The moon was shining brightly in the sky.
Empty streets glistened, almost giving the empty roads and buildings a mirror-like sheen. Tiny droplets were falling from the roof edges while creating a melodic orchestra with small pools of water accumulated in potholes.
*Splash*
Aadi almost tripped and fell face-first while running in the lonely street. Beads of sweat were trickling down from his face while he strained his muscles to run as fast as he could. He could still feel the pursuit of an angry mob, most carrying spiked bats, hammers, and a lot of knives. His throat was parched but he kept moving not wanting to come into contact with any of the sharp knives flying across the street.
*Splash Splush chump Chu*
Soon many more steps could be heard in the desolate street. Aadi looked back only to see more men than before following him. Without thinking about anything else, he took a sharp left turn. He had entered a narrow alley covered with all kinds of cardboard boxes. He almost slammed on one of those boxes, narrowly escaping by taking a right. Most of his followers ran in front while he hid behind a shop sign.
He saw all the goons run forward while trying to dodge or cut through the empty boxes. When most of them were barely visible in the distance, Aadi took a deep breath and let out a sigh. He could still hear his heartbeat racing at the pace of a war horse. Listlessly looking around, he made sure to see nobody was around him. Taking out a pen drive from his back pocket, he grimaced thinking about what he should do from now on.
*Pitter pater... pitter patter*
Aadi kept on burning two holes in the pen drive from his stare. After a few moments, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
*Troottttt - Troot... Trootttt - Troot*
The caller kept ringing but nobody picked up the phone on the other end.
[The person you are trying to call is cu...]
Cutting the call, he tried to call the same number again. Aadi started pacing around, biting his nails, and looking around once again to make sure no one was nearby.
*Troottttt - Troot... Trootttt - Troot*
The same caller tune rang but to Aadi's dismay, no one was picking up the call.
[The perso...]
"AAGH COME ONNNN!! Just pick up damn it."
*haaa*
Aadi wanted to just smash his phone on the asphalt road but held himself back while remembering the EMI he still had to pay for the remaining 6 months. He had just wanted to enjoy the sweet sweet fruit of clearing the JEE Mains exam with his friends.
'How the fuck did I manage to get into this mess'
He looked up at the shining full moon in the sky with a blank expression. The clouds were moving at a steady pace, sometimes blocking the moonlight. One such shade fell on Aadi's face.
'Great, now even the sky doesn't want to celebrate my achievement'
Today was the day when he got his JEE Mains result. He did not care if his score resulted in him getting an average college. Since middle school, he had been pressured to study and get into some IIT. God knows where his parents got the idea that 'mera beta IIT crack kar sakta hai' (1). Suffice it to say, Aadi was somewhat forced to take the exam and get into engineering, irrespective of the field.
He had just qualified and had no desire to take any other exam. He would be happy to attend any college as long as he could get his parents off his back. Today was a day of celebration, the day of freedom from constantly burying his head into thick and heavy books, all for only a fraction of the knowledge to retain in his head.
------
(6 hrs ago)
[Congratulations, you have qualified the JEE Mains exam, 2025
Percentile - 110
Rank - 139272]
Aadi's results were displayed on the monitor and Aadi's whole family was crowding around it. His father was sitting at the center, his mother to his father's left, his sister to his father's right, and Aadi at the back craning his neck to see how much he had scored. All of them were staring at it as if some kind of hypnotic spell had been cast on them.
After a very long silence, there was a shrill cry coming from his sister, followed by his mother. His father was still staring at the monitor wondering how his nalayak(2) son could qualify for the exam given all the antics he had to bear with while getting Aadi to study. He almost had a small smile bloom on his face. Once he turned around to see Aadi, his smile vanished instantly, remembering all the turmoil he went through.
Aadi, on the other hand, was still trying to see his result. His dad pulled him in to show the results, almost planting his face on the screen. He looked at 'Congratulations' written on the screen and then at his dad, then at the screen, and then at his dad.
"It's good that you qualified"
On hearing his dad speak next to him, he jumped sideways, looking at his dad with wide eyes. Seeing his son, he continued:
"Now don't let this get to your head. You still have the counseling session left, which will start later in June or July. During this time, I don't want to see you roaming around and wasting your time. Give me a list of colleges you want to go to. I need you to do some research on what you want to do in your life and choose the college you want to go to."
Aadi was still staring at his dad, unable to understand what he was saying.
'Something about researching what I want to do?'
'But what do I want to do?'
Without giving Aadi a chance to speak, his father continued:
"I have already selected a few colleges with a good curriculum and decent enough branches. You need to tell me what kind of field you are interested in and give me the names of colleges you would prefer. I will fill out the counseling form accordingly when the session starts. Now go."
'So he has already made the choice for me, huh'
He could already hear his mom calling all her relatives to deliver the news.
'Why does she need to spread the news? It's not that big a deal... I have just barely passed'
His sister was staring at him while his dad was talking about the importance of choosing a career that could make him money. She could see a stupid grin plastered on his face while also trying to comprehend how this idiot passed the exam.
'Was it just luck?'
"Hey, tell me truthfully, you just marked whatever you thought was right and just got lucky right?"
Aadi flinched a little when he heard his sister's question.
'How did she know?'
"I just guessed. How are you always lucky?"
"I have no idea"
"Anyways, congrats. Papa did give you some homework but for now, I guess you can chill a little? Go and tell your friends, I can hear the constant buzzing notifications from your phone. Go, enjoy."
------
[chotaTinda: How was it? Did you fail?] (3)
[sastaSalman: Isn't it obvious if he is not replying? He must have failed.] (4)
[nashedi: Aree bhai. It's fine, even I did not pass. We can always try next year.] (5)
[chotaTinda: Let him answer na. Aadi bole, how did it go?] (6)
[sastaSalman: Come to my house, we can celebrate failure together, bhai.] (7)
[nashedi: I know a better place. Wanna join?]
[sastaSalman: Aree, why not?]
[chotaTinda: Why are you guys making plans so fast, let the guy speak na?]
[Me: You guys have zero faith in me.]
[chotaTinda: ...]
[sastaSalman: ...]
[nashedi: ...]
The chat group became silent for a minute. Aadi had just entered his room and locked his door. He had somewhat expected his friends to react like this but it was too much. He had studied a lot despite his friends always inviting him to hang out.
[Me: Kyu? Bolti band ho gayi? Yes, I have passed. Now my dad has given me more homework but I don't wanna do it]
[Me: What plans were you guys making?]
[Me: Let's celebrate, ya?]
[chotaTinda: ...]
[sastaSalman: ...]
[nashedi: So the plan is on?]
[Me: Why not?]
[sastaSalman: Lets Goooooo!!!]
[Me: Btw, anyone else passed?]
[chotaTinda: Meeeeeeeee!!!!!!]
[sastaSalman: ...]
[nashedi: ...]
[Me: Chalo, let's double party!!!!!]
[sastaSalman: ...]
[nashedi: ...]
Aadi closed the group chat and started looking for clothes to wear. He was in a good mood. He was so sure that he would fail in qualifying that he started losing more hair in the past couple of days.
'Maybe I should start believing in god? He did help a little I guess."
And like that, he made a plan to visit the local temple first with his mother and then meet up with his friends.