The first rain of July arrived with dramatic intensity. Belagavi rains had a beauty to them, like nature itself was romancing the city. The rain wasn’t harsh, it wasn’t unkind, just enough to drench you occasionally… but always there as a drizzle to make you poetic. By evening, the entire campus smelled of wet mud, cigarette smoke, and damp leaves. Water dripped steadily from broken concrete edges while students sprinted between buildings holding bags over their heads in failed attempts at protection. Kuldeep hated the rain in Belagavi. Not because of the weather itself, but because of all the inconvenience it brought along with. Wet jeans, mushy laundry, mud-streaked corridors, fogged spectacles, delayed classes, and sometimes the gloominess of the weather would get to him, in a strange melancholic way. But today his annoyance was specifically from an unexpected phone call from the principal’s office. He stood outside Dr. Kale’s office adjusting the strap of his bag impatiently while rain hammered against the corridor windows, wondering why had the principal called him personally? Did somebody complain about the backstage fight from the fest? The office assistant, Mallesh, peeked out finally, “Principal Madam is calling.” Kuldeep entered cautiously. Dr. Tejashwini Kale […]