We woke up in the morning, she half an hour earlier than me. She would rush to her dorm a hundred metres away and bathe there. I'd get ready and meet her at the mess for breakfast.

*This is your assignment and this is my quant worksheet.' She'd take out the stack of work from last night and divide it in the mess. We'd go to class together, and if Kanyashree was in a good mood, she'd switch places with Ananya for a day. Otherwise, we'd take our original seats and stare at each other through class. The five Mohits were quite amused at first, but later adjusted quite well and turned to check us out only when the lecture got boring. In fact, her moving in with me created a mini scandal. Like it always happens, I earned the tag of a stud.

And she earned tags ranging from stupidly-in-love to slut. But it didn't matter to her as maybe she was stupidly in love. Every day in class, she would pass me a note.

*I miss you. Can't wait to cuddle with you after class,' it said, and it came to me via Ankur, Bipin, Bhupin, ten other students and Kanyashree. We lived with each other, yet she missed me in class from six rows away.

*Stop sending such notes in class. People will open them,' I warned.

*You are no fun,' she replied with several sad smiles. Bipin smiled as he passed the note. OK, so someone had entertainment in class.

*You are a whisker away from being in the top ten. One more A in the statistics final exam and you are there,' she said one night three months after she had moved in with me.

*I can't believe I'm studying so much. In IIT, all we'd do is chat all night.' I switched off the lights.

*We could chat all night,' she said as we tucked under the quilt together.

*About what? And why? We are with each other all the time. Why sacrifice sleep?'

*Still, we could talk. Future plans and stuff.'

The word *future' and females is a dangerous combination. Still, in business school future could merely mean placement. *We've good grades. You'll easily get HLL. It is the best marketing job, right? And I'll go for WPM.'

*WPM?'

*Whoever pays more, so I can save as much money as fast as possible,' I grinned.

*You still serious about becoming a writer, right?' She ran her fingers through my hair.

*Yes but I'm still wondering what I'd write about,' I yawned.

*About anything. Like that girlfriend of yours.'

*Ananya, we had a pact. We will not talk about my ex-girlfriend again.'

*Sorry, sorry. You said you had a deal with the Prof for grades, so I thought maybe it will make an interesting story.'

*Good night, my strategist.' I kissed her and lay down.

*I love you,' she said.

*Mean it?'

*Yes.'

*How come you said it now?'

*I think about it a lot. I only articulated it now. Good night,' she said.

One-and aa-half years later *Tell me your thoughts. Don't you like to talk after making love?'

Actually, I prefer to look at the fan above. Or drift into a nap. Why do women want to talk all the time? We were in my room. We were snugly wrapped up on a cloudy, winder afternoon.

*I love to talk,' I said carefully. *Do you have something in mind?'

*It's one week to placement and I'm nervous,' she said.

*Don't worry, every company has short-listed you. You will hit t he jackpot.'

*I'm not nervous about receiving a job offer. What after that?'

*After that? Finally, we will have money in the bank. No more scrimping while ordering in restaurants, no more front row seats in theatres, no more second- class train travel. College is fun, but sorry, I've had my share of slumming it.

Imagine, you can shop every month!'

*I don't like shopping.'

*Fine, you can save the money. Or travel to exotic places.'

Her face turned more thoughtful.

*You OK?' I asked.

*Do you realize we leave campus in four weeks?'

*Good riddance. No more mugging and grades, hopefully for life,' I said.

Her voice dropped an octave. *What about us?'

*About us what?' I asked with an idiotic, confused expression exclusive to men when they have to get all meaningful with women.

She sat up and wore her top. She stepped off the bed to wear the rest of her clothes. Despite the serious mood, I couldn't help but notice how wonderful women looked when they change. *I'm going to my room. Enjoy your nap,' she said.

*Hey,' I extended my arm and stopped her. *What's up? I am talking, no?'

*But like a dork. We could be in different cities in four weeks. It will never be like this again.'

*What do you mean never?' I said, my mouth open.

*Wear your clothes first. I want to have a serious discussion.'

She kept quiet until I finished dressing. We sat across, cross-legged on the bed.

*Here is the deal,' I said, collecting my thoughts. *You are the career focused one, I am doing it for the money. So, I will try to get a job in the same city as you.

But the issue is, we don't know which city you will be in. So how can I do anything about it now?'

*And what will you do next week? We are all going to get placed around the same time. You can't wait for me to get a job.'

*So let fate play out,' I said.

*And what about our future? Or sorry, I should ask, is there a future?'

