Beginners

Beginners….

My phone was ringing continuously while I was sleeping. I was not having a very nice one but I could sense that I should get up and prepare myself for tomorrow’s exam. Today’s attempt was pathetic which created a tiny block of fear in my head that I might flunk this time. It was raining when I received Nasir’s call. He sounded really happy and excited due to the paper deal. Yes, this was the first time he was able to do it and at the other end Nasir was literally singing

IT’S RAINING MEN…..ITS RAINING……..

I gave him a shut up call and asked “what up?”

“Brother we got the paper this time so party and chill.” Nasir was driving.

That line waved all of my tensions away, I asked him “How?”

“I will tell you later in detail just get ready, will pick you up at 11:00. We will get the paper at 12:00 and then we will have 12 complete hours to solve it from somewhere.”

I said ok and hung up. It was 9:30; Nasir’s phone call got me so relaxed that I started to feel smooth blood running through my brain. I got up, withdrew my curtains to view the rain at night and opened my window. I made a cup of tea and sat beside my window to feel, smell and hear the weather. This time it was raining really well.

I never had this experience in my life….this was my first time we were having a paper night, even without spending any money. What would be it like? How would we get it solved? The feeling of sitting in the examination room along with everything we want! After the examination, it was Financial Management II by the way which I still know nothing about. It was 11:30 at night and I was waiting for Nasir at my balcony, he still did not show up. Nasir is more than a joker, his jolly personality and his funny comments are always on a regular run. I lit up a cigarette and dialled his number which was still busy. Scary ideas started to penetrate in my head, what if we don’t get the paper? What if we get the paper in the morning? What if there is no solution? What if Nasir was kidding with me? Oh my God…I threw the cigarette away and dialed his number again but still busy. I got up from the balcony and went into my room. Grabbed the course pack and started scanning it. It was a lot of course and could not figure out from where to start. I got even tenser and lit another cigarette. I went back in the balcony and gave it a thought. What if Nasir is really joking with me? What if there is no paper…yeah….then I must prepare the subject from my notes which I barely understand. After sitting there for a while I went inside my room and switched on the T.V. Yeah, let’s not rush into conclusions. The rain is almost done! 

Nasir was completely insane. He arrived at my place at 1:30 AM. I was watching a film when he called. I got into his car and he was dancing with the paper in his hand.

“Where the hell have you been?” I almost shouted!

“Brother we need money.” Nasir said bluntly

I was wrong, we were spending money.

“Don’t worry brother we will sell the paper in order to recover the amount with profit, after all its Financial Management”. Nasir acted like a greedy cat.

“What took you so long to get here?” I asked him to clear my head.

“Brother you know Bokhari, he got some company there and we were unable to get rid of them. We got the paper at 12:00, in fact we got two papers one for MBA and the other one for us. There was some money issue which was resolved by Bokhari and were done with the paper party. The real problem was with the company Bokhari was along with. It was Bokhari’s cousin, Yasir. He is also in our batch and Bokhari didn’t want to give him any benefit regarding this. So we just dumped them with the MBA paper (the wrong one), dropped Bokhari at his place and finally I’m here with you my love.” A Complete Joker!

“Shut Up! Why do we need money now?” I asked him furiously and Nasir was totally laughing at me.

“Yeah about that, it’s just 3000 which I have to pay Bokhari later on. Right now we have a bigger problem to solve.” Nasir was serious.

I took the paper from him and had a glimpse at it. There was no way even my forefathers could solve this paper if they get a chance to.

“What’s the problem now?” I asked Nasir very calmly. “Nasir! Please tell me that we will be able to have it solved.”

“Don’t worry brother; we will get it solved by Ali. He is a reliable person.” Nasir was smiling.

I did not like Nasir at that moment. 

I never spent time with Ali in college. He was amongst the A class students in my batch. He had very few friends and most of them were interested in the course pack in their hands. Those who had a history with Ali were not very fond of him and always passed comments regarding his early education up till intermediate. For Example Ali has changed in university; he was never a student of this caliper. Whatever! We were on our way to his place at the very late hour of that night. I was feeling so odd about meeting Ali for this stupid business. The only reason behind this was I have never ever trusted folks like Ali due to the soft corner in their hearts for teachers especially in this case. That’s why I did not want Nasir to take me to Ali’s place but he kept on insisting.

 “Brother nothing will happen to you if Ali sees your face. You will be safe. What are you so afraid of? Nasir taunted me.

“Nasir I just want us to be on the safe side. Why take the risk?” I said wisely.

“Risk is my business brother” Smiling.

“Shut Up! Why can’t you go alone? What are you afraid of?” That was a back fire.

“I’m afraid of this Dark and Night, please don’t leave me alone” Nasir acted like a little girl and tried to convince me in his foolish style. I burst into a laugh. I thought I could have said the same thing or something like that to get rid of Visiting Ali’s place. All in vain!

It started to rain again; I rolled down my window and lit a cigarette, looked at Nasir and really wanted to slap him. The rain changed my mood and I started to think that it is not necessary to be worried about this paper. If I didn’t have the one we have right now then I must have been sleeping…..yeah….it was a different night with a different weather, so let’s be cool.

