Manav

Chapter 4 - Manav the Loser

Dawn. Franky was jogging on a jogging track early that morning. Why? Well, if you could closely see him, his outer body fat would wobble at twenty hertz. Twenty oscillations in one second, too fast. And this would happen only when he would go to sit on something. While jogging, you imagine the numbers. So, basic idea of losing fat, getting into shape, he would jog every morning. And every round of two seventy two meters of that track (because that was the limit) he would think of stopping and giving up his desire of being fit. But, what helped him pull through was, no, not inertia, it was the desire that when he'll be fit, he'll be able to approach girls in a fashion of confidence which he never would have imagined. And so he would try his level best to proceed towards a fitter belly.

But why will anyone care about Franky? Let him do what he wants to do. Well, it gets interesting here. Because there are not two, not four, but seven other guys, nearly fit with masked faces that mobbed him that day. Obviously, there's no doubt that you'll need seven guys to lift this bunker. They held him tight, and he yelled. He yelled his life out for help, but magically no one gave a damn about what was happening. Those special seven threw him in the sand. And when Franky's haunches bump on the sand, that's when Franky wakes up from his nightmare and snatches a bottle of beer from a person who passed by.

* * * * * * * *

"I'm pretty sure 'Fatso Franky' saw his 'weight loss by jogging' nightmare." Dev said.

"Well, he's four down, it was bound to happen." Tanmay said.

"Not four, five! Look!" Omkar said.

"And here it is...three, two, one, KNOCKOUT!!" Dev said. And Franky threw up. Everyone laughed.

"Hey buddy! Thanks for coming dude!" Shlok said as he met few people randomly. "Do I know him? Wait...umm...maybe a mutual friend from Facebook." He continued meeting his so called close friends, but the truth was, everyone likes free food! And when its Shlok's party, it has to be a pizza special one. So there were many guys who brought their girls, I mean, their so called life partners. So the population in Shlok's house grew and so were the stock of food. And there was one couple, who came to Shlok and said,

"Hey, Shlok, listen...do you have an empty room?"

"What? Why?" Shlok looked at both of them, and sort of understood what they meant.

"Come on guys, it's a party." Shlok said.

"Dude, please, understand. Just for some time, please."

"Alright, alright. But only for fifteen minutes, not more than that."

The couple agreed.

"Go straight and take the second room on the left." Shlok pointed out.

"Why not the first?" the girl asked.

"That's my room." Shlok said.

She raised her eyebrows and said okay. "Seriously, people are so, are so, are so...what can I say?" ............... "Frisky" a random guy said while passing by. "Yes! Thank you! Frisky is the word." Someone called Shlok so he got busy there. Everyone was having a joyful time. Small groups were formed, there were couples who had their business going great, there were some guys who loved to play and conquered the PlayStation. Moreover, in the background, music was continuously on. You might think where was I? Well, here I am. Outside my house door as I just shut it. I was sure enough that I wanted to go the party, but I really asked myself, what would happen when Priyanka and I meet? But I left it to my fate and opened the lift gate, went in and I was off to go.

The lift doors opened at Shlok's apartment, and I could see his house door a little open. I slowly pushed it and saw dozens of shoes on the floor near the door. And more to it a random guy who I thought I had seen him somewhere came to the door and asked me to excuse. And why so? Because he had ordered some food, I assumed it was something of spicy and chicken. I got an intuition of something, but I didn't pay heed to it and moved on. My mind and heart were silent from outside but they were actually shouting and thumping from inside as I was about to enter the living room. And when I did, the music stopped and everyone stared at me for once. All together in unison, with faceless expression just as a skull with added skin layers for special touch. They for the first time didn't bother about their drinks nor did those PlayStation guys give a damn about the game. They only stared at me, even Dev and Shlok. There was a clear silence moment. Then that guy who had ordered food, came by my side and whispered into my ears, "Such a coward you were! You didn't understand a girl's point of view. You didn't understand her heart! You are a swine! Shame on you!" I didn't understand what was happening. Some girl came up from the crowd and said, "You quit your social life based on a silly and miniscule incident? Well, social life nowadays means something else but you knew the true purpose of it, and you gave up. You are a loser!" I was stunned. It felt like a million molecules of boiling water raged from my toes to my eyes inside my body. Moreover, she took a selfie with me and captioned 'Loser' and posted it on Snapchat. I was about to say, 'Why are all of you being like this?' but I didn't have any strong opener to open my mouth, and not a single sophisticated catapult to throw those words at them. And then this overly drunk guy came in front of me and said,

"Who are you? Hm..? Who are you?"

"Manav..." I said.

"No...I am asking who are you?"

"I'm Manav..."

"Shut up you asshole. I'm asking who are you?"

"As of now, I'm a coward, a swine, a loser and an asshole apparently." I said, with guilt and disgust when I looked at that crowd.

"No! You, you, you are a fucking beer! You asshole! You are a fucking beer!" he said. And I thought I had heard it somewhere. (You know what I mean)

"Beer?" I asked.

"No! A fucking beer. Look at all of them. All of them, all, all are your impressions of your mind. They are not real, they are never real. Not even me. Everything is insanely magical; it's black magic, just like love." He said, and I had no idea what was he talking about.

"Magical?" I said.

"Insanely." He said.

Then Dev came up to me and said furiously, "How could you Manav? How could you do this to Priyanka and yourself?" I just kept quiet. And then slowly everyone started shouting 'Manav the Loser, Manav the Loser' and I could only be there and watch all that drama. Everybody had sort of just changed the air of that party. That dark madness was growing rapidly when that same guy who had ordered food whispered again, "Such a coward you were! You didn't understand a girl's point of view. You didn't understand her heart! You are a swine! Shame on you!" and he started laughing loudly. All of them were just killing me and making it even difficult for me to comprehend what was happening. But in that crowd, I couldn't see Priyanka. My eyes searched her but she wasn't present. I constantly asked myself, 'Where is she?' Just at that time 'Manav the Loser' became even louder! I couldn't bear that anymore, I yelled in pain. I was on my knees. Everyone started crowding me. I felt I had fallen of a cliff. And still, I wanted to know where she was! Lastly, I whispered 'Priyanka' when...