2. It Took Me One Game

Tuesday, 27th March 2023

Shashank sir's voice cut through the chatter. "Oye, tum B2 wale log piche kyu baithe ho?" Tejas explained that we weren't participating in the ongoing game but would join the next one, so we settled at the back as the audience, waiting for the current game to end. This was our second lecture with Shashank sir, and it seemed clear that their game would wrap up that day.

I kept a keen eye on who would be selected as captains for the next game. I was determined to be one. Having just won the toughest game in B2, I was riding high, and securing a victory in the elite batch would be a special achievement. It was crucial for me to evaluate potential assets for my team if I became captain.

The game continued, and Amit was the first to answer. I quickly solved the problem on the last page of my notebook and passed him the solution, which he had already completed. Sammy's team gained a couple of points from that. Sanjana J gave a wrong answer from Neil's side, resulting in a loss of two points, though they regained them when she was chosen by the opponent team for a second attempt. Achintya provided two correct answers in a row, and sir taunted him as the "unlucky player" of the class, unable to win a game regardless of his team.

Rushika answered correctly next but fumbled in her explanation and was sent back. Ramesh, on the other hand, made a mistake by choosing 400 picometers instead of 200 picometers.

The game ended just before the lecture with Sammy's team emerging victorious, and the prize money was distributed. Shashank sir looked at Achintya and taunted, "Tu toh hai hi manhoos," highlighting his unfortunate streak of losing.

Finally, the question I had been waiting for was asked. Thankfully, Shubh suggested me and Sammy as the next captains, to which sir readily agreed.

And Then There Was Kavya (Kayz)

2nd March 2023

I always postponed studying organic chemistry for JEE tests, but the chapter 'Principles and Techniques' kept appearing. It was heavily theory-based with some numerical parts. I resolved not to neglect it this time. Despite the chapter not being complete, Satyam sir had included it in the upcoming test. I messaged sir in the group about my confusion and received a private reply.

"Hey, this is Kavya from B1. Satyam sir ne Principles and Techniques B2 mein pura complete kar diya?"

Who is this and what does she want? I wondered and replied four minutes later.

Me - Nahii, baaki hai…

Kavya - Wahi toh, exam mein kaise daal diya?

Me - I'll see to it...have tagged him...maybe he notices it.

Kavya - Yep, saw it.

8th March 2023

I saw a girl in a black top and mask leaving the classroom and approaching the reception where Vishaka mam sat. I noticed people wishing her, so I asked, "Aaj aapka birthday hai?"

"Haan," she replied.

"Wish you a very happy birthday."

"Thank you…" She paused, then added, "Mai hi Kavya hu."

So she was the one who had texted about the chemistry test content.

Back to 27th March 2023…

"Aap captain ho na for the next match?" she asked me outside the main door as I was about to leave.

"Haan, me and Sammy."

"Aapko pata hai ki aapko kisko team mein lena hai?"

"Yeah, I observed many players' performances in today's game. I'll see who will be in my team for the upcoming game," I explained to Kavya.

Tuesday, 3rd April 2023

"Ha chal na…" After seven days, we divided the class and made our teams. We headed to the library after the lecture along with Arjun, who had a notebook with him.

Sammy won the toss and went for Sachin straightaway, which allowed me to pick Shubh. His next choice was Neil, and I went for Ayaan. Shubh suggested I get Aarav at any cost, but Sammy took him next. I chose Achintya, Tejas, and Karan. Riya and Ananya were also in my team. I selected Sanjana D for her potential, and Ramesh was chosen mainly because he was my friend, despite his recent calculation mistake.

Almost all the good players were picked, and I was waiting for Shubh's approval for Sanjana J. He advised me against it, noting that Achintya was already on our team and they would sit together and chat. Despite this, I decided I needed Sanjana J on my team due to her performance in the last game.

When I finally picked her, they laughed a bit. I had heard multiple rumors about them, which were later denied by Achintya himself. Still, I was determined to keep them apart during lectures.

The class was now divided. I felt content with my team, having three of my mates from Batch 2 and others whose abilities I had heard of. I genuinely believed my team was stronger, but their captain was the only one I feared. He would be a formidable competitor, and a good captain always knew what was best for his team.

At the bus stop, I received a call from Shubh, informing me that Sammy had agreed to trade Ayaan for Aarav, which was beneficial for our team.

