Without even realizing it, Vedanshi and her friends reached the restaurant while deep in thought. Maria was in a particularly good mood that day. Now she was sitting with Vedanshi, sipping tea in the balcony. Maria was telling her about her life—how she left everything behind and started her own restaurant. She was a highly educated woman who had returned from London after completing her MBA. But she had done a love marriage.
"For a while, everything was fine. But soon after, my husband started having issues with my job, because I was earning more than him, and he took that as an insult. He tried to force me to quit in many ways, even tortured me emotionally. Even after I left my job, he still had problems. Sometimes he'd torture me for housework, sometimes for something else, he always found a reason. When he started abusing me verbally, I decided to leave that house. That's when I came here and opened this restaurant. I've never regretted it since.
I'm alone, Vedanshi, but I'm happy now. I have no regrets about leaving him," Maria said. Vedanshi took a deep breath and began to think,
"Why is it always girls who have to go through this? Why do they have to suffer all the time?"
But what Vedanshi didn't know was that pain isn't just for women, men feel it too. They just don't know how to express it.
It was already 11 at night when Vedanshi lay down on her bed. Maria had given her a beautiful room on the upper floor. As she got ready to sleep, Vedanshi looked at her phone. All the professors had created their own groups so they could share class-related matters with the students easily.
Vedanshi opened Nayan's profile. His display picture showed him smiling. Unintentionally, she kept staring at it. But behind that killer smile, she could see a sad face. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
It was around 9 in the morning, and Vedanshi was still asleep. Her phone suddenly rang.
Half-asleep, she put the phone to her ear without even looking at the screen.
"Hmm... who is it?" Vedanshi mumbled.
"Oye! Vedanshi, you're still sleeping?!" Sagar shouted from the other side.
"What is it, you date-palm! It's so early—what do you want?" Vedanshi grumbled.
"We're going to the site today. Did you forget?" Sagar reminded her.
Suddenly, Vedanshi remembered.
She looked at the time and without cutting the call, said,
"Oh shit! Shit! Shit! Why didn't my alarm ring today? I had set it for 6 a.m., and now it's 9!"
She quickly opened her alarm settings and saw that it was set for 6 p.m.
"Vedanshi, you seriously need a psychiatrist," she muttered to herself and grabbed a towel before running into the bathroom, still on the call.
Sagar shook his head on the other side.
"What kind of girl sets PM instead of AM? Seriously, she does need a psychiatrist," he said and cut the call.
As soon as Vedanshi came out of the bathroom, she took only three minutes to get ready, grabbed her bag, and rushed out.
It was still early morning, so there wasn't much work at the restaurant. Maria was sitting at the counter, going over some accounts, when Vedanshi ran past her.
"Bye, Maria!" she called out on the way out.
"But Vedanshi, at least have some breakfast…" Maria tried to say, but before she could finish, Vedanshi had already jumped into an auto and was gone. Maria just shook her head.
As soon as Vedanshi reached the college gate, she started running. Today, she had no time to enjoy the path, because she was already late. Holding her stomach, she was sprinting. Just then, a bike stopped beside her. As she turned around, she saw Nayan sitting on it. Vedanshi stared at him without blinking.
"Get on quickly, or we'll be late for the site. You're already running behind," Nayan said.
Without a word, she got on the bike. Nayan smiled faintly. The department wasn't too far from there, but walking usually took at least 15 minutes.
As soon as Nayan parked the bike in the parking lot, all of Vedanshi's friends began glaring at her as if they'd eat her alive. Everyone had something in hand, someone held a metal detector, another had a map. Akshay carried the biggest bag, which had most of the site's small equipment. Vedanshi had just gotten off the bike when Nayan said,
"You all get in the car. I'll go grab a few more things." Saying this, he tossed the car keys to Sagar and added,
"Load the stuff into the car quickly." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Sir's car has a lot of space. That's probably why he didn't get another vehicle," Akshay commented.
