"Wow! Brother Arko is as awesome as always!" "How do you think Bikram will perform now?" "Who knows? He was quite good then, maybe they'll have a tie?" "Heh! No chance. He's nowhere as good as our Brother Arko." "Geez, would you guys stop talking amongst yourselves and let me listen? Bikram's already heading towards the piano. Shh!" "Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's listen."
The whispers died down as Bikram stepped towards the piano. Before taking a seat he looked at Ritutandra, who was leaning against the chair with one leg above the other in a bossy manner and was spinning the flute in one hand. Their eyes met. Ritutandra's blank eyes were facing Bikram's determined gaze. 'I have to prove to her that I'm no less than him. I'll definitely give my best.' His fingers landed on the keys. They glided slowly and softly; smoothly across the keys. The tune sounded very simple but if someone were to look at his fingers, one would understand the complexity of playing the piece. The slow melody was soothing. After Arko's upbeat performance, it was a complete reversal of the atmosphere.
The atmosphere was serene. Coupled with Bikram's looks, it wasn't difficult to picture him as a little prince playing his piano on a moonlit night as the white light flooded the balcony and fell on a part of the piano while slightly reflecting on his beautiful face. The melody took the audience to a dreamland.
The room went quiet after Bikram finished. It was only after the tool he was sitting on screeched as he pushed it back to get up that everyone came back to their senses. One by one everyone started clapping. The claps echoed in the room for about three minutes. Bikram bowed to them and looked at Ritutandra who was quietly sitting there. After the clapping sounds came to an end did she speak, "Now the results?" Everyone silently waited.
Bikram narrowed his eyes and waited for her announcement. He gulped to calm himself. "It's Bikram Sen," Ritutandra said nonchalantly. His eyes widened in disbelief. He won? He really won! His lips curled up as he said "Thank you Voice Captain." Ritutandra nodded. No one could counter the results. It was proven that Bikram was more skilled than Arko. Although according to ranks Arko was second to Ritu there was a huge disparity between them. If Ritu had a hundred points then Arko would get only twenty-something. Since no one else managed to score in between them till now, they were the top two. But now Bikram managed to surpass Arko, though it would just be a difference of a few points.
As everyone congratulated Bikram Arko came over with a dark face and whispered as he went by "This time you might have snatched Ritutandra from me but there won't be a next time. I'm warning you. Stay, away from her." Bikram frowned slightly and looked at him with a puzzled gaze. 'The VC is my idol. Where is this snatching thing coming from? Is he crazy?' he thought but soon the other's voice drew him out of his thoughts.
"Now, the singers," said Ritutandra and opened the list. The selection was over quickly because there were not many candidates for the vocal. Koushik was chosen for the solo and Rishi and two others were chosen for the folk song. After that practice began. The singer went to that little room to learn the songs whereas the instrumentalists sat with the respective instruments they will be playing. Ritutandra gave a basic outline of how the music will proceed with the vocal. A screen appeared on one of the walls displaying the rough arrangement.
It was about lunchtime when everyone finally managed to get a hang of the outline of their performance. The newcomers were ready to hug Ritu's feet to get a break. They never got such a strict perfectionist mentor. And each mistake that Ritutandra pointed out was valid. No one could refute saying she was bullying them. At first, some students tried to argue that she was talking nonsense but they never imagined that from the beginning whatever they played was recorded. Ritutandra played the recording on the screen and specifically highlighted the portions with mistakes. She also made all those arguers record their pieces individually and compared them.
The veterans who were already experienced with Ritu's method only looked at the new students with pity especially those who argued. But what amazed those students and the other newcomers were that they only understood the mistakes when the recordings were compared by the computer but Ritutandra could pick them out even without the help of technology and that too only hearing once! One student even spoke her thoughts aloud from shock "Do you have some device set in your ear?" "No. Wanna check?" Ritutandra said lazily. Seeing her unbothered attitude everyone finally believed the level of her talent!
During lunch time Ritu came out to have her food when Bikram caught up to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked seeing him hesitant to speak. "Uh... I wanted to ask you for some guidance. Earlier during the rehearsal you pointed out my mistake but I don't seem to understand those can you explain it?" he asked with a polite smile. "Did I not individually point and list your mistakes?" Bikram sighed and somewhat embarrassedly said "Yes, you did." "Then?" Ritutandra raised her eyebrows. "But... when you explain it I seem to understand but when I'm trying to correct them I just feel lost about where and how to change. So.." He bit his lips and looked at her. She thought for some time and said "Okay, come with me." He thanked her and followed.