Gaga Chronicles - Part 1: Friendship turned sour; love – the culprit

My dear readers, 
It's nice to be back in the blogosphere again. The last one year in IIM has been fun. It's not like I have not been writing in this period. I have been writing a lot. I even got an opportunity to co-author a book during this period and I successfully completed my part. The book is scheduled to be released soon. The other writings have been those mundane project reports, assignments and other similar stuff that you do in an MBA. I didn't find time to write a nice, juicy blog post during this period. Finally, got some time to finish a story that I had been writing for over 2 years now. I first got the idea for such a story after I finished Engineering in 2010. But the real work started in 2012 when the outline of the story was formed in my mind. Since then, it has undergone many changes and we have the current version here. This is the first time that I have tried my hand in writing a romantic story. Let me assure you that the story is purely fictional and is in no way connected to me or any person, dead or alive. I have written the story from a first person's perspective just for the ease of writing. Since it's a long story, I have split it into 4 parts. You can find Part 1 below. Will subsequently release the other parts one by one. Enjoy! Happy reading!
-Ashmur

This is Part 1 of the story 'Gaga Chronicles'. To read Part 2, click here. To read Part 3, click here. To read Part 4, click here.

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. All the characters and the sequences are a figment of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.

October 28^th 2013:

I could not believe my eyes. I never thought it would come down to this. I sat there reading and re-reading the mail that I had just received. The subject line read “Wedding Invitation”. 

Dear Akshay,

I am very happy to inform you that I am getting married. PFA my wedding invitation……

……. Please treat this as my personal invite. ……..

Regards,

Gayu

Hurriedly, I opened the attachment and read the name of the groom. “Kaushik Raveendran”. That loafer. I suspected something was going on between them, but I trusted her. I never for a moment thought that she would fall for him. She deserves better. Definitely better than that stupid loafer. I could not take it anymore. I sat down on the chair and looked up at the table. On it was a nameplate that read ‘Akshay Srinivas – MBA (IIM A)’. Beneath it was written ‘Manager (Supply Chain), Amazon India’. I stared at it for a long time and wondered how insignificant my life had become despite having everything on the professional front. 

I took my phone and hurriedly typed out a message and sent it to a group in Whatsapp. Within the next few minutes, I got messages that read “Don’t worry...we’re there for you…blah  ...blah blah…”

I was in no mood to read them. Immediately, calls started coming in. The first one read “Ashwin”, the second one read “Ananya” and the third one read “Sahana”. I did not answer any of them. 

I switched off my phone.

I closed my eyes. Memories came flooding back. They were killing me. I don’t know if I can survive this. Slowly my mind raced back in time.

November 28^th, 2009

I was sitting in my office at M&T Thermal Solutions Ltd., a leading MNC with a rich history. My office room was at the Boiler Control House - my most favourite place in this remote town in Kakinada District of Andhra Pradesh. My phone rang. I picked it up. A couple of minutes later, I called my boss. 

“Sir, they’re transferring me to our plant in Coimbatore. Just got a call from HR.”

“Do you want to go? Are you happy?”

“Really happy sir. It’s my hometown. Why wouldn’t I be happy? Moreover I can prepare for CAT exam too if I stay in my hometown. I wish to do MBA from an IIM. You know that, right?”

“Yep. Glad that you’re happy. I’ll issue the relieving orders then. Wish you all the best Akshay! You were an asset to us. You’ll be missed.”

“Thank you sir. I am sure that you’ll find a good replacement.”

December 9^th, 2009

In my Manager’s room:

“So Akshay Srinivas…”

“Yes sir.”

“I went through your profile. Pretty impressive. Your previous Manager had nothing but words of praise for you.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Since you know everything about the company and the plant is an exact replica of the Kakinada plant, I don’t think you require a formal Induction. I’ll introduce you to your team members and you can start work right away.”

“Sure sir.”

He called someone on the phone.

A couple of minutes later, she walked in. THAT moment! How I wish I could undo a few things now in my life!

“Akshay, this is Gayathri. She’s also an Assistant Manager here. She’ll show you around the plant and introduce you to your teammates. Gayathri, this is Akshay. He has been transferred from our Kakinada plant.”

“Hi”

“Hi”

The next 1 hour was spent in going around the plant and meeting people. She had an air about herself that I did not like. She had this small attitude that I hated. I learnt that she was 6 months junior to me in the organization. She also graduated in Engineering in the same year as I, in 2007, from another college in the city. She instructed me around the plant and I hated it. I hated her.

