If…else
Ramya Srinivasan, Workshop 9
“It’s her fish-like eyes,” Manu said to his unsuspecting friend, Tej.
“What about her eyes?” asked Tej.
“Man! Have you looked at how gorgeous they are? Especially, when she is angry, I love how huge they get.”
Tej was not in a mood to discuss girls or eyes. Sounded like the most boring topic ever.
“I’ve to get to the computer lab before it shuts down for the day,” he made an excuse to leave his dreamy roommate. Would Manu even notice if I’m gone? Tej wondered.
Love is crazy. Six months ago, Tej and Manu were freshmen at Stephen’s. Tej had always been a loner and the idea of a roommate didn’t appeal to him at all. Surprisingly though, he had got along really well with Manu. They both shared similar interests – coding, chicken curry, and Michael Jackson.
Until Neha happened to Manu. Before Neha, Manu and Tej would spend hours in the computer lab, challenging each other on who could write better algorithms. Now his stupid friend spent hours staring at the ceiling and talking about eyes and fishes.
It was a humid afternoon when Tej logged into the computer. The air-conditioning of the room was a welcome relief from the useless fan in his hostel room.
He was mindlessly clicking into the folders looking at other students’ project submissions.
And then he saw it!
There couldn’t have been cleaner code than this. It was such a sophisticated piece of work that the nerd in him flagged it immediately.
Who wrote these beautiful lines? He wondered. Shit! It was not labeled with a name. An idea occurred to him. He checked the last updated timestamp on the code. Next, he walked to the register at the entrance and suddenly he was all Sherlock Holmes verifying the names of students who had checked in at that time.
He found the name at last! It was Neha…. his heart fluttered as his eyes rested on the register. Manu was right. Her eyes were gorgeous!
Ramya Srinivasan is a techie turned full-time writer from Bangalore. She is on the way to publishing her first non-fiction book. For more: www.ramyasrinivasan.com
Very nice, Ramya, good story.
Good connect. The title wasn’t attention-grabbing.
Thanks for the feedback, Kinjal. I was aiming to refer to the if else computer syntax.
If Else, clearly shows beauty does not only lie in the eyes of the beholder, but beauty can be seen from a different dimension altogether – their work, which is reflection of one’s personality. Nicely captured in a concise form. Kudos Ramya.
Thanks for your kind words! That’s well summarized.
Same person – liked for different reasons by 2 friends. Nicely written, with a twist! Greta job Ramya.
Right it’s about what you find attractive in a person. People are triggered by mind, physical features,inner beauty or all combinations of these. Great story. I can visualise the characters and their surrounding environment
However, after reading the story, I can say the title can be made more apt.
What a wonderful short and sweet story! Wonder what would happen to Manu and Tej’s friendship now that they’re both vying for the same girl !