Chapter 7:
Chapter 7
Captain O Captain
Captain O Captain
Chapter - 7
During the final exams, Manoj had cut himself off from the entire world. Day and night, he only studied. Everyone thought he was preparing for the exams, but in reality, he was only reading five books. Sagar, Manish, and the other friends had repeatedly asked him to join them for group study and help them study, but he didn’t listen to anyone. In fact, he wasn’t studying for the exams at all. Because of this, all his friends became upset with him, and their anger finally crossed limits when he scored 80% marks and secured the second position in class. Behind his back, everyone cursed him a lot.
Sagar was the most irritated. The real reason for his jealousy was that until now, he used to come second, but this time he came third. His jealousy grew so much that he called Manoj, abused him badly, and said there was no need to be so happy—80% was not a big score.
Manoj could not understand this behavior of his friends at all. Firstly, these marks had come without even studying for the exams. He had actually wanted to score 94% and remain just 1% behind Akshita. Secondly, even if he had scored well, shouldn’t his friends be happy for him?
That day, Manoj realized that he had never really had any friends.
The first day of 12th grade arrived. Today, Manoj would meet Akshita after a whole week. It wasn’t a very long gap, but still, just the thought of seeing her again in her school uniform after so many days made his stomach flutter with excitement. He had so many things to tell her and also so many things to ask.
Even though the school was the same, everything felt new—new class, new class teacher, new subjects, new classmates, and new enthusiasm. But there was one serious question! The New Sitting Arrangement!! Would he not be able to sit behind Akshita anymore?
But it was nothing short of a miracle—this time too, his bench was placed right behind Akshita’s. His happiness knew no bounds. The girl who now sat with Akshita could never stay on her bench—her name was Divya. And the new boy sitting with Manoj, Suraj, was even more mischievous than Divya. Because of this, Manoj and Akshita still managed to talk a little in class.
On the very first day, when it was lunchtime, Manoj went ahead of Akshita and sat in the field, eagerly waiting for her. When Akshita arrived and saw that he was already sitting there, she held her forehead. She hadn’t even sat down when Manoj started speaking:
“What have you done to me, Captain? I don’t like anything anymore except peace. These kids make so much noise, and as soon as lunch starts, they run like dogs. Don’t they have any sense? And how are the teachers? No one knows anything. They just fool us and leave. Instead of awakening awareness in students, they are turning them into donkeys. Why didn’t I see all this before today, Captain? What have you done to me?”
Akshita smiled slightly. In her mind, she said, “Welcome to my world.” But aloud she said, “So, will you become arrogant about this now?”
“About what?” Manoj didn’t understand.
“Nothing. Have you read both parts of *Jhootha Sach*?” she changed the topic.
“Oh, *Jhootha Sach*… Tara ( a character )… Tara…” Manoj almost started crying.
Akshita just stared at him, as she always did in such moments. Regaining himself, Manoj said, “If there has to be a girl, she should be like Tara—otherwise she might as well not exist.”
Akshita burst out laughing. Then they talked a lot.
Gradually, Akshita introduced Manoj to Indian literature, diasporic literature, foreign literature—and even made him listen to interviews. Manoj’s intellectual level kept increasing, and his restlessness began to decrease. His habit of speaking loudly disappeared. His tendency to jump into everything impulsively also faded. He stopped abusing people. He began to prefer peace over noise.
His perspective towards others also changed. Earlier, he would casually call girls things like “fat,” “short,” and worse. Now he started looking at them with respect. Earlier, he would casually make casteist remarks about people. Now, he began to feel a deep respect for them.
Gradually, Manoj and Akshita’s conversations expanded beyond literature to other forms of art. Seeing Akshita, Manoj also started listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Yo Yo Honey Singh was left behind. It was Akshita who told him about *Shahi Tukda* ( a sweet dish ), and when he finally went all the way to Dwarka and tasted it after much effort, he became its fan. He could not stop thanking her.
It was Akshita who had turned him from an animal into a human being. Many times, he would think and laugh at himself—why did he ever feel that Akshita was the one who was unhappy and that he would solve her problems? What childishness!
Akshita is like a goddess, he thought. She removed his sorrows, freed his life from useless clutter, and distanced him from toxic people. What sorrow could she possibly have? She herself is happiness.
“What a child I was,” he would think.
And as he kept thinking all this, he kept sinking deeper into his love for Akshita—without even realizing how much he himself was becoming like her.
