17th August 2014, Late Afternoon

The Magician effect
 
Today I saw a dream that I was fighting with some guys who were from enemy team. I had seen them storm in and take everyone by surprise while some event was going on in this royal palace kind of place. They went on to steal few things which they seemed to have had decided upon and then even attempted to kidnap few girls, perhaps whom they knew were relatives or lovers of the other team members.
I got this urge to stop them so I got in between them and the wall that they were jumping to get away. This one guy who had some girl by her hair, pushed me aside with his left hand alone! I really couldn't fight him but couldn't let him take that girl away. Luckily the other team jumped in and rescued the girl. Few went after the ones who'd escaped.
Happy to get this unexpected help, I decided to sneak out of this mess. But the other team guys thought I was a part of the team they'd come to hurt so they started targeting me as well!
I observed something interesting here. Most of them were sword fighters but there were some sword fighters who didn't need sword. They could fight with anyone since they had magical powers. But could fight them only on their terms, i.e., they could only fight as a sword fighter with a swordfighter. I saw this magician from another team engage with sword fighter of my team (I was soon to be a member of this team) and defeat him. But he didn't kill him.
Next he came after me! But something strange happened. He could have snapped my neck in a second but I started fighting him on his terms, i.e., magician to magician but I wasn't a magician! In fact, I was highly unskilled! But in a few seconds, I became a magician just like him, and perhaps it shocked him to see this change so I could easily push him to the ground and keep him there.
But it didn't end there. I had to fight some other sword fighters also since they kept coming at me perhaps because I had floored their magician. Strange enough I retained my magician powers. But I could barely fight them off since the newfound powers were overwhelming and I collapsed. When I woke up, I saw this guy from my team, wearing this yellow shirt with some designs, standing near me.
Rest of them were standing at a distance but staring at me when I opened my eyes and tried to move. They didn't know me since we'd never met. Moreover, I could be a spy, trying to fake fight my way into the team. They looked surprised that I wasn't a magician but i turned out to be one, even I don't know how. So this guy I could recognize but had forgotten his name.
Apparently I felt I knew all of them but couldn't recall names or code names and if I couldn't speak the code names, it means I wasn't a part of the team. Before the yellow shirt guy could kill me, the name just came out of my mouth, just like that.
I think it was the effect of me getting those magician powers !!

In this other scene I was standing near a table and saw this guy in his late 30s chatting with some girls at that table. I approached the table and in my attempt to be friendly, by mistake blurted out that the guy was a magician. Now all he wanted was a normal night with normal people doing normal conversations without bringing this whole magician thing into the picture and ruining everything, including one's safety since we were after the other team who had stolen from us. Apparently they'd decided to keep me in their team and he and I were teammates but I had ruined this one for him and now he looked scared!
I saw him slightly indicating his finger to his lips, to silence me. In my attempt to correct the situation, I decided to exaggerate. And we know what happens when someone exaggerates. People stop believing even what you had said earlier. So I told them that he can also fly like Superman and produce claws like Wolverine.
And everyone laughed.

22nd July 2014, Late Morning.

I saw myself in a room with many people, guests I presume, but known people like family and family friends. I don't know how but next moment I was in the same room but with fewer people, including my parents and sister. I saw three women dressed in dark white walking into the room from the other door. Their head was covered. The whole room was almost dark and gave a hazy effect. It was like we were in another realm, perhaps the realm of higher spirits. I saw everyone touching the feet of those women, seeking their blessings and asking for their wishes. All this while I couldn't see the face of those ladies which were covered with their saree/hood.
Then someone prompted me to touch her feet, seek her blessings and ask for any wishes that I might have. I started thinking and I take a lot of time to think. I remember my father also prompting me to go ahead and at least greet them if nothing else. But as I recalled my life and everything about myself and my life, I was filled with such intense joy that I almost lunged at the lady standing nearest to me and hugged her sideways, and said, "Thank you!". Such joy I perhaps never felt before. It was the happiness of all the happy moments of my life put together and at that moment, there was nothing else I wished for, but this joy.

