An Empty Glass - InsideIIM Short Story Corner

Getting alcohol on the campus was not an easy task. First of all, they had to arrange a car. Then, they had to drive it to an alcohol shop, which was half the city away from the campus. And then they had to hide the alcohol in the seats and trunk of the car. Their car was stopped at the main gate, and all of them had their heart in their mouths; but fortunately, the guard didn't find anything, and the alcohol safely arrived in that small room which 2 of them shared and 2 neighbored for about a year now.

The room was perfectly set for the occasion. The brand new Sony played "Yesterday" by Beatles, which went well with the yellow monochromatic light that decorated the wall. They hardly cleaned their rooms and threw everything in every possible corner of the place, showing the typical symptoms of 'The Bachelor Conundrum', but today was an exception. The room looked clean and spacious if only you'd not notice the pile of clothes skilfully hidden under one of the beds, and not open the wardrobe, which would then result into an avalanche of clothes on you. 4 bean bags stood on a periphery centered by a bottle of Smirnoff, a few Magnum's, a huge Sprite and a bowl of Nachos. The only odd things in this 'dedicated set' were a couple of cans of cranberry juices, specially ordered for the only non-alcoholic person in the group, Rutuj. But today, those cans were untouched, and all the four glasses smelled alcohol, which was a surprise for the three confused faces.

Rutuj had never had alcohol in his life. He had always been a teetotaller, the boring sheep of the herd. Other 3 had tried so hard to get him drunk during the entire first year of their MBA life but all their efforts had gone into vain. Be it the placement season, or the term break, or the hostel parties, Rutuj had always had his hands filled with his favorite cranberry juice. He never hated alcohol or the ones who consumed it, but it just never fit in his value system. But tonight, he was drunk enough to let his value system go for a toss.

Others were unaware of this new face of Rutuj. They knew that he had been going a lot, on both professional and personal front, but something was different tonight. They were eager to get him talking. The entire plan was made for this sole cause, to let the volcano in Rutuj erupt. And all these indirect questions were just gauging the depth of the volcano.

"So Rutuj, what's your biggest regret in your life?" A cautious voice finally asked Rutuj, who had just filled this 3rd glass. All 6 eyes glanced at him now. They all had a feeling that the eruption was about to happen.

He quietly finished his 3rd glass in a gulp. His capacity had already shocked them. He had hardly mixed any Sprite in his drinks.

"It's to let her go from my life." The words were slow, but it pierced the minds of others. The voice clearly suggested that he was completely drunk, but they could easily feel the grief in it.

"Dude, when did you break up?"

They just couldn't believe in what they had heard. Rutuj and Bini were in a relationship for about 3 years now. She was his classmate in his graduate years, but a senior in their MBA stint. Their couple was a phenomenon in the entire campus: how a junior dated the most beautiful senior girl. They were frequently found roaming in the city or taking midnight walks in the campus, holding each other's hands. Or having lunch together, when people would easily find her complaining about how bad the food was and then him convincing her to eat and occasionally feeding her like a baby. Or sipping coffee at CCD, with their eyes playing a game of glance and shy, and talks that would last for hours. It was almost impossible to find any of them alone. Everyone was envious of them. And yet everyone loved the way they treated each other. They were an ideal couple, and thus their break up was a shock for all three of them.

"My head feels so dizzy. I need another one." Rutuj went ahead to make another drink for himself but the others stopped him. This teetotaller was high for the first time and was unable to even control his movements.

"Oh, yeah the break-up. It's been 3 months now. I was at my place, gearing up for the internship, and she was at her place, preparing for her new consulting stint. We had not talked for weeks, and then one sudden evening, I got a call and everything was over within a matter of minutes. Everything. Yup...ev..ery..th..in..g." His voice was choking, partly because of alcohol, but the main culprits were the tears in his eyes, which were flowing from his cheeks and falling into the glass that was completely empty now. Just like his life, or that's what he thought.

"Why did it happen? You were so great together. We thought you'll get married once you are done with your MBA." A shocked and desperate voice asked. They were still trying to digest the fact.

"Oh, so did I. I had imagined so many things: the city we would live in, the apartment we'll buy, the decor we'll have. Everything from our wedding destination to the theme and everything. You know, we'd have a swing in our house. Do you like to swing? I just like to swing." He rose, took a spin and fell down. They all picked him up and kept on his bed. The alcohol was doing its trick. The sorrow was worsening it.

"She said she has talked to her family" He didn't need any trigger now. He was spurting everything out on his own. He just wanted everything out. "They declined. No love marriage, and definitely not to a person who is not from our caste, they said. I tried convincing her, that we'll convince your parents, but she didn't listen. She just didn't listen to me."

He was just blankly staring at the ceiling now. Rather, he was staring into something that was way beyond that ceiling. Something way beyond the world.

"Tell me one thing, why do we live in this sick society, uh? The one who measures filters everything by caste, or religion or the  colour of our skin? Tell me, why do we judge each other so much? Tell me, why isn't love enough to survive in this world? Why?" He was shouting now. They were unable to handle the situation. They had never felt so much helpless before.

One of them tried to calm him down. "Rutuj, don't lose hope just now. Nothing is as powerful as love in this world. If you both love each other enough, then the world will bring you together."

"Yup, if enough. And if she didn't love you enough, then she probably didn't deserve you. You'll find several good girls! But don't worry, she'll come back. You are too good a person to happen bad things to you." Another one exclaimed.

"There is no use of saying anything now. Everything is over." Rutuj got up.  He went near his bag, that was lying near to the entire drinking setup they had and removed a glossy paper from it. He stared at it for a while and threw it in front of them. They looked at it all at once. It was a wedding card. Bini was getting married.

Rutuj collapsed on his knees. All of them rushed to help him, but he pushed them aside. His hands went to the bottle, and he poured himself another drink. His fingers were trembling, and hands shivering.

He gulped his drink in a single shot.

The shivering stopped. He became still. So still, that nobody could even feel his breath.

His eyes were cold. It felt like all the tears had taken all the warmth out of them.

All the warmth out of his life.

(To be continued)

P.S. Readers are invited to comment their thoughts about the story and also predict what can happen in the second part.

Continued.....