Diya Rai – A Corny Classmate

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is an amazing comedy written by Shakespeare. The breezy love story of Helena, Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander laced with dollops of comedy and fantasy is one of the greatest plays ever. Diya was a fanatic of that play. Hence, when the discussions for a skit was going on, she came up with a plan to act out the Shakespearean comedy.

“But, can we act that for an inter-house competition? I mean, the other three houses might choose plays with a social message. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is out and out fictional,” said Shruthi, the Red House captain.

“It isn’t mandatory to have a skit with a social message. No rule like that has been mentioned to us. So why don’t we try this?” asked Diya, excitedly.

“I know the story, but our acting queen Lily doesn’t know about it. We have to make her read so that she can come up with scenes.”

“Don’t worry about that. I will take her to the library today and make her read.”

Saying so, Diya flashed a pearly smile.

“Okay, I want it to be perfect, Diya. Especially if a school topper like you is acting in it, then it should be extraordinary.”

“Arey, I will take care of everything. Please don’t embarrass me by quoting me as the school topper.”

“Ha ha ha. That’s the truth, Diya. Scoring 1175 out of 1200 is something phenomenal.”

“Shut up, Shruthi!” Diya hollered in mock anger and burst into peals of laughter. Yes, she was the school topper of Seshadri Vidyalaya in her 10th grade board exams. She has been on top of the world ever since. She was also aware that she must tread carefully in her 11th and 12th grade. Potential dangers like jealous classmates, drooling boys and scary subjects were lurking around the corner. Though she had chosen the easy Commerce with Computer Science as her stream, she found Economics to be a deadly subject.

“Lily.” Diya called out for the so called acting queen Lily. The latter was an Anglo-Indian whose English accent was much spoken about in the classroom.

“Yes, Diya.”

“Haven’t you read ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ yet?”

“No, I haven’t. Though I’ve read other works of Shakespeare, this one remains to be read. I am not finding time to read it, since I am busy reading Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince.”

“Okay, I am planning to adapt that play for our inter-house skit competition. I think it would be good and might also fetch prizes for us. I will take you to the library. Please read the story and start preparing for the scenes. We must allot the characters too.”

“Wow! This sounds good. Shakespearean plays always win prizes. Surely ours would also win. Come, let’s go.”

Lily grabbed Diya’s arm and marched towards the library. The library was where Diya had spent almost half of her school life. If others found peace in temples, churches, and mosques, she found peace in the library.

“Wait! I know where the book is. ‘Tales from Shakespeare’ written by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb.” She took out the colorful book and handed it to Lily.

“Give me 15 minutes. I will be done.” With those words, Lily began reading the story. At times, Diya could listen to her suppressed giggles. She knew that the story would entertain her.

Exactly after 15 minutes, Lily was in a discussion with Diya, as to how to allot the characters and start the practice. Soon, it was decided that Lily would play Hermia, Diya would play Helena, a funny classmate of theirs named Dhruv would play Demetrius and another classmate named Shiv would play Lysander. The other characters of Oberon, Titania, Puck, Bottom, Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus were also decided. Though everyone were happy with their characters, Diya was a tad disappointed. She hoped that she would get Hermia, because Helena was a character who would go in pursuit of Demetrius, while in real life Diya had vowed that she’d never pursue any guy.

The practice for the play began and the young actors were excited to portray their respective roles. The dialogues were also simple for them to recite. Hence they had a gala time during the rehearsals. But Diya wasn’t enjoying much. Though she got into the skin of the character Helena, something was amiss with Dhruv who was playing Demetrius. Whenever she mouthed her lines, he turned over-reactive and made crazy expressions. She warned him thrice, yet he continued his craziness.

“Oh! Why was I born to be mocked and scorned by every one? Is it not enough, young man, that I can never get a sweet look or a kind word from Demetrius;” Diya began reciting her lines with emotion in her voice. As soon as she mentioned Demetrius, Dhruv’s eyes lightened up and he said, “Why not, Helena? I will always love thee. Thou are the star in my life. I will be marrying thee sooner than thou think.”

“What the hell! What’s happening here? Dhruv, those lines don’t exist in the play. Why are you making up?” Lily clamoured from her chair.

“Arey, I thought Diya is speaking those lines to me. And it was such a pity to see her telling that she doesn’t receive a sweet look or kind word from Demetrius. Hence, I comforted her with my words,” trilled Dhruv in a singsong voice and winked at Diya. Diya clenched her fists and let out a snort.

“Dhruv! This is a play. A skit which we are going to perform for our inter-house competition. Don’t confuse it with reality.” Lily’s tone turned stern.

