Oolan was a prankster who always made even the richest of the pranks appealing. Poocha was a romantic who approached every moment with wild exuberance and joy. Pothan was the self proclaimed leader who with his air of superiority and heavily built structure demanded it. They stayed together in hostel, sat together in class, dined together in canteen. They formed the deadly 'Gang of Three', with fearsome reputation in college.
Pothan was an active member of Keech club, so was Oolan. Poocha never really cared about cards or any other games and spent most of his time outside the hostel. Their room was the official room for any card game. When you walk into that room you will be welcomed by dirty laundry. The room is filled with cockroach and bed bugs and foulest of smells. Oh, watch out for rats.
When one of their pet rats died, it became unbearable to play in that room anymore. Even after hours of search we failed to locate the dead body. It was decided to shift the club to another room, a better and cleaner one. Long debate followed, many rooms were discussed and finally the decision was unanimous. My room! Unfortunately I had three roommates, one of them was Maman, the topper of our batch. I wrecked my brain trying to think of reasons to revert the decision. Too late; Pothan took cards and started to walk. Six of us entered my room led by Pothan and the game started. Generally every game is followed by heated arguments and shouting. I hoped the situation will be different in my room. In no time my hopes shattered by the loud shouts.
Maman was studying there in the room in the midst of chaos. He was trying to concentrate on his studies. May be that posture made Pothan to raise his voice to high decibels. Maman came towards us and in a calm and polite manner requested us to reduce the voice. This made Pothan very angry and he immediately left the room. I was afraid that I witnessed only the first phase of conflict and I was right.
Pothan took that incident as a gross insult to his macho image. As a vengeance, with the help of Oolan and Poocha, he decided to play a prank on Maman. As always, Oolan was the mastermind and poocha the executor. That evening after latching the door as Maman went to mess for tea, they locked his room. Maman got stranded in corridor as the lock was too strong for his liking and couldn't break it even after repeated attempts. He got angry, but in vain. He had no proof against the culprits although he suspected the Gang of Three behind this act.
Other roommates and I did not show any keen interest on the proceedings as we knew that gang of three had pulled many such pranks successfully on others. They always selected such victims who were unable to react to their deeds. Maman fit into that category perfectly. Being studious he never really participated in any pranks neither was he on the receiving end as all the hostel mates depend on his notebooks for exams. This was a completely new experience for him. Bosh tried to pacify him and managed to take him to his room.
Meanwhile Poocha located the dead body of rat and after cremating it, Pothan gathered everybody in his room to continue the game. There was one problem. Cards were still in my room and it was locked. Pothan volunteered to bring the cards from my room. He went to room, opened the door and entered inside. In no time Maman came running and locked the room with another lock and shouted, "If you want to play any game you must be willing to be played". He was referring to the prank.
Things were getting more complicated. Oolan and Pocha came running to the corridor. Pothan was hitting the door in full throttle. I requested Maman to open the door to avoid the situation getting out of control. Maman was adamant in his refusal to change his mind and he had his share of supporters who gathered at the scene.
After one hour Bosh intervened and persuaded Maman to handover the key to him by terrifying him with the description of the muscle bound arms of Pothan, a quality Maman clearly lacked. Bosh opened the door and entered inside. There was total silence, just like the lull before the storm. Pothan came out of the room , surprisingly with a smile on his face. He went near Maman and told "It was a good try." He turned around and left the scene followed by Oolan and Poocha. Maman sighed in relief. Bosh exited from the room and on seeing me puzzled, announced with his famous Kannur slang "He was very angry. I told him that the trick to survive the situation is not to let Maman and others have the satisfaction of knowing that the prank worked on him. Pothan will be hitting his bed after reaching his room in frustration".
Cherayanengilum Mamante kadi kollendeduthu kondu!
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