6th July 2014 Early afternoon

I saw myself in some city I had not been to earlier, with my parents, my sister and other family members from my father's side. We were staying at this big hall size room inside the campus of a BIG temple. This big temple was where they said we should begin our pilgrimage. My parents decided to spend more time in the big temple and sent me and my sister after our relatives for the pilgrimage around the town.
I was at this big hall size room, collecting books I may want to read during my stay at various temples since there was nothing else to do there. I took some sacred books, and a couple of novels, leaving one big book I wanted to read behind since it was making the total luggage too heavy. I was at the small temple provided in our big room going through the sacred books to pick and take when one of my relatives, some lady in a nice saree, came in and asked me to get ready fast since they were leaving.
While on the scooter with my sister sitting behind me, I tried to recall the route while maneuvering the scooter through the busy town roads. I asked my sister for the route but she said she was recalling and couldn't remember anything now. In a frustrated tone I asked her to call father to ask him about the route. Just then a traffic police officer pointed at me and asked me to take the vehicle to a side. I was scared. He produced a challan form and started writing challan. He showed me the challan... Rs. 701. I should have asked him how and discussed what had gone wrong. Instead I started crying. I snatched my sister's phone from her, tried to
run my fingers on the touchscreen while my tears fell on the screen, tried to find father's phone number. My sister tried to help me but I pushed her hand away saying that I had asked for her help earlier but she couldn't, and that's why now we're in this mess. We need to call father. I got his number, called him up, told him about this. He asked me to come back to the temple. I went back and my challan was excused.
There my father was very gentle with me and helped me understand that I should not be afraid of them but ask them what wrong I had done and cooperate as they were only doing their duty. Back at the temple I spent most of my time at the small temple in our room, reading the sacred books I had packed earlier to take on my pilgrimage.
On the same road few years later but after taking the left turn at the traffic signal, I was stopped again by a traffic cop, this time a lady. It was the same situation, my sister was sitting behind me on a scooter and we were going for the same pilgrimage, but this time I wasn't chasing anyone. Before she started writing challan, I asked her to give me a chance to speak. She did. I explained that I had a license, scooter registration and ownership papers and I was not a regular scooter driver. I also owned a bike and I drive a bike on a regular basis. My father drives a scooter. I was very friendly yet I showed that I respect her authority and decision, just like my father had taught me that day. While I spoke she had written all the details into the challan form. Finally she filled one last value, tore it and gave it to me. My attention first went to the amount, it was only Rs. 35. But then she surprised me further by tearing away the xerox copy from the pad, then tearing it into pieces, handing it to me and saying, "Go", indicating at the direction I was headed at.
So my sister and I visited few temples before it got dark. After seeking for blessings at this one temple, that had diety made in gold and covered with bundles of golden threaded chunri and wearing a sparkling crown, I started looking for my sister. A few kids, half naked and covered with dirt came over to me begging for alms. I really never liked the kids begging, or anyone begging, especially in front of temple. I offered them prashad which I had saved for my sister, which they refused. I guess they get enough of it everyday! They seemed adamant, but so was I. I simply walked away but not for very far. I could feel someone jump on my shoulders. While I tried to get rid of this one kid, this other kid caught my leg and started searching for my
wallet. These kids really knew some karate and kung-fu because in less than a minute I was on the ground, my face in the dirt, my suit piece ruined in the dirt and I just had to stay there for a few seconds to regain some strength. By the time I got up, they had disappeared, as if they never were. I brushed off the dirt from my face and clothes, and resolved to myself in a stern voice, "they will pay for this".

