Diary from Heaven

The Fall

Arun’s life completely changed after this. He transferred to the Dwarka Campus. Here too he was absent most of the time and was issued a warning for low attendance many times.

Arun avoided the group even when he had to come to the Gurgaon campus for classes. Everyone seemed to move on, but Arun’s life just stopped where Harveen left him. He couldn’t sleep at all, and dark circles started appearing under his eyes.

To sleep, Arun started taking anti-allergic pills and syrups which were available off the shelf at medicine shops then. He started drinking heavily and then he was introduced to drugs by Ronnie. Initially, he started smoking h****n and then cocaine.

Arun was befriended by Ronnie, a drug peddler, at Band Baja Baraat, who supplied him drugs and got him hooked on to the stuff so much that sometimes he would smoke in the college too. He would be up all night, playing at parties and if not that then he would roam around the streets drunk or high on drugs. He thought that getting drunk or high might help him sleep, but that didn’t work at all. He wanted peace but instead was getting broken into pieces. Even at home, he would stay up all night. He was trying to run away from memories, but they just kept following him.

Tina and Gaurav tried to connect with him many times, but he avoided them.

And when things couldn’t get worse, disaster struck. The rumour mill in the college started spreading rumours about UGC sending a notice to the college. The college land belonged to Panchayat, and it was deemed illegal; also, there were other issues about the main campus infra in Gurgaon. Students panicked as the news that the college was about to be shut down spread like wildfire. Arun, as it is lost, was further shattered by this news because his father would feel bad if he got to know about this.

As Arun reached home, his father was waiting for him. Arun knew something was wrong.

“How are you, son?” asked Hardev joyfully.

 “I am good, Dad,” replied Arun.

“Haven’t seen you around much so took time off from the shop to see you,” Hardev said as Arun looked at him knowing he was under a lot of stress at the shop, yet he was smiling.

“I do gigs at clubs; its extra money and I like it,” replied Arun.

“Good for you, son. How’s college?” he asked as Arun’s face turned pale.

“...it’s all right, nothing exciting though,” replied Arun.

“Bisht told me there were issues with UGC. Have you heard anything about this?” he asked. Somveer Bisht was a Director in the parent NGO which controlled the college, and he was known to Arun’s Father.

“Yes, students talk a lot about it. Some are even planning to sue the college to get a refund,” replied Arun.

“Hmm... that’s bad. What do you want to do?” Hardev asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Arun.

“I mean, do you want to move to another college or pursue a different course?” Hardev asked.

“No, I think I should stay here, maybe things might just work out with UGC. Besides, I have already spent two and a half years here and paid the full fee, so let’s not make hasty decisions,” replied Arun.

“Sit down, son,” Hardev said as Arun obeyed and sat on the chair.

“Bisht has told me that the issue is beyond their control and the board has decided to go with what UGC has recommended,” Hardev continued.

“Which is what?” asked Arun.

“To close the college if they cannot get accreditation from any other University,” Hardev replied.

“There is a huge cash crunch and expanding infra or improving existing one is out of the question,” he continued.

“So it’s good, right? They will try to get accreditation from other University?” said Arun.

“It’s not that easy, son, because the other Universities will also follow UGC norms for accreditation,” Hardev replied.

“This is not happening...” said Arun as he started panting.

“...I will become a laughing stock with the relatives and friends, who were not happy that I had quit Engineering,” he said as Hardev tried to comfort him.

“What do you suggest, Dad?” Arun asked.

“I don’t know; I will meet Bisht and let you know,” Hardev replied.

Arun knew that his father was worried about this but was not showing it in front of him and tried to cheer him up. He was also aware that his father was about to shut down the business entirely because they were in massive debt. Prasad had already started looking for a job, so things were pretty bad as it is.

Over the next few months, many staff members left the college, and at times students were asked to vacate the premises. Meanwhile, more students sued the college and cases started piling up. Some students even tried to hold the Principle hostage at the Dwarka campus. The Police were called in to control the situation, which led to a lathi charge on the college campus. Arun stayed away from all this, so while everyone was worried about their future, he would be high most of the times.

In Nov of 2000, the Dwarka campus was closed, and students were transferred to the Gurgaon campus. Some just quit because of the distance, and they hardly cared about their fee refund because they came from wealthy families while others simply complied with the order and shifted. Arun was back at the place he was trying to avoid so hard. Everything at the Gurgaon campus reminded him of Harveen, but reluctantly he also moved back. It was quite awkward when he met Tina and others after a long time, but he didn’t care. Even they would not insist on meeting as they understood his pain.

Dec 2000 is when Arun decided that he will now work fulltime, and there was no point in coming to college anymore. As he entered the college campus, last time, he felt nostalgic and could see himself at different places with Harveen and others. It was as if he was looking at a video recording of his life. He went to the Auditorium where he sat on the stage, just staring at the chairs in front of him for a while.

“So that’s it?” said a voice he knew very well. He turned around. It was Tina and Gaurav sitting at the other end of the stage. It was as if they knew Arun had come to the campus to bid goodbye.

“How long have you guys been here?” asked Arum looking the other way as he didn’t want them to see his tears.

“Been long, too long, Arun...” said Gaurav as he walked towards Arun and stopped because Arun got off the stage and walked away, wiping his tears.

“We all miss them,” said Gaurav as he ran after Arun.

“Goodbye, my friend,” said Tina as she knew that Arun was leaving forever. Gaurav was stunned by what Tina just said. He turned around with tears in his eyes as she signalled him not to follow Arun. Gaurav couldn’t believe that this was it, that their lives will never be the same ever again. He turned around only to find that Arun had already left the auditorium.

Arun walked out of the Auditorium and straightaway went towards the fountain where he hid behind a tree and cried for a while and then sat there. He only left in the evening when the gatekeeper came to tell everyone that the campus will be closed for the day now.