*I can't really talk about that now,' I said.

*Oh really, can you give me a time in the future when we can talk about the future?'

I kept quiet.

*Forget it, I'm leaving,' she said and made for the door.

*I need time to think,' I said.

*Two years are not enough?'

I kept quiet.

*You know it baffles me,' Ananya said, *how you men need so much time to think about commitment, but how you need no time at all to decide when you have to sleep with the girl.'

*Ananya,' I began only to hear the door slam shut.

*You'll be fine,' she told me for the fifth time. We took a four-kilometre walk outside campus to reach Navrangpura. I wanted to be as far from the madness as possible. Day Zero, or the first day of placement, had ended and I hadn't got a job.

*I thought with my grades I will crack Day Zero,' I said.

*Who cares? There're six more days left for placements,' she said.

We stopped at a roadside vendor for pao-bhaji. She ordered two plates with less butter. *You will be fine. See, marketing companies don't even start until tomorrow. I have my big HLL interview. I'm not stressed.'

*You'll get in. I can't think of a single company who can say no to you,' I said.

She looked at me and smiled. *You do realize that not everyone is in love with me.'

*You have good grades and a passion for marketing. You are so HLL, I can see it on your face.'

*You have two more banks tomorrow.'

*I want Citibank,' I said. *I should have better answers than "I like the money". I need to lie better in interviews.'

The waiter served us. She broke a piece of the pao and fed me. *But that's the only reason why anyone would work in a bank, right?'

*Yes, but the interviewers like to believe they are doing something meaningful.

Like they work for the Mother Teresa Foundation or something.'

*Well you should say this a I want Citibank as I want Indians to have access to world-class financial services. And use words like "enormous growths" and "strategic potential",' she said.

*I have to say all that without throwing up?'

*And remember, the Citi never sleeps. So say you will work hard,' she said.

*I can't lie that much,' I said.

She laughed as she wiped a bit of bhaji off the corner of my mouth. I thought how lucky I was to have her. She could be running HLL in a few years, but today her priority was to wipe bhaji off my stupid face. Guilt knotted within me. She deserved an answer about the future. Do it, loser, I told myself. Do it now. Even if it is a makeshift pao bhaji stall in Navrangpura. I gathered the courage to sopeak.

*What? You want to say something?'

*Do you want more pao?' I said.

*You are third,' a first-year student volunteer who assisted in placements told me.

I sat on a stool with seven other candidates outside the interview room. We resembled patients at a dentist's clinic, only more stressed.

The HLL interviews were on in the room across me. Ananya had moved up all the rounds and now waited to be called one last time. I reflected on what had gone wrong on Day Zero. OK, I only wanted a job for the money, but I had hidden that when they spoke to me. Then why did I screw up with five banks yesterday?

What if Citi also screws me?I thought. Sweat beads popped on my forehead. Was it destiny leading me to doom after all these degrees and grades? Is God not on my side?I wondered if I had given any reason to God not to be on my side. I saw the HLL room from a distance. Ananya stood outside, looking beautiful in a peacock blue sari. Maybe God will not let me decide my future unless I give her clarity on her future.

*Krish Malhotra,' the student volunteer called my name.

I offered mental prayers and stood up. I checked my tie knot and shirt collars.

Remember you need this job, I told myself. Banks pay double, I could quit a corporate career twice as fast to do whatever I wanted to. I breathed in deeply and exhaled.

*Welcome, take you seat,' a man in an impeccable black suit spoke from his chair. He was rich enough to wear a Rolex watch and obnoxious enough not to look at me while he addressed me. He rifled through a pile of resumes to find mine.

*Good afternoon.' I extended my hand. I flexed my forearm muscles as people say a tight handshake is a sign of confidence and world domination.

*Rahul Ahuja, managing director, corporate finance,' he said and shook hands with me. He pointed to his colleague on the right. *And this is Devesh Sharma, vice-president in HR.'

I looked at Devesh, a thirty-year-old executive with the timidity of a three-year- old. He came across as someone who could be kicked around despite being called vice-president. Anyway, I'd heard Citibank had four hundred vice- presidents to accommodate careers and egos of hundreds of new MBAs that joined every year. Of course, it took away the relevance of the title but at least it gave you a good introduction. Rahul signaled Devesh to start.

*So Krish, I notice you have poor grades in your undergrad,' Devesh spoke in a voice so effeminate, he'd be the obvious choice for female leads in college plays.

*You are pretty observant,' I said.

*Excuse me?' Devesh said, surprised.