Quotidian Coincidence

South Point is the biggest school in Calcutta. It is the pride of
Mandeville Gardens where it is situated. The students of this school,
boys and girls, are encouraged to study hard and secure good grades.
There are no sports facilities within the school. Most students like to
spend their spare time in the school library. Pupils get very little
exercise in school. Despite this, the people of Calcutta want to admit
their children in this school because the state school-leaving
examination is topped every year by students of South Point. I studied
in South Point from the first grade to the fifth. It was a suffocating
experience. One was expected to study all the time. There was no
playground in the school nor was any time allocated for games. I was an
average student. Each of the classes had eighty or ninety students and
we are given ranks after every examination. I managed to secure
fifteenth or sixteenth rank all the time. There were no co-curricular
activities. No debating, no dramatics and no quizzing. Life was really
boring. Indeed, by the time I reached fifth grade I wanted to shift to
any other school that encouraged sports and co-curricular activities. I
mentioned the matter to my father but he scolded me for wanting to
leave the best school in city. He advised me to concentrate on my
studies. But my opportunity did come. In the middle of the academic
year my father got transferred to Bombay. We were to leave Calcutta
within a fortnight. Though I was excited about going to Bombay I
realized I was sad too. Sad about leaving a school that had been part
of my life for five years. There were many friends that I was leaving
behind and I would surely miss them. Of all my friends I would miss
Roger the most. I was leaving school at a very exciting time. The fifth
grade students had been asked to submit an essay on 'The importance of
being self-reliant'. The students with the best three essays were being
given a scholarship of ten thousand pounds for the next five years.
Since I was leaving I was not eligible to submit any essay. But we were
all sure that Roger would qualify for the scholarship. He was not only
intelligent but also good at debating and dramatics. He was also good
at cricket. The day I left school was a Friday. There was a telescope
on the school roof. I wanted to take a look at the thing before I left
school for the last time. I took the student's lift to the roof level.
What I saw there I will never forget. The school bully Ratty was
beating up Roger. He kept on asking Roger, "Will you give me your essay
now?" And Roger repeated, "No, not while I am alive." This went on for
some time. Suddenly Ratty snatched Roger's essay from his hand and
threw him down from the roof. Roger probably died instantly after
hitting the ground. As Ratty was about to leave I stood face-to-face
with him and said, "I saw that!" "Did you?" Ratty said. Ignoring me, he
walked into the student's lift and very soon his face disappeared from
view. Well, I had a train to catch. I decided that I would not reveal
to anyone the circumstances of the murder I had seen with my own eyes.
Not even my family. I did not want to visit a court of law this early
in my life. I certainly felt bad for my best friend Roger whom I had
known for five years. Nearly ten years have passed since then. I have
come back to Calcutta. I am studying Chemistry in HK College.
Surprisingly, so is Ratty. He is considered a good student now what
with the scholarship and all. My grades have been going down every
year. So much so, I barely passed last time. We are now in our final
year. We have been asked to do a project. This project can help me
scrape through. I don't know what to do. I have neither the information
nor the skill to create my own project. One option is to buy a project
from a past student and then copy it out. But that is fraught with
risk. I have asked Alan, the best student in our batch to help me but
he has been non-committal. I am going to meet him in the honours
laboratory ten minutes from now. Well, there he is. I tell him, "Will
you give your oil refinery project to me?" Alan says, "No, never." I
ask, "How much are you asking for it?" Alan says, "Nothing. I am not
giving it." Then, as if in a trance, I begin to hit Alan all over his
body. He starts bleeding and his eyes indicate that he is frightened. I
say, "Will you give me the project now?" "No," he says, "Not while I am
alive." My head begins to spin. I am being led on by an unknown
destiny. I keep hitting Alan. I carry him to the balcony. Its four pm
and the college is deserted. Alan has lost consciousness. All I have to
do is throw him down. I snatch his project report from his right hand
and let him go. He falls to the ground. He is probably dead. There is
sound of footsteps behind me. Its, its?Ratty. With a broad grin he
says, " I saw that!" We shake hands, punch each other lightly in the
stomach and start walking in opposite directions.