The Preparation
THE PREPARATION
The sky was pitch black at midnight. The crickets chirped in the background, breaking the midnight peace. In a particular apartment, the lights were on. There was the sound of rustling papers, the smell of coffee, and the whispers of three friends. They were seriously preparing for the upcoming NEET examination.
The three friends grew up in a village where, during medical emergencies, people had to travel hours to reach the nearest hospital. With a shared dream of improving health care in their village, Abhay, Dhiraj, and Manik were determined to secure a government medical seat through NEET.
Inside the small apartment,
“I’m so done with this organic chemistry. Why does carbon have so many bonds? Why can’t it be like noble gases?” Dhiraj groaned from the study table.
“Inert gases are like you, Mr Patience. They don’t interact with anyone and stay calm like you in every situation,” Abhay replied playfully from the floor.
“So, carbon is like you, notorious, always trying to bond with everything possible?” Dhiraj clapped his hands, “Right, a good comparison. Always causes trouble,” countered the ever-calm one.
Handing each of them a cup of freshly brewed coffee, Manik smiled. “Got another organic chemistry question wrong, Dhir?”
“I can solve a hundred thermodynamics questions correctly, but couldn’t get this organic chemistry right for once.” He threw his hands in the air. “Why do alkane, alkene, and alkyne sound similar but interact differently? Help me with this.” Dhiraj pushed the book towards Manik.
“Okay.” Manik took the book. “This is a single bond, so…” he started explaining.
After a while, Abhay looked up from the floor, “Take a break, Dhiraj, and then solve. You have been continuously working on organic chemistry for three hours.” He knew how stressed Dhiraj was with organic chemistry. Organic chemistry had always been his weakest subject.
The three friends did their best to prepare for the next day’s mock. Manik took the coffee cup and stood at the window. He gazed at the night sky filled with stars. His eyes were distant, as if he were lost in thought. The other two noticed and stood beside him silently.
Manik spoke, “We had come so far in our journey. I hope the final exam next week goes well, as we thought.”
“We have tried our best, and we will do our best. Whatever happens, we three will be together”, Dhiraj put a hand on his shoulder.
“Remember the trip you cancelled to the village festival.” Manik pointed to Abhay.
“Hmm…” Abhay went deep into thought.
On a phone call, “When are you boarding the bus, Abhay? The village festival is only four days away.” Abhay’s father asked.
“Tomorrow, Appa. How is everyone there?”
“Fine, beta. Take care of your health. Tell Dhiraj and Manik they have my blessing.”
“Yes, Appa. Is everything fine in the fields? When are you going to harvest the crop?”
“Everything’s fine, beta. After the festival.”
“Okay, Appa. Take care. I’ll call tomorrow.”
After the call, they went to the classes as usual. That night, Abhay didn’t start packing the bags; he kept staring at his genetic evolution notebook without turning the pages.
Dhiraj sat beside him, “What happened? Didn’t start packing? You were so excited this time to celebrate the festival at home?”
Abhay did not reply; he slowly took the ticket and tore it. “I am not going to the village.” Left unsaid, the other two looked at each other, then at Abhay. They slowly moved their eyes from the notes to the torn ticket lying on the floor.
Manik wrapped his arms around Abhay, “Problem with evolution,” he concluded. He took the book, “Your notes…”, and with that, the topic shifted to the Hardy-Weinberg principle, mutation theory.
The next day, it was Dhiraj’s mother on the phone, “Bhaiyya told you are starting today?” she asked enthusiastically, “When will you reach?”
“…. Amma….” After a pause, “We three are not coming to the festival, Amma.”
“…Oh! Is it? It has been more than eight months since we saw you. Are you fine?” The mother’s concern and hidden sadness were evident in her voice.
“…Yes, Amma.” Dhiraj hesitated. “We are fine, Amma. We will try to come next month.” Dhiraj assured her after a brief pause.
“So, when do we start Evolution, before a panipuri at the street end? Or after?” questioned Manik from the door with a phone in his hand.
“I think Abhay is very eager to know about his own species evolution. So, we should start right away,” replied Dhiraj with a serious face and a playful tone.
It took a few seconds for Abhay to understand that Dhiraj was teasing him, calling him a monkey, and he started to chase him. Laughter filled the house amidst the deadline.
“He made us stay back too “, countered Dhiraj, bringing them back from memories.
“At least I didn’t have a vacation in the medical room”, Abhay wriggled his eyebrows at Dhiraj.
“Hey….” Dhiraj pointed a finger at Abhay.
“I hadn’t seen Dhiraj in the chemistry lab. Is he in the physics lecture with you?” Manik asked Abhay.
“No, he said he was going to meet the zoology professor”
One of their classmates came to them and informed them, “Dhiraj is in the medical room, Manik”. The next moment, they found themselves running to the medical room.
In the medical room,
“You have 102°F, and you are going to the mock exam? Do you have any sense?” The nurse scolded Dhiraj
“Is this the Zoology professor’s office, Mr Careless?” came the slightly cold but tense voice of Abhay.
He turned, only to find his two best friends standing at the doorway. “We will take care of him, Ma’am. Thank you,” said Abhay to the nurse after talking to her.
As soon as the three of them reached home, Manik shoved Dhiraj onto the bed.
“Arey, slowly. I have a fever,” he collapsed onto the bed.
“Oh! Is it so? Then who is the one playing hero? Me?” Sarcasm dripped from every word of Manik.
“See how I’m going to torture you”, he warned and left for the kitchen.
“I’m dead, he is going to make that khatta khada”, he exclaimed in horror.
“You brought this on yourself”, came Abhay’s lazy reply, though the concern in his voice was unmistakable.
Reminiscing about the old days, they laughed heartily.
As the night came to an end, the friends drifted into deep sleep, dreaming of a promising future and an unspoken vow to stand by one another in every storm and setback.
After a week of relentless study and determination to earn a place in the best medical college, the day of the examination finally arrived. The three friends embraced one another.
“Whatever happens, we’ll stand by one another.”
“And no matter what, we’ll fulfil the dream we share.”
