The early morning sun had just begun to peek through the fleeting summer clouds. The sparrows welcomed the sun god, singing his praises to bless them with a good feed, and a good day. Why didn't humans welcome him the same? Surely he did enough to sustain his children, then why did a certain teenager wince in visible frustration as his soft rays hit him in the eyes?

Routines are anything but exciting, so how could Abhimanyu betray his teen years by smiling at the sun like he had already turned fifty? Is what said child in question would answer.

Abhimanyu probably wasn't just any other teen either, for you could at least credit him for sticking to the routine of waking up at 5.28 am sharp every day. He was good at sucking up all his emotions, from the smallest ones to those that wrecked you inside. Maybe that is what made him fifty. (okay, too cring-ey for the morning right?)

Sparing himself of the annoying default ringtone, he slammed the alarm clock shut. Picking up his shoes from the small walk-in closet, he shut his door with the lightest sound he could make.A small trip to the kitchen and he was ready for the day. Getting out of the villa pushing back the boundary gate, he gave a small mock salute to the guard and began his jog.

He had been following this routine for so long, that he did it almost mindlessly, not really realising how his surroundings would change every minute. He couldn't remember why he stuck to it anymore.

He knew it initially began in the sixth grade summer camp when his coach asked them to gather in the school for basketball training. Starting eighth, he did it to build his stamina. And now? He had absolutely no idea. And would it be bad if he admitted that he felt nothing close to the runner's high people so often talked about? To him even this had become a chore he had to get over with, just like any other part of his life...

Amidst finding true love (eugh?) and dealing with the regular peer pressures of schools, there were hardly any students left in the locality to assist him in his jog. Despite heavy overthinking about his morning runs, Abhimanyu was pretty satisfied with his usual company of - the street dogs he fed so lovingly every day, the small group of senior citizens indulging in morning yoga and the tea stall owner of chamanchai(cliché, yes; he knows.)

He did not understand the trend of people listening to loud music as they ran. What were they trying to prove? That they had the privilege of calling themselves busy elitists who did not have a care in the world or that they were too hopeless to be approached with silence? Too busy to get out of the cages they had been trapped in?

Giving a small smile to himself, for thinking too much into things even when he knew change was hardly possible in this part of the society, he hummed to his own arguments. Hope had to be left after all, it just had to.

Was he even a valid spokesperson to this topic when he was himself in the loop, at the beck and call of his father to take up their business and expand? When all that it actually translated to was, "I gave birth to you so the money stays in the house." Sometimes to make light of the situation he would find himself laughing as all of this sounded too 'filmy' to be true, especially given the age he was in. But then reality would hit in, whenever he listened by the closed doors of his parents' study, and his heart would sink.

Chuckling at the illegitimacy of his own arguments he saw his favorite post run- pre- get- ready for school partner, Ram uncle. He saw the man stretching into a trikonasana near the park bench and jogged over to him greeting him with a hello.

After the general small talk was over and the duo began stretching and working out in silence, Abhimanyu asked something he had on his mind a week ago. It had the potential of bugging him for a year but only if there wasn't any Monday test the school had in mind.

"So uncle..." and a pushup.

"Hanji bete." Pranayam. Deep breaths...

"You remember last week when I came to your place for a round of chess?" and three. Try to be as subtle as possible, this should be easy.

He continued knowing that the old man won't speak before he completed his yoga. "You know, the one in which you lost..." and five. Being subtle did not mean I had to give up on style, is it?

A frown covered Ramnath's face, a smile on Abhimanyu's .

"I met someone on the way in, a guest? But I didn't see her the last time I visited." Spoke too much, he thought. Why couldn't he just shut up?

Not looking too much into the matter Ramnath took three minutes to break the air; sat up on the bench and watched Abhimanyu continue the pushups as he said, "Ah, her! She is Parashar's daughter. He is an old friend of mine. They just shifted. Maybe you'll see her in school today?"

The push ups were usually fifty in the morning; however today thirty would have to cut the deal. "Oh, she has passed all the tests and completed the formalities?" Maybe the old man would address her by the name this time?