"He lives a very simple life. I've known him for four years now," Sagar added.
"Seriously?" Vedanshi asked, surprised. Everyone turned to look at Sagar. Sagar explained,
"Well, I'm local here and so is sir. So I know quite a bit about him. His father used to drive an auto on the rich people's hill. And now sir owns a house on that same hill. He had a tough childhood in poverty. But he's very talented, and that's how he became a professor. There are a lot of rumors about him too, but I don't believe them, because I don't think he's that kind of person."
Everyone looked at Sagar curiously, as if they wanted to ask something. Sagar was about to speak again when Nayan returned, and the group fell silent. Nayan looked around and asked, "What's going on? Why are you all looking at me like I'm an alien?"
Saying that, he sat in the front passenger seat. Sagar took the driver's seat, and everyone else stared at him with wide eyes.
Sagar turned around and said,
"I've driven for sir before too." Nayan lightly smacked him on the head, and everyone laughed and got into the car. Nayan and Sagar were seated in front. Vedanshi sat directly behind Nayan. Nikhil sat in the middle, and Akshay was behind Sagar.
Today, Nayan was going to explain about layering, so they were heading to a riverside site. The site wasn't very far, probably around 4 km. They were driving along a road that followed the river. The river flowed just a few meters below the road.
Behind them, Akshay and Nikhil were whispering to each other.
Vedanshi had her eyes closed, her head resting back on the seat.
"It's been only about two weeks since she arrived here. Before that, her life was a complete storm. But now, that storm had finally passed and she was starting to find peace.
She was alone now but happy.
She had left it all behind." Vedanshi was lost in thought.
She took a deep breath and looked outside. The view was beautiful. She had always loved places near rivers.
She still remembered when they used to visit her grandmother's village. All the cousins, uncle's kids, aunt's kids, they would sneak off to the river to play. And later, they'd get scolded by uncle once they got home. What days those were. All left behind now. Thinking about it, Vedanshi smiled softly.
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the side mirror and saw Nayan looking at her with a smile. She quickly turned her gaze away, and Nayan let out a quiet chuckle.
A little while later, they were standing at a bend above the river, observing the location.
Sagar was looking for a place to park the car, and Nikhil was helping him.
There was a rough path leading down to the river. The sun was scorching, so Vedanshi took out an umbrella from her bag. Akshay looked at the umbrella with greedy eyes.
Vedanshi handed it to him. Akshay smiled happily and said,
"Thanks, Vedanshi! You're so sweet!" But his excitement faded quickly when Vedanshi pointed for him to give the umbrella to sir.
Akshay made a face like he was about to cry.
Nayan stood at the front, staring intensely at the site location. Vedanshi and Akshay stood right behind him. Akshay handed the umbrella to Nayan, and he accepted it. Though his face was turned away, he was still smiling, his genuine smile. Sagar and Nikhil had already returned with all the equipment.
"Everyone, walk carefully. The path is a bit uneven," Nayan warned.
"Oh come on, sir, we're used to it. We've been walking through this river since childhood," Sagar replied, confidently walking ahead.
Sagar and Nikhil were now leading the group, carrying some of the gear. Akshay had also picked up a few things. Nayan and Vedanshi walked at the back. The river wasn't far, and soon they had reached the bank.
But the actual site was on the other side of the river, so they had to cross it. Fortunately, the water level was low due to the summer season, and the current wasn't strong, so it was easy to cross. Everyone began crossing the river.
Suddenly, Vedanshi's foot slipped on a smooth rock. She would've fallen but Nayan caught her by the shoulders just in time, causing his umbrella to fall into the water. But who cared about the umbrella? Nayan held Vedanshi tightly, making sure she didn't fall.
His face was very close to her shoulder, and his warm breath was brushing against her neck, something Vedanshi could feel clearly. At that moment, both of their hearts were racing uncontrollably. Nayan's breathing grew heavy, and he quickly let go of her.