Meanwhile in some other world, I saw this guy, might be 15 years old but short in height, feeling left out by all his other friends and his people. This didn't happen always but being a sensitive person he took it to heart. So this time he had gone to share with them something he had discovered that nobody knew. But nobody believed him or was interested. He got angry and left, playing around with that tiny circular device, trying to figure out what it does. Suddenly he felt something and turned to a thin flight of stairs between two closed shops. Most of the town was closed that day and very less traffic was there on the road. In the background few kids were playing cricket on the road. He smiled in delight as if he had discovered what that device was for.
In the background I heard a female voice speak as if she was the camerawoman, "I see, so you think there's something exciting going on upstairs?"
That guy nodded.
"OK lets go then." But before this voice could finish speaking, he had already started racing to the top. Then he suddenly stopped, looked back and indicated silence by keeping his finger on his lips, then took each step slowly so as not to make a sound.
The door in front of the flight of stairs was open. He saw a man missing his knees and lower legs and tightly covered in thick bluish plastic cover which looked like had many layers. The guy had a mask on his nose and mouth, perhaps for oxygen. So this guy took the circular black coin like device and hovered over this patient, trying to find any place to fit this or perhaps some part of this patient's blue suit might get activated or lighten up in presence of this device. When the patient saw this device in this guy's hand, he widened his eyes and flared his nostrils at the sight of this device. Just then the guy saw this and it boosted his confidence that he was in possession of something big!
Entered this doctor and his senior doctor. This doctor who wore horn-rimmed glasses and looked like Mr. Bennet from Heroes, was in a serious discussion with his senior regarding the utility of this soldier who was missing limbs and couldn't breathe properly, but could still be a weapon. None of the two seemed to recognize this 15 year old guy's presence in the room. Suddenly this guy extended his hand and gave the doctor this black device coin. The doctor was surprised to see this guy, but took the device, said thank you and confidently explained how this device could help revive this guy and could be used to help him and others fight in the war.

3rd May 2014, Late Morning.

I saw myself with my parents, my sister, my naani and few other people at this HUGE magnified amphitheater filled with thousands of people. The main holy lake was at the depth of the center of layers and layers of amphitheater style circular sitting areas. The amphitheater echoed with the roars of cheers and chanting around me while the drums rolled when a new batch dipped into the holy lake.
The rest of the temple area itself was very huge and it was all stone and marbles under my feet wherever I walked, and not the sand, except the giant holy banyan tree that was at the center of the temple area. It was an isolated area that was not out of reach or bounds for the devotees but no one went there, many didn't even realize it was there, but it stood there and witnessed the activities in the temple, outdoors and indoors. It was there to maintain the balance in the life of the temple.
I could see it and I felt like walking towards it but somehow I didn't want to leave the stony path to walk on the sand. But all the time the tree was in my line of sight I could feel it was watching me and I looked back once in a while at it, standing there as always.
I was pleasantly surprised to run into my college friends at the main temple courtyard. It had just rained and the floor was still wet though not very slippery as it was stone floor. The marble flooring was in the main temple indoors. So there we stood talking while my family did the darshan. Suddenly this very well dressed lady in a sari came up to me and greeted me very nicely. I said a quick hello and looked away, hoping she would go away. I thought I knew her but I wasn't sure. I felt she wanted to talk to me about something but seeing me with my friends, she realized I didn't want to meet her then so she stood there for a few seconds, then amid the looming silence she walked away, feeling embarrassed I guess. I felt really ashamed and couldn't even talk to my friends properly after that. The tree must have seen this as I felt this strong unsettling sensation of guilt that I never got while standing in the courtyard of any ordinary temple.

