Chp 86. What really happened in the IIMB Campus.

The Untold Story.

[ This post is about being honest with your friends and helping them before they ruin their life or career by telling them the truth even if you know they don’t want to hear the truth ]

We all know what goes on inside those hostel rooms of many Colleges, where the students have all the freedom to do anything that they want since they are far away from the prying eyes of the College or Hostel administration. Well, this is one such story….

The untold story that really took place during my short term at IIMB, Bangalore. The names had been changed for obvious reasons. It’s up to you to believe it or not, but I just wanted to tell everyone about this because of the consequences it could lead to if it went unchecked. Reader’s utmost discretion requested.

The place: My hostel room, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Music playing on my comp: Comfortably numb by Pink Floyd.
People in my room: Me, Mike and John.

Mike: Oh comon, you gotta drag faster than that!
Me: Mannnn shut up, I’m trying my best. I’m not as experienced as you are.
John: Here, pass it to me, I’ll show you how to drag.

(I passed on the device to John and with one sleight of his two trembling fingers, he executed the fastest drag I’ve ever seen. He took a deep breath and dragged the entire thing in less than 5 seconds!!!!)

Me: Wow! I’m impressed!
John: See, that is how you drag it. You’re too much of a pansy, dude.
Me: Hey it’s not my fault. You know I can’t drag that fast.
John: You gotta raise the bar dude. The faster you drag, the more kick you get out of it.
Mike: *cough cough* Open the windows Kim, it’s getting awfully stuffy in here.
Me: Fine. I just didn’t expect the two of you to drop by my room and do this stuff. Where did you buy this shit anyway?
John: You gotta have eyes for it man. Just go to Majestic near the bus stands and you will see many dealers out there ready selling this stuff.
Me: Man, sometimes you scare me dude. How illegal is this stuff?
Mike: Enough to land you in Jail.
John: *laughs* So Mike, when was the first time you ever dragged it?
Mike: I don’t exactly remember, but I sure am hooked to it now.

(All three of us laughed, but it was an uncomfortable laughter)

Me: Right on. It’s really addictive man.
Mike: Seriously. Now I cannot even concentrate on my studies anymore because of this.
Me: That’s what scares me. I’ve even stopped playing outdoor games. It’s taking a big toll on my fitness.

(There was a brief moment of silence. John was the first to break the awkward silence)

John: *Ahem* Anyway… have you guys ever tried dragging other stuff… you know…
Mike: You mean…
John: Yeah.
Mike: No way dude. I heard that’s too risky.
Me: I’m with Mike on this one. I’m never gonna mix and drag.
John: See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. You guys never take any risk at all.
Mike: Dude. You wanna throw away your life? It’s not like we have nine lives you know.
Me: Exactly.
John: Well, I don’t know about you guys but I ain’t gonna live the rest of my life in dullsville. I like to gamble with my life and take chances.

(Mike looked at me I knew exactly what he was thinking. John was way into this stuff and he needed professional help)

Me: Listen, I don’t like to do this but… John, that’s enough of dragging. You gotta leave my room man. I’m so sorry.

(John turned around and looked at me disbelievingly. He knew very well that he couldn’t do that outside my room. Fortunately for me, Mike came to my rescue)

Mike: Dude, Kima is right. Look at yourself. Your eyes are already red. Other guys in the hostel are already starting to talk behind your back calling you an addict…
John: Screw them all. Like I care. It’s not my fault that they haven’t discovered such euphoria as this.
Me: It’s not about them John. It’s about you that we are worried.
Mike: Yes John. Listen to Kima. Atleast the two of us can control our urges and know when to stop.
Me: The other night I was coming back from a group study and when I passed your room at around 2 in the morning, I saw you still dragging away to glory…
John: So you guys are spying on me now?

(Oooh boy. Things were starting to get really out of hand)

Mike: Relax John. Sit down. We are trying to help here.
John: Screw you both. I can take care of myself.
Me: Yes we know you can John. You definitely can. We just wanted to say… you’re not the same John we used to know.
Mike: You have changed a lot John. The moment you first started dragging, you slowly started becoming a different person.
Me: Yes. And we want the old John back. The fun John. The John that used to love nature walk and playing basketball.

(John slowly sat down and thought for a minute. Then he looked up at us.)

John: You guys really think I’ve changed that much?
Me: Yes John. We hardly go out anymore. You’re always in your room or at one of our rooms dragging away. Look, your hands are even shaking.
Mike: Comon John, lets go to CCD and I’ll treat you to a nice cup of hot steaming coffee. It will do you good.
Me: Yeah John. Listen to Mike. Stop this for now.
John: I guess you guys are right. I mean… I have realized what I have become because of this. My grades are starting to fall and I’ve stopped hanging out with other people. I just thought I’ll stop one day but…
Me: It’s ok John. We are there now. We will help you through this.
Mike: Come, the coffee awaits us. Kima, are you coming?
Me: No guys, I’m really sorry but I got an assignment to submit. You guys go ahead. I’ll join you all later.
Mike: Ok, take care then. Come John.
John: Bye Kima.
Me: Bye guys.
John: Uh… before I go, can I have just one last drag?
Mike: No John! No more drag. Come.

As I watched the two of them disappear from my hostel room, I felt relieved in a strange way. Finally we told John what we’ve been trying to tell him for the past few days. He was extremely hooked to it and he really needed to stop. It’s true, his grades were definitely affected. He used to be one of the toppers before, now he was in the bottom 20 of the class. Anyway, I lied to them about the assignment submission. I wanted to continue dragging. Hell, I’m not addicted to it like John was, but I just wanted to finish what we started.

I walked back into my room and contemplated on what had just happened in here the past 10 minutes. Just thinking about it bought a small smile upon my face. Man, some of the things John said were really crazy. How could anyone mix and drag? It was just too damn risky. Mike was right, we don’t have nine lives, we have only three.

So I sat infront of my computer again, this time trying to drag the “eggs” faster into the “nest”. It was a new pirated computer-game John bought recently and I really sucked at it. There were many different types of eggs and you just had to keep dragging one particular type into a nest before the time runs out. In between, if you dragged a different type of egg into the nest, you could lose a life. Ahh, that’s what happened once, during my time at IIMB.

Cheerios!