“Chill, Lily. I know what I am doing. I was just teasing Diya. She looked so cute when she had recited her lines. So I couldn’t resist myself.” He looked at Diya with a warm-blooded look.

“Shut up, Dhruv! I will kill you.” Diya bayed at him.

Dhruv chuckled at that and began performing the lines that were originally given to him. But all the while, he threw ardent glances at her, which was a definite put off for her.

*****

The canteen of Seshadri Vidyalaya was the best hangout for the students. If library provided peace for Diya, the canteen provided entertainment for her. It was the abode of gossips, jokes and interesting tidbits. She used to hang around with Shruthi and Lily. Added to the radiance of the canteen were the piping hot aromatic samosas. And also the introduction of mushroom samosas tingled her taste buds. The ‘canteenwala’ brought extra samosas especially for her. Though she knew that samosas were junk, she burned out the calories with the help of exercise in the morning, so that she could gorge on more samosas the next day.

“Get me two panneer samosas, Diya,” ordered Shruthi from her place. Diya nodded and proceeded to pay for the samosas.

“Diya! Let me pay for them. Consider it as my treat.” Dhruv came running to the counter and almost grasped her hand.

“Dhruv! Get lost. I don’t want any treat. And take that filthy hand of yours from mine.” Diya raged.

“Sorry, dear, I had just acted in an instant. Okay, let me treat you some other time.”

“Arrrgghhh! I don’t expect treats from you, Dhruv. It’d be better if you keep off from me.”

“Why are you so strident, Diya? Don’t you like to talk with me?”

“You are too cheesy, Dhruv. I hate that. Talk normally with me and I’d be normal with you. Just like that.” Diya lifted the tray of samosas and moved towards her friends.

“Am I that cheesy? I just want to spend time with you, Diya. I want to be your special friend.”

“What the heck do you mean by special friend?”

“Never mind. Enjoy your samosas.” Dhruv moved away without further explanation. Diya let out a smirk and turned to her friends.

“Why is Dhruv bothering you?” asked Lily.

“God knows! He wants to be my ‘special’ friend it seems.”

“Special friend? What does that even mean?”

“I think he is falling for you, Diya.” Shruthi put forth.

“Jeez! Don’t induce wrong notions about him. Already Diya has too many Roadside Romeos following her.” Lily retorted.

“Hell yeah! Let me have good thoughts about him. At least till we perform the skit on the D-day. Coz, if I begin to despise him, then I might not get along with him during the rehearsals. Then it would lead to poor performances.”

“Okay, okay, cool.” Shruthi smiled.

“Diya, can you come over to my table?” Dhruv was beckoning her. He adopted a polite tone, after his initial unpleasant exchange with her.

“Why should I?”

“I..I just need to discuss about something.”

“Can’t you just come to my table and discuss? Why do you want privacy?”

“Please, Diya.” Dhruv began pleading. Diya pitied him, since she wasn’t used to pleading tones. She gave in immediately once people began beseeching. Some called her egoistic. But that was Diya. She had learnt it the hard away, after coming across fake and arrogant people.

Moving on to his table, she made herself comfortable on a plush green chair. He seated beside her and passed her a cup of coffee.

“Coffee? I told you, right? I don’t want any…”

“Shhhh! This is a free coffee. Look over there. They are providing free coffee and tea for the people who have attended the Wealth & Economy seminar today.”

“Oh! Okay, I’ll have it. Thank you.” Diya tried to ease the situation. As they sipped together, Dhruv asked, “What do you think about the friendship between girls and boys?”

“Ugh! Why do you ask that suddenly?”

“Arey, Diya, why do you always ask ‘why, why, why’? If a question is posed to you, just answer it. Don’t cross-question. This is okay with me, but it might offend others.”

“Okay, okay, I am sorry. I think the friendship between a girl and a boy is a divine one. A girl can be closer to a guy than she is with a girl. He will be there for her whenever she needs him, even if it is 3 AM. But a girl friend would surely think that as a burden. So, I think the most beautiful friendship is the one which exists between a boy and a girl.”

“Wow! That was beautiful. Do you have any boy friend like that?”

“Yes, I have. His name is Ronnie. We were childhood friends. Then he moved to Paris for his secondary education. We kept in touch through phone calls and letters. We are still best friends.”

“Super! I don’t have any such girl friend on whom I can depend upon. So, will you become one for me?”

Diya raised an eyebrow at him. However, her lips curved into a smile and she said, “Well, I can become a best friend to you, provided that you maintain your limits.”

“Of course, Jaanu, I will maintain my limits.”

“Wha..what did you just say?”

