It Took Me One Game
Tuesday, 27th March 2023
Shashank sir's voice cut through the chatter. "Oye, tum B2 wale log piche kyu baithe ho?"
Tejas quickly explained that we weren't part of the current game but would join the next one. So, we settled at the back—today, just the audience, watching as the game played out.
It was only our second lecture with Shashank sir, and by the looks of it, this game would conclude today.
I kept a sharp eye on the field—not the players, but the potential captains. I was determined to be chosen. After winning the toughest game in B2, I was riding that high. A victory here, in the elite batch, would feel even more satisfying. I wanted to size up possible teammates in case I got the chance to lead.
The game moved fast. Amit answered first. I solved the problem on the last page of my notebook and passed him the solution—only to realize he'd already cracked it. Sammy's team picked up a couple of points.
Sanjana J gave a wrong answer for Neil's team, costing them two points. But they made up for it when she was picked again and got it right the second time. Achintya answered two questions correctly in a row, but sir couldn't resist teasing him—calling him the "unlucky player", someone who couldn't win a match no matter how well he played.
Rushika got the right answer but fumbled her explanation and was asked to sit down. Ramesh picked 400 picometers instead of 200 and lost his chance.
The game ended just before the lecture, with Sammy's team taking the win. Prize money was handed out.
"Tu toh hai hi manhoos," sir said, pointing at Achintya. Everyone laughed, but it had a bite.
Then came the moment I'd been waiting for.
"Sir, next captains—Tanish and Sammy," Shubh suggested. Sir nodded in agreement.
I was in.
And Then There Was Kavya (Kayz)
2nd March 2023
Organic Chemistry was always something I postponed—especially Principles and Techniques, a chapter filled with theory and a few scattered numericals.
But for some reason, Satyam sir decided to include it in our upcoming test, even though we hadn't finished it. I texted in the group to ask, and shortly after, got a private message.
Kavya (unknown number):
"Hey, this is Kavya from B1. Satyam sir ne Principles and Techniques B2 mein pura complete kar diya?"
Who is this… and what does she want? I wondered.
Me:Nahii, baaki hai...
Kavya:Wahi toh, exam mein kaise daal diya?
Me:I'll see to it...have tagged him...maybe he notices it.
Kavya:Yep, saw it.
8th March 2023
I noticed a girl in a black top and mask walking toward the reception where Vishaka ma'am sat. Some students were wishing her.
"Aaj aapka birthday hai?" I asked.
"Haan," she replied.
"Wish you a very happy birthday."
"Thank you…" She paused, then added, "Mai hi Kavya hu."
So this was her—the one who had texted about the chemistry test.
Back to 27th March 2023…
As I stepped out the main door, she caught up.
"Aap captain ho na for the next match?" she asked.
"Haan, me and Sammy."
"Aapko pata hai ki aapko kisko team mein lena hai?"
"Yeah," I replied, "I observed many players' performances in today's game. I'll see who fits best for the next one."
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Tuesday, 3rd April 2023
"Ha chal na…"
After a week, we finally divided the class and formed our teams. Post-lecture, we made our way to the library, Arjun tagging along with his notebook.
Sammy won the toss and picked Sachin straight away. I countered with Shubh. He followed up with Neil, and I went for Ayaan. Shubh strongly advised me to secure Aarav at any cost—but Sammy took him next. I continued with Achintya, Tejas, and Karan. I also selected Riya and Ananya. For potential, I brought in Sanjana D. And then there was Ramesh—chosen mainly because
he was a close friend, despite that 400–200 picometers error in the last game.
Most of the good players had been picked. I paused for Shubh's opinion on Sanjana J. He warned me against it, mentioning that with Achintya already on our team, they'd just end up chatting. Despite the warning, I chose her anyway. Her previous game performance justified it.
The moment I picked her, there was laughter.
I had heard several rumors about the two of them—later denied by Achintya—but I was firm about one thing: if they were on my team, I'd make sure they didn't sit together in lectures.
The class was now split. I felt satisfied. I had three trusted B2 mates and others I had only heard about—but enough to believe I had the stronger team. The only person I truly feared was their captain. He was smart. A good captain always knows what works for his team—and that made him dangerous.
