summer’s day. I loved Piyush Yadav in that instant.
‘Yes, sir. Dumraon.’
‘I know.Three hours from Patna, right?’ he said.
‘You know Dumraon?’ I said. I could have kissed his feet. The
three English-speaking monsters continued to stare.
‘I’m from Patna. Anyway, tell them about your achievements in
basketball,’ Piyush said.
I nodded. He sensed my nervousness and spoke again.‘Take your
time. I am Hindi-medium, too. I know the feeling.’
The three professors looked at Piyush as if wondering how he had
ever managed to get a job at the college.
I composed myself and spoke my rehearsed lines.
‘Sir, I have played state-level basketball for six years. Last year, I
was in the waiting list for the BFI national team.’
'BFI?’ said Prof. Gupta.
‘Basketball Federation of India,’ Piyush answered for me, even
though I knew the answer.
‘And you want to do sociology. Why?’ Prof. Fernandez said.
‘It’s an easy course, No need to study. Is that it?’ Prof. Gupta
remarked.
I didn’t, know whether Gupta had something against me, was
generally grumpy or suffered from constipation.
‘I am from rural area.’
‘I am from a rural area,’ Gupta said, emphasizing the ‘a' as if
omitting it was a criminal offence.
‘Hindi, sir? Can I explain in Hindi?’
Nobody answered. I had little choice. I took my chances and
responded in my language. ‘My mother runs a school and works with
the villagers. I wanted to learn more about our society. Why are our
villages so backward? Why do we have so many differences based on
caste and religion? I thought I could find some answers in this course.’
Prof. Gupta understood me perfectly well. However, he was what
English-speaking people would call an ‘uptight prick’. He asked