“Let’s have some coffee” I suggested to Nasir politely.

“OK. NO PROBLEM!” Nasir moved his neck like a hen and turned towards the coffee shop.

02:45AM and we were dancing outside Ali’s place with coffee in our hands. We had brought coffee for Ali as well. It was still raining which kept on cheering everyone. He was smiling due to the paper or rain could not figure that out and showed us into his house. His place was nicely decorated but not lavishly. He made us sit in his T.V lounge which was quite casual. All the thoughts which I had before regarding meeting up with Ali were gone. I was comfortable and totally fine. Ali did not waste anytime which was the best part and solved the paper in 15 to 20 minutes but Nasir kept on talking and wasted another half an hour. Ali is so blessed with the financial studies I thought, or with the paper solving. I grabbed the paper and started cramming the answers. After a while I felt so good and wanted to sleep for sometime. There was nothing else to worry about. I got up and asked for the washroom.

“Yes brother, we’ll leave when you get done.” Nasir spoke through his big eyes.

I really wanted to reply hard this time but did not because of Ali.

“OK.”  I said like I was controlling my anger and Nasir caught that.

“Hurry Up big boy. Clock is running towards 4:00.” Nasir in his sarcastic tone, don’t know Ali was getting this at all or not.

That was fuming but I ignored and followed Ali towards the washroom.

I freshened up and got ready to go back to my place, I really wanted to. When I came out Nasir was talking to some guy on the phone. I didn’t ask him and thanked Ali for the help. I grabbed Nasir from his neck and asked Ali to show us the exit.    

In life we feel and think about so many things in a certain way. We perceive things and follow our perception very religiously but in reality, it is seldom close to our perception. Majority of the times perception is deception or there are some things which you never perceive until you experience them.

We were on our way to the airport to get a photocopy of the paper when Zohaib called at Nasir’s cell phone.

“Hallo! Where are you folks off to?” Zohaib sounded sleepy.

“Nowhere my friend, sleep till we come at your place. Do attend our call. Don’t be dead.” Nasir once again with his surprizes. I started to look at Nasir angrily like I was asking Nasir through my eyes that WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Nasir ended the call and started smiling.

“Nasir first you did not show up on time. Then you are spending money and selling this thing as well. Then you fought with me for Ali’s place and for Airport and now it’s Zohaib’s place.” I was at my peak in drilling Nasir.

“Brother please bear with me for this night and everything will be fine by morning.” Nasir wanted me to accept what he was offering and I had no choice but to accept.

“Nasir! What else you are up to? Please tell me now so that I can prepare myself mentally?” I asked him calmly.

“Nothing brother nothing, just the airport, then we will meet Jaffer at the nearest café to Zohaib’s place and then at Zaohaib’s place. Over there we will revise what we got solved from Ali and then we will sleep for a while and then to college.” Nasir pretended like everything is fine. He sounded like a cartoon.

“ Nasir! Selling this paper to Jaffer is really not a nice idea. He does not belong to our gang.” I tried to convince Nasir that it is dangerous.

“You always take tension. There is nothing to worry about. The thing is he is able to pay the amount. Rest of the boys are incapable of that.” Nasir acted seriously.

“How much are we getting for this?”  I asked while sighing.

“It’s only Rupees six thousand.

Three thousand for Bokhari

and the rest for the party.

See, what a verse! I’m a poet.”

I so wanted to bang my head against the wall but couldn’t find one.

It was still raining and the wind had stopped blowing. An old man crossed by our car while I was waiting for Nasir to come back from the photocopier. The airport was with full of people at that time. There might be some delay issues I thought. The lights on the road were very effective. I closed my eyes and leaned back to take some rest. After a while I heard a knock on my window. It was the same old man. I tried to ignore him but he knocked on consistently. I rolled down my window and saluted him in order to get rid of him.

“MAY THIS RAIN BECOME A BLESSING FOR YOU AND EVERYONE, LET US PRAY AND THANK ALLAH.” The old man was with a very unique voice.

“I thank Allah for this rain and weather and for everything.” I said keeping my mannerism intact. The old man was not a beggar.

“LET’S SAY THANK PRAYERS IN THE MOSQUE.” The old man pointed towards the one.

“You go ahead and pray for me as well.” I said shyly.

“ALLAH GIVES WITHOUT ASKING, BUT IF U ASK ALLAH THEN YOU WILL GET A LOT. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL SAY THE PRAYERS OVER HERE OR SOMEWHERE ELSE AND YOU WILL REMEMBER ME IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WELL. EVERYONE NEEDS PRAYERS.” The old man left with a smile on his face.

I gave a thought about it and felt guilty. I decided to pray when we get home.

Nasir showed up after a while with four copies. I wasn’t feeling good. I lit up a cigarette and sat quietly.

“Nasir please hurry up my heart is becoming heavier than usual.” I told Nasir very calmly.

“There is always a first time my brother, after that everything will be good.” Nasir said normally, without making any fun.

We hit the cantonment road and called Jaffer to be at some signal. Rain became lighter than before and roads were quite clean. I kept on smoking and bought some more coffee for myself. Driving at night is always good, no traffic, no tension, no hurries and no worries; just smooth dark long road with yellow lights and if it is raining it adds to the pleasure.

