Special Friend
Part 1 - Ek Shart

A whistling sound disturbed the still environment as a rocket whooshed up from the confines of the glass bottle, and raced to the sky bursting into a thousand particles as soon as it reached its destination. It was the occasion of Dhanteras, and while several people took the chance to burst a few early firecrackers, inside a room of the grand white bungalow a red faced Sameer Maheshwari sat on the bed, unable to give any reply to his grandfather.

He couldn’t believe his own fate. Naina Agarwal was of no importance to him. Quite the contrary in fact. She was annoying as hell, and an irritation that he had to deal with ever since he had shifted to Ahmedabad. First he had to deal with his suspension from his school in Nainital; then when he had been happy to live with his Nanu in Ahmedabad, his mother had come over to spoil that happiness as well, insisting that he move to Delhi. Then finally when Nanu had firmly declared that Sameer would stay in Ahmedabad only, he had felt the need to experience his freedom by taking a stroll through the market area nearby. Unfortunately, he had tripped over a stone and spat out his chewing gum, which had flown straight into the hair of a girl with two ponytails. Try as much he hadn’t been able to gather the courage to apologize in person, and so he had written a note and paid a kid to deliver it to the girl. At that time he hadn’t known who that girl was but as soon as he had joined PVKM school he had almost collided with a girl in the corridor and it had turned out to be the same ‘chewing gum fiasco’ girl. Later on, in the same day he had been introduced to her – Munna, his cousin had termed her as teacher ki chamchi; Pandit, his new friend, had called her maniben; Principal sir had acquainted her as a bright student and newly appointed discipline monitor; and Shanti madam had presented her as Naina, the class topper.

Since that fateful day he had never been able to escape Naina Agarwal. She landed him in trouble as discipline monitor when she supported Pankaj’s claims about Sameer beating him up in front of the principal, and almost got him suspended. It was Nanu who was also the trustee of PVKM who rescued him from his admission being terminated. She left him hanging in mid-air when despite being a topper she couldn’t gather enough courage to tell her own father that she was tutoring him willingly, and instead ditched him without an ounce of care as to how he would win the headboy competition, a task he had taken on to gain his mother’s approval. At one point he thought that maybe there were some redeeming qualities in her; after all she had dared to lie in-front of the principal about not knowing how the chemistry lab had caught fire, when he was fairly sure that she had seen him smoking and flicking the half-burned cigarette which had accidentally soared into the lab through an open window. But… then again maybe she really hadn’t spotted him, otherwise how can a teacher’s pet like her give up a chance to earn accolades from the principal. However, all these incidents, while irritating, were also easily forgotten and forgiven. What he couldn’t forget or forgive was the humiliation his Nanu had to face because of her…

He had participated in the headboy competition against Arjun Agarwal, Naina’s brother and the topper of 12th grade. Knowing that he didn’t possess the ability to win it on his own, especially when he didn’t even clearly understand half of his classes as they were taught in hindi, he had asked Naina for her help in studies. She had agreed and he had found hope, as she was indeed a good teacher. But then her father, the notorious librarian – Rakesh Agarwal, had caught them and she had stopped teaching him. He had been angry, but had let it go, thinking he could try with whatever he knew until then. However, Munna and Pandit had concocted their own plan, they had taken an impression of the keys to Rakesh Sir’s desk and gotten a duplicate key fabricated to steal the papers. When told of what they had done, he had refused point blank to cheat in his exams, and also to let his own friends be turned into thieves. After all, Nanu had taught him values that he followed in his life. But all that hadn’t mattered…

Somehow, the principal had gotten a tip of the exam papers being stolen. He hadn’t won, but his mother had been happy with his efforts. However, when the principal called them to the office to investigate the theft, Sameer’s heart thundered. He hadn’t stolen the papers but he still had the duplicate key that he had forgotten to throw on his way to school. A body search revealed his pockets to be empty and he was relieved, though he wondered where the key was. Arjun also didn’t have anything on him. A frustrated principal announced that he would have to suspend Rakesh sir until further investigation could be done. And that was the beginning of the end…

Upon witnessing her father’s job in jeopardy, Naina, who had been asked to be present in the office as the school’s discipline monitor, stepped forward and showed a male handkerchief to the people in the office… His handkerchief to be specific, the one he had given to her out of courtesy when she had landed face first into a puddle on the playground. She opened her palm, unfolding the cylindrical roll of the handkerchief, to reveal a shining silver key and sealed his fate with the words, “yeh chaabi Sameer ki pocket se gira tha… iska matlab chori usne ki hai.”