“Oh, that’s an equivalent for ‘dear’. You have a problem with it?”

“Hmmm..no. But stay within your limits. By limits I mean, you shouldn’t cross the boundary of friendship. I hope you know the meaning of friendship. I needn’t explain the rules and regulations.”

“Hey chalo, Diya, friendship constitutes of feelings. Not rules and regulations.”

“Okay, don’t get pissed off. I’ll be your best friend. Bas!”

“Thank you, Diya, I love you.”

“Ugh?”

“I meant it as a friend, Jaanu.”

‘Hmph! So corny he is. Anyway, it’s hard to find good friends. He seems to be all right. Let me be a good friend to him.’ Thinking so, Diya flashed a toothy grin at him.

*****

“And the first prize goes to Red House for the skit ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream….” The jury exclaimed from the podium. A harmonious cheer erupted from the crowd. The actors of the play almost jumped in joy. Lily and Shruthi did a small jig, while Shiv patted on Kiran’s shoulder. But the strangest thing was Dhruv raced towards Diya and hugged her. She was shocked beyond words. She tried to sway from his grip, but he held her tightly in his arms. She wasn’t used to such things and her eyes welled up with tears.

“Dhruv! Please leave me.” She choked back tears. It was then that Dhruv realized that he’d gone beyond his limits. In the past two weeks they had really grown close as best friends. But she never thought that ‘hugging’ was included in a thick friendship, especially with a boy who was only close for two weeks.

“I..I am sorry, Diya. Hey..why are you crying?”

Before she could answer, someone sprayed snow around them and they were entirely covered with it.

“Oops! This is sooo sticky.” He said, hoping to change the topic, but Diya had stormed away from the scene.

‘Oh my god! What have I done to her? I should make amends.’ Dhruv thought.

*****

Diya’s eyes were brimming with tears when she met Dhruv under the school’s banyan tree.

“I am sorry, Diya. I was overjoyed by our win. I didn’t know what I was doing. Please stop crying, Jaanu.”

“Stop mentioning me as ‘jaanu’. It’s irritating.”

“But you’d allowed me to call like that for the past two weeks.”

“Yeah, that was because I thought you were true to our friendship. But..but everything has changed after the….hug!”

“Diya, please don’t get me wrong. I hugged at the heat of the moment. I didn’t mean to.” Dhruv took Diya’s hands in his, but she had turned restless.

“I think you’re going beyond your limits, Dhruv. What’s with this holding hands?”

“Arrrrggghhh! Why do you always question my actions, Diya? Well, let me come straight to the point. Yes, I love you! I love you, dammit! I just don’t wanna stay as your best friend. I want to be beside you always. I want to hold your hands and revel in the warmth of them. I just want to hug you when I feel happy. I want to share my fears, joys, and deepest secrets with you. I want to wake up everyday looking at you. I need you to be with me through every experience of mine. I love you, Diya…” Dhruv moved closer to her.

SLAP! A tight slap it was. Dhruv’s head began to reel. His left cheek reddened. Tears formed in his eyes immediately.

“Don’t speak another word. Get lost! Get out of my life, Dhruv!” Diya spoke through her sobs.

“But, Diya…”

“Shhhhh! I don’t want to see your face again. Just get out of my sight! Now!” She roared at a high pitch.

“Diya Rai, let me explain….”

“Look, Dhruv, I lost respect for the emotion called love. It was due to my past experiences. But I never lost respect on the boy-girl friendship. Please don’t make me lose it. I beg you!” She joined her hands together and hung her face down.

“Can’t best friends turn into lovers, Diya?”

“You didn’t even turn that close to understand me completely, Dhruv. How could you meaninglessly plunge into love?”

Dhruv did not speak back. He didn’t have any more answers to Diya’s prodding questions. Picking up his backpack, he walked towards the classroom, hoping to mend his broken heart in the following days. Diya looked on. Her face held a triumphant smile. She had warded off yet another proposal. ‘Shit! I don’t want boys in my life. They are just douchebags. Let me break my friendship with Ronnie, too.’ She thought. Anger surged through her as Dhruv’s proposal kept flashing in her mind.

The rest of the year, Diya and Dhruv never ran into each other, though they were in the same classroom. Due to her ruthless rejection, Lily also stopped talking with her. She found justice in Dhruv’s love and fought with Diya to accept him, but as usual, the latter turned the tables upside down.

She was Diya, a stubborn and headstrong lass. Not a people-pleaser. However, she didn’t break her friendship with Ronnie.

‘Why should a stupid guy’s wrong notion about friendship lead to breaking up my friendship with Ronnie?’ she thought and continued to be Ronnie’s best friend.

**********