Sept 6–Sept 20, 2016
"Conversations Over Coffee"
---
Scene One – The Unexpected Message
The reunion had ended, alumni dispersed back to their cities and jobs. The MC thought his short visit would be tucked away quietly like a bookmark in his life. But a week later, his phone buzzed with a new message on the alumni WhatsApp group.
"If anyone is still in Lucknow, we're meeting for coffee this weekend near Hazratganj. Would love to continue our discussions." — Ananya Sharma.
Most ignored it. A few sent polite emojis. But he paused, staring at the words.
It was a student reaching out not for nostalgia, but for dialogue.
And so, without ceremony, he marked his calendar.
---
Scene Two – The Café Meeting
The café in Hazratganj was tucked between an old bookstore and a sari shop. Warm lights glowed inside, and the aroma of roasted beans filled the air.
When he entered, she was already there, scribbling in a small diary. She looked up and smiled.
> Ananya: "I wasn't sure you'd come. Alumni usually vanish once the event ends."
MC (smiling faintly): "Sometimes the most important talks happen after the applause is gone."
They ordered simple drinks — she a cappuccino, he black coffee.
---
Scene Three – The Conversation
The talk began with small things — professors they both remembered, how the campus library still had the same broken chair. Then, naturally, it shifted.
> Ananya: "I've been thinking about rivers. In our classes, they only teach us flow rates and pollution indexes. But when I visited my village in Bihar… the river there isn't just water. It's life. People bathe, pray, fish, fight over it. And yet… we treat it like a drain."
Her voice tightened. She cared deeply — not as a student chasing grades, but as someone who felt the pulse of the land.
The MC listened intently, reminded of nights in his hidden lab where maps of India's rivers glowed as holograms. He had already begun projects that would one day reshape them. But here was a girl seeing the problem through human eyes, not machines.
> MC: "Rivers are mirrors. They show us what we've become. If they are sick, so are we. But you're right — people don't measure life, only numbers."
She looked at him strangely, as though his words carried weight beyond casual philosophy.
---
Scene Four – A Moment of Recognition
The café grew noisier with evening crowds, but their table felt like a quiet island.
> Ananya: "You speak as if you've already stood at the edge of something bigger… as if you've seen where it all leads."
MC (after a pause): "Let's just say… I've learned that change doesn't begin with governments or industries. It begins with questions. The right question asked at the right time can move mountains."
Her lips curled into a half-smile.
> Ananya: "Then maybe someday, I'll ask the right one."
They sat in companionable silence for a while, sipping coffee, the world moving around them.
---
Side POV – Café Owner
From behind the counter, the owner, an old man with spectacles, watched them. He had seen many couples sit at that table — young, nervous, laughing, sometimes arguing.
But these two… they weren't flirting. They weren't distracted by phones or glances at the door. They leaned in, eyes steady, words careful.
This isn't the talk of strangers, he thought. This is the beginning of something that will last.
---
Scene Five – Departure
When they left, the street outside was alive with neon signs and rickshaw bells. He walked her toward the rickshaw stand.
> Ananya: "Thank you… for listening. Most people tell me to stop worrying about rivers. You didn't."
MC: "Sometimes the world doesn't need answers. Just someone who listens long enough for the right question to take shape."
She tilted her head, studying him.
> Ananya: "You really don't talk like a normal alumnus."
MC (smiling slightly): "Maybe I'm not."
She laughed, shaking her head as she climbed into the rickshaw.
As the vehicle rattled away, he stood on the curb, the September air cool against his face. For the first time in years, he wasn't thinking about tunnels, chips, or secret empires.
He was thinking about a girl who cared about rivers.
---