"Nivedita is a genius baccha, obviously she has."

"Hmm." Checking the time on his watch to be six thirty, he decided to leave.

"Accha uncle ab mai chalta hoon. I'll see you tomorrow!" and the young man left.

Nivedita. It felt good to say it out loud.

^^^

What is one supposed to do as they enter school and have some time on their hands? Catch up with the scam of a friend circle they have? Maybe woo a lady? Make out with a girl?

No.

You complete notes, scram for the upcoming test and revise indigestible information which you would probably forget before one could scream Johnny Depp!

No, these were not the trends at any Delhi Public School but these were definitely the ones followed by Abhimanyu. His reputation as the all rounder was all that he really did cherish in his life and he did this happily, his friends however did not see the point, they saw a whole unneeded doodle.

The feeling of being known, for all good reasons obviously, the feeling of being liked, was maybe the only thing that could feed his pride or as one would often call it, ego. He didn't really have the chance to properly give it time for nurturing in his hom- no, house.

The school was an opportunity to do all that he could without anyone monitoring him.

Lost in understanding Schrödinger's concepts of probability density he didn't realize when Dev came and sat beside him, trying, or at least looking like it, to make sense of what he thought was a Pokémon. And then they blame stereotypes regarding commerce.

"Tu padh kyu raha hai? Itna padhega to Einstein nahi ban jayega, ek hai duniya me already."

"It's a school, if I am not supposed to be studying then what else am I supposed to do? Join expressions and do theatre?" he said referring to their theatre/movie-making club.

Apparently the art of expressions wasn't much appreciated at the age when you were supposed to be laying out the foundation stones for your career options, which were limited to medical, engineering, law, yours truly father's business or whatever the neighboring gossip-ey auntie deemed respectable.

Natak- watak to ram leela wale karte hain!

"Look around you. What do you think people are doing at school?" Dev retorted.

He had a point. People did absolutely whatever they wanted at school, but Abhimanyu was happy this way. He did not see the point in rebelling when it wouldn't satisfy all those he loved. He did not see the point in making decisions which made those around him upset. Why he had to be such a people pleaser he really did not know. But Dev was sure once his friend would find his reason, he would definitely quit being the puppet his family had fed him to be.

In a rather boring life, Dev Pattnaik was probably the only friend Abhimanyu had. Though it was Abhimanyu Thaapar who adhered to the wills and woes of the people surrounding him, it was Dev who had the boyish charms of an effortless people pleaser. Amidst the multiple events that took place in the duo's lives, Dev had made sure to stick around without taking credit for being the only one putting any kind of effort into the friendship. Let's say it helped that they were neighbours.
And deep inside, Abhimanyu had been silently thankful for his fool of a friend to stick around with another fool.

He was grateful and at the same time he really was fine without anyone too, or so had he become because post the stream selection even Dev had to desert him.

Abhimanyu just wanted someone who he could sit with, so as to not look like a loner which wasn't difficult being him. He just wanted someone with whom he could walk to classes, labs, that's it; and he had a lot of those people who used his company to be the IT crowd. He didn't mind it either.Give and take.

"I am looking around. I don't see what is so interesting that they are doing." He said, coming back to the argument of a student's supposed duty at a school.

"Dude, do you choose to ignore what you see?" Dev asked agitatedly, this guy had to chill, he thought.

Abhimanyu saw someone suddenly appear at the door, a girl. She bent over to pick up a book which had fallen from the first bencher's desk.Her pony-tied hair was a long, black, flow-ey mess; she began adjusting the shoulder strap of her bag on the left shoulder, ah. One of those cool girls. His slightly OCD side wanted to grab her bag and adjust the strap on both the shoulders.

She looked quite tall despite the distance between them and being slightly bent over. Now having brought her bag to her chest, her posture tensed as if she was looking for something.

Having finally found it, she looked up. Her eyes. Black, brown, knowing...

Going along with his friend he turned towards him to say,

"Maybe I am beginning to see what all the fuss is about."

^^^

Please vote, share and comment!