PART 5-"Complications continued"

Rahul and Roopa were sitting near Nescafe and munching on the grilled sandwich.Renu came there with her friends and her eyes were red.Rahul saw her and immediately went to calm her down.

Rahul:I will just come Baby!!

Roopa:Even i will also come dear.She is as close to me as she is to you.

Rahul had introduced the girls to each other and they had hit it off instantly.Roopa in her mind thought Renu as a sister of Rahul.But seeing the manner(for the first time face to face) in which they spoke to each other,the manner how Rahul was calming her down,she understood the relationship between them was not what she had thought it as.

Rahul immediately went on his bike to bring Renu a Perk(her favourite chocolate)as it was not available in Nescafe shop.He was back in no time.

Seeing all this

Roopa:"I will leave you two alone for a while.I will just be looking around the campus."

Rahul sensed something wrong when Roopa looked at him differently when she was leaving the place.He went behind her.

Rahul:"Hey whats wrong?Why are you going?It looks odd ya"
he said in his girls-specific sweet voice.It was different when he spoke with his gang-he was loud and boisterous.

Roopa just made up some reason.

Roopa:"Its ok Rahul,its your last day in this college,probably the last day you will be seeing Renu,its ok,i will just be around" she said in a tone which was both assertive and requesting.

When he heard "last day you will be seeing Renu",Rahul realised the gravity of the situation.It was THE last day,probably he might never be able to see her again.All the memories of their friendship for the last three years flashed past his mind.

Three years back at the end of second semester Rahul's then girlfriend had broken up with him and it hurt his ego to see that girl going with another guy of a different branch.That was the time when there was no gang and he was alone.It was at that time when the two being in the same lab batch had become close friends what with all the notes exchanges,teaching each other the syllabi etc,listening to each other's problems etc.Infact in the later semesters when their friendship grew even closer both their respective friends used to tease the both of them that it was love and not friendship that they claimed.Inspite of all this their friendship only grew more stronger.

Now they would not be able to see each other so frequently.They would get busy in their own lives.They had become such a big part of each other's lives that it was hard for them to imagine their life without each other.

Rahul went near Renu.

Rahul:"Here have your Perk "Almunji""(the nickname Rahul had given her as she was a cry-baby).
Renu:"You still know what makes me happy,from now on who will give me these Perks,who will calm me down Rahs,i hope you dont forget me" she said,her eyes searching for something in Rahul's eyes.

Rahul:"Dont worry Almunji,i will get you the Perk whenever you feel sad(Perk was just a metaphor for the friendship they shared),its not like we are not going to see each other,just give a call and i will come" he said knowing himself that this could not be possible.
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Siddharth called up Preeti.The phone rang many rings but no one seemed to be picking up,but then suddenly as Siddharth was about to keep the phone he heard

"Hello!",the voice he was anxious to hear,finally she spoke.Her sweet voice was like fresh calm breeze in a desert.

Siddharth:"Why dint you pick up ??i was so anxious,how are you?forget i just called to say that i am coming there tomorrow morning.I am climbing today's train" he said hurriedly but there seemed to be no reaction from the other side.

Siddharth did not realise in his hurry that he was speaking to Preeti's mother.

Preeti's mom:"May i know who is this?who is this?" she asked in angry tone.
Siddharth immediately kept the phone by saying "wrong number".It helped he had not blurted out any name.Preeti's mom just tried to ignore it but as all anxious parents of a girl to be married she went to Preeti and asked her in private whether she was in love with some one else.

"If you are Putti tell me,because you may marry just to please but you will be destroying three people's lives".Preeti was aware that she had a large joint family and their reputation was to be kept in mind as in villages respect and dignity was priced more than individual choice and freedom.She smilingly said "No,if i had i would have told you na amma" she said.She could'nt muster up the courage to tell the truth,not even sure whether Siddharth would make any move forward as he was still young for a boy to get married and he still had to settle down and establish himself.

Siddharth dint call again.He decided he would go there as planned and tell the truth to her parents.
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As Guru had bought a new sim, the three of them -Sharan,Jatin and him decided to play the final trick of their engineering life-that was to send messages to their friends posing as someone anonyomous or some girl that was known to that friend.
It was in this way that Ravi and Lavanya had started to message.Lavanya had taken Ravi's number so that she could ask all the doubts during internals and exams.But apart from that there were no messages coming his way from her.

