Monday morning arrived wrapped in grey clouds and humidity. The cultural fest committee room smelled faintly of damp paper and stale coffee. Representatives from different colleges occupied scattered chairs while volunteers sorted certificates and reimbursement forms into messy piles. Kuldeep entered quietly with a file tucked under his arm, and stopped seeing Utsav already there, sitting backwards on a chair near the window, lazily spinning a drumstick between his fingers while arguing with someone over sponsorship banners. “Of course,” Kuldeep whispered to himself, as he overheard Utsav arguing with some committee member, “No, because if the ortho company sponsors the event, their logo goes centre-stage. That was the deal.” “Bro that looks ugly on the backdrop—” “Ugly pays for your sound system.” Utsav dropped the words casually cutting the committee member mid-sentence. A few students laughed as Utsav looked up mid-sentence to find Kuldeep walk into the room. Their eyes met briefly and suddenly the atmosphere shifted in the room. Neither of them smiled, nor did any one of them look away first. A volunteer walked in with a folder and whispered awkwardly, “Uh… you both need to collect the rest of your certificates. Just sign here.” There was a […]

The Sankam Boys’ hostel for dental college was unusually quiet for a Saturday night after the inter-college fest cultural events. Most of the boys were still outside — some drinking at Sun and Sand, others devouring late-night biryani at Niyaaz, and a few posting blurry stories from the fest afterparty with captions that would embarrass them by morning. Kuldeep sat alone on the edge of his bed, adjacent to the wall on which he had painted a monochrome of Marylin Monroe. The trophy rested on the study table beside scattered anatomy notes for MDS preparation, a couple of fat MCQ books, an unfinished charcoal sketch, and an open journal with nothing written on the page. He should have been happy. He had won this trophy. Years of riyaaz… of quietly believing that his music, his singing belonged in smaller rooms and quaint audiences. Years of being told semi-classical music was “too niche” for people their age. And yet all he could hear now was — “…Chakke hai!” His jaw tightened, his breath became rapid and his head started throbbing again. The word echoed differently when spoken loudly by strangers. Not because it was unfamiliar. Rather, it was… too familiar! The […]

The Dr. Jirgey auditorium of Basaveshwara Academy of Higher Education & Research was still buzzing long after the performances had ended. Students crowded near the stage barricades while volunteers struggled to clear cables and equipment. Somewhere in the back, the physiotherapy & ayurveda college students had already begun chanting their own  respective slogans despite not having won anything yet. “Bhai, if Medical doesn’t win this, judges are blind,” someone shouted confidently. “Obviously yaar! Scintillating Euphoria killed it.” Near the backstage corridor, one of the band members was replaying snippets from their performance on his phone while the others crowded around laughing. “Look at the crowd during the drop!” “Arrey… Pause kar! Pause kar! — look at Utsav’s hair flying!” “Total rockstar, bro!” Utsav sat sprawled lazily over a plastic chair, towel around his neck, still flushed from the stage lights. Niyati stood beside him sipping cold coffee. The rest of the band members were back by then after a couple of shots, from hidden liquor bottles in their car, parked outside the campus “You’re enjoying this too much,” Niyati smirked. “We deserve it!” winked Utsav. “Oh absolutely. Your ego especially,” her eyes lifted with sarcasm. Utsav grinned shamelessly, “Best performance […]

The plush Dr. C. S. Jirgey auditorium trembled with noise. A thousand college students packed into the seats, stairways, aisles, and even near the exits where cultural committee members and fest committee volunteers had long given up trying to control the crowd. It was the largest indoor auditorium in the cosy city of Belagavi, in North Karnataka, housed inside the premises of the Basaveshwara Academy of Higher Education & Research (BAHER). Flashlights flickered like restless fireflies in the dark. The air smelled of sweat, cheap perfume, stage smoke, and overheated amplifiers. “MEDICOOOOOOS….” a deafening roar erupted from the left wing of the auditorium. “UTSAV! UTSAV! UTSAV!” Kuldeep Mukherjee winced slightly backstage. “God,” muttered the guitarist beside him, peeking through the curtain. “Your competition has fan clubs.” Kuldeep adjusted the silver ring on his finger and exhaled slowly, “Sure… Looks more like a political rally than a music competition.” Aditya Vaid, his junior from final year BDS and the accompanying guitarist laughed nervously. “You’re not scared, right?” Kuldeep looked toward the stage lights spilling through the curtains — “Scared? No… Anxious? A little maybe… Regretful? possibly a lot!” The anchor’s voice boomed through the auditorium. “And nowwwww… the winners of last […]