1 One

The auditorium of Sri Harsha Institute of Science and Technology, Tanuku, was abuzz with excitement and activity, for it was the day the final year students would receive their graduation certificates. The college administration had arranged a grand convocation ceremony for the final year students who had managed to pass their four-year engineering course.

21-year-old Mounika rushed into the hall out of breath, almost late for the convocation. Her best friend Anjana waved at her, and she made her way through the rows of seats trying her best not to stomp the feet of those already seated in the hall. She sighed in relief when she finally plonked in her seat, happy to be there; this was the moment she had been waiting for four years - no! she had been dreaming of this moment since she had passed 10th class (10th grade).

"You almost missed it!" Anjana scolded her. "Why are you so late?" Mounika looked at the girl - no! woman she had grown up with; Anjana was 5 feet 5-inch tall, fair skinned, bubbly woman who was mischief personified. She was a traditional female who always spoke her heart out with no malice.

"I almost overslept!" Mounika smiled at her friend. She was an introvert who opened up only to a select few and that too in private. But to the outside world, she was a shut book. Anjana knew this nature of her friend and she too did not reveal that hidden side of Mounika to others making them wonder how two girls with such opposite characters could be as thick as thieves.

"How far have they got?" Mounika, who had by now caught her breath and settled down comfortably, asked. Anjana gave a flash of her teeth as she answered.

"F!" she winked at Mounika making her shake her head. "For Friends! What did you think I was saying!" Mounika slapped her friend's arm playfully.

"Come on! Save those 'special' thoughts for your prince charming!" Anjana whispered in Mounika's ear making her blush. "Look at you! Blushing like a newlywed bride!"

"As if you will never get married!" Mounika managed to say with rosy cheeks. "I will find a man who can ...."

".... rein me in?" Anjana finished the sentence mischievously. "Don't worry, I will make him fall at my feet and tie him to the strings of my saree!"

"Yeah..." before Mounika could think of a proper response Anjana dropped another bombshell. "And I will invite you to my wedding night......" she winked at her friend again. "For training purposes!"

"Chee! You are so shameless you know!" Mounika felt her face going hot with embarrassment, her red cheeks an indication of the effect of her friend's words on her. "You are becoming too rowdyish these days!"

"Mandava Mounika Chowdary, B. Tech Computer Applications!" the speakers in the auditorium blared breaking their conversation.

"That's you!" Anjana said pulling her friend up from her seat. "Get going Princess!" Mounika smiled and gave a look that plainly said, 'just wait!' but Anjana stuck her tongue out at her friend urging her forward. Mounika hurried towards the stage with a smile on her face.

This was the moment she had waited for - the day she would officially receive her engineering degree. Just as she was about to receive her degree, someone threw water on her!

"What!" Mounika was in tears. "Why would anyone want to spoil such a day!"

"I don't know what you are dreaming about, but if you don't get up now you will miss your JEE exam!" her mom was saying.

"Mom?" Mounika was confused. "Mom, when did you come to the convocation?" Mounika heard an uncontrollable laughter that sounded eerily similar to that of her elder sister. She finally opened her eyes to see that she was on her bed, completely drenched in water, her clothes completely wet.

It was a good thing she slept on a foldable cot, or the mattress would have smelled like dead rats.

"Was that all a dream!" disappointment flooded Mounika's veins as she said those words, a bad taste in her mouth, her face gloomy.

"If you keep dreaming, without taking your JEE (Joint Entrance Exam), it will remain a dream!" her mother chided her. "Have you forgotten that today is the exam?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot!" Mounika finally got up from her bed, folding the bed sheet, placing it on the pillow, and folding the bed. "It was such a lovely dream!"

"But you have to wait till I get married sis!" teased Harshini who was working as a software engineer in Infosys. "Don't worry, I will find your prince charming!"

"You marry if you want to!" growled Mounika. "I will never marry!"

"Girls who say that are the first to get married!" Harshini smiled, winking at her sister, who responded by throwing the pillow at her sister. Harshini caught the pillow easily and threw it at her younger sibling who failed to escape it.

"You are dead!" Mounika ran at her sister who simply stepped out of the room and closed the door. Mounika almost broke her nose on the door, but she managed to avoid it at the last minute. "I will kill you! Just you wait!" she threatened, though she knew that her sister would be at the dining table laughing her silly head off like a maniac.

But she decided to drop the matter for now and got ready swiftly and came to the dining area. Her mother had already placed her breakfast - her favorite upma masala dosa - on the dining table.

"Mom! Why do you always prepare this on exam day?" Mounika asked with a pained expression.

"I feel so sleepy after demolishing it!" Harshini finished making her younger sibling stick out her tongue at her.

"I am not a glutton like you!" Mounika retorted.

"You need energy to write the exam." her mom intervened before the matter escalated. "You can't write if you feel hungry all the time."

Mounika quickly finished her breakfast, and her father came in just then.

"Ready?" he asked looking at his daughter. She was dressed in simple clothes - literally. The rules were too stringent - no calculators, digital devices, wrist watches, earrings, nose rings or any kind of jewelry for girls, not even bangles and anklets. She looked too plain and bare for him, and it hurt him to see his daughter like that. But rules were rules - either you followed them or lost the chance to sit the most sought-after test in the country.

"You will ace it, Mouni!" Harshini said giving a black ball point pen to Mounika who smiled gratefully.

"Thanks sis!"

And she left for the exam center on her father's bike, pillion riding as he swerved through the traffic using his driving skills and experience, dropping her at the exam center in time.