I remembered the "gadha batch" label Shashank sir had given us in Batch 2. He regularly checked homework and punished students who failed to comply. In contrast, Batch 1 was known for handling everything well, including studies. I texted Shubh to confirm whether Shashank sir checked homework in Batch 1. To my surprise, he replied that sir did check homework and awarded or deducted points accordingly. This was both good and bad news for me—homework was crucial for winning and losing. I had a reputation to uphold from Batch 2, where I never lost a game. I asked if I should remind others to complete their homework, and he agreed, suggesting I impose some penalties for those who didn't comply.

That evening, I texted every member of my team, reminding them to complete their homework. I started with my B2 mates—Tejas, Karan, and Sanjana D. Then came Achintya, Ramesh, Paresh, Aneesh, Shravani, and Mayanti . By then, I had reminded everyone I was familiar with from my new batch.

My First WhatsApp Conversation with Naira

At 5:42 PM, I texted her for the first time.

"Namaste (joining hands emoji)

Please homework kar lena Shashank sir ka"

I received an immediate reply.

Naira: Okay

  Aap kon?

Namaste was a gesture I used with many in AOS, so I used it to help her recognize who I was. I tagged the message to emphasize it was from me.

Naira: Namaste

 Oh Tanish

Me - Ji ha

Naira: Ok

 Vaise hw questions bhej na

 Meine likhe nahi tha

"Uska 'vaise' uss din se shuru hua aur aage jaake kabhi khatam nahi hua," I thought to myself.

Me - DPP 1 2 3 4 5

 20 qns sheet me se Qn 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16

 YE NEET se karna hai (with images of homework questions written)

 Ye JEE se

I tagged the messages to explain the homework. It was clear I needed to ask if she had the PDFs.

Me - Ye sab PDFs hai ya bheju?

Naira: Ruk dekhti hu

Naira: Shyd honge

Me - Nvm that's expected

Naira: Kyu

"Wow, she has those PDFs. Most likely, she will complete her homework."

Me - Isliye toh bola

 I expected you to have them

Naira: Okay

 Meko ulta laga

 Anyways thank you yaad dilane ke liye hw ka

Me - Anyways...

Tu participate karti hai quiz me?

Coz I heard you just need someone to talk to and then you don't stop...

I needed to verify the rumors about her being talkative.

Naira: Quiz me participate toh karti hu

Naira: Par agar meko samjha nahi hota toh fir mein haath nahi uthati

Me - (tagging her "anyways thank you" message) Maje karo 🙏🏼

 Tu mere team me hai...

 Isliye yaad dilaya

Naira: I talk a lot but not so much that I don't stop talking at all

Me - I actually believed that you would actively participate

 Don't worry, I'll make sure someone sits beside you to help you out.

Naira: Okay

Thank you

Me - Maje karo (smiling and thumbs up emoji)

Sanjana J was the next one...

Me: Namaste (hands joining emoji)

Pls hw kar lena Sumit sir ka

I copy-pasted the same text to her and received a reply within two minutes.

Sanjana: hii

 ji

"Those lowercase letters remind you of someone, Tanish?" my sixth sense asked. "Yeah, I remember very well. She used to use a lot of lowercase letters. Maybe Sanjana was also online when I texted her."

Shubh assured me he would do the homework by the next morning. I told him I'd work on the seating arrangement and then confirm what I had heard in the library.

Me: Bhai, Sanjana J ko Achintya sath bithana hai??

Shubh:: Haan

 Warna wo maanegi nahi.

Me: Aye haye

 I wish they both dont gossip

Shubh: We will have to see to it.

I never cared who sat with whom in my team, but if you are participating in Shashank sir's quiz, and if I was the captain, I'll do everything it takes for my team to win. I still had their rumors in mind that they wouldn't work unless made to sit beside each other. Their sitting together and gossiping during the lecture might cost my team a few points or the whole game.

Amit was confident he wouldn't be picked by sir, so he and Aarav didn't complete the homework. I hadn't received a very positive response from Mayanti either. Only Naira, Riya, and Ananya had completed their homework that night.

At fifteen minutes past ten, I sat with the middle page of my notebook to make the seating arrangement. I always followed the strategy of pairing one active and one average student together.

