10:30hrs IST

focus ..i said.drops of perspiration appearing on my forehead .i was thinking hard .desperately searching through my memory device ,it had to be somewhere there ..i closed my eyes and tried to concentrate ....

24 hrs before.......

i call up vinayak ,a casual call just to check the "enthu level" in the college ....."external aaya nahi hai ...sab log upar baithe hain .."he informed.after a brief discussion about each other's strategic position, we end the call .next one hour passes by just staring at my WST copy as my mind refuses to grasp any thing -it usually doesn't. after lazying around for another two hrs i decide its time to call vinayak for another round of our usual conversation .... i strt off saying the usual" kitna hua??". "phati padi hai yaar . khadus external hai .phaad raha hai ...chandan aur apte ab takk aaye nahin bahar...ek ghanta ho gaya .. suddenly i feel a rush of blood ..knowing i was still not done with even 10%of the syllabus ..

the next couple of hours i try and read as much as i can ...in between call up gurtej ,bhadri and rest of the chaps to know abt the siuation (ppl never do this specially when u r down ...it just adds to ur problems )...it didn't take time to realise that my condition was hopeless ...more bad news flows for the rest of the day as gawde is called again the next day ....the rest of the day flies by without nothing really constructive,concrete .finally at 1 hr past midnight i resign to my fate..hoping to catch up with some sleep

6:00 hrs IST

she arrived right on time .i could see her there, in bright maroon,her lean slender body,that grace.,that aura around her ,what a beauty she was . she approached near... my mind started its usual mechanics and calculations and with an immaculate sense of timing i jumped on to her . my first instinct was to turn right but at the very last second i decide to take a left and with a finish which would put even powell to shame i reach there- u know wat getting a window seat in a local train is difficult believe me .

7:30 hrs andheri stn ...
having reached andheri station on time i heaved a sigh of relief ...finally i was going to be on time ....with mom and dad out of town i had serious doubts abt me getting up on time ...with none of the rick guys ready to come to bhavans ,i decided to walk down...somehow it felt like walking upto a guillotine.. a prisoner about to be beheaded .deep inside i was nervous ..hundreds of thoughts bombarding through my mind ...its a feeling a prey gets just before getting hunted .....the world around me seem to have slowed down ..my god what was happening...

back to original time ..
the problem was ,i had connected the circuits but somehow couldn't recollect how to trigger it.or did i even know how to??i tried hard to ask bhranti on the other table ,but she was too focussed to even entertain .
roll no.39,40,41...called out rjm .the time had come to date the demon ,my first encounter with VIVA's

DATE WITH THE DEMON :
as i entered the room the demon ,one mr. mane was busy taking viva's of the previous group.he just handed me a blank page and said "SMPS". that meant i not only had to draw a diagram of something i never knew was in the syllabus ,even explain it ..."pardon me sir " was all i cud reply back ....SMPS he thundered ...i knew i was dead.

all i knew abt "smps "was that it was used in the CPU ...thats it blank ...i contemplated drawing a cpu and show some part as smps..all this while i cud hear the group before me being butchered.i was trying hard ..to atleast remember the name of the chapter...but was just blank ...

my time had come ,to meet the demon ,eye to eye,man to man ...he was abt middle aged ,dark in complexion, bulky frame ,a bull- doggish face,and yes a
very negative aura arnd him ...

to be contd....