It is said that it’s ok if you like a girl when you meet her for the first time. But if you hate her, it’s trouble, my dear brother. 

I was to realize this later.

December 31^st, 2009:

I was sitting in office lazing around as my work was done. Gayathri walked in. 

“Hi Akshay, done with your work? Not going home?”

“Will leave now.”

She peeped in to my laptop.

“Oh, Facebook? Nice. Give me a Friend Request.”

With that, she typed her name: Gayathri Ganesh and gave a friend request herself from my account.

“Good. We can chat via FB now. I’ll ping you. See you then. Happy New Year!”

I was least interested. God, I hate her! Why do you do this to me God?

January 9^th 2010:

I sat in my home and typed in my Registration No. The website read catiim.in

The marks appeared.

83.18

Gosh! WTF! 

I stared at the screen in disbelief for some time. It’s all over. Another failure in CAT!

I went to the office with a dejected face. I noticed Gayathri sitting there with a forlorn face. She noticed me and asked why I looked dejected. I tried to hide my face and said that it was nothing. I asked her the same question. She looked at me.

“I wrote CAT exam and the results have come. That’s why”

“Really? I am dejected because of the same reason.”

“I don’t know if you should get dejected at all. I got just 86 percentile.”

“Well, I got only 83”

That cheered her up a little. She smiled. Now there was something common to the 2 of us – CAT. Well, she’s not as bad as I thought she was.

 February 2^nd 2010:

I got a message in my phone at 8 PM. “Come to Facebook chat” it said.

I logged in to FB. Never a fan of the chat feature, I reluctantly logged in. 

“Hi Akshay” she pinged.

“Hi Gayu” Everyone in our team called her Gayu. So I also started calling her that.

“Congrats on the Quiz win. You were brilliant today.”

“How did you know Gayu?”

“I was there in the audience. You would not have noticed.”

………

The chat lasted for over 2 hours. This was the first time I have chatted this long anywhere online or using a phone. I sensed there was something different happening. Also it was probably the first time anyone has responded to me in a chat or SMS for this long. Well, she’s a nice girl, I thought.

March 25^th 2010:

At office: 

It was about time for us to leave. My team members left and I was sitting alone with Gayu. She struck a conversation. 

“Akshay, shall I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“Are you preparing to take up CAT this year too?”

“Yes”

“Are you going for some classes?”

“No. I am just taking TIME Test series.”

“Nice. I am planning to do the same too. Shall we sit and study for sometime in the evenings if that’s ok with you?’

“Sure. No problem at all.”

“Where are you aspiring to get into through CAT?”

“Where else? IIM-A. I could not do engineering from a top-notch college. So I have to reverse that in PG. What about you?”

“Same. But I am more fascinated by IIM-B than A.”

Then, out of the blue, she asked me.

“Akshay, do you have a girlfriend?”

“No. What about you?”

“No. But I have to tell you this. Of the 5 boys in our team, barring you and Nithin, the other 3 have proposed to me.”

“You mean the 3 Vs – Vivek, Vinay & Vishal?”

“Yep.”

I was startled, but did not show it.

“That’s why I like Nithin. He’s like my best friend out there. He’s closer to me than even Priya.”

Priya was the only other girl in our team apart from Gayu.

 

I smiled. I don’t know why, but when she said that about Nithin, it really irked me inside.

April 4^th, 2010

I was sitting in a state of shock in the office. Gayu came in. 

“What happened Akshay? You look shocked?”

“Gayu! Good that you came. I don’t know how to tell you. I went to the boiler room now and went to the switch board at the far side facing the wall. There… there...”

“What there?”

“There I found Priya and Vishal kissing each other passionately.”

She was shocked too. But then she recovered quickly. “It’s ok. Happens! Don’t worry about it. As long as they do their work properly and as long as it doesn’t affect the team, don’t worry about it.”

By then Nithin walked in and he playfully pinched Gayu. She went around chasing him and they played like kids in my presence. It really irked me. By then, I was starting to think of Gayu as a very nice girl.

May 2^nd 2010:

Gayathri and I were sitting in the office revising some CAT notes. We both felt a little bored and she asked me to put some songs in my laptop for relaxation. I opened my audio library and from nowhere, Lady Gaga popped up. She got interested in Gaga and asked me what did Gaga stand for?

