Purvi continued to eat on the bed, as dushyant glanced at her.

"purvi, main bahaut badal gaya hoon kya?" questioned dushyant.

"log toh badalte hi hain, aap ab ek alag hi insaan ban gaye ho..." replied purvi, as dushyant looked down, and his fingers from both hands, tangled together.

"bura insaan ban gaya hoon?" asked dushyant, in a lower tone than usual.

"buri cheeze zyada karne lage ho.." stated purvi, bluntly.

She kept the plate aside, and moved closer to him.

"aapko yaad hai hum kab aakhri baar baithe the, iss tarah?" asked purvi, as dushyant shook his head in no.

"pura saal ho gaya hai...aapke second year ke beechmein hi, na kabhi iss tarah aap mere paas aaye, na main aapke paas aiye.." recounted purvi.

"sharam aate thi mujhe, tere paas aane se..." confessed dushyant.

"kyun?" asked purvi.

"mujhe pata hai purvi, ki kya hua tha tumhare aur kavin ke beech....mummy-papa ke kaaran.." admitted dushyant, as purvi was shocked.

"yaad hai, ek maths teacher tha mere aur kavin ka eleventh mein..." reminded dushyant.

"woh, joh unhe jaan-buchkar fail karte the.." confirmed purvi, as dushyant nodded in agreement.

"kavin maths ka topper tha, cbse board mein...so, it was quite strange. and rohit sharma, joh bas pass hua tha mushkil se, he was one of the top scorers in the class. Kavin aur main ghanton behas karte reh jaate the usse, answer sheet milne ke baad, but woh, kabhi ek number bhi nahi badata tha...then it became clear what was the problem." Explained dushyant.

"kavin ka surname...woh teacher, sabko, unke surname se address karta tha, aur kavin ka surname sansoi hai.." pointed dushyant.

"SC tha..aur sharma, Brahmin..." pointed purvi.

"exactly...college ke second year mein bhi, he faced the same problem...so hum dono HOD ke paas gaye the, that the professor is just being blatantly casteist. Phir hum baat kar rahe the, ek baar, uss hi topic pe.." narrated dushyant.

Kavin and dushyant were seated on a table in the college mess.

"it's just unbelievable man...he just assumed ki tu reservation pe aaya.." remarked dushyant, as he continued to eat.

"what's so unbelievable, dush?" retorted kavin.

"arre, matlab 21st century mein reh rahe hain hum for the love of god! Abhi bhi caste system follow karna is just ridiculous..." replied dushyant.

"log karte hain phir bhi...." pointed kavin.

"come on man, aise wahiyat logon ke kaaran disheartened mat ho...people have more or less moved on from this..." assured dushyant.

"your dad hasn't...your mom hasn't..."retorted kavin, as dushyant raised his brow, and for kavin to tell him what happened 2 years ago.

"bhaiya woh..." attempted purvi to say something.

"tumhe nahi aana chahiye tha unki baaton mein..." protested dushyant.

"bhaiya main kya karti, main bas 15 saal ki thi!" yelled purvi.

"tune mujhe kyun nahi bataya...i felt so horrible ki mere hote hue tere saath hua yeh sab, mere best friend ke saath hua yeh sab! And that too my own parents!" groaned dushyant.

"aap bhi kya karlete, you were also just 16..." pointed purvi.

"purvi, i felt so ashamed, yaar..matlab kahan main uske liye bahar waalon se ladh raha hoon for the same thing, that my own parents did, and both of you felt like you couldn't tell me. Mujhe bas yeh aata tha dimaag mein tujhse baat karte hue..tujhe, tujhe dekhti hi.." expressed dushyant his discomfort.

"feeling like your parents were everything you thought was wrong with the world and you can't do anything about it?" finished purvi the rest for him, as he nodded in agreement.

"i am so sorry..." repented dushyant.

"it's ok...atleast you acknowledge your mistakes..." responded purvi.

"it's so strange, you know. Like, my whole identity was based on this, that i fight for what's fair. Damn it, i am getting a degree in journalism! and then it all just, felt like i had been living a lie, because i couldn't see something like that happening in my own home. I guess, i even became the things i used to fight against..." confessed dushyant.

"well, what matters is, can you correct your ways now?" questioned purvi, as dushyant might have found the direction he needed.

***

Sameer and neelu were lying, facing next to each other.

"aise kya dekh rahe ho?" asked neelu.

"kabhi-kabhi yahi samajh nahi aata, ki sab karna hi kyun shuru kiya maine.." expressed sameer his dilemma.

"sameer, humare paas ek apna ghar hai, humare bache ache colleges mein hai, meri job chale jaane ke bawajood, hum log easily cope kar pa rahe hain, yeh sab issi ki wajah se toh hai..." responded neelu.

"main tumhare paas mushkil se do din ghar tha, teesre hi din mujhe jaana pada iss kaam ke kaaran..." recounted sameer.

"sameer majburi hai, jab woh log kahenge aana padega, warna paise kahan se aayenge.." replied neelu.

"inn logon ko agar main kal mar jaon, toh do minute lagenge kisi aur ko laane mein..." stated sameer.

"bade log hain, humare jaise kahin hai inke paas, apne kaam karwane ke liye..unhe kya padi hai.." remarked neelu, as she closed her eyes.

Sameer gently placed one strand of her hair, behind her ear, and glanced at her for the few seconds he gets to, sometimes.

***

Ishita rushed to ring the bell, worried, that she was ten minutes late.

"arre, good morning.." greeted purvi, as she opened the door.

"sorry, woh late ho gaya...yeh bus haina.." apologised ishita.

"arre koi baat nahi, itna bhi hyper bhi mat raha karo...main 7:30 baje tak ghar hoti hoon..." assured purvi as she closed the door.

Ishita entered to find dushyant, on the dinning table, sipping on his tea.

"good morning." Greeted dushyant, as ishtia acknowledged, slightly surprised to find him there.

"nashta laga doon aapka?" asked purvi, as he nodded in agreement.

Ishita gazed at him in bewilderment.

"kya, main nashta nahi karsakta.." remarked dushyant playfully.

"yahan hi?" questioned ishita.

"haan, ab ek yahi toh hai ghar mein, jisse dekhte hi kuch sunane ka man nahi karta...thought i should spend more time with her..." responded dushyant, as purvi chuckled while serving breakfast for him, as well as herself.

"chinta mat karo, nahi karna padega, papa ke saath nashta.. tum bhi, chaye lelo apni.." said purvi, as she started to eat.

One night could bring so many changes in one's life.