Once when in Ravi's house Guru asked Ravi whether he could message anyone from Ravi's mobile.Ravi said ok.But Guru instead sent a message to Lavanya

"Hi Babes what you doing?" and could not stop laughing after what he had done.
.A reply came soon enough

"Dint expect this from you dude" she had replied,but for once even she had understood there was more to this school-boy looking guy.Ravi was puzzled by this reply but started chatting on the mobile once in two days after that.

On another day when Jatin,Sharan and Guru were hanging out in his home,the three decided to play a mischief on Ravi.Whenever asked as to what was between Lavanya and him,Ravi used to give his usual reply
"Nothing Maga,just friends"

So they decided to find out the truth.They took Ravi's mobile under some pretext and interchanged the names of Jatin's and Lavanya's numbers.Then they started sending messages to Ravi,which now for Ravi looked as if it was from Lavanya.Their usual chatting regarding academics started.The guys decided to step it up a notch.

Ravi:"Hey how is system software,specially that compiler chapter?"
The three guys thought hard as to what to reply.They came up with

"Its long and hard dear".

Ravi on reading this was bolted out of the blue."What is she replying?.can girls also be so naughty?"
These jokes continued and after a while the number exchanges got so confusing that when Guru
sent a message "Where are you ppl?" ,it was from Lavanya for Ravi as that number was also exchanged."Why does she want to know where the gang is?" Ravi thought to himself.
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The three guys smiled to themselves remembering this.Just then Ravi arrived in the room with a rose.

"I am going to propose to her man,i am going to propose to her during the end of farewell".The three of them dint know what to say.
Just then Sharan received a call.Jatin again became nervous.After the call he asked Sharan.

"Who is it dude?Was it Shruthi?" he asked nervously.
He dint want their friendship to be broken and specially not on the last day.



To be continued..............

PART 4-Complicated Matters

Guru was on his bike.He was about to go and breakup with Sheetal.He plugged in his earphone and played on a racy song.As he drove speedily towards Jayanagar the mobile rang "Baabuji sara Dheere chalo(the Yana Gupta one)".It was his mother.She was weeping on the other end of the line.She had received a call from his sister from USA.

Her husband had left her for another woman.Guru became numb.He and his brother-in-law had great chemistry.Infact his brother in law had joked once that a man should not get tied to one girl all his life.He had laughed then but now it had happened to his sister.In many ways Guru was modelling himself along his brother-in-law.Was he also going to be a treacherous person like his brother-in-law?He was going to do the same thing for the girl to whom he had said numerous times "I love you".

It took him some time to get back to his senses."What was i going to do?How can i take relationships so lightly?What am i becoming into?"As these many questions twirled around in his head he called up Sheetal and said that he would meet her later as the farewell party was in less than 2 hours.
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Jatin returned back and went straight to Sharan's room as was his normal practice after college hours.As he parked his 'once in 2 year serviced bike' near the Indraprastha Boys hostel he looked up the 2nd floor window."Man,i cant believe i will not be calling anyone out from here,one final time" he said to himself -"one final time" -"Shaaarannn" he yelled.Sharan dint look out.Jatin went up to his room.He saw Sharan sitting crowled in his plastic chair and watching "Tanhayee" video song of "Dil Chahta Hai".

Jatin:"What the hell is wrong with you 'cut-piece'?Why are you not ready yet?".Sharan was called 'cut-piece' because supposedly they doubted whether he was a boy with all his 'parts' intact.They had made up crude jokes on him telling everyone that he rented out his "assets" on a 'Cash and Carry' mode.

Sharan just muttered something and kept quiet.Jatin and the rest of the gang were used to this behaviour from him.Any small setback and one could see Sharan sitting crouched on his 'Amara' plastic chair wearing a loose short.

Jatin:'Hey cut-piece come man,get ready quick,pack all your luggage and keep.You have to go by the 10.30 train right?'

Sharan:'Shruthi broke up with me man,i dont know why,i had sensed it man,but dint expect it today of all days,sadness for me from all directions maga' he stuttered fast.

