Coffee with Hide and Seek

Wake up, get ready, skip breakfast, and drag your feet to the class, repetitive tasks done during the course of another mundane day. Trying to listen to all the boring and flawed lectures is more painful than watching one of those never ending soaps on television. They never seem to know what they do and they do this everyday for the next four years. Ha! Who said soaps are miserable. They said join the college, a temple of knowledge, a powerhouse of invention and innovation, an opportunity to make a difference, be an engineer and build a better tomorrow, they said…

Respite at last, sure seemed like a reprieve from death sentence, its just lunch break. Which one to choose? A long sweaty trek in the hot sun to the vegan mess hall where they pride themselves in serving steaming hot food often with a side of bugs or a ride in the auto rickshaw to the air conditioned china town and a movie later on with friends. Hell or heaven? Heaven it is!

Evenings are by default spent at the school cafeteria. Good food. Wonder why the cafeteria guys can’t run our vegan mess too? Two huge tables are immediately occupied, a ruckus made, pairs cuddled together, rest aimlessly look around, the same poor soul orders food every time only to be devoured by everyone else. Lame repetitive discussions about love and friendship, jokes that are irksome and clichéd, agreements and disagreements, groups within a group, veiled hate and jealousy, friends is what they call themselves. It was not always like this. Well times change, so do people. Running away suddenly seemed like an attractive choice to make and it was.

Back to the room, there he was, filled with enthusiasm and energy, just when you are about to give up. Never had to ask him. He reads minds. Enzo? Search the cupboards, waste paper basket, clothes basket, under, over and inside the desk and the bed, beg or borrow, find just enough change to get two coffees and a pack of Parle hide and seek. Laid back, sipping the piping hot coffee, a bite of hide and seek, watching the sun set, the rattling sound of trains passing by, an invigorating talk about God, Yana Gupta in that sizzling song and operating systems design. Life was totally worth it and all it took was him and a coffee with hide and seek. Ah! Sure miss those times.