Chapter - 7
During the final exams, Manoj had cut himself off from the entire world. Day and night, he only studied. Everyone thought he was preparing for the exams, but in reality, he was only reading five books. Sagar, Manish, and the other friends had repeatedly asked him to join them for group study and help them study, but he didn’t listen to anyone. In fact, he wasn’t studying for the exams at all. Because of this, all his friends became upset with him, and their anger finally crossed limits when he scored 80% marks and secured the second position in class. Behind his back, everyone cursed him a lot.
Sagar was the most irritated. The real reason for his jealousy was that until now, he used to come second, but this time he came third. His jealousy grew so much that he called Manoj, abused him badly, and said there was no need to be so happy—80% was not a big score.
Manoj could not understand this behavior of his friends at all. Firstly, these marks had come without even studying for the exams. He had actually wanted to score 94% and remain just 1% behind Akshita. Secondly, even if he had scored well, shouldn’t his friends be happy for him?
That day, Manoj realized that he had never really had any friends.
The first day of 12th grade arrived. Today, Manoj would meet Akshita after a whole week. It wasn’t a very long gap, but still, just the thought of seeing her again in her school uniform after so many days made his stomach flutter with excitement. He had so many things to tell her and also so many things to ask.
Even though the school was the same, everything felt new—new class, new class teacher, new subjects, new classmates, and new enthusiasm. But there was one serious question! The New Sitting Arrangement!! Would he not be able to sit behind Akshita anymore?
But it was nothing short of a miracle—this time too, his bench was placed right behind Akshita’s. His happiness knew no bounds. The girl who now sat with Akshita could never stay on her bench—her name was Divya. And the new boy sitting with Manoj, Suraj, was even more mischievous than Divya. Because of this, Manoj and Akshita still managed to talk a little in class.
On the very first day, when it was lunchtime, Manoj went ahead of Akshita and sat in the field, eagerly waiting for her. When Akshita arrived and saw that he was already sitting there, she held her forehead. She hadn’t even sat down when Manoj started speaking:
“What have you done to me, Captain? I don’t like anything anymore except peace. These kids make so much noise, and as soon as lunch starts, they run like dogs. Don’t they have any sense? And how are the teachers? No one knows anything. They just fool us and leave. Instead of awakening awareness in students, they are turning them into donkeys. Why didn’t I see all this before today, Captain? What have you done to me?”
Akshita smiled slightly. In her mind, she said, “Welcome to my world.” But aloud she said, “So, will you become arrogant about this now?”
“About what?” Manoj didn’t understand.
“Nothing. Have you read both parts of *Jhootha Sach*?” she changed the topic.
“Oh, *Jhootha Sach*… Tara ( a character )… Tara…” Manoj almost started crying.
Akshita just stared at him, as she always did in such moments. Regaining himself, Manoj said, “If there has to be a girl, she should be like Tara—otherwise she might as well not exist.”
Akshita burst out laughing. Then they talked a lot.
Gradually, Akshita introduced Manoj to Indian literature, diasporic literature, foreign literature—and even made him listen to interviews. Manoj’s intellectual level kept increasing, and his restlessness began to decrease. His habit of speaking loudly disappeared. His tendency to jump into everything impulsively also faded. He stopped abusing people. He began to prefer peace over noise.
His perspective towards others also changed. Earlier, he would casually call girls things like “fat,” “short,” and worse. Now he started looking at them with respect. Earlier, he would casually make casteist remarks about people. Now, he began to feel a deep respect for them.
Gradually, Manoj and Akshita’s conversations expanded beyond literature to other forms of art. Seeing Akshita, Manoj also started listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Yo Yo Honey Singh was left behind. It was Akshita who told him about *Shahi Tukda* ( a sweet dish ), and when he finally went all the way to Dwarka and tasted it after much effort, he became its fan. He could not stop thanking her.
It was Akshita who had turned him from an animal into a human being. Many times, he would think and laugh at himself—why did he ever feel that Akshita was the one who was unhappy and that he would solve her problems? What childishness!
Akshita is like a goddess, he thought. She removed his sorrows, freed his life from useless clutter, and distanced him from toxic people. What sorrow could she possibly have? She herself is happiness.
“What a child I was,” he would think.
And as he kept thinking all this, he kept sinking deeper into his love for Akshita—without even realizing how much he himself was becoming like her.
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