At Lit Club Meeting:
As usual everyone waited for Rajat to start the meeting. That day's agenda was upcoming competitions and probable topics. It was still not decided on who would represent the club on these competitions, but looked like seniors would get preference for important ones and the juniors could take part in others. After that, came the time to discuss essays from the new members. One by one everyone had to read their words out loud so that everyone could listen and understand. In the end the seniors would share their thoughts and feedback if any. Somehow Shradha had managed to secure corner seat again and as usual was ignored by everyone. Nishant also read his essay loud and this time he was less nervous. Once everyone was done reading, it was time for the 'moment of truth' .
Nishant was confident that although his essay wasn't perfect, it was definitely a good one, considering the serious tone and the topic. So when they started talking about the 'addiction and drug usage in students' and how they felt it was very vague, Nishant was confused. Many of them had the opinion, although all the good words were there, what was clearly lacking was the originality. Except for the conclusion which had managed to show that the writer clearly had skills, the seniors had to point out that rest of the essay was rather dry and mechanical. Rajat concluded that " It was really a good effort. But we are more interested in your voice and thoughts rather than what books or blogs say about this topic. I have to agree that the conclusion was good and I could see your effort.I would really love to see you write about something light, like mass bunks or traffic and share your and your thoughts only. It is very important to understand your own stand on any topic that is thrown at you, if you want to take writing seriously. So for now, we think you should improve on your style and maybe submit 1 write up every meeting. This will surely help you improve. You don't have to read it out loud every time. Just mail it to us 1 day before the meeting and we discuss on it everytime after the meeting. "
Everyone were leaving and nishant was sitting in daze. He just could not understand how the top rank student got 'homework' and had to prove his place in the team while others were able to enter the club without any hindrance. This was the first time something like this had happened and it was clear on his face that, he was not happy. As usual Shradha was silent observer and she had noticed how mechanical Nishant was from the beginning. It was as though he was there not to work on his writing skills, but just for the sake of being there. Shradha thought "Maybe someone told him to get out of the classroom and books and mingle with some real people" Seeing how lost Nishant was, she walked up to him and spoke in low voice. "Listen, don't think much. All of them practiced a lot before they were able to write decently. So just write what you want to write and don't think about others." Shradha was surprised how gentle her voice sounded. She was not really the encouraging type, but there were times when she would just ignore her bitchy image and comfort someone who looked sad or lost. Most of the times people would ignore her or think that she was just acting. But that did not stop her from anything. She had the experience of how it felt when one had to get up all by himself after falling down. So whenever possible she would just extend helping hand. It was no big deal.
Nishant was shocked by her words. Those were not mocking words or just forced sympathetic ones. Emotions were very genuine; as though she really tried to make him feel better. That was totally strange. She was not supposed to be like this. This was totally out of character; at least in his eyes. He took a whole minute to digest those words and then replied slowly, "Thank you. I .. I don't know what else to say.. " Shradha cut him off " Its alright. I know you are surprised to see some humanity in me, which is alright. It's no big deal." saying this, she walked away, leaving dazed Nishant behind. "Maybe she is not that bad" was all that he could come up with.