*****THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN BY PRATEIK(prateikprince@gmail.com)*****
The Legend Of The Peacock Dude
25th November, 1997.
I woke up at 8 in the morning. I didn’t mean to, but with all the commotion in the wing, I simply had to. I peered into the corridor to see what all the commotion was about. Most of my wing mates were standing outside one particular room. “I hear it’s the first Pentium computer in Rajasthan! “, “No, my friend in Jaipur has one “, “Dude! It has a hard disk of 2 GB capacity! “, “Ya, it has a 64 mb ram card as well. “ “His dad is a business man dude ....” “I think business is too risky yaar ....” Well...somebody in my wing had a computer. I wish my dad were a businessman, and then I would have bought the best computer in the world! . I didn’t want to see the computer; I never could enjoy seeing stuff I can’t get. As I was up, I decided to have breakfast in the mess, for the first time in the month. Waking up that early in the morn in this cold wasn’t exactly my cup of tea or coffee (what? bitsian pj maan! ) . I’m a first year student in BITS, Pilani, which is considered to be one of the best engineering colleges in India. Everybody in the bhavan (our hostel complex) was talking about it. In the evening we played cricket like we always did, however this time we managed to break a window pane, my window pane. We covered it up with a wooden plank, hoping that it would keep the cold out and also that the warden wouldn’t notice the broken window. However, it turned out that a crudely fixed wooden plank was no substitute for a well fused piece of glass and that our warden wasn’t exactly blind. I had to spend many nights in the shivering cold and cricket was banned in all bhavans in the college from that day onwards, ya ....life ain’t easy. That night the whole wing was still standing outside that one particular room with the computer in it. Having nothing else to do, I decided to go for a ride on my bicycle. It was really cold, which is to be expected as it was 1 am in the night, but I was determined to go for a ride. BITS at 1 am in the night is a completely different place. I felt really excited in a weird sort of way, it’s the kind of feeling you get when you know danger is all around you but it can’t exactly get you. Well, I somehow wanted to feel danger. I saw a couple of dogs on the road. One of them was light yellow in colour and was lying in the middle of the road. The other one was dark grey in colour and was lying next to the road. I assumed that the fair one was female because ....well it looked like one. (What?) I cycled right in between them and suddenly both of them got up and started running after me! Then out of nowhere another dog came and chased me! I wanted danger and I got it, I also want an opportunity to kick myself, hope I get that soon as well. I started cycling faster ...but they were way faster than me. Two of them went ahead and blocked my path ....man, whoever said dogs were dumb sure needs to get his facts set right. So I had to slow down, but I didn’t and I smashed right into the dogs! I fell off my cycle and the last thing I remember was rolling down some slope and then it all went blank.
When I woke up I was lying in the middle of what looked like a really old garden. At first it was all blurred, but soon I could see something very weird. I was completely surrounded by peacocks! There were around 10 of them and they were standing around me. They seemed to be looking at me; I was scared, peacocks can be dangerous if they want to ... I didn’t know what to do. I slowly got up and moved towards the exit. They turned to look at me as I left. They had this really peculiar look on their faces. I climbed up the slope and saw that my cycle was still lying in the middle of the road. I looked at my watch, it was 5 am and it was damn cold. I rushed back to my room and locked the door. I fell asleep as soon as I lay on my bed. The peacocks were taking over the bhavan with rocket launchers and machine guns. I ran from one room to another, hoping to find someone. They were all empty. Finally, I reached the room with the computer in it. A peacock was working on it. It turned towards me, a pistol in it’s ...err “paw” and said “Well ....did u like my computer? Dude! I wanna know if u liked my computer! “Bang bang. I woke up. Somebody was banging on the door. I opened it and saw that it was the guy who bought the computer recently. He looked at me and said, “Ur always sleepin dude! Did u see my comp? Did u like it? The whole wing loves it you know ...” “No bro, i haven’t seen it yet ....ill drop by when im free and check it out ok? “I asked. He looked at me disapprovingly and walked away. I went back inside and locked the door. I always had strange dreams, but peacocks with rocket launchers were a bit too much. I went to the mess and had lunch. I somehow couldn’t stop thinking about the peacocks I saw in the morning. When I told my friends about what had happened, they laughed at me and gave various perverted theories as