Jatin:"Whattt?? Bhabhi broke up!! I cant believe this man,dont joke man."
It was like the unimaginable had happened.If there was one romance which was consistent and uncorrupted it was theirs.Sharan and Shruthi were so tight that Jatin was given the privilege of calling her Bhabhi.Infact Shruthi and Jatin had become very good friends over mobile,orkut and sometimes even calls.Jatin also had brought truce between them whenever they had their usual lovers tiffs over trivial issues.He was like the Guardian of their relationship.Infact Jatin used to even say that Shruthi was the best Bhabhi of all he had.

Sharan:"I am not joking"
He retorted back in an angry tone.

Jatin knew Sharan was serious.He went outside the room and called up Shruthi.

Jatin:"What is this Bhabhi?why such a sudden decision,Sharan is devastated,how could you do this Bhabhi?"

Shruthi:"I have fallen in love with someone else Jatin"

Jatin:"Are you both making a maamu of me because it is the last day,is this some joke Bhabhi?"

Shruthi"Jatin jatin jatin please listen to me.I think its important that you know who the guy is...its.......its ....YOU!!"

Jatin:"Ok,now definitely you are kidding,did Sharan ask you to make bakra of me Bhabhi?"

Shruthi:"No i am not joking.you know we would not,i really have fallen in love with you Jatin,i dont know when i developed feelings for you,i cant explain it,but it is 2 years since we know each other,i dont know how,you need to understand the sensitivities,please dont make any wrong assumption of me,i am sorry if you are hurt,think it over,if you understand please call me" and she kept the phone.

Jatin was dumbfounded.For the first time he realised he had become a grown up and the issues he was going to face would be far more complicated whether it was respect to relationships or career or anything else.

He dint know whether Shruthi had already told Sharan about this.Whether Sharan wanted him to tell something about this?..He dint know what to do.He went into the room.Sharan was getting ready.

Jatin:"What are you doing man?"
Sharan:"Dont we have to go to the farewell" he smiled,with the smile looking probingly at Jatin.

Jatin :"Are you okay?" Jatin asked nervously.
Sharan:"ya i am not,but you know what i am not going to spoil the last day here like this man..i want to enjoy with my best friends,i want to enjoy with you brother"

Jatin thought to himself " Brother!! i dont know what to tell him,i feel like i have betrayed him,its all my fault,i got too close to her"

Sharan asked as to what was Jatin thinking and and handed to him a dvd.Just then Guru also came.The dvd was Jatin's.The dvd had a long story behind it.

As was the customs of normal Boys hostels guys used to start watching certain different coloured films on their computers.It all started when Jatin when in the second semester was hanging out in GH13 block in the college hostel along with the rest of the classmates.They got talking on certain 'hardcore videos' and how Jatin had not watched them until then.Sharan had claimed he had started watching them from 7th standard,Rahul in an exaggeration had told he was watching literally from when he was born.He had claimed

"Maga these things are not new to me maga,if u are still in kindergarten about this,i have passed PUC in this" he had proudly claimed to Sharan.

Then the debate went on for a long time about "Who was the Bad Daddy?".Prakash then told Jatin that he wanted to show the "most played game" in the world to him.As he switched on the computer and the video thereafter Jatin was left wanting more.Finally he had lost his "virginity of innocence".

After a couple of months Jatin had declared that he was the real Bad Daddy after having learnt everything there was to.In the fourth semester however there were some ebooks that a professor in his department wanted to give.As he was going out of the department Guru was called by 'Winki'' as the professor was popularly known as((because he used to flicker his eyes so constantly that it used to look as though he was winking at others.Infact when in third semester Rahul had thought that this person was gay as he winked at him in the lab.That was before they knew that it was his habit)).

Winki told Guru to give him some cd or pendrive so that he could give him some study matter regarding the subject.As there were two similar dvds with no names written on them to diffrentiate Guru gave him the wrong dvd.

As Winki opened the dvd he saw a video file named "Puppies of America" written on it.Being a dog lover he asked Guru who was looking elsewhere whether he could copy it.Guru dint know what to do as in that semester there was still some fear about the professor's power.He reluctantly agreed as he had no choice.

The next day Winki came straight to Guru and asked him whether he had more such 'educational videos' which left the whole gang in splits.

