THE FIGHT BACK THEORY

"You, the one at the back, get up you stupid” that was the prof. shouting at him. He got up slowly, with a shaped out face. Prof. continued; “Did you have any bank robbery or something to attempt last night, Sir? ”

None laughed, for the prof’s rotten joke, except for some ‘good’ guys. ‘Flatter Babies ’ He thought. He hated such guys. “How dare you to SLEEP in my class?” It seemed that Sleeping is the worst possible crime in the world. ‘Anyone who doesn’t sleep in your class got some severe mental disorder,’ he thought, but kept it to himself.

“do You realize that you look like an alien among these 50 human beings.. ,” Prof. shouted, “What are you waiting for? Get the hell outta my class ……now”.

“well”,he complied, with 100 eyes of 50 homo sapiens staring at him. Passing by the prof., he heard the irritated man murmuring something like “Joinin…B.Tech...idiot…blah blah…”

he was happy to have the prof irritated.....”funny... good job, boy”.

In a couple of minutes, he found himself at the college Cafeteria. He was relieved actually, to escape from that God darn classroom. A fresh falooda is surely, far far better than a boring theory class. As he was having his falooda, he thought of many things. His thoughts mainly centered around his hopeless life. He has lost interest in everything. He even shut down all his social networking accounts.

It was a typical Indian Engineering college. Proffessors who think that the earth revolves around them, Management trying to prove that theirs is the strictest institution, a minority of students who thinks marks is what matters, and the majority who thinks they're dead already. “F the college,” he said in frustration.suddenly he noticed that young and beautiful teacher entering the scene. He has exchanged couple of smiles with her at times. When she noticed him, she asked “Shouldn’t you be sitting in the class now”?

He replied: “Got kicked out”.

“Or did you decide to bunk an hour?” she was still suspicious.

“No, Miss, I was kicked outta the class for the dangerous crime of falling Asleep” he explained. “Hmmm,” she remarked. She ordered something light and took the seat opposite to him. He felt it uncomfortable to sit with a teacher.

“So, how’s your studies going?” She struck up another conversation.

“Messed up,big time” he replied.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Oh, there’s nothing left to happen, Miss.” he replied and continued “scored really ‘high’ marks in exams that made me the bug in teachers’ ears. Only good thing is that other guys are relieved to see me, coz, I make them feel like ‘Oh, am better than atleast this guy’. In brief am a total jerk before students, and teachers”.

“Did you join B.Tech Engineering on your own account?”, she sympathized.

“Of course, not! I came along with the flow. You know, it was a tough situation. Didn’t know which path to choose, didn’t know what to decide, a really critical and confused stage. I had to choose this in the end. Circumstances were like that! Screw it!!”. He saw sympathy on her face. He hated sympathy.

“Why didn’t you choose something that suits your taste?”she pointed out.

“I was really confused. Moreover, I thought, it’s just another course, I’ll do it and opted it” he cleared his part.

“Where did you go wrong then?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t know that, some where, somehow, I got thrown off the track” he admitted.

“Was it something like a love failure or something?” she asked.

“How did you know that!” he wondered.

“Kid, I’ve already been through your age” she explained.

“But I always thought lecturers were born right into the post of lecturers, so that they could not experience childhood or teenage,” he said with a sarcastic smile.

“Ha ha!! no kid, we’re like this just coz we’re realistic. We know what the reality is,” she continued, “so love failure it is huh?”

“Kinda!” he replied.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Nothing happened. I just told her that I love her and I became her worst enemy. She never respected any of my feelings, didn’t even value my friendship. She told she’s irritated at my sight. So I set her free. I said I’ll stay away from her forever,” he said.

“So it’s over then,” she remarked

“Not really, though she made fun of my feelings, I can’t forget her…was a really good friend, that’s what I thought, but she never understood me,”he replied [please don’t wonder if there will be such a conversation between some teacher and a guy. It’s a story, pal; not real.] He felt so intimate with her coz she listened to his ‘crazy’ thoughts.