22nd April 2014, Late Night

I remember I was in an Indian Railway's train. My parents and sister were in another bogie. I was in this second last bogie, having only few births and lots of empty space as in goods train bogie, with this girl I had befriended on this journey. She was essentially deaf and dumb (d&d) and we talked in sign languages. She talked about a lot of things and I learned a lot of sign language from her. I had a lot of fun with her. Perhaps I think my mother, once in a while, wondering where I was, must have got up from her berth and come and check on me. And she always finds me when she sets out to look for me so in this case I'm sure she must have seen me with this girl and that I was having a good time and left it at that.
My father had been posted to this new place, a hill station really. I like hill stations, its the winters that I don't. So I wasn't really looking forward to the stay as winters feel quite gloomy. It was probably late evening as it was getting dark outside, as the train stopped at a station. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know if this was the station we need to get down at. My father had told me the name and had asked me to keep an eye out for the station name at all the stations the train stops at. I think I had missed few stations on the way while having a nice conversation with my new friend, the d&d girl.
Now when this train stopped at this station to search for the board with the station name on it. Couldn't find any nearby. Before I could ask someone name of the station, a man behind me said, "Abhishek, what are you doing? This is not our station, its the next one." I turned around and saw this man who had accompanied us since the beginning of the journey. Perhaps he was my father's colleague or his subordinate. In panic, with a lot of effort, I finally paced towards the train. From the corner of my eye, I saw my friend get down from the train and walk towards the other end of the train. I watched her walk away and finally disappear behind the train, perhaps walking to the other side of the station. I never got her name.
By this time the train had picked up enough speed to outpace me. Frantically, I started running, trying to catch up with one of the sleeper class bogies but when I saw that the bogies were not connected anymore but locked out to each other, my pace dampened. But I couldn't just let the train leave without me. I turned back and looked around but couldn't spot that man who had asked me to board the train. Suddenly I saw this lady and her son trying to get to this last sleeper bogie door. That door was within my reach but I helped the boy and the lady get in by falling back.
Holding my knees and panting, I saw the train leave the platform. I saw the train turn at the end of the platform sharply towards its left and took an obtuse turn. I stood up straight and looked around the platform. It had started to get cold as the darkness filled itself around. I checked my pockets and realized I didn't have my mobile phone. I only had my wallet. That was of no use as I didn't have any of my parents' or sister's contact no. with me. I was getting scared to be in a strange winter-like town.
As I was about to step out of the railway station, I saw my parents and my sister pacing towards me, with 4 dogs on a lease.
What?
Yeah, 4 brown dogs of different breeds and different sizes. I think one of them was for me. It was then I remembered that every person living in that town owned a dog. Its not like I don't like dogs, I do like them, its the licking part I don't like. In fact I have been really good with dogs, thanks to my innate ability to converse with them. In fact that's how I could converse with that girl I had met on the train. My sister knew that and I had taught her a trick or two on how to interact with dogs as she likes dogs a lot. Now she seemed quite delighted to have her own dogs so was walking with two, my dog and her dog. She smiled as she saw them walk in front of her and grinning broadly, she waved at me. My father didn't look as delighted as her but he was looking generally okay with a dog at the end of the leash he was holding. My mother was the one at the height of her vigilance. She tried to keep the dog away from her but was cautious enough not to lose it.
My father later told me he just wanted to see my reaction to the situation of being deserted in a strange railway station. As expected, he said, there was no reaction. I did freeze, both due to cold and fear. I met the man again, who'd confused me into chasing the train like a mad dog, at our house few days later. He said he'd never have let me get on that train had I managed to do so.
I liked the big old stone-made standalone bungalow my father had been allotted, and our own garden with grass and trees and greenery around, like the Dukes and the Earls lived in. It was quite dark by the time we had reached the bungalow on my first evening in this town. Despite the impending winters, I felt quite curious about this place and was looking forward to my days ahead, especially hoping to meet the girl I befriended on the train once again. Perhaps I might find her where I saw her last, the railway station.