Riya and Aarushi were the only ones in my team about whom I knew nothing. So, I put them together on the first bench. Keeping in mind that Aarna doesn't have anyone to talk to, I put Parth and Aarna together on the second bench, in front of me and Soubhadra, who was my chitragupta. He was going to tell me which player to pick from the other team and such. Archis and Shreya J were put on the fifth bench, and Shreyas and Krish would handle their gossip. It took me half an hour to finalize the arrangement.

Seating Arrangement:

Riya, Ananya

Paresh, Naira

Tanish, Shubh

Tejas, Sanjana D

Achintya, Sanjana J

Karan, Mayanti

Ramesh, Aarav

Dikshant, Amit

Rohit, Aneesh

I could see my team winning the match. Every single person I chose was capable of answering and especially tackling Shashank sir's tricky questions. The next morning, I sent the arrangement to Shubh, and he suggested some minor changes, including switching Mayanti and Naira. "Wo zyada nahi padhti," he said, and I realized I might have been betting too much on Naira.

All my teammates had arrived in class, except Sanjana J and Achintya, both of whom could be match-winners. I kept troubling Shubh throughout Sunny sir's lecture, asking if they'd come or not. Every time I turned to him, he said they would join directly for the chemistry lecture. But I could still feel the anxiety. What if they didn't come? It would be a huge loss for the team. Nothing mattered more to me than winning.

The math lecture finally ended. News from batch 2 was that Shashank sir would be taking a surprise oral test, which he had already done in that batch and punished students badly. Both Achintya and Sanjana had arrived, and it was a great relief. But the real problem occurred when my seating arrangement didn't fit well. Naira wanted Shubh beside her to help with understanding the solutions. Achintya did not sit with Sanjana J; instead, he sat with Tejas and Sanjana J. I met Sanjana J outside the classroom and asked if she could sit with Shravani, to which she reacted awkwardly, shouting, "Kya? Nahiii…" So, I brought Ramesh to the front beside me, and Sanjana J adjusted with Shubh and Naira.

I had no fear of Shashank sir's oral test and went for a samosa break. Upon returning, I saw the class was panicking, hearing about the punishments sir had given to students in the other batch.

The break ended, and Shashank sir was back. Our new game began with the oral round. When it came to our side, Ananya, sitting on the first bench, was asked the edge lengths of all the lattices. I saw her shivering, and the question was passed to me, which I answered correctly. The next one to mess up was Ramesh, who, like Prashant of Sammy's team, spoke so quickly and always answered on the nth attempt that sir passed his question to the next member. Shubh, Naira, and Sanjana J were fine. Achintya, Tejas, and Sanjana D did well too. The oral round was finally over.

"Tanish, tu toh naya hai iss class me, phir tujhe pata kaise chala ki kaun sa student acha hai?" He often questioned students about the game score, their studies, and how their life was going in between.

"Nahi sir, wo maine pichle class me dekh liya tha ki kaun kaisa perform kar raha tha," I said.

"Dekh kyunki mujhe lagta hai tere sath me game ho gaya hai," he didn't even let me complete.

"Nahi sir, meri hi team zyada strong hai. Har player ko soch samajh ke liya hai," I was always confident. I knew his eyes were on Achintya, as they called him an unlucky player who never won a game. Irrespective of his bad luck, I would take him any day since I knew about his intelligence and that he could be an asset to the team.

He finally commented, "Abe iss gadhe ko kyun le liya, ye toh manhoos hai."

"No sir, it's absolutely fine. I have taken him by myself," I assured him.

I actually wanted to see if Achintya's losing streak was stronger or my 100% winning record as a captain.

The first question came, and as soon as sir said hands raised on both sides, I saw that from my team, hands were raised up till the very end. I knew I had made the right team. The lecture ended with our team leading by two points.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, 5th April 2023

And she texted me for the first time…

[4/5/2023, 18:08]

Naira: Hi

  Meko last physical chemistry ke lecture mein jo hw questions diye the woh bhej na

 Like konse konse karne hai, wahi

 Not the solution

She misspelled "physical" as "phyaical," but I still read it as "physical." I was still not getting over the fact that we were leading by two points. It was Vihaan's birthday. Doing all the decorations, bringing his favorite snacks, and knowing that all his friends would create a mess before leaving, the night was going to be really hectic.

[19:02]

Me: I'll send you in half an hour...

 Thoda busy hoon aaj...

