Flirtoragg

Ekalavya is a fascinating character in Mahabharatha who was asked to cripple himself by Drona for embarking self-study to learn the art of archery in the presence of a clay image of Drona. Unruffled by the demand and with due humility, he cut his right thumb and placed at the feet of Drona as a 'Gurudakshina' thus sacrificing the immense success he could have achieved as a skillful archer.

Those who possess status symbols had gained a definite edge over the others in college, like the one in our class who owned a bike. From the very first day, he and his friend came to campus together in bike and we called them 'Biker Boys'. They were welcomed by unruly political scenario of RIT campus and it took two years to settled into their grooves.

Beautiful fresher girls were at the receiving end of their newly found freedom. It was only an extension of their flirting which had dated back to first year and we named it 'flirtoragg', the combination of flirting and ragging. The girls from our batch had managed to escape the flirting with some lame excuses, but freshers were forced to suffer the 'kathi'. The general perception among others was that eventually the girls will complain to HOD or principal. Our college had strict rules against ragging and we waited for something disastrous to happen.

Contrary to our expectations, they fared well in flirtoragg and there were no complaints. Many credited that to their friendly mannerisms and good looks. Their popularity grew manifold. Fellow students looked up to them in awe and referred them as masters of flirtoragg. I was one among them.

I had tried my hand in flirtoragg with most of the sessions ending either with the girl crying or I getting frustrated. These unfortunate results prompted me to learn the art of flirtoragg from the masters. That day I finished my lunch and went to first year classes. I saw the Biker Boys standing in the corridor and I placed myself on their side. They were least bothered by my presence and got into their usual business. As a bunch of fresher girls passed by, they called the gorgeous one. I truly admired that choice.

The first question "Did you finish your lunch?".

The girl was tensed and answered "Yes".

Next question "What was special for lunch"?

She started describing the lunch in detail. Biker boys listened carefully encouraging her to continue. Slowly her apprehension made way for candor and they were into flirtoragg in full flow.

"Brilliant!". I told myself.

After 15minutes long session, biker boys finished the conversation with the punch line "It was so nice to know you more". I could see the girl smiling all the way back. That's the way to execute a successful flirtoragg. As I turned to leave the scene, I saw another girl. Her hair hung in delicate curls around her white shoulders. She was talking to other girls and the dimple in her face made her smile so cute. The moment I saw her there was a rumbling in my chest and mouth was as dry as a desert. She really fit into my particular favourite type of girl.

She was the next target of biker boys. In my enthusiasm to see her and know more about her, I went close to biker boys and stood there.

As usual they started: "Where your father is working?"

"He is in gulf", she answered

"Mother?" enquired one of the Biker Boys .

"She is in Trivandrum".

The girl was getting comfortable. I started to feel left out and in an impulse to join the party I asked "How could it work?"

Biker boys were surprised by that question and burst into laughter. The girl was taken aback and started crying. Before I could explain my innocence, a hand fell on my shoulder. I turned around and stunned to see our HOD standing there.

He took us to his office room and warned us against ragging. After asking biker boys to leave he said to me in his monotonous voice with little variation in pitch and tone "If you go near that girl again, I will suspend you". It shattered my hopes of going to her and making me clear on the issue. As I left the office and moved back to hostel I could see biker boys standing in the corridor and in serious flirtoragg with another damsel.

The severity of Biker boys actions were diluted by my comment and forced HOD to issue only a mild warning enabling them to continue with their flirtoragg sessions. All his anger was directed to me and I ended up giving the ultimate 'Gurudakshina' to Biker Boys for learning flirtoragg ; comparable only to the one given by Ekalavya, my favourite mythological character.