"Did you ever feel anything at all?"
"What do you think? I have no better job than to engage myself in meager things like feelings?"
"Then why......w-why did you act as though you cared?"
"Coz it was fun in the beginning then I grew tired of it. Lo...
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Dr Pradhan started calling out names and the first pair being called was Radhi and Jocelyn. I recognized that girl from before..the one who organized that party we all went to. I take my sweet time to observe her, there's this aura of haughtiness that clouds her...or maybe it's just wickedness. I'm not sure how to make a mental picture of her, she's calm but I see chaos in her eyes. She's very determined I can tell, but also there's this look where she knows she's losing something. What could this gorgeous girl in front of me afraid of losing? Will I ever find out?
They start their presentation, since we aren't given any prior notice they're just reciting whatever they remember recording. Words flow out of both their mouths but as predicted, though they seem to do well in the medical part, they falter really bad at humanities part. They have nonidea what they're talking about. Jocelyn is just reciting whatever keywords she remembers. She even pronounced some in a funny way. People from my side are barely able to contain their snicker and their side also is trying their best to hide their amusement.
Presentations roll on, some performed well, some satisfactory but none good. The end result is too obvious not to ignore...my side teams were terrible at medicine concepts whereas theirs at humanities. Soon enough our names are called and I'm a nervous wreck inside for sure, but I maintain a cold exterior.
Randhir begins his part of presentation and I must say when he starts speaking, all you want to do is listen. He has a certain stature for public speaking, he knows how to keep public in the loop and make his point across. His posture, demeanor, body language resembles a king addressing his subjects...king of knowledge. When someone is so confident about what they're speaking, you realize everyone in the room simply seem to be quite and listen. Knowledge demands devotion and submissions. While I watch him merserise the crowd, I realize how much we're alike.
Soon enough it's my turn. Randhir's watching me from sidelines and the whole room is drop dead silent awaiting the disaster. Almost all of them have condescending looks on their faces...ones saying 'she's going to screw it up'.. To be honest I'm not not surprised in the slightest that most of them are expecting me to ruin this, atleast from their side. For my side people, exactly know what I'm capable of.
It's not unusual though...when someone gives a presentation as good as Randhir did, people tend to think 'what could be better than this?' And not to mention the silent animosity they all are harboring because of Randhir's all of a sudden attention to me, they are definitely expecting me to ruin this and later rub it in Randhir's face that how big of an idiot he was to choose me as his partner. But what I feel for all of them who are expecting me to fail is pity. They have no idea what they're dealing with. If you think Randhir's bad, then you have no idea how bad I can be bitches!
I give them all a small smile and begin my presentation. I continue exactly where Randhir finished off. I explain the origin and developments of the said concept in recent years by referring to Randhir's previous points as well. Since I too gathered info yesterday regarding their topic, I researched enough to understand the basics of it. And when Randhir corrected my mistakes and gave me his insight I pretty much got the knack of the whole topic. This is why we both shared work equally so as to not be left behind in knowing things about both streams.
I included all my insights and also the possible areas where both streams may have a common ground and understanding them will make our work easier. By the end of my presentation, I'm not sure how it all went because no one, I mean no one is giving away anything in their expressions. I know I did well but did something go bad? I can't help the tiny bit of self doubt there.
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There's pin drop silence around. It's been 20 seconds since Sakshi concluded her presentation with a "...thank you". I look around the room to see everybody's just in their place gawking. Except for prithvi who's jaw is touching the ground. A small smile threatens to break out of my face looking at his shocked expression. Why am I even surprised? They're all awestruck by Sakshi. To say that her presentation was spectacular would be an understatement. Not that I expected any less from her, she just owned everyone's minds with her words. I always knew she has a way with her words...but to this extent? I'm certainly amazed.
She explained the most comex concepts with simplest of words like she were weaving a sweater, step by step. I'm definitely sure this was not what any of them were expecting. They wanted Sakshi to fail the moment she started...but she surpassed all their expectations by overpowering them. By just a presentation, she had given them all the answers to their silent judgements. She just showed them 'I mean business here and I'm not giving up' sign. That will surely make them behave.
I look at Sakshi, she appears calm waiting for their reactions but when our eyes meet I know she's panicking. How even is this girl made? After giving one of the utterly brilliant presentations I've ever heard, she's still doubting herself. I give her a knowing smile to ease her nerves.
What Sakshi doesn't know is that, no matter what, she has made her space in all of their heads. My batch mates can be cruel, arrogant but one thing I know about them is that they respect knowledge and the person who posess it. They may not show it and still be a dick tomorrow, but they'll never question her abilities from now on. She has earned all of their respect. I'm so proud of you Sakshi.
"You gave us a good insight about the topic. Well done Ms. Sakshi " I hear a voice from faculty section and it's Vishnu sir speaking. He's one of the senior most faculty in our college...he's very calm, patient and friendly but he never gives out compliments like that. To fish out even one praise from that man is equal to weeks of labor and hardwork. So Sakshi recieving a praise from him is definitely a big deal. I can see most jaws dropped by now from our side.
"Thank you sir" I hear Sakshi say.
"Okay, now a couple more presentations are left and then we can take the day off" professor Pradhan announces. We both take our leave and get seated.
I notice sakshi rubbing her hand furiously under the bench..I can tell that she'snervous. I take her left hand in my right, she's cold and sweating. I hold her hand tight and give her a squeeze under the table. She relaxes under my touch and exhales in relief.
You did great baby.
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