THE GIRL WITH THE MEMORIAL TATTOOS

Chapter 2 THE FELICITATION CEREMONY

Chapter 2 

THE FELICITATION CEREMONY 

T 

he Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad had beautiful Vivekananda Auditorium. Its stage was well-prepared that day. So many guests took their seats in the front row. The whole auditorium was crowded by parents and family members of the students. It’s not a convocation day. There was something special about the day. Every student was shouting his name. His name was echoing all through the auditorium. His parents were also sitting along with his two brothers in the same auditorium. The father felt so happy; turning towards the mother he said haughtily, ‘See that is my Son. Finally he made us proud’. His younger brother was telling his elder brother, ‘See bro! Our chairs are vibrating as if someone set woofer beneath our chairs’. 

‘Haa yes ra! I never felt this way even when I played PUBG’. He started beating his younger brother whimsically. 

The anchor came on to the stage, a young guy in his 20s wearing a suit with well combed hair. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most auspicious day of our college history. We feel proud of being with him and studying with him. Juniors have to feel that it’s a great experience at least to be ragged with him. Professors, you tortured the person with Viva questions, practicals, thought boring classes but still he accepted to let you inside. It’s his greatness! The Professors welled up with tears! ‘I am welcoming our honorable HOD to take the stage to give him this award and cleanse his hands for his mistakes.’ HOD came upon the stage. 

Every student started booing him, which reverberated in the auditorium walls with its impact extending into the campus walls. But he kept grinning unabashedly. The anchor finally announced his name. ‘He is none other than Dr. Surya Chandra. Surya Chandra please come on the dais and make our day auspicious.’ Suddenly, the auditorium walls echoed with the revving of a Bullet bike. A guy wearing goggles, apron on tight T-shirt and torn Pepe Jeans with a cigarette in his mouth, was revving his bike outside. Everyone in the auditorium looked over their shoulders. The guy threw his bike in the auditorium entrance recklessly, he smashed the auditorium door with his right leg, tilted his head to one side, brushed his beard with his hand while clenching the cigarette with his teeth. Holding the cigarette between his fingers, he had a deep puff for the last time and threw it into the audience. Someone from the audience threw a Beer bottle, which he caught and drank whole bottle with one attempt and threw it again into the audience. It just flew away and broke someone’s head. ‘Audience! Call an Ambulance!’ He laughed sadistically with an attitude, brushing his beard; walking stylishly like Rajinikanth, he came near to the stage. Everyone was looking with awe toward him. He came toward the stage, cleaned his goggles stylishly and again put it back, stood with his hands in his pockets, tilted his head to one side with eyes looking to the sky, and stood below the stage for few seconds. Suddenly, the HOD trembled with fear and came down the stage, felicitated him with the Shawl while he stood in that pose. His wife, CMO came beside the HOD. He called their daughter Shravani who was an intern. She ran toward him and hugged him but he didn’t respond. ‘Surya Sir, I didn’t know how great you are! Please forgive me for the mistake I have done’. Shravani welled up with tears. ‘Yes Surya!’ The HOD pleaded. Surya looked sternly. ‘Sorry Surya... Ji. Please forgive us for our follies’ and his fat CMO wife nodded to him and pleaded, ‘Yes Surya ji. Please forgive us for our mistakes. Please marry our daughter’. Surya didn’t respond. They all started begging him with tears and grabbed his legs. ‘I will wash your legs with my tears’. Surya just kicked them with their foot. His father turned toward an adjacent stranger audience and started saying proudly ‘That’s my son’, the other person reciprocated with a grin ‘What an attitude! I am impressed. Wish I had a son like him. At least a daughter to marry ’. Everyone shouted ‘Surya! Surya! Surya!’ Surya took his belt and began beating the trio. His mother called ‘Surya!’ He answered, ‘wait a minute Maa’ and started battering them. ‘Why are you getting felicitated?’ Everyone became silent and looked with a steady grin on their faces, like idiots expecting an answer. Surya stood silent. The cigarette that he lit again stooped down and fell from his mouth leaving his mouth ajar. ‘Maa, I will explain to you’. 

She still kept grinning, ‘Surya…Surya’. Her face slowly started to contort along with her tone which was getting harsh. The whole stage started to collapse. Surya collapsed among HOD, CMO and Shravani. 

‘Surya! Wake up!’ It’s getting late. ‘Wake up Surya!’ 

Suddenly, Surya woke up from his sleep with a flinch, jerked his head. ‘Oh! Is this all a dream?’ He looked seriously at his Mom for disturbing such a beautiful dream. He had a clean-shaven jaw, with a perfect jawline and good height. He had black eyes with high lined eyebrows, wide shoulders and bulky arms with ripped up muscles. His mom looked sternly and scolded, ‘Do you know what the time is? Did you forget that you have a flight to Delhi?’ 

Surya became alert coming out of a trance, hit his head, bulged up his eyes, and looked at his alarm clock and shrieked ‘9am!’ 

He had a flight at 10 am. He hastily got up from his bed, raving and ranting and tickling his balls, ran amok for a minute holding his head and relaxed himself with steady deep breathing, brushed his teeth in a moment and came out from the bath with a towel, wearing his shirt hastily calling his friends who gave him so many missed calls that he couldn’t receive as the phone was silent. He called Sudheer and Faizan who put their phones in a conference. ‘Sorry yaar! I woke up now. I will start in few minutes’. 

Faizan and Sudheer stood dumbstruck. ‘Hurry up Surya. What were you doing till now?’ Surya replied absentmindedly ‘Dreaming’ while wearing his pants. ‘What? They shouted synchronously on phone’. 

‘Nothing! I will come in few minutes. What about Varsha and Rohit?’ ‘i***t! I am here right now. Come fast! It’s getting late’, Varsha replied. 

Surya took a cab and reached the Airport where his friends were waiting for him biting their nails. Suddenly, they were so happy when they saw him. Varsha, a short girl with fair complexioned round face, highly talkative, hyperactive knuckle head, told Surya, ‘We will buy a Vodka bottle the next moment we reach Delhi’. 

Surya turned seriously to Varsha ‘Stop drinking too much Varsha! You will become more like a drum and less like a girl and no one will marry you’. Varsha became serious. All of them laughed and high-fived with each other. 

Varsha’s Mom made a video call. ‘Sshh’ Faizan alerted. 

Everyone looked so happy and excited. Faizan, the guy of fair complexion, good height with athletic body, even wore cooling glass to make a good appearance before her Mom. Everyone was ready holding their hands up in the air especially Rohit, tall guy with dark complexion and curly hair. The moment Varsha lifted the call anxiously, everyone waved ‘Hi aunty’ in unison. ‘So you are the guys who were eloping with my daughter!’ her mother retorted. 

Suddenly, everyone looked dumbstruck with wide opened mouth and bulged eyes and looked at each other’s faces. 

It’s the last week of March. But the heated argument with her Mom beat the heat of the Sun. ‘Varsha! Whom did you inform before planning all this? Once you come home, I will break your legs and will get you married’. 

‘Mom! I am just 23! Why marriage?’ She shrieked with loud high-pitched voice which annoyed all the passing by passengers and made them to come to stall. 

Varsha flabbergasted and grinned! ‘Sorry guys’, she apologized abashedly and returned to call, stealthily walking away, lowering her tone. ‘Okay Mom! I will call you later’. She came back ‘Sorry guys! It’s just my Mom’. 

‘No yaar! It’s not your Mom! She is Kali Devi’, Surya teased. Everyone chortled into laughter. 

Varsha gave a grim expression. They adjusted in their respective seats and the flight took off to Delhi.