11th Feb 2014, Late Morning

I saw myself in a mall with Soumi, Radha and Sourabh. We were at the top most floor, playing arcade games at a corner outside, not in any arcade room or maybe those games were from older times, the 90s I guess. While rest of us played and switched between different machines, Soumi kept playing the same game, 'the islander' and by the time we were tired and done, we saw Soumi had reached level 11, something I had never seen anyone do before. Sourabh, in his usual mannerism said, "Abe kitna khelegi, chodh ab aur chal yahaan se." (Hey how much more will you play? Now leave this and lets go), while Radha just smiled looking at him convince to leave her game while she still kept playing, undeterred.
By the time mall was closed, she was still playing, and stopped only when the power supply was cut off. We stood in semi darkness, and could only see the long straight escalator, which was now a staircase since the electricity supply was cut-off. We walked down and the three of them walked out of the mall. I kind of was left behind as I looked back into the darkness, and felt scared for a moment. I saw them walk out of the gate but my mind got diverted and I turned right as I noticed something I had not seen before. While I walked in the alternate segments of darkness and light across the ground floor of the mall, I came to a place where I looked around and couldn't figure out a way out. Suddenly I heard someone say to me in a whisper the way out.
"are you trying to find a way out? that way, go that way."
I turned to my left and saw this guy peek out of his bedsheet wrapped around his body, lying on a hospital bed. I suddenly realized I was inside a hospital. A hospital inside a mall? I followed that man's instructions and walked out of the building.

2nd Feb 2014, Late Morning.

I saw myself at my parents' new house. I went to bathroom to take a shower. I was at the wash basin looking at my face in the mirror when I think I saw something weird while entering. I turned around and saw a plant bed made of bricks and having small saplings in it. I was taken aback and wondered could this be because these plants need moist climate? But then the bathroom will have so much use of soap and detergent that these plants might be affected by their chemicals. I asked my parents and my sister such questions and next day I saw that only 1/4th of the plant bed was there, reduced w.r.t. the width.

We were looking for some guy in an old building late at night. There was no light inside or in the vicinity of that house. Vegetation was overgrowing on and around that house and there was an old road on which we stood. I think we had just come out of that house, climbing down those stairs, in almost dark, switching off our torches when we could see the foot of the stairs. None of us realized from where he came but this man looked lost, anxious and asked us for some directions. He then sat in a BMW that we didn't notice was standing just beside us. This man who reminded me of Liam Neeson and was wearing his white coat that looked unkempt even in the dark. We saw the BMW zoom out of that old road, take a quick left turn and vanish out of our sights, only for us to realize a couple of minutes later that this man might have come out of the old house upstairs we had been investigating.
We sat for dinner at a similar block of house, outside on a similar old road, but the groundfloor house was inhabited and even had its bush fencing lighted which brightened the old road and my hair a bit. While eating at that table outside on the road, in almost darkness with some lantern type light sources, I felt something touch me and I pulled my leg back, then my chair back, bent down and peered into the dark below the table. It was a small glowing cylindrical thing. I didn't think twice before touching it and then lifting it. Then I saw from the third person's POV that some smaller things started rising while I picked up the bigger one, as if the babies were following their mother, her exact movements, even if it meant they were floating and rising hier in the air. I was about to show these to my friends when I realized... was these one of the many things we were investigating and so was that man in white coat? Did he have these things with him in his briefcase he carried?

