That Scary Night ~Zenana Tales 4~

 

Entrance coaching was hard. I was not strong in Physics and Chemistry and I hated both these subjects. Those were the days when I seriously doubted my abilities, but then my thoughts were, why does a Doctor need to know how a potentiometer works, or why does she need to calculate the surface tension of different liquids. It was all useless stuff to me. Chemistry made a bit more sense, but I still hated it.

 

My war with these two evils continued as the months went by and it was time for the Crash Course entrance batch to join. This was the 3 month course, and many new faces joined Zenana at this time. If you remember ‘Sheena’ from a picture in a previous post, she and her close friend, Sheny, both from Chengannur joined around this time. So did Elizabeth from Changanacherry, Sonia from Alappuzha and Krupa’s sister, Kiran from Trivandrum. There were many more new faces, but Krishnapriya, Roshan, Saranya and Shani were extensions of our gang. There were only 2 empty beds in my room in Blandford, and these were allotted to Sheena and Kiran. The rest of them were given rooms in the New Building.


This was a period where we, the roommates, and Sheny became very close. We used to sit together in the dining hall and talk endlessly. Sheny used to visit our room often and the talking would continue, munching on the paper thin banana chips Sheen brought back every time she visited home. She used to get a whole big fat NIDO tin full of chips made by her mum. 


I don't know about the others but Krupa was very serious about getting through the entrance, and so was I, as both of us were doing the year long training. "We have already skipped a year to focus on our study, so we need to be extra dedicated", we would remind each other. There was a table outside our room in the corridor and Krupa and I used to sit there and study late into the night. The corridor lights would be on until morning, but we had the put the room lights off by around 10, I think. So, until then we would study inside and when the others went to bed, we took our books and sat outside to study some more. 

Krupa read somewhere that sitting with your feet immersed in water while studying, helps keep you awake and helps the brain absorb more. Well, she had already gotten a large size basin and used to sit wit her feet in it while studying. I did the same too with my bucket, but the only difference was that my water was warm and had mild soap in it. Shh....I was having a proper foot soak. And 30 minutes after I would go and scrub with my pumice stone. Why not kill two birds with one stone?! But Krupa was so straightforward...not adulteration, just pure water to help her stay awake. If only the water knew that there was nothing on earth that could stop the Slumber Queen! Krupa would doze off with her feet in the water. She would even walk herself to sleep while pacing up and down the room with her open book, a frantic attempt to stay awake and study!

That night, as usual, after the rest of the girls prepared to sleep, Krupa and I took our books and sat outside the door, studying hard. Within a few minutes I saw Krupa's head bobbing....not a new sight! "Krupa!! Are you sleeping?!! Then go in, I will also stop", I said. I didn't want to sit outside all alone. You remember, right? This part of the corridor had a mesh railing on both sides and one side overlook the downward slope of the hill Zenana sat on. It was scary to look out into the dark. "No, No, I was memorizing." Memorizing, my foot! She was sleeping alright! 


For a short while, Krupa was able to keep her eyes open and read, but that was short-lived and she started dozing off again. This time she shook herself awake and said, "Let me go lie down for 5 minutes, wake me up, and I will come out again."
"No! I know you, you are going to sleep and you won't wake up when I call. I'll also close my books and go sleep then", and I started preparing to get up. "No, I will really get up, if you sleep then I wont feel like studying. Stay up, I will come. There is so much to finish, I have set my target", she reasoned. "Okay then", and I continued studying. Exactly five minutes after, I called out, "Krupa..." No response. I decided to give her another five, before I go again, "Krupa...." and all I get in response is a loud snore! This made me angry and I walked up to her bed and shook her, "Wake up! I have been calling you for a while now and you are fast asleep. I told you that we will stop and go sleep!" I was angry now, I was scared also, to sit outside on my own. "I'm so sleepy, Priya. If we study when we are sleepy, nothing will go into our heads", madam started giving me her lecture now! "Oh, is it?! What did I tell you 10 minutes ago, then? I'm going to pack up and sleep too", I said and walked outside to get my books. 

The table was just outside our door, as I mentioned. Hardly two steps from the door, but as I walked outside I was fiercely gripped by fear. I was too scared to look to the sides. I had this weird feeling that something is wrong. I had no idea what it was but I only know that I was dead scared.

Us together. Main admin building behind.

Top L-R: Roshna, Sheena, Priya(me), Saranya

Middle: Shani

Bottom L-R: Roshan, Krishnapriya, Krupa, Sheny

~priya~