As the three of them remembered of the good times,they looked at each other and had a 'Guy hug'.As Sharan hugged,Jatin was becoming more and more nervous about losing this embrace forever.

PART 3-Some Memories

Jatin soon realized that she was blind.She had come to Mysore for one of her relative's marriage.He dint know how to react.He was blank for a moment.Neha's sister sensing his sentiments told him that she was thankful that her sister had a friend in him but they dint expect anything else from him.

They just wanted to see the guy who was messaging their girl for the past 4 years.He dint react to it.They wished him a good life and were leaving when Neha came upto him and thanked him.She said that she dint have any friends as people who saw her would always look at her with sympathy and not as one among them.

Atleast for those 4 years she had got someone to share her feelings with.She said "You dont know how much you have impacted my life!!".She again thanked him and went away.Jatin was left speechless.He was numb.Everything had happened so fast that he had little control.By not speaking had he also shown his insensitive side?If the girl was not blind would he have reacted the same way?He dint know.He drove back on his bike to college.Sitting on the steps of yampa with a pile of rubbish before him there he contemplated over what had just happened.

All of the 6 friends had decided to meet at 8 pm in college just before the send-off party.
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Ravi wanted to speak to Lavanya.As he was entering the college main gate he remembered that it would be the last time he was entering as a student.He remembered the first time.How unsure and nervous he was.The mixed feelings of sadness of leaving college and nervousness of speaking to Lavanya churned out a well of thoughts in him.He waited for her to come near the steps where he had called her.She was his classmate for 4 years.He was the mostly friendly guy in his class.But his problem was that no one used to take him seriously.

He wanted to fall in love but every girl he met looked at him as a friend than a lover to be.He had tried all the tricks in the trade.Exercising,jogging,gym,trying to talk in a different tone,carrying himself differently etc.But still his image if a sweet guy had not changed.He dint want any longer to be the "helper sweet" boy.He wanted others to look at him as a grown up.He wanted to be a "salty" not a "sweet" guy.In his mind only those type were able to score girls.As he was floating in all these wrong notions his classmates Vijeth and Varun stopped by to talk to him.

It was about time Lavanya would be coming and he dint want these "all india radios" to be there."What are you doing here man,all are meeting up near the canteen" said Vijeth in his usual irritating snoopy way of asking.Ravi used to hate the both of them as they used to make fun of his height and his friendship with girls of their class.Soon Thejus another one of his class mates joined him.As he had thought the jerks that Vijeth and Varun were they immediately started making up stories about Ravi's wait there to Thejus.All the three jerks went away after a while.

Then Lavanya came there with Aditya."You wanted to tell something?" she asked.Seeing Aditya with her,it saddened Ravi further.He wished that someone from his group were there to support him.He really liked Lavanya but dint know how to express it.Infact Aditya had taken his help to become friends with her as Ravi had come to know of her likes and dislikes through Gtalk.
Every Jayciana he saw her walking with Aditya it used to hurt him.He used to anonymously go and dedicate a song and rose to her in the stalls.Never having the courage to speak out his true feelings he had chosen to hide them.

He thought if he dint say now,he could never say it again,so he decided to go to the LOVE GURU of the group Rahul to seek his help on how to tell her.He messaged him to come near Ganesha Temple in the college premises.It was the last day and he dint want to lose his last chance.
Rahul arrived there with Roopa in super speed as he usually drove."Hi Ravi!!" Roopa said,Rahul tells me that you are such a sweet guy and all"."SWEET",he dint want to hear that word again.This image had ruined his possible tie-ups.

Egged on by the moral support he decided to speak to Lavanya finally.
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Sharan was in his room.Although it was time to say goodbye to the college his break-up was more in his mind.Just then Mahipathi a friend of his in college came to give back some of the CDs he had taken from him.Looking at his face Mahipathi understood that something was wrong but since they were not the best of friends he chose not to ask him.Sharan was feeling miserable.In another 4 hours was the Send-off party.He opened his table drawer to take out his ATM card when a bluebook of 5th sem fell out.

