It’s not me, it’s you

and end up with a stool ridiculously low compared to the others. It’s too late to swap mine with another. Well, it looks like I’m the unlucky one today.

After carefully unloading the drafter and other delicate freight, we pin our sheets to the board. In the mentioned process, the following things fall off my desk, awaiting retrieval: my extra sheets, eraser, roller scale, and my patience. I set the drafter hastily as sir begins the construction. After I’m done picking up the stationery (set aside the perennially irretrievable eraser), I look up. I can barely read the title on the green board. Glad to leave the chair, I advance towards the board (and my friend) to wrap my head around today’s topic.

Soon, all my classmates huddle around for the same purpose — some sharing a single stool, some resting on their mate’s shoulder, some very possessive of their assigned space, some standing upright with attention. It’s unbearably moist and pungent from the summer heat and humidity, but hey, at least I have my friend next to me to complain to now.

I am oblivious to the fact that I will miss this a couple of years from this day.

It is time for us to begin with the construction, so we head back to our desks like a flock of birds in the evening. After adequate (rather extra) discussion and discord with my desk neighbours, I complete 2 out of 4 figures. It is now that the amicablebut-mighty faculty comes around to my desk to evaluate the past week’s assignment. Yikes.

He casually advises me to buy a better compass and commands me to pull out my HW Sheet No. 5, bringing my heart into my throat. While reluctantly setting my sheet for him to check, I reply, “lol, okay sir.”

Am I going to buy that new ‘mechanical’ compass? Well, mine works perfectly.

“You—”

Oh no, has he spotted the error?

“—need to improve your uppercase handwriting.”

Phew. He hasn’t. After two painfully long minutes, he scrawls a 9.5/10 and moves on to his next victim.

Wait. 9.5? How?

Hereafter, all those hours trying to solve questions myself will most definitely be postponed to a night before midsems.

Amused and happy, I quickly finish my classwork sheet and chat around with others in the room. Even the bee hovering around my ear doesn’t bother me anymore.

After half an hour of finessing my sheet, whining about my sore back from the strenuous drawing, and frowning at my friends’ silly jokes, it’s 17:30. We’re finally free to leave the lab and head straight to the vada pav stall outside campus. With a hungry stomach and a story to tell, I’m sure I wouldn’t want the day to end any other way.

With a smirk, I realize that this unwilling mistake has just kicked off a whole new era.

Written By:

Foram Fanasia

Illustrated By: Manish Goyal

“Although I could not give you a proper farewell, we can say our goodbyes now.”