped only after the guard woke up and chased us away with a heavy stick. We barely managed to escape with just a handful of mobiles.

After a good laugh at the nearby tea shop we divided the mangoes and it turned out to be just 4 each with one extra, which we graciously gave to the shopkeeper’s wife.

A year went by, then two went by. Classroom romance went on to become labroom romance and then the day when the final exams were over. Three years in college which seemed forever was over in what seemed like a flash.

It may not have ended there if not for my cowardice. During goodbyes and address exchanges I had a panic attack. I don’t know why or how. I just gave a fake contact adress and I tore up her address in secret.

Now I wish I didn’t. Now I know what pain really is. Why, I ask myself a thousand times a day, did I do such a despicable thing? But no, she’s lost forever in a wave of fond memories.

PS: Again, this is not a story from my life. Not even a single sentence. And thats a disclaimer. Again, I had a small dream of 3 people in class – one girl and two guys. It was a very small dream with nothing special inbetween. But I thought it was very interesting (atleast not in the dream). And the story got spoilt because I have been writing this for almost 10 days now (in the meantime forgot what I wanted to write about). And finished is just now.

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