A Taarey FF-Journey Towards Self-hood

CHAPTER 3- EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE

Good news was not something she was used to for a few days now. But conveying bad news was not her expertise. 

She had called a team meeting to inform about the results of the semi finals. Swayam was tired of his father's constant criticism and hence did not stay home. He had blamed himself for everything that had happened on stage. The team arrived while Taani was pacing up and down the room.

The team one after the other- hi...hey..hi

Aashi- aapne subah subah meeting types bulayi results as gaye kya?

Taani( trying to maintain a straight face) - Haan as Gaye

Aashi- Haan to batayi na.

Taani ( hesitantly)- woh.. woh actually...hum finals mein qualify…nahi hue.

The room was filled with silence. They looked at each other's faces in disbelief. 

Swayam- yeh sab meri wajah se hua hai. Agar mein nahi girta to shayad hum bahar nahi hote.

Sharon- Nahi Swayam tumhare wajah se kuch nahi hua 

Rey- Haan dude it's not because if you Apne aap Ko blame mat kar.

Nil- no guys yeh meri wajah se hua hai that judge...badla le liya usne…

And he breaks down followed by the whole team.

Taani could not take it any longer. The people standing in front of her were her friends after all come what may.

Taani- guys please aise breakdown hone se kuch nahi hoga. Aap logo ka performance bahut acha tha and you should be proud of that. Judges kya decide karte hai woh unpar hai. At least you gave your best. Aur waise bhi bhai music band hone ke Baad gire so that doesn't count. And shayad baaki teams achi thi. Humne unka performance to dekha nahi na.

Taani said this genuinely but it was not taken easily.

Vicky- you won't understand Taani ki humare liye ye competition kya importance rakhta hai. Woh to acha hua Rey ne tumhari baat nahi suni warna hum kabka bahar ho Gaye hote.

Simmi- seriously dude tum nahi samaj sakti what dance is to us. 

Rey(unaware of the conversation) - dance is our life.

Taani could see the sadness in his eyes. She wanted to comfort him and tell him she was with him. But she knew this was not the right time. She determined herself to find out the reason behind the elimination and do whatever that was possible to help her team. Yes to her it was 'her' team.

The next day she approached the NDC officials and found out that one of the judges and revised his scores later which was the reason for their loss. She informed this to the team, who were now sure that the judge had taken his revenge for the dance camp mishap. 

Something said that this was not the end and Taani was determined to help. Somewhere her inner guilt was working. She remembered her brother asking her to make amends. She thought maybe then she could prove her love to Rey. Maybe then she might be accepted by all.

Overnight she wrote a blog on the college website bringing out the truth about the judge and his biased judgement. The blog had a lot of impact but the vice principal did not accept it and thus it was removed. Later in the day she was asked to represent the college in the NDC officials meeting. She was scared that it might be about her blog but now she didn't fear consequences. She had seen worse in life. In the past two weeks her whole life had turned upside down what worse could happen now. To her surprise the meeting was not a nightmare but a ray of hope. One of the teams had backed out and one team could get entry into the finals. Taani knew this was her chance. She displayed the team's strength to the panel and explained vividly why they deserved the chance.