A BENCH OF MISFITS
A great man once said, “A man is known by the company he keeps.” Another
famous person said “If a man is known by the company he keeps, then I must be
doing something good. Cause look who I’m rolling with!” Now, two great
people said this and I’m quoting them, because they say, it’s a good way to start a
story.
It is supposed to make the beginning more captivating and all that. I don’t know!
I am just a lousy story-teller who wants to share an anecdote. So here it goes. I sit
in this cafeteria bustling with people. It’s recess time, on a typical mundane
Monday, and here I am, with a dozen people around me. A few of them laughing
hysterically, on a lame joke. A joke as lame as the guy’s pride over it. A couple of
them are debating about, what can be considered as consent, so intensely, they
look like wannabe lawyers. A guy is staring at his phone seemingly ignoring the
world, which he just might be, and a couple talking about something totally
absurd. For a brief moment I look at each one and there’s just something about
them that makes me go “Geezz!” and “Hmm... Not bad!” at the same time.
You know what, let me just go back to how it all began. Amongst the several
rows of empty chairs, I sat in one corner of the hall. It was my first time to one of
these Literary Club gatherings at college and after a long day, all I hoped for was
it to be worth my time. I tried looking at my phone to kill some time as the
bickering students settled down. In the distance my only friend in the hall stood,
along with his other friends, a few of whom were mere acquaintances. And that is
all I remember of that day.
However, there was this one moment at the end of those two hours that I
remember quite vividly. Standing there behind all those chairs, looking at my
friend and all the others taking a picture together. There was something pleasant
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