As the 6am alarm rang out, Harsh stretched out his hand to silence it. He didn’t particularly like getting up early, but he had to. His family had recently moved across town. The daily ride to school was now an hour long through the harsh metro traffic. That wasn’t the only difficulty the move had brought with it. He was now that much further away from his best friend Vikram.
Harsh was definitely the quieter of the two. Vikram on the other hand, was a glib talker and a good athlete. These qualities had helped him earn Harsh’s admiration and respect among the other boys. They both shared the same desk by virtue of roll numbers in sequence and a steady friendship had developed for about two school years now. Harsh enjoyed the new world that Vikram opened up for him. Through Vikram, he’d get invited to some of the exclusive parties thrown by seniors. In return they’d work together on projects and Harsh would liberally help his partner out. The move across town had made it difficult to get together and it was beginning to strain the friendship. Harsh did not have to be reminded about this as it already weighed heavily on his mind.
At school that day Harsh was called out of class by a junior boy. “Harsh Thomas?”, the boy yelled out from the doorway oblivious of the teacher who was still teaching. “Yea, here.” Harsh yelled back. The teacher hurled a chalk as if it were a guided missile seeking out the source of the casual response. “Balakrishnan sir wants to meet you after class” said the boy quickly and ran back out into the corridor clearly embarrassed that he had not noticed the class teacher teaching.
In the 15 minute break Harsh went over to the Physics lab where he knew he would find Balakrishnan. Balakrishnan, or ‘Bala’ was loved by his students for his easy-going nature. Students who were in Bala’s good books always saw great grades on their school year projects and Harsh’s inventive project submissions were a favorite. Last year, Harsh had demo’d a 3-wheel pulley to Bala arguing that even though it was the most efficient of pulley systems one wheel was more practical, especially when the rope kept slipping off. This year the deadline had been short and Harsh had put in his best.
“Harsh – is that you?” Bala emerged from his office. “Good! I have an important question for you – and I want you to think carefully before you answer”. Harsh settled in on a tall stool at a lab table and looked back. “Vikram tells me that he prepared his chart in your presence – is that true?”. “Yes!” Harsh lied impulsively. He would check with Vikram later, but they had not been working together for some time now. Bala weighed Harsh’s reply and a sense of awkwardness hung in the air. “Alright, go on”.
Harsh returned to class and went up to Vikram – “What’s up with Bala man? He wants to know if you prepared and submitted your chart”. Vikram said “Yea, Ameya told Bala that the chart was originally his and that I had just put a fancy border around it. I wanted to kick that geek real hard when I found out, but then I asked Bala to verify with you”. “Did you make sure Bala knows that I did the chart?”. “Yes, of course I did!” said Harsh. He realized he had said that to curry favor with Vikram. Things had gotten incredibly confusing now. Vikram wasn’t known to rip charts off other boys, but Ameya was not known to lie either. In fact, Ameya and Harsh had met up a couple of times after school – he lived closer to Harsh’s new place than any of the other boys.
That same night Ameya cycled over to Harsh’s place to talk some sense into him. “Bala tells me that Vikram prepared his chart with you. I find that strange since I recognize that chart work from my last year’s project. It was left to rot at the lab; Vikram must have picked it up and submitted it. Why are you standing up for him? He’s obviously lying”. Harsh was now beginning to feel very naive for standing up for Vikram. “Are you sure? I mean, why would Vikram lie?”. “I don’t know, but I do know this …” said Ameya emphatically – “If I can prove the chart is mine, Bala is going to take this up with the school board for plagiarism and lying. I suggest you rethink and go back to Bala before things get worse”.
Ameya’s warning had it’s intended effect. Harsh did not sleep much that night and decided that he had to step up to make an effort to clear things. Vikram could not be found but Harsh still had to go up to Bala. Harsh explained that he had lied to cover Vikram unknowingly and regretted it. Bala was not amused and he decided to dock several points off Harsh’s project grade. Back in class, Ameya confronted Vikram. Harsh watched from his desk as Ameya waved the chart in question at Vikram. A torn label with Vikram’s name on it hung on desperately.
After school had rung out Harsh sat on the corridor stairs and stared away at the football field to mull over the day. The empty expanse seemed to closely reflect how Harsh was feeling inside. “Hey Harsh”, a voice called out. “Come on! Dad will drop you home after dinner at McD’s”. It was Ameya calling out from his car in the parking lot. He walked up to the car and said “You are seriously not mad at me for lying man?”. “Nah, besides you stood up for a friend and that surely counts for something. But you are incredibly lucky to get away with just a warning from Bala. You should’ve seen how he erupted when I peeled back the label to show him my name. I’ve never seen him turn that red”. “That must’ve been funny. Did you hear about the new movie on Asimov’s Foundation series …” Harsh continued on as he got in. As they drove away, a light behind the school’s name sign and motto switched on to illuminate old letters in the descending twilight – ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty’.
Related: Reversal of fortunes.