He remembered how everytime there was an internal he would go to Jatin's and Guru's room to study for it.Their mode of study was to plan out the least possible number of pages to study.If they found anything tough they would skip that.After the plan was done they would start watching either Roadies/How i met you mother/24/Gary Unmarried/or some other movie till late night.Then they would study a page or two by the time they would be feeling sleepy.

Keeping 3 alarms 5 minutes adrift of each other they would get up in the morning and breeze through the pages.The 3 of them had invented a term "Kuyyodu" meaning "learn one line and imagine the rest" to fill up the pages of the bluebook.

As he remembered all this tears slowly started rolling down his eyes.He would never be having so much fun again.Just then he got a call and it was.......


to be continued...........

PART 2-Siddharth's and Jatin's story

Siddharth was tense.He had felt like this only at the time when he had failed in a subject for the first time in his chequered career.Then he thought of his sister.It was not even one year since her marriage.This action by him might cast a shadow on her also."What do i do?".He once thought he should let Preeti go.It was the right decision,atleast for the society,atleast to keep everyone else happy.But then he remembered the first time he had seen her.

Siddharth had gone to Theerthahalli for his sister's engagement.The job delegated to both him and Preeti by their respective families was to take the photos.When delegated the job Siddharth was skeptical about."Me taking photos" was his reaction.But compelled by others he took up the camera.Instead of taking the photos of the people who had come he was taking the pics of the scenic beauty around.After about an hour it started getting tedious.Whenever any of his aunt or uncle arrived he was called to take a picture.

As it was a wedding season there were no photographers who were free and plus since it was not the marriage the families had relied on their inhouse photographers.Siddharth and Preeti both realised that they were doing the same job.So after some initial glances both sat near a neem tree outside the mantap,tired.Both were bored of their job.They got talking.The first thing he noticed about her was the dimple on her cheeks when she smiled.After a while he was not even aware of what she was talking.He was lost in her dimples and 32 ultra white teeth that looked straight out of a toothpaste ad.

She realized soon that he was not listening.Acting as though she was clearing her throat,she made him attentive.He was also embarrassed that he was caught gawking.Then during the lunch he saw that the place next to her was empty.He made up some excuse and sat beside her only having to forcefully make way for her grandmother.He was made to sit near aunties.In their gossip world Siddharth was feeling left out.He wanted to talk to her again but dint know whether he would get the opportunity.

After the lunch all the younger lot decide to take a walk through the huge estate there.Siddharth also went along so that he could get a chance to speak with Preeti.As the group was walking Siddharth was taking quiet glances at her.He decided he had to seize the moment.So acting as though he wanted to talk to another of her elder brother who was in a IT company he talked big technical terms with him only to show off his IQ front of her.

A small stream flowed by.Everyone decided to enjoy the waters for a moment.Siddharth was afraid of water.Suddenly there was a splash on his face.It was Preeti.She was mischeaviously splashing water on him acting as though she was doing it on her other friends.Siddharth also got into the act.But there was hardly any talk.

He returned from Theerthahalli wanting to talk to her again,wanting to open up to her,but he dint know how to contact her.He remembered the cute dimple.Was he ever going to see her again?he had wondered.

Siddharth came back to his senses to the present.He could not let her go,no way.He decided that he would personally go there and speak to her parents.
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"How am i going to start?" was the question in Jatin's mind.He had messaged away on his mobile all these years but now to come face to face with her was a different proposition.Analyzing the possible different scenarios "How would she be?what if she dint like me,what if i dint like her,what if both liked each other?" the questions were going round and round in his head.

On March 11th 2006 Jatin had taken a stupid advice of one of his friend and sent random messages to some random nos.The text varied from "Hi sorry buddy will call you later" or "Hey why was there a missed call from this number" or "Hey its ok yaar i forgive you,what are friends for" or simply some forward.It had worked all the time for his friend.The friend had managed to get the best girls numbers with the added bonus being that some of them were from mysore.

For Jatin however he had a lot of missed chances.Once he got a call from a male voice threatening him not to send any message to his friend no,another time it was a police officer's,another time a drycleaner shops,sometimes it was his mean hostel friends who were trying the trick on him and so on and so forth.He had tried a number(which was eventually Neha's) as the last time he was doing it.It worked.He even got a call querying as to who he was confirming it was a girl and not one of his a@#@ friends.