 Mai bhi kal subah hi karunga hw...

 Btw oral ka kar lena ache se plsszz....

"It's only been thirteen days since you came to B1. Abhi toh poora saal hai janaab," my sixth sense always said to me.

"It's gonna be a nice one, mate," I said to myself.

I still remember when the doors of the service lift opened and I saw her for the first time. In a crowd of students, who were from B1, she was standing at the back in a single ponytail and quickly ran away with the crowd as the lift emptied for us to enter. I still remember whenever I accidentally opened the door of their batch, she would appear sitting on the first bench, moving her legs to and fro. She would look at me as I peeped through the door, only to realize later that I had entered the wrong room, and then she would look away to the person she was talking to.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday, 6th April 2023

"Oye, I saw two boys copying homework at the back… should I make a video and show it to sir?" I whispered to Shubh

"Yes!!!! And listen, make it so that they don't know about it." I did as I was told by Shubh and went near their bench.

I quickly opened my phone's camera and recorded a video of them copying homework, standing right behind them. No one in the entire class understood what I was doing. I quietly started to move towards my place when I found a girl whose face was covered by black straightened hair. It was Lea, and she too was copying the homework. I wasn't at all surprised. She had been sleeping in the first lecture of 12th grade and was now copying homework as well.

"Bhai, even Lea is copying the homework. Uska bhi video bana leta hoon.", I told Shubh

"Ha ha go ahead."

I opened my phone's camera again as he asked Lea, "Lea…are you completing the homework??" She looked up at Shubh and nodded her head, laughing. Her hair kept falling in front of her face and hiding the book, but I had zoomed in on the video well enough to prove she was copying the homework.

In the lecture…

We messed up really badly in the oral round, losing our lead of two points and trailing by six. Most of the team members around me panicked. Ananya, sitting in front of me, was arguing with sir about the unfair points deducted from our team. Meanwhile, Sanjana J, sitting behind me, kept asking how sir deducted points. I assumed that sir forgot two points were deducted for every wrong answer in the oral round and had only deducted one point. He showed his marking scheme on the whiteboard, and Ananya's repeated requests kept me agreeing, still assuming he had forgotten the correct deduction. Until Sanjana J tapped me on the shoulder and showed me the calculation proving we were cheated by sir.

"Are yaar ab isko samjhana hi padega," I said to myself and began, "Dekh... I actually thought sir forgot that he always deducted two points for oral. But he remembered the marking scheme and deducted our points fairly." She rolled her eyes, slowly nodding her head while her eyebrows moved a bit upwards.

"Sir ab wo video…?" That moment had finally arrived. I could now show Sir the videos of Lea and deduct points from Sammy's team. "Toh aaj Tanish ne video bana daale."

"Ha sir matlab even I felt a bit embarrassed while making their video, but again, it was a part of our game," I explained.

"Ha teri baat sahi hai. Ekdum sahi hai. Bhai jisne bhi tumhara video banaya hai wo asal me tumhara sachha dost hai jo tumhe cheating karne se rok raha hai." Hardly had those words left his mouth when Lea and I looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Ye sahi hai bhai.

Lea se din raat baatein kare Sushant,

Aur yaha bina kuch kiye,

Uske sacche dost ban gaye ham."

I couldn't stop laughing while I said this to myself. But it fainted as sir deducted only one point for each student copying homework. Ananyai was proud of my tactics and appreciated, "Tanish, I want to be in your team next time as well."

My smile completely vanished when we lost the first round. I could see Sammy standing between the two teams, clapping for his team's victory. For the first time, I lost round 1 of any game. And history said that the winning team of round 1 always won the game.

After the game, I approached Lea and apologized for making her video. She said she didn't even care, which was evident since she didn't say anything to me about it.

____________________________________________________________________________

10th April 2023

Naira: Ho gaya hai mera hw.

Me: Good job.

I was stressed out. I never played round 2 as a do-or-die round. We missed it in the oral. Paresh and several others, including Amit, were punished. I did not want to repeat any mistakes after that lecture. I strictly told everyone to keep their homework complete and be prepared for the oral.

