"Hey dude, where are you? I'm still waiting for you here." the male voice on the other side was soft and slightly anxious.
Waiting? oh, right ! He remembered that he had a Meetup with his friends today.
"...I- I'm on the way. Just wait for 5 more minutes."
"On the way? like I would believe you. Anyway, I don't care but you must be here in a few minutes. We don't have much time, see ya." the other side quickly hung up the phone.
After he put the phone aside, Arjun fell into deep thought.
This is February 3rd week. The end semester exams for the final year students of B.A Acting course were already over but they are still not considered as true graduates. Because an important event for them is yet to over and today is last day of auditions for the event, Spirit Award Fest.
Spirit Award Fest !
For all the final year students of Art colleges, especially the 5 Great Art Universities of Telangana region, southern part of India, it is a great opportunity to fully showcase their talent.
Most importantly, it is going to be Live for 5 days on Maa TV, one of the famous regional Tv channels.
Five Great Art Universities, one day in one university; a full 5 days event.
Auditions, stage, technical setup, camera, management, hosting, participation... everything will be managed by the students and students only.
If they managed to catch some company's eyes, it isn't impossible to be hired for mainstream dramas or daily serials. It really is a heaven sent opportunity for these young graduates.
One thing worth depressing is that the competition is just too fierce. The students not only had to compete with other universities, they even had to be wary of their own fellow students of the same universersity.
To avoid embarrassing themselves, most of the average and unconfident students choose not to participate. The previous Arjun was such example. Though his acting and singing weren't bad, they weren't considered good either. Coupled with his introverted personality, he ultimately chose not to.
As for the Meetup, it was because one of his friends was going for the auditions. So he and Sri ram decided to tag along to cheer him on.
While recalling the information from his memories, Arjun quickly dressed up and walked out...
...
16th February
Year 2030 of Modern Calendar
It was winter season. So even though it was day time, the weather is still slightly cold and chilly.
During the this season, except for the students and those that had go for work, not many people tend to go outside. So the streets of Hyderabad City, the Capital of Telangana region were not much crowded. Even the roads were clear and empty without much traffic.
The distance between the Arjun's place and his university was just 5 kilometers; even by taxi, it didn't take him more than 15 min to arrive there.
As Arjun stepped out of the taxi, the huge gate at the entrance of the university greeted his eyes. At the top of the gate, the words 'RAJIV GANDHI DRAMA UNIVERSITY' were written in a bold font.
Rajiv Gandhi Drama University, one of the five Great Art Universities, the place where Arjun studied his degree.
After admiring it's grandeur for a while, he started looking around. Near the entrance, he noticed a short guy wearing casual t-shirt and black torn jeans. It was Sri Ram, his best friend. Sri Ram was rather handsome except he was just too short so he looked like a cute high school boy despite being a university graduate.
As Arjun was looking at him, Sri Ram also noticed Arjun. Immediatly his eyes lit and he started waving his hand with a grin on his face.
Arjun smiled and walked over.
"Welcome Mister Arjun Vishwa Aryan. Forgive this humble one for not preparing a red carpet to honour you presence." Sri Ram put on a act and started talking in a respectful tone.
Arjun was amused. Putting on a stern stance, he continued the act "Lacking, too lacking. A single carpet and a single servant are not enough. There should atleast a dozen servants bowing their heads and a double dozen maids throwing flowers."
"Eh?" Sri Ram was surprised. This shouldn't be his usual reply for his teasing. He quickly dropped the act and asked with a perplexed tone "say bro, are you... okay?''
"What do you think?" Arjun rolled his eyes.
"I can't really explain but you- you look a lot different today." As he carefully observed, Sri Ram found a lot changes in Arjun. His eyes which were usually dull are glowing brightly. His elegant demeanor, condifent aura... he is indeed a lot different from the usual Arjun.
"Of course I'm different. Your best friend died and I, an otherworld evil spirit occupied his body" Arjun replied with a smile.
"Hahaha... evil spirit I see. If you are an evil spirit then I'm the reincarnation of an underworld devil" Sri Ram laughed cheekily, already forgetting about Arjun's changes.
"...haha." Arjun shrugged his shoulders and he too laughed.
Sri Ram stopped laughing and checked time in the watch on his wrist. "11: 15 a.m, The auditions should have just started. Let's go before we miss Harsha's performance." he took Arjun's hand and dragged him towards the gate.
Both showed their student id cards to the security before entering through the small gate besides the huge gate.
Ding!
Suddenly Arjun's mysterious phone rang.
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