Later, at the bus stop, Shubh called. Sammy had agreed to trade Ayaan for Aarav. It was a smart deal—Aarav fit our team dynamics better.
I thought about the "gadha batch" tag Shashank sir had once given our Batch 2. He used to regularly check homework and punish those who didn't submit it. In contrast, Batch 1 had a cleaner record—they managed everything smoothly, even studies.
I texted Shubh to confirm whether Shashank sir still checked homework in B1.
He does. He even adds or deducts points for it.
That was both good and bad news. Homework wasn't just homework now—it could affect our chances of winning.
I asked if I should remind others to complete it. Shubh agreed and even suggested I impose some penalties. That evening, I messaged everyone on my team.
I began with familiar faces from B2—Tejas, Karan, and Sanjana D.
Then came: Achintya, Ramesh, Paresh, Aneesh, Shravani, and Mayanti. I wanted to ensure everyone was prepared.
My First WhatsApp Conversation with Naira
At 5:42 PM, I texted her for the first time.
"Namaste (joining hands emoji)
Please homework kar lena Shashank sir ka"
I received an immediate reply.
Naira: Okay
Aap kon?
(I tagged the message 'Namaste' so she'd know it was me.)
Naira:Namaste
Oh Tanish
Me: Ji ha
Naira: Ok
Waise homework ke questions bhej na
Meine likhe nahi tha
Me: DPP 1 to 5
20-question sheet me se Q3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 – ye NEET se karna hai
Ye sab PDFs hai ya bheju?
Naira:Ruk dekhti hu
Shayad honge
Me:That's expected
Mujhe pata tha tere paas honge
Naira: Okay
Mujhe laga you said it the other way.
Anyways, thank you yaad dilane ke liye homework ka
Me: Anyways…
Tu participate karti hai quiz me?
Coz I heard tu kisi se baat karne lage toh rukti hi nahi…
Naira:Quiz me participate toh karti hu
Par agar samjha nahi hota toh fir mein haath nahi uthati
Me: Maje karo
Tu mere team me hai… isliye yaad dilaya
Naira: I talk a lot but not so much that I don't stop talking at all
Me: I actually believed you'd actively participate
Don't worry—I'll make sure someone sits beside you to help
Naira: Okay
Thank you
Me: Maje karo
Sanjana J was the next one...
Me: Namaste (hands joining emoji)
Pls hw kar lena Shashank sir ka
I had copy-pasted the same text to her and received a reply within two minutes.
Sanjana: hii
ji
"Those lowercase letters remind you of someone, Tanish?" my sixth sense asked.
"Yeah, I remember very well. She too used to use a lot of lowercase letters. Maybe Sanjana used whatsApp web too."
Shubh promised he'd finish his homework by morning. I told him I was working on the seating plan.
Me:Bhai, Sanjana J ko Achintya sath bithana hai??
Shubh:Haan
Warna wo maanegi nahi.
Me:Aye haye
I hope they don't gossip too much.
Shubh:We'll have to see to it.
Truthfully, I didn't care who sat where—except when it came to Shashank sir's quiz. If I was the captain, I had to make sure everyone performed.
And if rumors were to be believed, they wouldn't cooperate unless they were beside each other. But if they started gossiping in class... it could cost us a few points—or worse, the game itself.
Amit was sure sir wouldn't pick him, so he and Aarav skipped their homework.
Mayanti's response wasn't great either.
Only Naira, Riya, and Ananya had confirmed they were done.
Around 10:15 PM
I sat with the middle page of my notebook to finalize the seating arrangement.
My strategy was simple: pair one active student with one average performer.
I didn't know much about Riya and Aarushi—so I paired them on the first bench.
I placed Naira and Parth together on the second. She didn't have anyone close in the class yet, and this felt right.
Behind them, I sat with Soubhadra—my Chitragupta. He was going to be my inside eye, helping me identify opponents and guide decisions.
Further down, I placed Archis and Sanjana J on the fifth bench. Tejas and Karan would be there to contain their chatter.
It took thirty minutes, but the final layout looked promising.