31st Jan 2014, Morning

I saw myself sitting at a restaurant, waiting for her. I was supposed to have lunch with her. However I saw that her whole family, some 20 people walked in and took seats in the restaurant in the row in which I was sitting. I was sitting in one corner and one of them, an old man probably her grandfather, came and sat with me and made me feel comfortable.
The service at the restaurant was really good and as I was feeling shy and overwhelmed by presence of so many family members, the grandfather helped me out by asking everybody to quickly order food of their choice and I took out my meals coupon to pay for it but grandfather had already paid him in cash. I started to argue with him but he and everybody else had got busy eating so I didn't pursue it any further.
I was having a good time and had almost forgotten why I was sitting there in the first place, i.e., a date with her and only her, not her whole family, when she walks in with two of her friends, and they occupy a small table in my line of sight in the middle of the restaurant, meant for 4 people. Someone from the family asked the waiter to call for them. All this while I was just sitting there looking at her in utter disbelief. I think the grandfather and few others looked at me with sympathy.
She really didn't seem to know we all were there at the same restaurant, based on the way she reacted when the waiter told them and indicated them towards our tables. She introduced her friends to us and greeted everyone except me. I know she felt my presence because she paused for a moment and felt something because her expression changed but she didn't directly look at me. I was sitting at the place where I always sat during our lunches but still she didn't look at me! She simply took a chair adjacent to me and everybody resumed their lunch. It was so good to see her again, laughing and chatting. But she didn't seem to notice me at all or remember that we had a lunch date.
Once the lunch was over, while everybody started leaving, I was hoping that now she'd say something to me but she didn't. Next I saw myself fighting with the manager that they might have paid him more and tried to stop them when he said it was Rs. 700. He repeated himself saying it was Rs. 700/person. I saw this other guy paying up remaining amount and leaving while I was in a conversation with him. And now the manager left me in the middle of a conversation.
Later I learned about her fiance, a surgeon. Reminded me of my friend Harsh when I saw him, in conversation with her and her family. I was okay with her marrying him, I just wanted her to meet me once.

28th Jan 2014, Late Morning

I saw myself in so many different alternate realities at the same time.
In one there was a gathering in a big ground with arch shaped seating arrangements with increasing heights. There was no audience and everybody was either singing in the chorus or at least standing there with them. It was past dinner time and I stood there looking at the crowd turn into a well arranged group of chorus singers singing their regional songs as a symbol of solidarity. There was a cake kept at a high stand and it seemed it had been cut into pieces and some pieces were already consumed and my attention was mostly at the cake. I saw Rajesh T walk in and sit there with others...
I saw myself in some get together of my friends where they were making up games. It was like morning of Holi. I saw Snigdha, Rajasekhar and few others, they were standing in line and doing some dance steps and some other funny things and were asking silly questions to passerbys. I became one such passerby and they asked me silly questions. Snigdha asked me something and I replied something fruit something, and for every question she asked, I talked about fruits! Rajasekhar responded, 'bakwas'.

I saw this guy meet this girl for the first time at her house. It seems the guy crash landed in another reality with his house while his parents were out somewhere for the night. The girl and guy seemed to like each other instantly. Even though the girl's father was hesitant about them hanging out, he didn't object to it too much. So they spent all their time together, driving around, sitting in the meadows and sharing laughs, or kissing each other after every joke. They spent nights at the open air cinema, just the two of them, watching the movie from their convertible and then falling asleep in each others arms. They loved each other so much that the guy gradually became fat and I said to myself, the girl will leave him now and go with a better looking guy. But while I was there I saw her with him only, she even kissed his big fat lips on his big fat head.

I saw myself in the house of that guy which was now abandoned. It was late at night. Somehow I felt lost in time, realizing that this is not the first time I am in someone else's reality and thought hard, really hard to get back to my reality. I remembered I was a little kid who had got lost while playing with his soldier toys. In my mind I recalled that this one man would save me, this one man with a funny name, and then I heard someone shout, 'Sherlock' and I said to myself, that's him! He had saved me when I was lost that evening and he will save me now. But then I ask myself, what if he doesn't come to rescue me this time? Think buddy think! There's always a way out, I know my reality and I will get back to it.

22nd Jan 2014, Morning.

