This is second part of the story Roomies. For the first part click here.
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Since the night of 17th September the air of room number 156 had undergone a change. You could hear friendly banter and sometimes even mild laughter emanating from it. In the evenings a few girls from neighboring rooms had started joining the Vaishali and Devika and they would together gossip and grumble their way into the night. As the roomies got talking they discovered they had much in common. They loved the same kind of books, movies, music and food. The one point on which they differed was regarding the sort of life they desired.
“I am tired of being treated like a kid by my parents. They are just over protective and over indulgent! You know the reason I came here was because I wanted to move out of the house.” Seeing Devika’s shock Vaishali immediately added, “Its not that I don’t love them. I do. But I still want my independence. And having tasted hostel life I was dreading going back home in the vacations.
But now thanks to –”
Devika interjected saying, “You probably won’t believe me but I am really glad that I came second. I don’t even know why I was fighting so hard for that
“But why so?”
“Well… my parents’ jobs are such that they are constantly moving from one city to another. So they just couldn’t just leave me home alone then.”
“But now you can stay with them?”
“Nopes… now they think that since I am grown up I can stay on my own!
Besides they want me to focus on my career and if that takes me away from them then so be it.”
How can two people who have shared their innermost hidden feelings not become friends? So was the case with the two girls from that day forth. They started going to department and library together. During classes they would sit next to each other. While they continued to have different partners for lab, they would always return back to the hostel at the same time. On one such occasion their Hostel Manager Shobha ji caught hold of Devika.
“Beta… a parcel arrived for you in the afternoon. It’s lying in the canteen fridge.”
She was surprised to hear this because maximum she had occasionally received cards from her friends by post but never a parcel. With great excitement she took out the parcel and opened it. There was a huge box filled with an assortment of her favorite chocolates!! She also found a card saying “Missing you!! With love, Mummy and Daddy” and a long handwritten letter penned by her parents.
Unable to contain her exhilaration Devika rushed to the confines of her room to read the letter. It was a very simply worded letter without any fancy language. Her parents had described how they felt bad at having made her come to Mumbai and how in the midst of their tight work schedules they couldn’t help but remember her. They further wrote that they were planning a trip to meet her and inquired which weekend would be best suited for her. As Devika reached the end of the letter she was in tears. She immediately called her parents and they talked in a manner they hadn’t talked in months or perhaps years.
For the concluding part of "Roomies" wait for the next post.
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