Seating Arrangement:
Riya – Ananya
Paresh – Naira
Tanish – Shubh
Tejas – Sanjana D
Achintya – Sanjana J
Karan – Mayanti
Ramesh – Aarav
Dikshant – Amit
Rohit – Aneesh
I could see my team winning the match. Every single person I chose was capable of answering and especially tackling Shashank sir's tricky questions.
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Wednesday, 4th April 2023
The next morning, I sent the arrangement to Shubh, and he suggested some minor changes, including switching Mayanti and Naira. "Wo zyada nahi padhti," he said, and I realized I might have been betting too much on Naira.
All my teammates had arrived in class, except Sanjana J and Achintya, both of whom could be match-winners. I kept troubling Shubh throughout Sunny sir's lecture, asking if they'd come or not. Every time I turned to him, he said they would join directly for the chemistry lecture. But I could still feel the anxiety. What if they didn't come? It would be a huge loss for the team. Nothing mattered more to me than winning.
The math lecture finally ended. News from batch 2 was that Shashank sir would be taking a surprise oral test, which he had already done in that batch and punished students badly. Both Achintya and Sanjana had arrived, and it was a great relief. But
the real problem occurred when my seating arrangement didn't fit well.
Naira wanted Shubh beside her to help with understanding the solutions. Achintya did not sit with Sanjana J; instead, he sat with Tejas and Sanjana D. I met Sanjana J outside the classroom and
asked if she could sit with Shravani, to which she reacted by
shouting awkwardly, "Kya?? Nahiii…" So, I brought Ramesh to the front beside me, and Sanjana J adjusted with Shubh and Naira.
I had no fear of Shashank sir's oral test and went for a samosa break. Upon returning, I saw the class was panicking, hearing about the punishments sir had given to students in the other batch.
The break ended, and Shashank sir was back. Our new game began with the oral round. When it came to our side, Ananya, sitting on the first bench, was asked the edge lengths of all the lattices. I saw her shivering, and the question was passed to me, which I answered correctly.
The next one to mess up was Ramesh, who, like Prashant of Sammy's team, spoke so quickly and always answered on the nth attempt that sir passed his question to the next member. Shubh, Naira, and Sanjana J were fine. Achintya, Tejas, and Sanjana D did well too. The oral round was finally over.
"Tanish, tu toh naya hai iss class me, phir tujhe pata kaise chala ki kaun sa student acha hai?" He often questioned students about the game score, their studies, and how their life was going in between.
"Nahi sir, wo maine pichle class me dekh liya tha ki kaun kaisa perform kar raha tha," I said.
"Dekh kyunki mujhe lagta hai tere sath me game ho gaya hai," he didn't even let me complete.
"Nahi sir, meri hi team zyada strong hai. Har player ko soch samajh ke liya hai," I was always confident. I knew his eyes were
on Achintya, as they called him an unlucky player who never won a game. Irrespective of his bad luck, I would take him any day since I knew about his intelligence and that he could be an asset to the team.
He finally commented, "Abe iss gadhe ko kyun le liya, ye toh manhoos hai."
"No sir, it's absolutely fine. I have taken him by myself," I assured him.
I actually wanted to see if Achintya's losing streak was stronger or my 100% winning record as a captain.
The first question came, and as soon as sir said hands raised on both sides, I saw that from my team, hands were raised up till the very end. I knew I had made the right team. The lecture ended with our team leading by two points.
_____________________________________________________
Wednesday, 5th April 2023
And she texted me for the first time…
[4/5/2023, 18:08]
Naira: Hi
Meko last physical chemistry ke lecture mein jo hw
questions diye the woh bhej na
Like konse konse karne hai, wahi
Not the solution
She misspelled "physical" as "phyaical," but I still read it as "physical." I was still not getting over the fact that we were leading by two points. It was Vihaan's birthday. Doing all the decorations, bringing his favorite snacks, and knowing that all his friends would create a mess before leaving, the night was going to be really hectic.
[19:02]
Me: I'll send you in half an hour...
Thoda busy hoon aaj...
Mai bhi kal subah hi karunga hw...
Btw oral ka kar lena ache se plsszz....
