Never break a rule

Disclaimer: This is my second story and was attempting to write a fantasy fiction with few real life experiences. Kindly do post feedbacks for me to improve in future stories.

Let me give a quick introduction about myself. My name is Sindhu, 18 years old and come from a small town in the southern part of India. I grew up in a very conservative family and had never left my hometown before.

I studied in a all-girls school throughout my schooling period and just completed my high school with very good grades. I wanted to pursue a medical degree and we didn’t had a college in my hometown. So I had to move out to a city in order to join in a top tier college. The college where i got a seat is nearly 2000 miles away. It was a tough decision for me and my parents to make as I’ve never stayed away from them ever and moving out to this far away place is like going to a different country for me. It’s a 5 year degree and I won’t be able to visit home often as the travel alone will take 4 days for visiting and returning back to college. It was scary but at the same time very exciting opportunity for me.

 

The college:

It was about time to join my college and I packed all my luggages. My parents came along with me to checkout the college campus and other facilities. As my parents couldn’t travel that far by train, we booked a flight and reached the city in under 2 hours but the tickets were very expensive as it was college reopening season. We took a cab to the college and on reaching it, we came to know it’s in the outskirts of the city and very much disconnected from the city. For any needs outside college, I need to travel around 1 hour to get to the city.

We entered the college a day before reopening, in order to settle down and my parents wanted to ensure it’s safe for me. Along with us many other freshers came and I made some friends too. It was one of the top tier college’s in the country and it was a very big campus. The management was giving us a tour of the college and showed us all the buildings and facilities available inside the college. We were really astonished with the size of the campus. It was bigger than I imagined and it had all the basic facilities inside the campus itself. The campus had its own super market, clothing store, footwear shop, stationary shops, gymnasium, playground and even beauty salons. I really don’t need to go out of college for any personal needs as everything is available inside the college itself. My parents were happy that I get to stay in such a huge campus for the next 5 years. The management then showed us the girls and boys hostel which was separated by an compound. One of the rules of the college is to stay in the college hostel for first 3 years and not allowed to stay outside even if the person is from the same city.

The girls hostel:

They dropped us to the girls hostel and was asked to register for a room based on the preferences. The wardon welcomed us and told us about the different room types and sharing availability. The girls hostel was like a big apartment itself for me with a canteen attached in the entrance. Apart from the canteen, there were 3 hostel blocks with a total of 3 floors each. The wardon gave details about each type of rooms available.

Room type 1: 2 or 3 sharing Air conditioned rooms which were currently not available as all of it were pre booked

Room type 2: 2 or 3 sharing normal accomodation rooms

Since we only had the 2nd option, I wanted to select the 3 sharing room as I am bit scary being alone and with 3 sharing someone will always be there. We registered for it and room 204 was given to me. Top floor was allocated for freshers and below us was the 2nd year. One block was entirely reserved for the 4th and 5th years.

As it was semester break the hostel was only filled with the freshers. The warden told us the college will reopen on Friday, two days later for the senior grads when the fresher’s inauguration program starts. My parents were also given an private accomodation during these 2 days so they can attend the inauguration program before leaving me all by myself.

 

The emotional meltdown:

The two days were gone in a flash and we had a good time exploring the campus. The inauguration for Freshers was very grand and it was so much fun with all the cultural programs at the end. It was time to day goodbye to my parents. As much as the excitement I had to start the new phase of my life, I had the fear of staying away from my parents.

Never once before, I had been away from them for more than a week. I had an emotional breakdown and started crying when they were leaving me. They consoled me and told me to stay positive and face anything with boldness and come out of the college as a good doctor. After that I got the confidence to face this new phase of my life.

 

Roommates:

Since I opted for a 3 sharing room, I had to share the room with Reshma and Sakshi. Reshma is also from Southern part like me but we had different first language. Same is with Sakshi, as she comes from Northern state and we had to use English as our common language for any conversations.

Apart from them, I made friends with 2 more girls- Veena and Isai who are from my state and they are 3 rooms away staying at 207 which is a two sharing room. If we had met on the day I arrived, I would have made them my roommates as we share the same language. It was too late and warden said the rooms have been alloted and cannot be changed till next year.

