Ragged 2wice - Plot

Working Title: “Ragged Twice”

Genre: Teen Drama

Plot: Karachi, August 2011, 7:45 a.m. Kamran was on his way to college. Being his first day of college he had come to know rumors about how newcomers were ragged in the college in the past, this had made him nervous. It was constantly on Kamran’s mind as his mother was driving him to college. He simply could not get this out of his mind. Kamran is an anxious and shy individual which is the main reason for him being worried too much about ragging. The car stopped, “Have a nice day now sweetie!!” his mom said as Kamran got out of the car to enter the college. Kamran nervously entered the school gates. He scanned the area for noticeboards, till he found one. Unfortunately, there was a whole batch of newcomers in line waiting to find out their schedule besides their names. Scanning the area, he become even more nervous since he had stopped a group of probable “seniors” gossiping and shaking cans of spray paints, almost as if waiting for their prey.

He rushed to the bathroom to wash his face and to have a little chat with his conscience. “There is nothing to worry about, it’s just a little bit of ragging” he self-explained while looking at himself in the mirror. He splashed some water on his face and hoped for a stable day, but to his surprise spotted three seniors behind him. They were all standing in different positions, almost as if to trap him. He felt this sudden urge to run; maybe his sixth sense was trying to convey a message to him. One of them, who apparently seemed to be their leader, started of the conversation. “You new here?” he asked. Kamran decided to flee, but was grasped by the shoulder. “Not so fast boy, you need to get what you are here for” he exclaimed while pulling out a bottle of black paint and rubbing it over Kamran’s face. The other two guys picked him up while one of them strapped a tutu around his waist. “Now you have to dance for us in this tutu”, Kamran was thinking at this threshold limit as to how he should react to this. “See, we have a bet, and you’re gonna help us win it by dancing, and we’re gonna make a video”. Kamran had always been shy, and so he shook his head in refusal and muttered “I won’t dance”. The “leader” took a deep breath and looked towards the other two seniors. It was clear that he was trying to make it clear for Kamran, the consequences of not doing what they say. “Look boy, you can either dance right now or get this over with, or we will ruin your whole year at college, the choice is yours”. Kamran realized what he had to do. He had to get it over with before this could go on any further”. “I’ll do it” he replied. The group stopped, the leader turned around and said “Good choice” with a witty grin on his face.

They decided to take Kamran to the back alley. A place which is almost always, deserted and where other students would most likely not show up. One of the seniors booted his cell phone camera and got into position to shoot Kamran dancing. “Come on boy, dance!” another shouted. Kamran started to dance, feeling foolish and dumbed down to his knees. It was clear that he did not know how to dance, judging by the way he was dancing. When they had captured the video, the seniors just left, leaving Kamran’s hopes for a good first day, shattered in the back alley.  He felt ashamed and humiliated and went once more to the washroom to clean up. After washing up, Kamran went to scan the timetable to find out his schedule for the day. Walking briskly, he reached his class, and found out that the teacher was already teaching. He entered the class with the teacher’s permission. He took out his stationary and started to concentrate on the teacher’s lecture. He suddenly noticed that the guy sitting behind him had slipped something in his pocket. He shoved in hand in his pocket and pulled it out. It was a cigarette pack. Now being aware of his unusual activity, the teacher stopped his lecture in the mist and said “Oh, so we have a smoker with us, let’s take a trip to the principal’s office, shall we?” The teacher then took him to the principal’s office.

Kamran was standing in the principal’s office, not being able to fully digest what had happened to him on his first day of college. He was in shock, his heart was beating fast and he was sweating. He took a deep breath and assured himself that he can deal with this situation. He then started to concentrate on what the principal was saying. “We do not tolerate students who break rules, and you have broken one on the first day. I am sorry, but I have no other option but you expel you from his college”. This came as a major shock to Kamran, who had always been excellent in his academics. He explained “Sir/Ma’am, the student sitting behind me slipped it into my pocket, I did not even know of it till I pulled it off from my pocket, I do not smoke!” “You had been found in possession of it, and you have no credible proof that the student sitting behind you had slipped it into your pocket” the principal replied and by the end of the sentence picked up his pen to sign on his expulsion letter. It seemed as if Kamran’s world had been stuck with lighting, his heartbeat was through the roof, and he could not concentrate. He started to plead the principal not to expel him but got interrupted in between because of shallow breathing. The principal looked at him straight in the eye and calmly explained “Wake up”. Confused and terrified at the same time, he scanned the principal’s assistant who also seemed to be explaining “Wake up, Kamran”. “Wake up, wake up, wake up”, he could listen to the voice from all directions of the room. They slowly transformed into his mother’s voice and Kamran woke up, only to find out that he had been in his car all along, dreaming. “College is here son, have a nice day!” his mother said as she drove off dropping Kamran near the college gates. “It was only just a dream, it wasn’t real, and everything is perfectly fine” he thought to himself. He entered the college gates and swept passed the corridor to have a look at his time table. At a huge hurdle, he found out his class and section and hurried towards his class. To his surprise he heard some voices which were to present in his dream. He shook his head, smiled nervously to himself and ignored the hint. Walking down the corridor he saw a glimpse of a familiar figure walking towards him. It was the same bully leader from his dream. He put his hand his Kamran’s shoulder and asked “Hey man , you new here?”. Kamran panics and screams from frustration.

THE END