Chapter 1

That day marked the arrival of a new batch of students in Delhi University (DU). Just like the thousands

of students in DU about to step into a brand new beginning, a whole new life was ready to welcome

Rupali. And she was ready to embrace this life.

Rupali Sinha, an eighteen-year-old, confident, merit-list student from Patna, had made her parents

proud. She had received an admission call from a top-ranked DU institute which was also her dream

college. Even before she had taken her Class XII board exams, she had always dreamt of walking down

the corridors of this college. She had been a bright student throughout her school life, but she knew that

given the competition at the national level, it was going to be very difficult for her to make it to this

institute. However, she had also believed that it was only difficult, not impossible. And with her

sincerity and hard work, one day she would be there.

And so she was.

To pursue commerce from this college had been her biggest short-term goal. Except that now that she

had achieved her goal, she couldn’t help but feel nervous and excited at the same time. After an

overnight journey and spending a good part of the day on the train, she had arrived at the college hostel

in the evening. It was not too dark yet. She was soon allocated a room and given the keys and direction

to the room by the warden’s assistant.

It was room no. 107 on the ground floor. Rupali was relieved that she didn’t have to carry her bags

upstairs. She walked through the slightly dark, quiet corridor and opened the door to her room. She

placed her bags on the floor and looked around the room in the faint light that entered from behind the

curtains.

She smiled. It was a sweet room. Large, spacious, an iron bed each against two facing walls, two

almirahs and two study tables. She had been told that she would have to share the room. But since her

soon-to-be roommate hadn’t arrived yet, she chose her side of the room. She then switched on the light

and opened her suitcase to unpack. She took out that day’s newspaper from one of her bags and laid out

the sheets on the shelves of the almirah. She only arranged the few things that she would need

immediately. The rest of it she planned to arrange the next evening. She slowly pulled out a bedsheet

and pillowcase that her mother had so lovingly packed from the pile of clothes in her suitcase. Next

came a nightie, a towel, a couple of everyday clothes, and her toiletries which she began arranging in

the almirah.

Intermittently, Rupali heard voices in the corridor. She stepped out of her room to check. She saw

girls who, just like her, had just moved into the hostel with their luggage. If they happened to notice

Rupali, she greeted them with a smile. And they smiled back and moved on to discover their respective

rooms. Rupali stepped back into her room to resume her unpacking.

She ate the leftover fruits from her journey and didn’t feel hungry enough to go to the mess to eat.

She left the exercise of stepping into the hostel mess to check out the place for the next day.

After arranging her room, Rupali thought about freshening up before going to bed and headed for the

hostel washrooms.

As she washed her face and brushed her teeth she caught her reflection in the mirror and saw a tired￾looking face with faint shadows under her eyes. She realized she had barely slept the night before

leaving for the hostel. The emotional atmosphere at home and the excitement had kept her awake all

night. She decided to get a good long sleep. After all, she wanted to wake up fresh for her first day at

college. But when she lay on the bed, the thrill of going to college the next day kept her from dozing

off. She kept tossing and turning.

To be continued.

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