The day was cloudy and windy and the waves were wild. I was standing at the deck of a ship with my parents and my sister, among other tourists who had set sail on that ship with us. I never got to see our cabin  because all this time we were roaming on the deck and inside the ship and exploring the ship. This was the first time either of us had set foot on a ship and we were all every excited. My sister seemed a bit cautious of this new place so was rather silent but I think she was slowly soaking it all in.
I remember peeping into the insides of a big restaurant through the crystal glass panes of the thick wooden doors while we were at the deck. I could feel the ship moving under my feet, that slow wobbly motion of the vessel that gives some people sea sickness. However I seemed to enjoy it.
Next day the weather was brighter and the sea was calm. It felt like post-breakfast hour when we were once again standing on the deck and that faint sunshine was quite beautiful. It was almost noon when someone approached us and told my father about the new sea activity that came within the package we had booked. It involved two people who could take a ride on the sea in a new compact well streamlined model of a water scooter which was even covered at the top so that if it topples, it can be made to turn back to its normal position again. He shared the pictures of this new model and then, since we had nothing else to do, we went to check out this in action.
They were slowly suspending these from the ropes, like they do with lifeboats (and these would make great lifeboats, btw), and I saw a couple get into one of these 'pods' as they looked like. The wife seemed quite thrilled (read: scared) and the husband tried to smile at the camera. Apparently they were the first ones to try these out. The steering wheel caught my attention, it was so thin! I saw the husband hold it and it bent under his grip. I saw the next pod closely and saw the steering, the seats etc. My father was almost ready to send me and my sister down in the open sea. I looked at my sister and she was also looking at the pod, and I realized she had no idea the dangers at the sea. It was like walking on the treetops, what lay beneath was beyond our comprehension. Besides, we've all seen what sharks can do, in the movies and Discovery channels. They assured that this part of the sea was least inhabited and so didn't have any sharks or other sea predators but I didn't want to take any chances.
Very few people get to see a real shark in action before they die but I wasn't going to be one of them! So I refused, my fear evident in my face and voice, so my sister also had to miss out on the fun. She did look disappointed and gave one last look to that empty pod which was then occupied by another newly married couple.

16th Jan 2014, Morning

I saw myself in a classroom with lots of other people of my age, sitting scattered across the room on their classroom wooden desks (a chair with a fold-able table like surface). It looked like post-sunset as the old asbestos roof classroom was dimly lit by a couple of light bulbs and the mood in the room was lethargic, as if this was a night class of some sort.
So while everybody sat there scribbling down, some with gusto, some with pride while a few with pleasant delight, I just sat there trying to recall all that I had done in the last few years ever since I started working. Apparently our teacher had asked us to write down about our job, what we currently do, what are our roles and responsibilities etc. and I was not just at a loss of words but also at a loss of thoughts!
So I decided to sneak peek into someone else's "essay" which is what it looked like everyone was writing since they all seemed engrossed in thinking, and scribbling, and thinking again. I saw one guy had "designed" a template in that one page space so as to fit as much information as possible and at the same time keeping everything as visible as possible. I liked it! And I slid it from below his hand, to his utter amazement of course.
"Make another one." I said with a straight face, then added, "I really appreciate your help, thanks."
Few minutes later the teacher started looking into everybody's paper while they still continued to scribble. I say scribble because that's what it sounded to me like. She looked into my paper and somehow identified that it wasn't my work. Perhaps she saw the difference in the two handwriting. Without telling me, she pulled the paper from below my hands while my pen wasn't touching the paper, and looked at it closely. I looked up at her, hoping that she'd just return it and get back to looking into others' papers.
"This is not your work, whose work is this?" She said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
The guy sitting beside me raised his hand hesitatingly while looking at me as if for my permission.
She returned it to him and gave me a new fresh plain sheet of white paper and asked me to start all over again. I was scared, angry and hurt.
"Look at his work." She said, pointing to Kautuk, who suddenly looked up when he realized that everyone was looking at him. I did look and yes, it was very well done, or very well written, same thing I guess. He had his own template and the teacher later left the remark, 'stylish' in red near the top right corner, where she found some space to scribble.
Next I saw myself walking into that classroom but from the other door, not the main door. Perhaps I had gone out for fresh air, or this was the next day and I had taken another route to this place so used the other door to enter. That blank sheet of paper was still in my hand while I looked around for vacant chair to sit. I asked someone sitting in the first row if the seat beside her was vacant. She replied in an affirmative, looking in the direction of the projector screen, waiting for it to come to life.