____________________________________________________________________________

11th April 2023

Since the lecture was on consecutive days, there were high chances that nobody would do homework from the opponent team," I thought to myself. And something similar happened. One of their players failed to do his homework and tried to trick sir by showing last class's homework. But Shashank sir was undoubtedly the smartest of all. We rocked it in the oral round, gaining a lead of 10 points. But confidence should remain only confidence and not become overconfidence. Ananya and many other team members tried to convince sir to end round 2 there itself because they thought, who would be able to cover a ten-point lead?

Sammy, however, refused to give up and said that if they were going to lose, they would play the complete round and lose.

The next day, we began with a lead of eight points, and in a matter of two questions, the lead came down to four points. The third question of the day was displayed, and I could see both teams panicking so much that I had to ask Sammy if they got the answer.

"Time up!! Hand raise both sides," Sammy sir cried out.

"We can still play a gamble," I whispered to Ananya and raised my hand along with Achintya

"Bhai, but you solved the question with the wrong method," Achintya alarmed me.

"Tanish, decide quickly," sir said.

"Tanish, give Achintya the chance to answer," Ananya suggested.

"Tanish... Tanish, please...", she continued requesting.

"Fine… Achintya, go ahead," I said, putting my hand down.

"Sir, the answer is 15.", he stated.

"Is it 15?" He turned to the whiteboard. "Dekho bhai, iska answer toh sahi hai. Ab bas explain karde ache se."

We all shouted in joy. The four-point lead was going to be a six-point lead now. He did extremely well. Even while explaining the solution, he left nothing unexplained. Then Ananya said what I had always agreed to, "Achintya is the most intelligent here. It's just his curse that no team wants him."

The last question of the day was related to defects. Ananya and Sanjana J led the hand raises for our team while I remained quiet, failing to find the answer. The question was passed to the other team, and Ayush answered it incorrectly, but no one realized until Sanjana J and Ananya talked about his answer being incorrect. Sir then deducted a couple of points from their team. I funnily commented, "Kaa re Ayusba, galat jawaab de diye?" Everyone laughed, and the day ended well.

They were nowhere near us throughout the round, and we won the round easily by a margin of six points.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6th May 2023

Trailing by only a couple of points in round three, everybody knew it would be the last day of our game. I reached a bit late, but Ramesh had preserved a seat for me. Three noticeable changes were that Sanjana J had her hair open, her black mask was no longer making her eyes a show stealer and revealing the entire glow of her face, and Shubh was not sitting with them. He was behind them, sitting with Sanjana D and Tejas.

Shashank sir was not feeling well and told us to switch off all the ACs. He asked me a demo question related to the relative lowering of vapor pressure, which I correctly answered. Then he asked the next one to Ramesh, who messed up again. Siir never missed a chance to humiliate any student in front of the entire class. He compared him with Sahej and the other Shubh of Batch 2. Our team lost a few points because of him, and I still regret taking him on my team despite our friendship. Questions related to molarity were asked next, where I taunted him, "Chal Ramesh, ab ye wala bata," to which Sanjana J laughed loudly, knowing that Ramesh had been under pressure throughout the game.

We gave incorrect answers one after the other. Sanjana J, Ananya, Karan, Tejas, me, and even Shubh and Aarav could not bring us out of the trouble. Their lead soon went to six points when Shashank sir suggested that I should stop and let the next topic, osmotic pressure, take over since its questions were easy and might prove scoring for us. We were running short of time as well. Only forty-five minutes were left for the lecture, and we were still trailing by eight points. 

Karma hits hard, and I remembered the last game of Batch 2, where Piyush and I were the captains, and I had defeated him by eight points. Even there, they were running against time, and now I could see myself in the same situation.

Osmotic pressure did take over. But in the panic and stress of losing a game for the first time, I didn't focus on the topic at all. Ananya begged me to give her the opportunity to answer the question, but I chose Karan, and we missed it. The lead went to ten points, and we lost it completely. For the first time, I was not able to control my team. I was completely shattered. I could hear Ananya crying loudly, "Sir, ab iss team me kabhi dobara nahi aaungi."

"Aur ab ye game Sammy ki team jeet gayi hai," he announced. I lost my first game as a captain, that too, to a very tough competitor.

It took me one game to break the ice. Earlier, I thought that adjusting in Batch 1 would be tougher than Batch 2. But making friends there actually became easy because of the game, which resulted in interacting with many students who were my teammates. If I knew Ramesh, Presh, Lea, Sanjana J, Naira and Achintya, I also made some new friends like Shubh and Ananya.