"Are you okay?" Nayan asked. Vedanshi snapped out of the moment and immediately stood up straight. She nodded, unable to form any words, and walked ahead quietly. The others had already crossed the river. Nayan took a moment to compose himself and followed behind. No one noticed that the umbrella had drifted away with the river.
It was around 10:30 in the morning, and there was still shade on the far side of the river. They had reached the site.
This particular location was formed due to riverbank erosion, and because of that, the soil layering was clearly visible. It was an ideal spot for new students to learn, as it offered a great opportunity for practical knowledge on layering.
Nayan took a trowel and a brush from the big bag and began scraping the erosion area with the trowel. After a few minutes of removing the outer soil, some layers started to appear. He then used the brush to clean the surface gently, and soon all the layers became clearly visible.
After explaining everything, Nayan asked the students to draw a diagram. Everyone started sketching their own version.
For about an hour, Nayan explained all the important concepts related to soil layering. Now, everyone was quite tired, so they gathered under some shade to rest.
Vedanshi passed water bottles to everyone, and they all drank. Nayan was sitting on a rock, writing something in a file. Vedanshi extended a water bottle toward him. Nayan looked up at her.
For a moment, Vedanshi found herself lost in his eyes.
His hair was drenched in sweat, completely covering his forehead. He looked like an innocent child. Nayan took the bottle from her hand. Vedanshi then sat on another nearby rock, next to Sagar. Nayan glanced at her and gave a faint smile.
Just then, Sagar and Nikhil pulled out energy bars from their bags.
"You guys even brought food here?" Vedanshi asked, amused.
"What do you mean 'even here'? This is exactly where we need food the most," Sagar said, offering her an energy bar. Before taking it, Vedanshi glanced toward Nayan.
"Don't worry, we've got one for him too," Sagar said, pulling out another bar from his bag. Vedanshi blushed a little. Sagar then walked over and handed the energy bar to Nayan.
By the time everyone crossed the river back, the sun was shining bright and that's when everyone suddenly remembered Vedanshi's umbrella, the one she had given to Nayan.
Everyone looked at Nayan at once, except Vedanshi. Nayan turned straight to Vedanshi and said,
"Sorry, Vedanshi... I think your umbrella might have floated away in the river." As soon as he said that, all of Vedanshi's friends started trying to hold back their laughter.
Meanwhile, Vedanshi began thinking,
"How did sir know that the umbrella was mine? Akshay was the one who handed it to him…" Lost in thought, they reached the main road.
"About one kilometer ahead, there's another archaeological site, Karal. I'll take you there too. There's not much left to see now, but for the sake of knowledge, you should at least be aware of it," Nayan said.
"It's believed that the Pandavas had stayed there once. Some iron tools and clay pots were recovered from that location, they're kept in our museum now," he added.
"Seriously, our city is so ancient, culturally speaking. Finding all this is incredible," Nikhil remarked.
"True. But there are still many places here that remain untouched, or about which we know nothing.
But thanks to our department's continuous efforts, we've made significant progress," Nayan explained.
"That's all due to the hard work and dedication of our professors, who are constantly making such discoveries," Vedanshi added.
As they continued in the car, Nayan was telling them more about that site, how the flow of the river had eventually washed it away.
But Vedanshi's attention was fixed outside, on a dumping area, where all the garbage of the town had been thrown. It was the official dumping ground of the entire town. Vedanshi began thinking,
"Everything in this town is so well-maintained. There's no litter or garbage in sight. There are so many small parks, greenery everywhere, properly spaced street lights, and good hospital facilities. You don't even see any stray animals wandering around. This town is equipped with almost everything a person could ask for."
But there was one thing that bothered her today.
"Despite having so much, why is there no proper system for waste disposal here?
Why is garbage being dumped into the water body? That's seriously wrong.
It's polluting the entire river."
By now, everyone had returned to the college. They were all exhausted. And in the morning, hardly anyone had eaten breakfast, So naturally, everyone's eyes turned toward the canteen.