 

The freshers rules:

The inauguration was over in the evening and all of us had our dinner and returned back to our rooms. It was around 9.30pm and one of the fresher girl knocked at our door and told us to assemble downstairs as the seniors have called for a meeting. We were not knowing what exactly was the meeting but since its our first day we didn’t t wanted to get into any trouble so we went down. Around 9pm everyone assembled. I was sticking with my group and nervous on what things will come up.

We were then asked to stand in a line to introduce ourselves like our names and where we are from. After everyone’s introduction, the seniors asked us how was the inauguration and how we are feeling it here. At one moment the seniors all looked very friendly and we have having casual conversations of how we are feeling at the campus and liking the environment and everything good about it.

Then they announced that the fun is over from today and all of us should be good lads till we finish college and leave from here. We didn’t quite understand what was happening until one senior girl brought a white board before us. One of the senior, which we assumed to be their leader asked another girl to write down the fresher’s rule to be followed inside the campus.

Rule board:

Rule #1 – Should address all the seniors as either ma’am and sir when they meet anywhere.

Rule #2 – Should not have relationship with other fresher guys and always address them as bhaiya(brother)

Rule #3 – No fancy dresses or make-up to classes. Everyone should dress simple and look simple.

Rule #4 – Everyone should maintain only selected hairstyles inside campus. For long and medium hairs – need to be in tight braids. For short hair – need to be combed properly and pinned down with hair clips. Loose hair or any fancy hairstyles are not allowed.

Rule #5 – Always obey and do what the seniors ask you to do which was highlighted from other rules just to make clear it is the most important rule among all.

Note: Anyone who disobey or doesn’t follow any rule will get a disciplinary punishment.

 

Group disperse:

The senior gang said the rule board will be placed on their floor and told us to consider this as a disciplinary program to groom yourselves. They even informed us not to try anything smart by taking these matters to management as they are also part of this program. Anyone have any questions? There was pin drop silence in the crowd as we didn’t know how to react over this. They asked us to settle down and blend with the rules over the weekend. They also informed us that the cloth store and beauty salon will be open over the weekend and suit yourselves so there should be no excuses on Monday. With this they asked us all to disperse. All of us left from there dumbstruck and returned to our rooms.

The weekend:

The next morning we were still unable to come out of the shock from previous night. We thought the seniors were making fun out of us with these stupid rules and least bothered. There were also other groups who took it very seriously and was crying out in their rooms that they got stuck in a prison with such weird rules. The 5 of us formed a group to have some fun and Veena named the group as Anjelis(means 5 rats in tamil). I just couldn’t stop laughing and explained what the name means to Sakshi and Reshma in English.

The Anjelis:

Sakshi: Fair, lean, 5’4″. She was grown up in a city and is very trendy and stylish when it comes to appearances. She had midback length hair – Black with brown highlights and it’s cut in layers just a week before college. In short, she is an eye catcher easily in a crowd.

Reshma: Wheatish brown, moderate, 5’2″. She also comes from a city lifestyle but is very simple in looks. Doesn’t give much importance for looks and can crack a joke anytime on anything. A very sweet person and comforting personality. She has shoulder length curly black hair.

Veena: Very fair, Chubby, 5’2″. She is like myself who comes from a small town and loves eating. She has very long hair- black color below waist length. She doesn’t have any style and it’s cut in a straight line.

Isai: Brown, athletic, 5’6″. She is a volleyball player and has won many prizes. She is more of a tomboy and has an overgrown pixie haircut.

Myself – Sindhu: White, Moderate, 5’3″. As i said earlier, I come from a small town but I had always been talk of my class for my looks. I don’t apply much makeup or anything but still can look very attractive. I have long hair below to my waist and its very thick. It would need both hands to hold the full of its thickness. All the girls in my class used to be very jealous about the length and thickness of my hair. My mom used to maintain my hair healthy with periodical trims and is also an expert in doing braids.

At lunch we came across the rule board outside our floor and was making fun of the silly rules they have made. We read them again one by one and just couldn’t stop laughing as all were pretty silly.

