Part two. Insider's Friends

Then comes my dear Shyama Krishna!

Talkative. The first thing I noticed about him was his talkativeness... God! He can blah blah to the end of the world. And mingle with any group. A sweetheart with gals. Woo any gal within ten minutes... Not that he wooed me... The first time we met, we had a small 'fight'. 'Cos, nothing very crucial is needed for me to blast. One day, while I was sitting on one of the benches, writing something, he walked over and started off with a grin and a "Hello sweetie! How ya doin? "

"Am not anyone's sweetie. And mind your business." I retorted
"Oh! I really like your attitude"
"Thanks. But you now mind your business."
"It is my business to greet a beautiful gal like you.."
"Really? I would rather be left alone."
"I think when you are angry, your blush makes you look better."
"Hey man! You are crossing the limits. I never asked you to tell me what you think about me. Ok? And leave me alone."
"Ok sweet heart! I will leave you alone. Btw, I am Shyama. Shyama Krishna."
"Ok."

And I resumed my writing, watching him walk away. Thinking, 'No wonder that idiot was named Shyama krishna. Parents with a predictive ability.' And I promised myself to avoid him as much as possible...
But then, time decides something else. Not what you decide. We met again, a lot of times... In the classes... Corridors... Lawn... And he used to smile at me.. I never smiled back I guess. But one day, I caught myself smiling at him.. And that is when I realized, he will be my friend how much ever I avoid him. Next time we met in the corridor, I stopped hoping he would start a conversation. But he again smiled and went away..

Well.. The next day I met him, on my way to the lecture and started a conversation "Hello,how are you doing?"
"Hectic.. Exams aa rahe he. Got to check something out. Ok then. See you later.." Another smile and he walked away.
I started thinking... Was my observation about him wrong? Was he not a lazy romeo? Well, he was a drooling pest alright! But then, he always kept a distance from me. Well, later my persistence, [its a long story..huh! :P] made us friends. And by then, Varsha and Karthik had become my friends. At least we discussed about a lot of things. Anything. -If that can be counted as friendship that is.

I still remember when they both met Shyama Krishna for the first time, personally...
They were in the usual place, 'Under the Greenwood Tree' as we call that place. Under the tree which still has no name for, in my mind.. I had told them I was bringing a new face to them that day. Shyama was excited about meeting my friends. To say the truth, it was more than excitement. He practically had springs in his steps.. "Hellon guys!! This is Shyama Krishna."
"The official romeo of the campus!" he added with his signature grin.
I could see a cynical look on Karthik's face. And a stunned look on that of Varsha's,"Him????" I knew she would be stunned. I had brought home the local drooler. And Karthik could never understand the 'methods' of guys like him.
Varsha became 'more' silent after that.. I mean, just a yes or no or a nod if she could manage with that. Not that I minded, but I thought he would make her speak. Rather than making her more seclusive.
Karthik shouted at him the very next day. He tried to sit near me in the class. After that Shyama never sat near me. But with Varsha.
Anyways, after a lot of persuasion from me, Karthik let me allow him to come over to our group. While Karthik spoke philosophy, science, history and muZic, Shyama idled his time imitating him. This of course, provoked my Karthik. But somehow he managed to keep his cool. Biting back his retorts. This is how we four became friends..

Abhimanyu is an altogether different story...

[To be continued...]