That Last Night

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 26; the 26th Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'That Last Night'.

He rolled to his right. He rolled to his left. He lay on his back and tried to count imaginary sheep. Ninety nine sheep had jumped over the fence. He had no patience to watch the hundredth sheep. He switched on the light and picked up a novel. Five minutes passed. Ten passed! Fifteen! But he had still not got past the first line. A black and white alphabet soup swam in front of his eyes. He gave up and put down the novel. He opened the door to let in some cool breeze.

March had still not come marching in with all its fire and fury. Fresh cool air flooded the room. Equally fresh memories flooded his mind. He had come here exactly nineteen months back on a hot sultry night. He had been greeted by two guys sitting in front of the television watching a cricket match.

“Hello. Have you also come for the preparatory course?”

His mind took a journey back to the preparatory course. That had been fun. The course had been very light and there had been lot of fun and frolic. The three of them had become fast friends and they had spent the evenings exploring different parts of the city. In the night they would come back to recline in front of the television watching one of the late night movies on Star movies or HBO channel.

The television was still there as were the chairs. But dust had settled on the chairs. The television stood silent as if dumbstruck. A new name and face came to life in his mind as his eyes drifted from one locked room to the next. Would he see those faces again? The laughter, the light banter, the serious discussions! And the spirits! Yes, the spirits! In spite of the state wide ban on them, the spirits had an uncanny knack of finding their way to the souls that yearned after them.

From the light of the tube lights he gradually descended into the darkness of the stairs to emerge into the shadows of moonlit night. He was soon in front of the college mess. But it was not the meals that he remembered which said something to their credit for seldom are hostel mess meals remembered in a positive light. His eyes were fixed on a small area near the entrance: the notice board. However the notice board had no notice. Throughout the first year, he had dreaded the post lunch surprise test announcement notice. Now he wished he could see one again one last time.

The next stop was the class room block. The past two years his life has been equally divided between here and the dorms. Again memories began to fill his head threatening to overwhelm him. The professors’ droning voices, the alert raised hands trying to score class participation points, the invigorating tea between classes! This place held lot of emotions, joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, excitement and boredom! Classes, exams, campus placements – all had happened at this very place.

By now the night was well into its unholy hours. He still had 2 hours – enough time for the auditorium, the playgrounds and the lawns. The director had welcomed them at this auditorium on the first day. They had entertained their seniors with their performances on stage here on talent night. They had entertained companies with their patience off stage during summer placements as the companies bored them with their presentations. In the second year the juniors had entertained them. Then it was the turn of the companies to entertain their ambitions. Finally the director was back again to bid adieu during the convocations.

Finally the hour had arrived. As he wheeled his luggage out, his eyes fell on a cardboard box with some hay in it. “Julie, Julie”, he called, finally breaking the silence of the night. No Julie came. He just shrugged in resignation and proceeded towards the gate. He had come here alone and alone he would leave. His juniors had all left on their term breaks. His batch mates were all already back home. He was the last one to leave campus.  No one left even to say goodbye to him!

As he was about to board the waiting taxi, he heard a short bark. Someone had come to say goodbye to him after all. It was Julie, the stray they had adopted in the dorm. He gently patted her on the head as he boarded the Taxi. His eyes were fixed on the campus as it blurred away in the distance.

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