It would be about three o'clock in the night when I thought the main door bell rang. I had entered college that year. I had a passion for ghazals and literary books. Discussing literature and singing ghazals was also a great hobby in those days. I had won quite a few prizes in several college competitions in those few months. I also had a lot of power in discussions on literature. When the hobby rides on both the heart and the mind, then its effect is also strong. What you speak or sing, it gives a different intoxication to the listeners. Maybe someone rang the doorbell again. For the first time I thought there was someone on the door and this time I was convinced. But I didn't have the courage to get up.
It would be about two o'clock when I slept while reading Manto's book. Baba's voice came from the door. Maybe he got up and opened the door. When he addressed the person coming in and told that I am sleeping in the upper room, I understood that Rupesh has come from Bangalore. Rupesh had become my new friend during my college admission days when I met him in the canteen of Hindu College. It turned out that he had given his certificates for admission here, which he had come to take back because he was going to Bangalore for further studies. His family lived in Bangalore. He had come here to study but his father's health had suddenly deteriorated, perhaps he had suffered a heart attack. So he decided that he would now stay in Bangalore and pursue his further studies there only.
In a matter of things, the similarity of the extraordinary interest in literature of both of us came to the fore. Then he told about an institution that exchanges forbidden books among those interested in that kind of literature. Becoming a member of the organization was not easy. The hidden club used to decide about this very strictly. With Rupesh's help, I also became its member. Almost all the forbidden books of the country and abroad were available in the institution. Those books were exchanged only through members. Actually Rupesh had to come this morning to give me a book I had requested. But he didn't. Rupesh had come to my room. By then I had also got up.
By the time he washed his face, I came back from the kitchen after making two cups of tea. It was learned that earlier he had to come by train, but seeing the strict search of luggage at the station, he changed his program and came late in the night via a flight. Before sleeping, he took out the book from his bag which I had been looking for, for the last so many years and could not read. Today the same book was in my hands. That was the first forbidden book I was going to read in the next few days. All this became possible because of Rupesh.