"It's only been thirteen days since you came to B1. Abhi toh
poora saal hai janaab," my sixth sense always said to me.
"It's gonna be a nice one, mate," I said to myself.
I remembered when the doors of the service lift opened and I saw her for the first time. In a crowd of students, who were from B1, she was standing at the back in a single ponytail and quickly ran away with the crowd as the lift emptied for us to enter.
I could recall whenever I accidentally opened the door of their batch, she would appear sitting on the first bench, moving her legs to and fro. She would look at me as I peeped through the door, only to realize later that I had entered the wrong room, and then she would look away to the person she was talking to.
_____________________________________________________
Thursday, 6th April 2023
"Oye, I saw two boys copying homework at the back… should I make a video and show it to sir?" I whispered to Shubh
"Yes!!!! And listen, make it so that they don't know about it." I did as I was told by Shubh and went near their bench.
I quickly opened my phone's camera and recorded a video of them copying homework, standing right behind them. No one in the entire class understood what I was doing.
I quietly started to move towards my place when I found a girl whose face was covered by black straightened hair. It was Lizz, and she too was copying the homework. I wasn't at all surprised. She had been sleeping in the first lecture of 12th grade and was now copying homework as well.
"Bhai, even Lizz is copying the homework. Uska bhi video bana leta hoon.", I told Shubh
"Ha ha go ahead."
I opened my phone's camera again as Shubh asked her.
"Lizz…are you completing the homework??" She looked up at Shubh and nodded her head, laughing. Her hair kept falling in
front of her face and hiding the book, but I had zoomed in on the video well enough to prove she was copying the homework.
We messed up really badly in the oral round, losing our lead of two points and trailing by six. Most of the team members around me panicked. Ananya, sitting in front of me, was arguing with sir about the unfair points deducted from our team. Meanwhile, Sanjana J, sitting behind me, kept asking how sir deducted points. I assumed that sir forgot two points were deducted for every wrong answer in the oral round and had only deducted one point. He showed his marking scheme on the whiteboard, and Ananya's repeated requests kept me agreeing, still assuming he had forgotten the correct deduction, until Sanjana J tapped me on the shoulder and showed me the calculation proving we were cheated by sir.
I finally explained her, "Dekh... I actually thought sir forgot that he always deducted two points for oral. But he remembered the marking scheme and deducted our points fairly." She rolled her eyes, slowly nodding her head while her eyebrows moved a bit upwards.
"Sir ab wo video…?" That moment had finally arrived. I could now show Sir the videos of Lizz and deduct points from Sammy's team.
"Toh aaj Tanish ne video bana daale."
"Ha sir matlab even I felt a bit embarrassed while making their video, but again, it was a part of our game," I explained.
"Ha teri baat sahi hai. Ekdum sahi hai. Bhai jisne bhi tumhara video banaya hai wo asal me tumhara sachha dost hai jo tumhe cheating karne se rok raha hai." Hardly had those words left his mouth when Lizz and I looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Ye bhi sahi hai.
Lizz se din raat baatein kare Sushant,
Aur yaha bina kuch kiye,
Uske sacche dost ban gaye ham."
I couldn't stop laughing while I said this to myself. But it fainted as sir deducted only one point for each student copying homework.
Ananya was proud of my tactics and appreciated, "Tanish, I want to be in your team next time as well."
My smile completely vanished when we lost the first round. I could see Sammy standing between the two teams, clapping for his team's victory. For the first time, I lost round 1 of any game. And history said that the winning team of round 1 always won the game.
After the game, I approached Lizz and apologized for making her video. She said she didn't even care, which was evident since she didn't say anything to me about it.
_____________________________________________________
11th April 2023
I was stressed out. I never played round 2 as a do-or-die round. We missed it in the oral. Paresh and several others, including Amit, were punished. I did not want to repeat any mistakes after that lecture. I strictly told everyone to keep their homework complete and be prepared for the oral.
Since the lecture was on consecutive days, there were high chances that nobody would do homework from the opponent team. And something similar happened. One of their players failed to do his homework and tried to trick sir by showing last class's homework. But Shashank sir was undoubtedly the smartest of all. We rocked it in the oral round, gaining a lead of 10 points. Ananya and many other team members tried to convince sir to end round 2 there itself because they thought, who would be able to cover a ten-point lead?