The messaging soon began and the subjects varied from college-cooking-work-magazines-social issues etc.Whatever they thought was good to discuss,sometimes even what happened in their colleges that day.

Neha however had not managed to convince Jatin that she was a college going student.He suspected it as she never used to speak about college.Whenever he asked about her college she always tried to avoid it.He knew from the tone of her message that she was sad in her heart about something.He could relate to her as even used to get depressed often,it was as though he was searching for something but dint know what it was.

So after getting ready in his best address he drove on his bike to DevRaj Urs Road where they had agreed to meet up.They decided that they would meet near the circle there.At 11 am they met.They had told each other the colour of the dress that they would be wearing so it would be easy to identify.
When he reached the spot there was a girl gang .He dint understand which of them was her.One of the girl came up and asked whether he was Jatin.She introduced herself as Neha's sister and she took him to her.He realized soon that Neha was ...........

To be continued.............

PART 1

June 7th 2009:Final Day of college

Preeti was about to get engaged.The boys family had come to her house to see her.She was concerned about what would happen to her relationship with Siddharth.She had informed him two days back about this in Gtalk.The engagement ceremony was to be held in the beautiful scenic town of Teertahalli and Siddharth was in final year engineering in SJCE, Mysore.

She had not heard from him since the time she had told him of the boys visit.In Mysore,Siddharth(in home) was contemplating over what to do.He was still young to marry.He could ask them to wait by telling that he would marry her,since he was already placed in a reputed IT companyBut he had to think hard over it.Preeti's brother was his brother-in -law.Any action he took could have a bearing on his sister's life.However he could not stand seeing Preeti becoming someone else's.
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Rahul's girlfriend from Bangalore had come over to meet all his friends for one last time.But was Rahul really in love with her.He had started having feelings for Renu as they had been friends for the last 3 years.He had messaged her more than he used to message Roopa.Rahul and Renu looked at each other deeply in the canteen where everyone had gathered to say goodbye to each other.What they had,they dint know.But their eyes talked a lot to each other

Rahul dint want to hurt Roopa but was he in the relationship just to please her whereas he was the happiest around Renu.They dint know.
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Guru had gone to meet his 4 year younger girlfriend in Jayanagar.He wanted to breakup with her.He was in just for timepass but the innocent girl had fallen in love to his charm.As he sat on his bike he contemplated over the various ways in which he could make it clear that he dint want this to continue.

For him there were more beautiful girls in the world and he couldnt wait to explore them.He went there and saw her carrying a rose.How to breakup? was his headache.
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Ravi wanted to tell the girl he loved his entire engineering life that he loved her.But he was shy.What if she rejects?Atleast he wanted to keep the memories of the yahoo chat with her.Although he could chat with her online for a dime to a dozen he couldnt talk to her face to face.He dint know what she felt for him.

Lavanya however thought of him as only a sweet 5 feet 5inch guy.But nothing beyond that.She was sad that she would no longer be in contact with such a sweet guy.
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Sharan had just broken up with his girlfriend in mangalore.They thought they could no longer carry this forward.For Sharan this 3 and half year relationship was the best phase of his life.It also helped that academically too he was flying.She was a wonderful girl who had egged him on when he would get bogged down even for the silliest of things.

But he dint know what had suddenly happened to her.Their families knew each other.He was crestfallen that he had not given enough time in all his kooles with his friends in SJCE.He was ending engineering how he had begun it,with a BreakUp!!
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Jatin did not know what love was.However he had taken the advice of one his hostel friend in the first year and had started random messaging.The trick,his friend had said was to message to Hutch nos starting with 99862 and make sure the rest of the numbers added to an even number.

By this strange logic he came in contact with a girl from Surathkal.They had become good friends over the mobile for the last 4years but somehow could not meet each other due to the distance.Neha was coming over to Mysore with her parents that week and June 7th was the day when they would see each other for the first time.They had purposefully decided not to upload any of their photos in any of the social networking websites.They wanted to keep the surprises.Even though he despised the thought of love he wanted to keep this promise of meeting with this girl.
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This is the story of one of the many koole groups in SJCE,Mysore the best college in the world.Read on as to how they became friends and how their story had reached this stage and what happened in the climax.