to what could have happened. They said that the dogs thought that I was just another dog riding on a cycle, the female dog got attracted to me as I looked like a handsome male dog and the jealous male dogs were competing for the female dog. I know that dogs are doing lots of cool stuff these days, but a dog generally cycling around the Bits campus at 1am in the night is rather improbable I guess. I don’t really know what made me do it ....but in the evening, I went back to the old garden. The peacocks were still there. I just looked at them and walked away. The next day I went back to the garden, but this time I stole a can of milk from the mess and left in the garden for the peacocks to drink. I didn’t know if I was crazy or not.....but i somehow felt connected to the peacocks. I kept doing the same thing daily, ya ....I kept stealing daily. The peacocks knew exactly when I would come and waited for me at the garden. A few days later, I was caught. I was presented before a disciplinary committee. When I told them I was feeding the peacocks, they were shocked (though they hid it well) and told me that it was none of my business to feed them. They let me go without any punishment, but I had to pay for the milk I had stolen. From the next day onwards.....I bought milk and gave it to the peacocks. Soon the number of peacocks which turned up increased. People who saw me with all the peacocks laughed and made fun of me. I wasn’t surprised, I mean even my friends teased me! But believe me ...it sure was worth it. The peacocks trusted me and I trusted them, I even gave them names....I felt powerful when I was with them. It gave me confidence ....confidence that somebody or something out there cares about and trusts me. Soon people started referring to me as “that peacock dude”....so I became “the peacock dude”.
One day, when I was with the peacocks, somebody called out “Why do you feed them? “. I looked around, it was a girl ...”the girl”. She was fair , not too tall , pretty slim , had short hair and ....and was also the most beautiful gal I had ever seen . (It’s always relativeJ). I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say! “You talk only to peacocks huh? “She said and laughed at her own ...err “joke” (the true bitsian that she is). Her smile ....it was “the smile”. ...She was so so ....wait a sec! Why would she even be interested in me! I was the loser peacock dude whom everybody made fun of.....she was probably here to make fun of me. I didn’t say anything and ignored her. “Hey! I’m sorry ....I hope I didn’t hurt u!” she said...and her tone made it clear to me that she was sorry. “No ....it’s not that...it’s just that people come here mostly to make fun of me ....” I told her, looking at nothing but my dirty old shoes.”But why?? I think what you’re doing is very cool and cute. “She said with a smile. “Really? “I asked ....I couldn’t stop blushing. “Not really ....I think you’re a pathetic loser freak who talks to peacocks cos they are the only things that can stand you! Ha ha ha! “She said and kept on laughing. I felt miserable ....I wanted to cry.... so I did cry. She was shocked ...she said, “Hey! Kiddo...why are u crying! Stop cryin! “I tried to stop crying, but I couldn’t. All the humiliation I faced seemed to come back with renewed force. She kept her arm around me and said “Hey! I’m sorry ....I didn’t mean it....it was just for fun ....people really are givin you a tough time huh? “I nodded in approval and wiped my face with my hanky. She said , “Look dude ...I’m sorry ...I understand how you fell....I had to wear braces on my teeth once and people really made fun of me then ....look ...if anybody ever gives you any trouble just call me ok ? “And she gave me her number. .....the first err “female number “I had!
She came to visit me and the peacocks every day after that. Sometimes, she even brought milk for the peacocks. She said she felt happy when she was with us and that really made me happy. Slowly our friendship grew and we became best friends. My friends thought that she was my girlfriend and congratulated me on my “great achievement”. I tried convincing them that she was only a friend...but they were in no mood to hear all of that. They even made a statue of me sitting on a peacock with the scrap they found behind the workshop. They installed the statue in the old garden and engraved “the peacock dude” on it.
It was simply perfect happiness. Sure, people still made fun of us ...I simply didn’t care anymore. I couldn’t define it ....me, the peacocks and her ...we were like a closely knit family. Everyday I was in heaven ...every minute was heavenly.... i was experiencing supreme bliss! Then I thought to myself, if I had a computer, I would have been stuck up in my room all the time and would have never met the peacocks or “the girl”. Then I decided that if my dad were a businessman ...I wouldn’t buy the world’s best computer ...I would buy more milk for the peacocks.
By,
Prateik Pothuneedi
(2007A7PS115)
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