Only one person can command, with a solitary stare, Sameer’s cerebrum to immediately coordinate his lazy limbs into action: his mother. So when she asked him to tidy his unclean room, Sameer instantly went about picking his t-shirts off the floor, throwing pencil shavings into the dustbin and placing his Pearl Jam CDs in a systematic manner on the shelf.
Caught up in the flurry, Sameer sent a stack of photographs cascading down his study desk. He had completely forgotten they were lying there, unnoticed because of the large stack of Management books on top that he rarely picked up. As he stooped down to gather them, he realized how old the pictures were. They were from his first year at IBA, of the days when digital cameras had still not been in vogue. The photographs were slightly faded but the memories they embodied stood out crystal clear in Sameer’s mind.
As he sat on the edge of his bed, flipping through them, he came across a face he hadn’t seen in three years. It was Danish, smiling into the camera lens as if all was well in the world. Unfortunately, God had had other plans for him.
A little background is necessary at this point. Danish and Sameer had been acquaintances back in school. Danish had taken admission at KGS in A-Levels, having secured brilliant grades in his O-Levels. But Danish never managed to fit in socially. He was shy, kept to himself and mostly appeared lost and confused. Quite a few times Sameer had noticed him just sitting by himself, deep in thought. But he never thought twice about it. Not when the Economics teacher yelled at Danish for being inattentive in class and not when the basketball hit Danish squarely in the chest during P.E., because he was looking in another direction entirely.
When fate landed both of them in the same university, they naturally grew closer, to the point of becoming friends. While Sameer focused on networking with Seniors, playing street cricket with the boys of his class and sharing delicious plates of canteen biryani with the girls, Danish withdrew into his private little world, interacting with only a few people. Sameer would always try to include Danish in plans but Danish would prefer staying at home with his John Grisham books and Audrey Hepburn movies. The only thing that got Danish truly excited was history. He could narrate the demise of the Roman Empire, discuss the significance of the French Revolution, outline the specifics of the Lahore Resolution, debate the flaws in the Schlieffen Plan and teach a class on the Rise & Fall of Communism. That was when his eyes would light up.
Sameer remembers the eyes and the disorientation in them. Most people considered Danish arrogant, detached and snobbish. Sameer knew that wasn’t the case. Danish just had trouble communicating with people. What Sameer didn’t realize was that Danish had a lot more trouble than was apparent. Danish was a patient of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder…and that cost him everything.
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