Rule board – revisited:

The first rule was fine as it wasn’t much of a deal. The last rule was though stricter than other rules but it was not entirely clear too. The 2nd rule was ridiculed by Reshma and Sakshi. They already saw few fresher boys during the inauguration and they were very handsome and how they hate the no relationship rule. Sakshi and myself told that all our dresses were bit grand as we freshly did shopping before the college.

And then came the hair rule. Only person who didn’t bother was Isai as she just needed less time and few hair clips to fix her pixie. Sakshi and myself complained that its silly again as we both dont know to make braids properly. Sakshi always leaves her hair open and with the layer cut she complained its going to be difficult to braid. Veena had no issues as its her usual hairstyles. Reshma too has very little length and its easy for her. Veena and Reshma said they would help me and Sakshi with the braids. With this their weekend got over and they were getting ready to begin their college journey.

Day 1 inspection:

The Anjelis were getting ready for their first day of college and though they were thinking the rules were silly, they didn’t want to take it for granted on day 1. So they tried to follow all the rule and were started to their first day classes. They greeted the seniors as ma’am and sir on their way and they got a smile back from the seniors. The day went by and it was majorly an introductory session between the staffs and students. the classes got over and everyone returned back to their hostel.

During the dinner time they were discussing how silly of them to even follow the rules as none of them noticed anything. They decided to be normal from next day to the classes. Thet finished their dinner and went back to their rooms. Again at around 9.30pm their doors were knocked and asked to assemble downstairs for the seniors meet.

They got surprised what they planned for today and slowly the crowd gathered downstairs. The seniors again talked in a friendly mode how their first day was and everything was going cool till then. The seniors leader came forward and announced that we had a few rule breaks today and wanted to address them so it can be rectified from tomorrow. There was a slow murmuring and they had no idea what was going to happen. They came from beginning and picked few girls on their way and came to my group. My group head picked Sakshi from our group. Along with her overall 6 girls were picked out of 75 girls. We didn’t had any idea why did they pick Sakshi as all of us followed the rules today.

Rule #3 break:

The seniors announced to the group that these 6 girls have violated rule #3 and dressed as they pleased and wore makeup. Then it striked Sakshi that she wore her dark shade lipstick today out of habit and it got noticed. She began to get worried as she didn’t know what they are going to do. The seniors asked all 6 of them to bring their today dress and makeup item downstairs. They ran quickly and got everything down and displayed them before their senior head. The senior head then asked us to forget these items as they are going to be donated to an orphanage. They were only warned that since it’s your first mistake, we haven’t given any punishment for you and asked them to obey their seniors commands. They were asked to get back to their groups.

Rule #4 New condition:

The seniors spoke again and told us that they have done a small change to their rule #4. You see, we mentioned about braids but we forgot to mention about the hair length in its condition. Long hair in braids can be very attractive for boys and we thought that we needed to tweak it a little bit so you guys don’t get distracted by the attention you get for your hair from the boys. We will be adding a hair length condition to rule #4 and are going to showcase to you with an example of a proper hair length to be followed from now onwards. Everyone started to panic again but the seniors mentioned about the rule #5 that we all should obey their orders or it’s going to be hell for us for the next 5 years. We once again were in panic not knowing what they expect out of us. We submitted to our fates without much options.

The hair model:

The seniors asked one of us to volunteer to showcase their braid and hairstyles expectations from us. There was complete silence for 5 mins and no one volunteered. They again gave us 5 mins to decide or they will have to pick the volunteer themselves. All the long haired girls started to worry and seeing me and other friends panicking, Reshma came forward and volunteered as she doesn’t care about looks and already has short hair. The seniors came towards our group and praised Reshma for her self volunteering. But they were not satisfied with her hair length as it was shorter than their desired length and cannot show proper example to others. So they said that they need a long haired girl as volunteer and since no one volunteered they had to pick it themselves.

