Wink

Long hair, an earring in his left ear, lanky, somewhat handsome, loads of attitude and stoned beyond his senses. Arjun sat in the canteen of his Film School, yet again not attending classes.

What could the old teacher teach him that his 'God' Kurt Cobain couldn't?
He had his own rave going in the canteen. I need another fix, he thought. He thought of the secluded street right behind the school. His very own 'heaven'.

Getting back to the canteen, he felt a lot happier, lighter, chirpier. He wanted to talk, dance, jump, shout, sing, do the twist, all at once.

His teacher walked into the canteen for a much needed cup of tea. He saw Arjun and shook his head sadly. Poor boy! he thought. He used to be such a delightful young man. I remember him when he came to the college for the first day accompanied by his mother. He was clean, his eyes bright, his walk straight, his clothes smart. His walk is what his teacher remembered most vividly. The confident walk of a man who has nothing to hide. He walked creepy now, he stayed in the shadows now, he dressed like someone who should have been slinking away in the corner in the dark room, thought the teacher.

Arjun wasn't innocent but his teacher still couldn't get himself to completely dislike the boy. He used to be good. He still was good when he was sober. He still smiled sometimes but most of the time Arjun just looked mad.

Right then, while the teacher drank his tea, Arjun snapped and started dancing and singing loudly to the Marlyn Manson song which was now playing on his laptop.

As Arjun, reached the peak of his franticism, his singing turned to an animal like howling. Not a happy howling but a sad, desperate sort of cry and then he broke down in front of his music blaring laptop. 'I miss you, mum' sobbed Arjun. He had lost her in a traumatic road accident. The same accident in which he lost his soul.

The image of his mum, dying in his arms in the middle of the road while he went from pillar to post to get an auto, a car, a mo-bike, a rickshaw, anyone to take his mum to the hospital flashed before his eyes. She died on the road leading to his college. The road he traveled every single day. He saw it all play out in his head every single day. Strange how he didn't see his mum lying there but only the face of auto driver, looking on like it was a film shoot. How ironic? A wry smile crossed Arjun's face.

Marlyn Manson is right! There is no good in the world only evil. Just varying degrees of evil. Satan is the only thing that is real.

Just then Arjun heard the sound of pure, uninhibited laughter. It sounded like nothing he had heard before but he didn't want it to stop. He turned to look at the source of the enchanting, exhilarating, tinkling sound. It was a bunch of new girl students. All dreamy eyed and excited about being in Film School.

He remembered the excitement he felt when he had set foot in the prestigious film school the very first day with his mum. It had truly felt good... then.

One of the girls from the group came up to Arjun, "Are you OK?" , she asked smiling sweetly, her eyes anxious looking at his trembling body.

'I am cool' said Arjun, winking at the girl. She stepped back slightly taken aback by the evil glint in his eye which contradicted the innocent smile on his face.

'Baby, do you wanna be cool?" asked Arjun running his trembling hand through his long black hair.

She walked away. No angels, only varying degrees of the devil, thought Arjun looking at the pretty girl in the pink top walk away stunned.