Till then, it never occurred to me. I told her that it did not stand for anything. Then it struck me suddenly. I wrote on her notebook: Ga Ga – Gayathri Ganesh. 

She mockingly hit me with a notebook.

I laughed at her.

“This is the perfect name for you. Let everyone call you Gayu. I don’t care. Henceforth, I’ll call you Gaga”

“Noooooo!”

“Yesssss!”

And thus I started calling her Gaga.

In May and June 2010:

We carried on with our routine and Gaga & I became very good friends. We used to finish our work and before leaving, we used to sit and study for CAT every day for an hour or so. This helped us a lot as we started scoring well in the mock tests.

She was close to Nithin as usual and they used to go out for lunch together sometimes. Even in office, they found time for each other. This used to irk me a lot.

I don’t know why, but slowly I started detesting Nithin for no apparent reason. His closeness with Gayu was unbearable for me. It used to pain me a lot.

So one day in June, when we were out somewhere, I casually asked him if there was something going on between him and Gayu. He did not give a direct reply, but I got the indication that he was actually looking for something more from her.

A couple of days later, I met Gayu and asked the same question.

“Gayu, can I ask you something?’

“Tell me Akshay”

“Is there something going on between you and Nithin?”

“Ha ha ha :-D No Akshay. We’re good friends. That’s all. What made you think so? I understand others asking me this. But you Akshay?”

“I’m sorry. Sometimes it’s better to ask and get things clarified. That’s why I asked. Are you sure that there’s nothing more at all. Does he also think the same way?”

“Yeah, I am sure. I don’t have anything more than a friendly feel for him. What made you think that I’d have feelings for him? If at all there’s someone I could hypothetically develop feelings for in our office, it’d be you.”

“WHAT??”

“Relax. I said hypothetical. I’ll never fall for anyone here. None of them have the tastes that could connect with me.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean nobody here likes the things that I like. I have an eclectic taste in music, food, books, sports, etc. I don’t see that in anyone here. So it won’t be possible for me to connect with any of them. That’s what I meant. By the way, why do you ask this question and why are you so curious? Are you jealous of my closeness to Nithin, eh?” She winked.

“No. I just got a feeling that you may be all innocent, but please do remember that Nithin is a normal guy. He may have feelings too. You play around with him, you spend time with him, you talk to him in phone for long, you chat with him online, etc. It’s natural that he may develop feelings for you and think of you as more than a friend. Just wanted to tell you that.”

“Ha ha :-D Guys may be like that, but Nithin is not like that. He’s a very good friend. I know how to handle him. Please don’t talk to me about this again.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll drop this topic.”

July 3^rd 2010:

It was about 7.30 PM. I was working late on a pending work. I got a call from her asking me to come to an ice-cream parlour near her house. I was surprised. She was not the kind who would go out for dinner and desserts with friends. Except Nithin, maybe. 

I went to the ice cream parlour. She was sitting alone. She looked very dull. I asked her why.

“You were right Akshay. I was wrong about Nithin” She said so with tears in her eyes.

“Calm down Gaga! Tell me what happened.”

Apparently, she went out in the evening with Nithin to a coffee shop it seems. He expressed his feelings for her and proposed to her. I was not surprised at all.

“You know how shocked I was! I shouted at him and left the place.”

I had half a mind to laugh. But I controlled it and just smiled.

“What are you smiling at? You know how upset I am?”

“Relax Gayu. I told you this could happen. And come on. I am sure you can handle it.”

“Don’t mock at me. You guys! You’re all the same. You know how much I trusted Nithin as a friend? I never thought he would do this to me.”

“Come on Gayu! Don’t behave as though he had committed some unforgivable crime. All he did was express his feelings for you. Now that you’ve made it clear to him that you do not feel the same way about him, just forget it. He’ll understand. Don’t make it look like a bigger problem than what it really is.”

I sat there talking to her and consoling her for the next 20 minutes. When I felt that she had become normal, I bade her goodbye and left the place.

That night, she chatted with me on Facebook. Apparently, some self doubts had crept into her mind. She asked me if there was any problem with the way she behaved with guys. I had to reassure her that things were fine.

Strangely, I felt a sense of calmness that night that I had not felt over the previous couple of months. Nithin was out of the way. I felt happy. (Continued in Part 2 ...)

To read Part 2, click here.

- Ashwin Murali