Fistfight between friends - Part VI

  Dear readers, At the outset, I wish to clarify that this sixth part of the story is the last one in this series. The fight, which we had nearly 10 years back was a hazy picture in my mind earlier. When ,I wrote the first part, I was looking for the introduction,main body as well as other ingredients of the story. I had no idea how to write a readable story. So, I decided that I will write first and think later. Thinking is the biggest hurdle in the path of story-telling. I decided to take inspiration from story-writer of Salman Khan. This man is made of stainless steel . He wrote some of the worst stories ever in the annals of Hindi film history. Dabangg, Ready & Bodyguard........but these three films are also the biggest revenue-earner in Bombay. In fact,Body Guard earned 21 Crore on the opening day itself. There is an old saying in Benars,that you can not fool all the people all the time. But, this bugger has made a fool of us time and again.So, I decided to write a story based on some incidents.This can not be termed as fiction but I do not claim it to be a basis of history books in distant future. So, I never cared for the content & wrote whatever I felt on the particular day of writing. Few weeks down the story line, I have emerged as a better story-teller. Though, still I am not capable to write a story from scratch, but I can try. Fiction is not my genre, but I can write about my travels till date any time. Now, words are coming out from my keyboard without bothering my brain. This is the beauty of freelance writing. Few days back, I went to a railway station in Odisha. Wheeler-series of book stalls were missing from the platforms courtesy my very own Lalujee. This gentleman was very pissed off from the British-sounding name. He didn't even bothered that Banerjee family from Allahabad was running this enterprise now. We can not delete our history. If British ruled us for 200 Years, it was the cowardliness of our forefathers. You can not make amends for that chapter in 21st century. So, I must thank Trinmool Congress for restoring Wheeler to railway platforms. But, Odisha is very far from Allahabad, so it will take some time to again install a Wheeler book stall here. I mentioned Wheeler here,because I prefer to buy books only during train journey. I started this habit from the day I travelled in 3rd AC/2nd AC for the first time. Reason was simple, It is pretty crowded in Sleeper coaches to enjoy the ups and downs of a story. Here, you learn to enjoy the ups and downs of the compartment on flat railway tracks. In AC coaches,the noise level is comparatively less. So, from the day I started earning in thousand bucks,I started travelling AC coaches and in turn bought several books on the move. So, when I spotted book stall on this Odisha station, I noticed a plethora of books priced around Rs. 100. Vendor told me that these books by any Tom,Dick and Harry was selling like hot cakes. He told me that contents in most of these books are rubbish but price is pretty cool. Smart move by the publisher, catch hold of an IITian/MBA students below 30 yrs., give them few thousands and publish the book and set a price like Mcdonald burger. It is a best -seller ..earlier our standards were pretty low.....If you sell 5000 copies..the book was termed as best-seller...... nowadays.....few lakh books can be sold on the railway platforms only. I wonder, why no marketing genius thought abut this earlier, we Indians are a price-conscious society. So, the gist is that I am writing this story not just to entertain you but also to keep my intellectual juices in flowing condition. It is all fiction with some facts injected in between to make it spicy. My original story was a very short one , so I decided to write about other distractions in between to keep you occupied in front of your screen. Some of you have also complained that story is getting stretched to a point of being boring. Fair criticism......I will make it short...................some of you even decided not to write any comment on my blog in protest of telling truth.........Fair enough.........some of you even stopped calling me to convey you feedback.......Fair enough............call rates are getting costlier again............. But,nevertheless..........I will continue writing....here comes the events of 22nd January 2002 and its aftermath............. So, the fight was going on and Kaushal group was being beaten brutally. I was carrying one Katta and one Khukri tucked under my FLU jeans. This FLU(Fashion Like U) was a pretty stylish brand ...cheap to the core.....Jeans costing around Rs. 300 was the hallmark of this brand.This was equivalent to the American Levi's for us hostellers.I am unable to fathom,what was the meaning of extra 's' in that Levi brand. During the mayhem of group fighting,other hostellers were frightened to to the core.While some joined us to settle old score with this rogue group, some preferred to watch the live action from Hostel roof. When, one 2nd year boy named Shubhankar came out in the lobby during the fight, he was escorted back to a room by Sanjay Barnwal. Barnwal locked him in a room to save him from the unhygienic fighting scenes. Yes, It was so becuse, some boys fell on the grass in hostel premises and were being beaten mercilessly. Around 2200 hrs,after 30 minutes of robust fighting, I realized that this fight may turn ugly. What if someone dies ? Instantly,I visualized the next day screaming headline in Dainik Jagran, " A couple of young and promising BHU-boys dies in group clashes in premier Hostel" ........ So, I decided to take charge of the proceedings ...but how......no sane thought crossed my mind .......then suddenly someone screamed that ' we need to hand over these boys to Benaras Police..........They will deal with thses assholes under Goonda Act'........ Agreed......but who will go to the Police in this bloody condition...blood adorned the faces as well as body parts of several of us......so in the eyes of Police we may also be construed as criminals..... This thought was not good. Next, we decided to hand over these goons to BHU-police i.e. Proctor........the journey started ....it was like a mob providing instant justice to petty thieves.....Kaushal,Chandan,Shukla,Sharad,Dharmpal and others were ordered to march towards proctor office...they were being slapped/abused during the journey of nearly half mile up to the proctor's office. Before moving out, we made sure that all the culprits have been accounted properly and no one escaped. At the proctor's office, we narrated the incident and gave them the details in writing and put our signature on the paper.In charge of Proctor office assured us that these boys will not be spared and punished according to BHU-manual.He also added that if need arises,these saints may be handed over to the local Police.Some one also deposited few knives to strengthen our