Ria and Samyukta went on to become good friends as they completed 3 months in that new city where they had come in pursuit of thier ambitions. Ria was an MBBS and an aspiring gynaecologist. After her daughter turned 2, Ria had convinced her husband that it was about time, she substantiated her 4 years of hard work that she put in studying in the medical college where she also met Rohit, her husband and fell in love. Samyukta had just finished her MBA and had got into a leading market research firm of the country. She was, unlike her archaic name, a multifaceted personality who could manage to be in the good books of her professors, at the same time could get stoned and befuddled in those unhinged rave parties, just a day before her final submissions. Nonetheless, she had a flair to teach, of which she came to be aware of since the time she had taught her younger siblings. She must have been 13 then. Hence, she was also eyeing the colleges that would call her as a visiting faculty alonwith her current job. It seemed a good idea to her to juggle between her ambition and her passion.
It was a Sunday evening when Ria and Samyukta chatted for a while and started watching a movie together in Ria's room. Ria's husband called her up while the movie was still playing on the laptop. She went out of the room seeking solitude leaving Samyukta alone in the room watching the movie.
Next day when Samyukta came back from office she found her room, entirely raked up. Her bags, overturned, her belongings strewn all over the place. She thought, someone had tried to rob her. She ran downstairs to talk to the owner and ask what had happened. She found the owner talking to a Sheriff. He told Samyukta that she had been searched because Ria had lodged a police complaint of the theft of her Rs. 30,000/- that allegedly went missing from her almirah since yesterday. Ria had told the owner and sheriff that Samyukta was in the room yesterday evening, alone watching the movie and she was pretty sure she had stolen her money. Samyukta stood there flabbergasted like a pole whlie the sheriff and the owner harassed her with a volley of curses and profanities. Due to the lack of adequate evidence the police complaint against Samyukta was dislodged but she was evicted from the house where they both stayed. As she reached the gate, Samyukta, bearing a scar in her conscience, perhaps, forever, had looked up to the balcony where Ria stood unimpassioned, and told her,"its a circle".
After 20 years Ria's daughter grew up to study journalism. She got into the top most College in the field to Ria's pride. One odd day, Ria got a call from her daughter's college, that her daughter was caught cheating blatantly during the exams and had possessed a couple of micro xeroxed course material. The college committee had decided to rusticate her as a consequence of which, she will have to repeat the year. The final authority to decide her daughter's fate lied with the dean. Ria had thought and practiced her conversation with the dean very discreetly while driving to the college and she believed that she will be able to talk the dean out of the whole matter. Sheepishly, she took a corner to sit in the waiting lounge and nervously, she tapped her fingers on whatever they touched. Finally she was called. Standing outside the Dean's office, Ria stood flabbergasted, exactly like her friend had stood 20 years back, as the name plate on the door said - Samyukta Rathore, Dean, Mass Communication. Its a circle afterall.
It was a Sunday evening when Ria and Samyukta chatted for a while and started watching a movie together in Ria's room. Ria's husband called her up while the movie was still playing on the laptop. She went out of the room seeking solitude leaving Samyukta alone in the room watching the movie.
Next day when Samyukta came back from office she found her room, entirely raked up. Her bags, overturned, her belongings strewn all over the place. She thought, someone had tried to rob her. She ran downstairs to talk to the owner and ask what had happened. She found the owner talking to a Sheriff. He told Samyukta that she had been searched because Ria had lodged a police complaint of the theft of her Rs. 30,000/- that allegedly went missing from her almirah since yesterday. Ria had told the owner and sheriff that Samyukta was in the room yesterday evening, alone watching the movie and she was pretty sure she had stolen her money. Samyukta stood there flabbergasted like a pole whlie the sheriff and the owner harassed her with a volley of curses and profanities. Due to the lack of adequate evidence the police complaint against Samyukta was dislodged but she was evicted from the house where they both stayed. As she reached the gate, Samyukta, bearing a scar in her conscience, perhaps, forever, had looked up to the balcony where Ria stood unimpassioned, and told her,"its a circle".
After 20 years Ria's daughter grew up to study journalism. She got into the top most College in the field to Ria's pride. One odd day, Ria got a call from her daughter's college, that her daughter was caught cheating blatantly during the exams and had possessed a couple of micro xeroxed course material. The college committee had decided to rusticate her as a consequence of which, she will have to repeat the year. The final authority to decide her daughter's fate lied with the dean. Ria had thought and practiced her conversation with the dean very discreetly while driving to the college and she believed that she will be able to talk the dean out of the whole matter. Sheepishly, she took a corner to sit in the waiting lounge and nervously, she tapped her fingers on whatever they touched. Finally she was called. Standing outside the Dean's office, Ria stood flabbergasted, exactly like her friend had stood 20 years back, as the name plate on the door said - Samyukta Rathore, Dean, Mass Communication. Its a circle afterall.
