Swathi glanced at her watch nervously.  It was nearing 6.00 PM and there was no sign of the crowd abating in the Principal’s office.  Today was the day when bus passes were issued to students and Swathi had to stay back in the college to collect it and in the process missed her college bus and now the thought of catching a local back home worried her immensely.  She was also bothered that she was not able to inform her mother about the delay.

Swathi was doing her first year Law and was a bright student.  She was a unique combination of both beauty and brains.  She was only 19yrs old, but showed maturity way beyond her years.  Apart from excelling in academics Swathi was also a brilliant orator and could take on any debate without any preparation.  She had a huge fan following in the campus and she was liked and loved by one and all.

Someone nudged Swathi and asked her to move and slowly she inched closer to the counter. Quickly Swathi handed over her papers and money to the officer and collected her bus pass.  It was a waste taking a pass for six months as the college was closing for exam holidays in February, but the thought of standing in this serpentine queue made her shudder.

Swathi sighed inwardly as she hurried out of the campus gates onto the by lanes of the college which led to the main road.  It was nearly 6.45 PM and was turning dark.  The road was covered by gulmohar trees on both the sides and the light from the solar lamps never reached the road covering the street in darkness.  She quickly hurried and as she did, she had a strange feeling that someone was tailing her.  She stopped and turned around twice but could not find anyone. Cursing herself for reading too many mystery stories, Swathi ambled on. 

At the junction as she paused a little to catch her breath, a huge hulk of a man bumped into her from behind. Mumbling a quick sorry he moved ahead.  Swathi thought she had seen this man earlier but was not sure where.  She crossed the road and hurried to the bus stand as she saw her bus hurtling down the road.  Soon she was on the bus and made herself comfortable.  It was already 7.15 PM and she knew her mother would have been sick with worry.  There was no phone in her house and there was no way she could reach her mother. Her thoughts were disturbed as she saw a flash of red and from the corner of her eye she caught the sight of the same man who bumped into her on the road.  “Oh so he also lives in the same locality as I do” thought Swathi.

Very soon her stop came and Swathi got down from the bus and moved towards her house.  The familiar sight of her house comforted her and she climbed up the stairs to the first floor and as she moved into the balcony of her house she saw the same man with the red jacket standing and staring at her from the corner of the road.  Her heart skipped a beat. Swathi wondered what the man was doing standing and staring at her house, maybe he has a friend here, thought Swathi as she mumbled her apologies to her mother.

She forgot all about the man as she walked to the bus stand the next day.  Her friend Rachna was waiting for her and Swathi and Rachna were giggling over mundane things.  As they were talking Swathi found herself staring at the man, today he was in a black jacket. “Must be owning a jacket shop” thought Swathi.  Thankfully her college bus screeched into a halt and the two girls got into the bus.  The man also got into the same bus and got down along with them at the college campus. 

The two girls wended their way to their class and soon Swathi and Rachna were immersed in classes on Arbitration, policy making etc.  The last hour was Sociology and Swathi and Rachna bunked their classes, they were too bored to listen to Prof. George’s droning.  The smell of tea and hot samosas assailed their noses as they entered the large but warm canteen.  The canteen was a beehive of activity.  There were groups of people huddled in different strategic locations.  One group was loudly discussing anarchy while another was discussing Politics.  Another was busy discussing strategies about bunking two-three periods to watch the latest movie.

Swathi and Rachna found a quiet corner and ordered for two cups of tea and samosas.  The chairs overlooked the huge garden beyond and once when Swathi lifted her eyes from the cup and looked into the garden her eyes locked with the same man’s eyes.  Swathi quietly signaled to Rachna to come a little closer “Rachna I forgot to tell you something, I feel that I’m being followed.  Slowly look outside the window and you will see a guy in a black jacket, he has been following me from yesterday.  I’m sure he was the same guy who was following me up the road as I was going home”.  Rachna looked out and sure enough she saw the guy, the minute he knew that someone else was sizing him up, he quickly moved away from the window.

Rachna found his behaviour odd, but refrained from telling Swathi so as not to worry her a little more.  Both Rachna and Swathi made quiet enquiries and found that he was in the final year and was a rather quiet person.  He was tall and handsome, but there was something cold about his eyes, which made Swathi very uncomfortable.  She did not welcome this unasked attention and tried to be with friends and Rachna as much as possible.  The times she was alone she knew she had company without even as much as batting her eyes.

Swathi’s resentment towards Rahul grew with each passing day and she found venturing alone nearly impossible.  He had not approached her, but it looked like he was very familiar with her routine.  Swathi did not confide in her parents, but she vented her feelings to Rachna who decided to take the bull by its horns. 

Rachna spoke to Ajay one of their classmates and told him about Rahul.  Ajay had friends in Rahul’s class and they decided to do something so that Rahul would back off from Swathi.  They roped in Chetan, a humorous and good-looking guy, who was in the same class as Rahul.  Ajay mentioned to Chetan all about Rahul stalking Swathi everyday even standing at her road corner to catch a glimpse of her the days she was absent from college. 

Chetan’s eyes widened as he heard of the plan and so did his grin showing a fine set of pearly teeth.  News about Swathi’s heartthrob made the rounds in the campus and the campus was abuzz about the mystery lover.  Swathi and Rachna were now joined by Ajay and Chetan in their outings and most of the days they were dropped off home either by Chetan or Ajay in their cars or bikes or worse all the four would go home by the college bus.  They knew that this would not be unnoticed by Rahul and they waited for him to make some kind of move.

And soon enough one day when Swathi was at the library exchanging a book, she was elbowed to the nearest quiet desk and it was none other than Rahul.  He mumbled about Swathi allowing a cad like Chetan to enter her life.  He swore at Swathi about seeing him again.  Swathi looked at him with unflinching eyes and said “You do not have any right to follow me all over town.  I hate the idea of someone watching all my movements.  I do not like you and if you do not stop this stalking, I will complain to the Principal and the nearest police station.  I have already told my parents and the minute I feel you are going out of bounds, then I will head straight to the Commissioner’s office.  I have been waiting for you to talk to me and today is my day.  Listen to me, stalking is a serious offence and incase you are thrown into jail, think of the repercussions it may have on your career and your personal life.  Leave me alone and never come anywhere near me”.  Rahul was shocked beyond words and he gaped at Swathi’s retreating back. Even in his wildest dreams he did not  imagine Swathi to be courageous and even for a minute did he think that she would rebuke and refuse him.

For all the false bravado that Swathi portrayed, she was a simple girl and her heart was thudding.  She could never think how she ever got those words out of her mouth.  And as she moved out of the college gates, she felt she had gotten rid of the shackles that had bound her for some days and was glad she would not be a burden on Rachna, Ajay or Chetan anymore.