He had been shocked and furious, demanding if she really thought he could be a thief when it was her who was teaching him for this competition. She had stayed stubbornly silent. A slap had landed on his cheek, a gift from Rakesh sir. But what had shattered his heart was that his mother had immediately believed him to be a thief, and the tirade of foul words Nanu had to hear from Rakesh Sir with his head bowed down as the evidence couldn’t be refuted. After all, Naina was a topper, the discipline monitor and every teacher’s favorite student – she was incapable of lying.

The humiliation had continued in the following days when word had spread that apparently Sameer had stolen the exam papers and students he didn’t even know called him a thief. His frustration didn’t subside even after Nanu assured him of his belief in him. He felt his anger escalate when he was subjected to glares from the morally high Naina Agarwal, as if she knew him completely and deemed him unworthy of standing in her presence. Something bubbled inside him, dark and poisonous, that wanted to bring that oh-so-perfect-student a notch down from her self-constructed pedestal. He couldn’t compete with her in studies and so when the 12th grade boys with whom he had fought on his very first day put forth a proposition he felt it was absolutely the perfect solution. Rakesh sir valued his honor and respect the most, and what could be more shameful than his own daughter having a love affair under his nose. A bet was proposed and accepted – a bet on a girl’s heart, her morals, her values, and her emotions.

Sameer Maheshwari had decided to win a bet of making Naina Agarwal fall hopelessly in love with him, and confess the three magical words to him and then he would break her heart by saying – “main shart jeet gaya.”

He was so driven on revenge that he had swallowed the bitter pill of his humiliation and started chasing after her, offering her charming smiles, fake apologies and hand of friendship. None of his efforts bore fruit until one day suddenly she started to tentatively return his smiles and seemed affable to his offer of friendship. He didn’t know the reason behind her change of heart, and nor was he concerned about it, for all he knew that she must have fallen prey to his charms like so many other girls. His days and nights were swallowed with plotting ways to win the bet as soon as possible, so that he could get rid of this torture. Only he knew how he was tolerating her… After all who could possibly fall in love with such a studious, boring, oily haired girl.

This same description had tumbled out of his lips when today Nanu had started reminiscing about Nani and talked about Sameer’s possible future love. He had mockingly thought how could he find a beautiful girlfriend when he was stuck with Naina Agarwal. To his horror, Nanu had immediately deduced that Naina was someone special, only instead of a thorn in his life, he had thought of her to be a fragrant flower brightening his grandson’s life. And that brought up the question from Nanu – “yeh Naina tumhari special friend haina?” – leaving Sameer red faced in horror and mortification.

Another rocket whistled outside, and Sameer somehow managed to clear his choked throat to reply, “nahi Nanu… meri koi special friend nahi hai. Jis din hogi main aapko saamne se bataunga.”

Nanu had a knowing smile on his face, “toh phir yeh Naina kaun hai?”

“Ek musibat”, he mumbled under his breath, but replied aloud, “ek classmate… Aapko toh yaad hoga. Rakesh sir ki beti, jisne mujhpe chori ka ilzaam lagaya.”

Nanu worried about the situation, “Sameer, kahin tum uss wajah se usko pareshan toh nahi karte na? Uss din jo hua usme uski koi galti nahi hai beta… Usne bas wahi kiya jo usko sahi laga.”

Sameer’s lips tightened in a fake smile as he lied, “main janta hun Nanu ke usme uski koi galti nahi thi. Chaabi mere jeb se giri thi toh usne wahi sach bola… Isiliye toh, maine usko maaf kar diya.”

Nanu smiled in relief, “toh ab tum dost ho?”

“Haan bas kuch aisa hi samajh lijiye”, Sameer replied, eager to end the conversation, not knowing about the plan formulating in his grandfather’s mind.

Later he stood in the balcony, watching distant fireworks, and said into the night, “sorry Nanu, aapse jhuth bola… Naina meri special friend toh kya, sirf friend bhi nahi hai… Naina Agarwal mere liye sirf ek shart hai. Ek aisi shart jo main jeetke rahunga.”