Sammy, however, refused to give up and said that if they were
going to lose, they would play the complete round and lose.
The next day, we began with a lead of eight points, and in a matter of two questions, the lead came down to four points. The third question of the day was displayed, and I could see both teams panicking so much that I had to ask Sammy if they got the
answer.
"Time up!! Hand raise both sides," Sammy sir cried out.
"We can still play a gamble," I whispered to Ananya and raised my hand along with Achintya
"Bhai, but you solved the question with the wrong method," Achintya alarmed me.
"Tanish, decide quickly," sir said.
"Tanish, give Achintya the chance to answer," Ananya suggested.
"Tanish... Tanish, please...", she continued requesting.
"Fine… Achintya, go ahead," I said, putting my hand down.
"Sir, the answer is 15.", he stated.
"Is it 15?" He turned to the whiteboard. "Dekho bhai, iska answer toh sahi hai. Ab bas explain karde ache se."
We all shouted in joy. The four-point lead was going to be a six-point lead now. He did extremely well. Even while explaining the solution, he left nothing unexplained. Then Ananya said what I had always agreed to, "Achintya is the most intelligent here. It's just his curse that no team wants him."
The last question of the day was related to defects. Ananya and Sanjana J led the hand raises for our team while I remained quiet, failing to find the answer. The question was passed to the other team, and Ayush answered it incorrectly, but no one realized until Sanjana J and Ananya talked about his answer being incorrect. Sir
then deducted a couple of points from their team. I funnily
commented, "Kaa re Ayusba, galat jawaab de diye?" Everyone laughed, and the day ended well.
They were nowhere near us throughout the round, and we won the round easily by a margin of six points.
6th May 2023
Trailing by only a couple of points in round three, everybody knew it would be the last day of our game. I reached a bit late, but Ramesh had preserved a seat for me. Three noticeable changes were that Sanjana J had her hair open, her black mask was no longer making her eyes a show stealer and revealing the entire glow of her face, and Shubh was not sitting with them. He was behind them, sitting with Sanjana D and Tejas.
Shashank sir began by asking me a demo question related to the relative lowering of vapor pressure, which I correctly answered. Then he asked the next one to Ramesh, who messed up again. Sir never missed a chance to humiliate any student in front of the entire class.
He compared him with Sahej and the other Shubh of Batch 2. Our team lost a few points because of him, and I could only regret taking him on my team despite our friendship. Questions related to molarity were asked next, where I taunted him, "Chal Ramesh, ab ye wala bata," to which Sanjana J laughed loudly, knowing that Ramesh had been under pressure throughout the game.
We gave incorrect answers one after the other. Sanjana J, Ananya, Karan, Tejas, me, and even Shubh and Aarav could not bring us out of the trouble. Their lead soon went to six points when Shashank sir suggested that I should stop and let the next topic, osmotic pressure, take over since its questions were easy and might prove scoring for us. We were running short of time as
well.
Only forty-five minutes were left for the lecture, and we were
still trailing by eight points.
Karma hits hard, and I remembered the last game of Batch 2, where Piyush and I were the captains, and I had defeated him by eight points. Even there, they were running against time, and now I could see myself in the same situation.
Osmotic pressure did take over. But in the panic and stress of
losing a game for the first time, I didn't focus on the topic at all. Ananya begged me to give her the opportunity to answer the question, but I chose Karan, and we missed it. The lead went to ten points, and we lost it completely. For the first time, I was not able to control my team. I was completely shattered. I could hear Ananya crying loudly, "Sir, ab iss team me kabhi dobara nahi aaungi."
"Aur ab ye game Sammy ki team jeet gayi hai," he announced. I lost my first game as a captain, that too, to a very tough competitor.
It took me one game to break the ice. Earlier, I thought that adjusting in Batch 1 would be tougher than Batch 2. But making friends there actually became easy because of the game, which resulted in interacting with many students who were my teammates. If I knew Ramesh, Presh, Lizz, Sanjana J, Naira and Achintya, I also made some new friends like Shubh and Ananya.
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