The rain decided to upgrade itself from drizzles and pattering to thunderstorms. The wind started to challenge everyone present there on how much of Bangalore's original chilliness[1] one could take. Shivering, I held the warm rolls like a heat pad for my frozen fingers and walked to Siddharth, who, due to the freezing temperature, had woken up and covered himself with a shawl that probably had been stuffed in his bag since last Christmas. He too was shivering and sat upright, as the metallic table was frosty cold due to the drop in temperature.
I handed him the two rolls and said, "I am going to get your tea. Dare you take a bite from my roll, and see what I do to you." I warned him, looking serious and pointing at him to declare my point.
Siddharth looked dead in the eye and took a bite from both the rolls at the same time.
"Ranga!" I stomped my feet and yelled at him, "You ate from mine. Spit it out. SPIT IT OUT." I lunged at him to extract my revenge. Siddharth quickly swallowed the food. and tuck his tongue out, annoying my guts out.
"Ranga, this is unfair. Wait and watch, I'll get my revenge." I declared while glaring at him angrily.
I took out my cardigan from my bag and wore it over my shirt. Then I walked to the cafeteria staff and asked for the cup. They said that they gave it to the tea stall boy. I went to the tea stall and asked for the mug of tea. The young boy who was making the tea poured the piping hot tea into the mug and handed it to me.
"Akka, do you want some?" He asked, trying to sell some more tea to me.
"No. No need," I said, and I handed him a 10 INR note.
He took the note and shone it under the tubelight that lit his stall to check the note's originality.
The cafeteria counter staff started broadcasting old Bollywood songs on the speaker. I looked at the sky. The thunderstorm changed the sky from light blue to dark grey. The sky was devoid of any joy and looked like it was getting ready for winter. It was the month of October, and Durga Puja holidays had already passed, as this year's Bônggabdo[2] was pretty weird and had very early harvest timings. It was Diwali soon, in three weeks, and everyone was looking forward to the three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, that we got as holidays.
I got the tea in front of Siddharth, who, thank the stars, didn't take another bite from my roll and was eating his. I placed the cup in front of him. He handed me my roll. Before he took the mug and took a sip to warm himself up, I took the mug and, in front of him, drank a quarter of the mug. Then handed him the mug.
Siddharth looked at me, stunned. Then he rolled his tongue inside his mouth and raised his eyebrow, clearly taken aback and finding my actions amusing. I sat down on the cold metallic table and yelped out. I was satisfied with his reaction but felt that I needed more. So I started swaying my legs and hitting his feet. Siddharth first looked at me, clearly annoyed, but once he realised that I was enjoying his reactions, he stopped giving them. He took the mug and drank his tea peacefully, not letting my actions bother him.
Soon his unresponsiveness started to bore me, and I stopped kicking him and focused on eating my lunch. After eating our lunch, we looked at the sky and realised that the rain was not going to stop anytime soon. We looked for random English newspapers and started reading them. Siddharth started solving the crosswords and word puzzles of the newspaper while I focused on the economic section of the paper. My stocks and shares depend on this. In this capitalist world, money speaks volumes.
By 1 pm, the thunderstorm had stopped, and we left for our final theory class for today. Even though Siddharth was in a much better mood than he was in the morning, he still couldn't focus in the class and kept dozing off. Concerned, after the class, I touched his forehead and nearly burnt my hand. He was running with a heavy fever.
Immediately I tried to wake Siddharth up. "Wake up, wake up. You've got a fever. Let's go to your flat and get you some medicine. Wake up."
"Uhu, fever." Siddharth winced with fever pains and touched his head, finding it hot. "No wonder why my eyes feel like they are burning."
"Come on. Come on. Let's go." I packed up everything and stabilised Siddharth, who was barely keeping steady, and the fever now started to take over him.
We slowly walked up to the university gate, carefully crossing the cars that were speeding. Probably running late due to the congestion the rain brought. Then, while avoiding the potholes, I carried Siddharth in front of his PG and took him to his flat. In his PG, people had to share rooms with another person. I never met his roommate until now, as I visited his PG only twice, and both times, his roommate was out. I pulled out the keys from his pant pockets and opened the door. His room was squeaky clean. I helped him remove his shoes and dragged him to his room.
As soon as he reached his bed, he jumped into it, and without changing his clothes, he wrapped himself with the blanket.
"Ranga, change into your pyjamas and then go to sleep. I'll bring the medicine. Where have you kept them?" I asked gently.
"Living room," he mumbled and went back to sleep.
"Change your clothes quickly and then sleep. I'll get some khichdi[3] too." I said and left his room to find the medicine box in the living room.
[1] It was once a popular hill station and a summer holiday spot for the British.
[2] The Bengali calendar, also known as Bengali Era (Bônggabdo), is a solar calendar primarily used in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. It is based on the sidereal solar cycle and the ancient Hindu calendar, specifically the Surya Siddhanta. The calendar's year zero is linked to the Hijri calendar, starting with the year of Emperor Akbar's accession to the throne.
[3] "hotchpotch" or "hodgepodge."