“Can I tell you something?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said.

“You’re a fool!” she said.

“What???!!!” he had heard it many times, but did not expect it from her.

“Yes, you are. You’re acting foolish right now. Let me tell you, such feelings are like rain. They just come and go. Some stays a bit longer, that’s all. It’s not something to be taken so seriously, at least at your age”, she said. ‘But…’he came up to say something.

But she interrupted: “No buts. It ain’t the time to think of such things. After all, it’s a girl who didn’t understand you. Don’t bother it. Get back on the track” she advised.

“What track? I already feel, am not on my path to destiny. It’s like I’ve got lost,” he complained. “Come on, it’s not yet the time to speak about destiny and all. It ain’t the end of your life. There’s life after these four years. You can still pursue your destiny,” she consoled.

“Miss, I can’t imagine myself in an engineer’s position. I hate engineering. This is living hell. You know, I feel, am so different from other guys in my class. It’s like am an alien. They see me as something like the ‘king of jerks’ or something. It’s like…. I don’t know what to say. Am unsatisfied. I want to change everything. Just wanna upset all the established orders”.

It was a Catharsis. His emotions were flowing out. But she knew what was to be said: “Wasn’t it you who just told me, you are different from others? Come on, think. You got admission here, and you are different according to you! means, you are above them all. You live different, act different, speak different, so, you’re the one who deserves to be an engineer. Not them who just note down what the Profs vomit.”

She got a point there, thought him. “And you said you hate engineering. That’s coz you are not aware of what engineering really is,” she got a bit philosophical: “Kid, Engineering means the existence of the whole universe. It’s the basic course any living form has to learn to survive in this world. Look around you kiddo, the chair you sit, the table, this room, this building, this institution…everything you see around you were designed by some engineers”. She’s filling something into him. Enlightenment!!! She continued: “An Engineer is the one who (should) revolutionize the established system, for a better one. I understand you got such a revolutionary inside you. And only such a person can be an engineer. Those guys who make fun of you, they can only be engineers in ‘professional’ sense. But in the real ‘Engineering sense’ you are far ahead of them; provided you do one thing - you work like them. They’re hard working, that’s the only thing that places them above you now. If you combine your thoughts and their hardworking mentality, buddy, you’re gonna rock the world”.

He got really inspired. She said, “So, come on, wake up!!! Fight Back!!! Be a phoenix that rise up from the Ash”.

He declared “Yes, Miss, I am the phoenix, I’ll fight back!!!” Just then the hour bell rang.

She said, “So, go back to your class. Fight for your life”.

“Yes I will,” he replied. “They were ‘some’ inspirational words,” said he. She smiled and bade him Good Bye.

As he was walkin, he felt like Eminem singing 'Till I Collapse' in the background.he felt like rapping.

Within seconds, he found himself back in the classroom. He cared neither for the girl who didn’t understand him nor the ‘flatter baby guys’ who wore ‘here comes the idiot’ look on their faces, at his very sight.

”F you, F'ing F'ers,I am the phoenix, am fighting back”. He said to himself.

Prof. entered, marked attendance, and looked all over the class. And asked a question, “Explain the working of a four-stroke diesel engine”. Some guys raised their hands, but the Prof picked out the revolutionary. “You, the one at the back, answer me”. He stood up puzzled!!”oooops Didn’t see that coming”!!. “come on,fast !dont take like forever to answer”,the proff was so impatient

“Sir…uh......the piston……uh……dead centre……when…” “Give me a proper answer not some blunders,” the Prof. was in no good mood. “Sir, it, when….in compressor stroke…moves down….”

Prof interrupted “Do you know the answer?”

“Nope,” he said with his face down.

“Then, Get the hell outta my class!!”

De Ja Vu !!!

Back at the Cafeteria, having a dessert, he asked himself: “The F'ing phoenix, after all, is just a myth, ain’t it?”.