We reached the decided signal. There was no sign of Jaffer. Nasir called Jaffer immediately because he was also tired of roaming continuously.

………………………………….

I was driving really fast in a street; I did not know whether the street has a dead end or a way out to go. Tension rose when another car behind me started racing with me. I wanted to know who was the driver in the other car but couldn’t recognize. We both raced for a while and finally the car took over me. I had the chance to look at the driver and I was shocked. The moment car crossed me over the street became a dead end and the car vanished. It was Ali.

“Wake up we are getting late, half an hour is left in the exam. Hurry up brothers.” Nasir was loud while bathing. Zohaib got up instantly and went to some other room. I waited for Nasir to come out so that I can refresh myself. Meanwhile I grabbed the copy of the paper and started revising it. All was good. I wondered about the dream I had but did not consider it. I so wanted to sleep right there until I’m done with it but had to sacrifice this time. After all we had a long tense night. Jaffer was late and while waiting I went to sleep. That hot coffee was good. Nasir woke me up when we reached at Zohaib’s place. We chatted for a while with Zohaib. He just got up from Nasir’s phone call and was quite fresh that time. I showed him the paper and made him understand the subjective portion. MCQs, True & False were supposed to be crammed properly. Later on the subjective was crammed as well because we could not understand certain parts of the paper. I slept for a while and now I was still waiting for the joker to come out. I just washed my face and heard Zohaib’s voice

“Let’s get going folks.” Zohaib was happy and so were we.

It was a bright sunny day and the three of us were on our way to the college. I was constantly praying to get over this thing successfully. I revised the paper so many times that I started to feel that I’m forgetting answers. I took a break and tried to refresh my brain like we refresh our computer. Soon I realized that I need to reboot my system and obviously I did not have time for that. I took deep breath and revised the paper for the last time. We reached the college and found a long line outside the college parking. This was not good.

 “Nasir, park your car over there and run for the seating plan.” I pointed to the tree which was a little bit far from the college parking.

Nasir took the advice instantly and all went fine. We ran towards the gate and showed our college cards (Security Reasons). According to the seating plan Nasir and I were in the same Auditorium (Examination Hall). Zohaib got a different one. We were five minutes late for our respective seats.

I received the paper and my heart started to beat faster. In the name of Allah I opened the paper and scanned it thoroughly. There was a smile on my face with an impression like I don’t care and Nasir caught that. He smiled back and my heart beat was normal. I felt much lighter after this long effort of making everything smooth. I relaxed for a while and looked around. The Rest of the students were smiling as well and still pin drop silence. May be everyone got the paper last night, I thought. Nasir was nearly laughing and his laugh reminded me of what he said to me and Zohaib before entering the college;

“Brothers do not solve the complete paper. Solve only 60% to 65% and leave the rest of the paper unsolved. Be very patient and leave the auditorium after few people have already left.”

I really wanted to control myself. Despite Nasir’s advice, he was the first one to leave the auditorium. After that I submitted the paper seriously and looked for Nasir outside. When I stepped outside the auditorium he was standing right in front of me. We hugged each other and were laughing hard this time even tears from eyes came out.

“Brother I think I have seen the paper somewhere.” Nasir said very confidently.

“To hell with you even you have seen the paper before. We are screwed Nasir.” Finally I threw up the right emotion.

“No brother do not say that, we will pass in this course just do not worry.” Nasir hesitated to say that.

“Do not worry, do not speak non sense. I will kill you Nasir.” I grabbed Nasir’s neck I was so much in rage and did not know what to do next. I let go of him.

“Brother don’t get tense, I’m in the same boat as you are.” Nasir was coughing while explaining. I could not argue with him any more.

“Nasirrrr!”……

“Nasirrrr!!”

“Thank You so much my friend. All went good.” It was Yasir (Bokhari’s cousin, the one who got the wrong paper) he was panting while he walked up to us.

“Here is my number, do contact me directly for future dealings. Thank you once again.” Yasir left and we were looking at each others faces.

“Party is due on me. I will see you soon.” Yasir shouted on his way back.

We ran towards the car to see what if it was true. Nasir gave Yasir the wrong paper which apparently became the correct one and we wanted to confirm that. How the wrong one came out to be the correct paper? On our way to the college entrance we met Ali at the gate and he was smiling very cunningly.

“How did it go bro?” Ali asked very calmly.

We looked at his face and Nasir replied instantly

“It went fine brother.” Nasir kept on walking and passed the gate hurriedly.

Ali was looking at me and I was looking at him. He came closer and whispered;

“Be very careful next time.” Ali left the gate after saying this and I continued my journey towards Nasir’s car.

Nasir was there sitting in the front seat and he was a little bit sad, he handed me the paper (Yasir’s one). Yes, the same paper we left inside the auditorium happily. Nothing could be done at that time.

“All is done Nasir. Please drop me home and let’s forget about it.” I wanted to get over this.

“OK.” Nasir started the car and reversed it. I lit up a cigarette and somebody knocked our window.

It was Jaffer with a horrible face.