case. What next ? Then, I realized that I was still carrying Katta and Khukri with me. So, I decided to return back to Hostel. Our return journey was un-eventful. Around 2330 hrs, when we entered the A.N.D. Hostel, a refreshing breeze greeted us. Environment was pretty cool. Maybe, birds were also singing...welcoming us. Scene of crime was untouched, but I can still recall the fragrance of fresh human blood on the cement floor that night.We sat on the front stairs of the hostel......most of us fighters were silent...only the fringe players in the fight were speaking.We heard their brave talks.....smiled...unable to move due to fatigue. In fact, me, Naveen,Kunal,Tiwari,Ajitabh didn't spoke a word. We were just relishing the moment of our triumph. I was feeling hungry......the dinner I had earlier was exhausted during the intense figthing. I do not recall who but someone gave me biscuits to eat. Spoils of the war I think. It was a dremy situation. Objects were floating in the air. Words were floating near my both ears.Juniors were excited and very happy to watch the live action sequences of their esteemed seniors. The whole atmosphere smelled of something divine. I'm unable to put the words to describe the exact state of my mind at that time. The fact is, even I don't know.Some of my batch-mates were congratulating me.......It was the feeling of winning a war......May be Spanish warriors were like us only......what to do when you have defeated a bull in ring.....how do you celebrate.....I had no idea what to do ? Then, I woke up and walked towards the stairs to the first floor of the Hostel. I always prefer to live on the first floor...it seems you can fly just by stepping out from the railings of balcony. The balcony railing in front of my Room No. 90 was my favourite haunt. Sitting on the railing was the first activity after waking up in the morning......I used to watch the various activities going in the Hostel by sitting cosily ..resting my upper body on an adjoining pillar. Friends come and and go to bathroom....to classroom......you can strike a conversation then and there. Same activity in the night before going to bed...think about the day gone by .....railings are meant for sitting dangerously. So,I walked up to my room and crashed on the bed after throwing katta and Khukri under the cot. After our departure from Proctor's office......Dy. Proctor Umesh Singh arrived in the office. He questioned the Kaushal group about the happenings of the night. Kaushal gave him reference of Manish Gautam , a super-senior of me, who was a doyen of Birla hostel during his graduation days in the period 19997 to 2000. Umesh Babu called him around midnight and narrated him the incidents. Manish bhaiya was based in Delhi those days...he still is......He certified their integrity and Umesh Babu decided not to hand over them to Police. Later on, an Inquiry commission was established to ascertain the facts. Next morning, Naveen woke me up and told me to visit BHU Health Centre for getting treatment for my cuts and bruises. Oh my god ! My wrist and palms were in bad shape.....The handkerchief which I had tied around my hand to stop bleeding yesterday night has turned red and black.My whole body pained like an old lady. I performed morning rituals ..had a hearty breakfast in the Mess and went walking to the Health Centre. Doctor was happy to recieve a genuine patient early in the morning....asked me few questions about the nature and reason of injury. He administered few injections to me and Naveen & gave us some tablets. We came out after bandaging our hands heavily but happy to be on the recovery track. A good doctor certainly heals the pain in a jiffy. Thank you doctor. We returned back to the Hostel as brand- new heroes. We sat in the Verandah and enjoyed small talk around us. I took bath and ate breakfast again to replenish the energy consumed. While we were having small chat.....Udit came from somewhere else and asked about the fighting. After listening to gory details......he screamed " Oh....I missed it".......... It was the statement of the year. We sorely missed the services of a bulky fighter. Next thing on my mind was the dilemma regarding what to do with those weapons because we feared that Proctor may visit our rooms...so I gave my Katta to one of my local acquaintance ,a boy named Uttam to keep it at his lodge at the Lanka.I threw Khukri in the dense bushes just behind our hostel. Now, the Inquiry commission started working and it became evident that these 06-07 boys are going to be rusticated from the BHU for next 05 years. We decided that we will give evidence against these boys and throw them from University. But, Chandan and few others started weeping like ladies anywhere they see us. Some negotiators from Senior batches also started mediating to save these boys. We melted, decided that we won't attend the inquiry so that case gets weakened and charges are dropped. I met the Prof. of Geography department who was the chairman of Inquiry commission and told him so. We won't pursue the charges, as this was just a minor fistfight between friends. I still remember that he laughed loudly saying " friends don't fight with deadly weapons." How can we spoil the career of so many boys for the madness of one night. Not fair. 02-03 days after the fighting , one dada of Birla hostel along with few chamchas(cronies) paid a visit to me in the evening.He asked me to hand over the Katta as a friendly gesture. According to his version the mighty Katta belonged to him and it was borrowed by Sharad for that day. I agreed with him asked " do you have any ownership paper"........he was startled and asked me that " as a Senior I am asking you to do a favour" Very well.....I again agreed and told him bluntly that 'Spoils of war can not be exchanged........ If I have snatched it from you then it belongs to me ...I will keep it as a memento so that I can remember you" Later on, I went on a boat ride and handed over the Katta as well as that Khukri to river Ganga. They received a decent water burial. May be , some day I will find it in the Bay of Bengal while diving for fun. So, more or less this was the story waiting to be told since last 10 years. I had the privilege to narrate it to you. May be, some of you may also decideds to throw some light on the hidden aspects of this incident. I will wait eagerly for any volunteers to give another version. I know my limitations......I may be biased in narration.....but you can not doubt my intention.........I have tried to go through the whole incident as minutely as possible.................but there is always scope for a better version................ So, Keep reading till the time I decide to write again on something else.. One small trivia.......As I was completing this story ...a minor earthquake rattled my table and my laptop floated for few micro seconds....happy coincidence I think..... Happy reading ............