The seniors asked all the girls with more than mid back length to come forward and stand. From my group myself and Veena had to come forward as ours is longer than waist length and from other groups few other girls came forward. There was a total 23 girls with more than mid back length hair. They inspected all our hair and told us they have decided on the person to be their hair model for today. Unfortunately, they pointed at me and asked me to come forward. I couldn’t understand anything whether it was a dream or reality and couldn’t even move an inch. I just took all my hair to my front side and tightly hold on to it.

The rule break:

I was so much attached to my hair and it was like a part of me. The number of compliments I received for my hair, its beauty and glory came before my eyes and tears started flowing in my eyes. They asked me not to worry and its everyone betterment and I should be proud about it. I still couldn’t come out of the shock and i even tried to run away from the place back to my room or any place safe for me. I was stopped immediately and they took hold of both my hands and restrained me. I tried to fight them out but they were too strong for me. Girl you just broke rule #5 and you will get a special punishment for that too after the showcase. You have to obey us and do what we say. We are saying for everyone’s sake so co-operate with us.

Sakshi tries to help:

They brought a high stool and placed it on the center and called for the stylist from the beauty salon to help them with their showcase. I was forced to sit on the chair and I was too scared that time. Sakshi gave out a voice and told them this is very wrong and they can’t forcefully cut our hair. The senior head went to her and grabbed Sakshi by her hair. Sakshi shouted in pain as her hair was pulled very hard. How dare you speak against us and disobey our rule. Do you wish to switch places with our princess over there and volunteer as the hair model? There was again complete silence from the crowd and she left hold of Sakshi hair and said she will deal with Sakshi right after the showcase. We make the rules here and each of you should follow it. If you fail to do so then get ready to face the consequences.

The stylist arrives:

While all this was happening, I was completely lost in thoughts and gave up to face my fate. The stylist from the salon came down with her styling bag after few mins and was greeted by the seniors.

The senior head: She told the stylist that our little princess here has volunteered to be their hair model today and will be getting her new regulatory haircut which the other group will be following from here after.

The stylist: Took hold of my hair and  saw the condition of it and praised it that it’s very healthy and well maintained. She was even amazed with the thickness of it when she tried to hold all the hair together with her hands. She patted on my shoulders and asked the seniors – what are we doing with her today?

The senior head: We decided that long hair is too fancy for the freshers and it will be a distraction for them and also affect their studies. So we came up with idea of a shorter hairstyles which is easy to maintain and should be simple at same time.

The stylist: Ok I get it. How short are you guys suggesting? I would say anything between shoulder and midback length should be essy to maintain and braid.

The senior head: Let’s try midback length first and decide on the final style after that.

The haircut:

The stylist took out all her equipments and placed them on the chair next to me. It had variety of scissors, combs, clips and even small clippers. She combed out the full length and braided my hair. It took so much time for her considering the length and its thickness. After its braided, she placed two hair bands on my hair – one at the bottom and one near the mid back length.

She took the biggest scissor and snipped few times in air. It was very petrifying sound and I just froze on the stool. Then she continued its a shame to cut down such beautiful hair but as your hair is pretty long, it could be donated to a cancer institute. She got hold of my braid and placed the scissors just above the band and started snipping. My hair was pulled down a little harder during the cut and as the pressure was more my head went up and I was looking at the stars with teary eyes. The thick hair resisted the scissors for some time but finally managed to cut all the hair below it and the pressure was loosened after the final snip when it came completely free from my head. the whole crowd gasped looking at the length and thickness which was cut down. It took almost 5 mins and more to fully cut through the thickness. Then she placed the cut braid on the chair next to me and it was easily around 15 inches and my tears started to flow again from my eyes. 

The top braid unfolded by itself and she finger combed it to let it completely loose. The hair was very messy and uneven at the end. I raised my hand to feel the damage and it was a strange feeling running my hands into the uneven mass. I was asked to wet it myself from a nearby water pipe as it would take forever to wet all my thick hairs. I obeyed since the damage was already done and no point in protest as it will worsen my situation. I came back after wetting my hair entirely and was asked to sit back again.

The stylist then put a white cape on me and covered me entirely. The water droplets were falling out from my hair and drenched my face and cape. She then sectioned my hair into multiple parts with the clips and started to trim the ends evenly. Every section she used to take it to the top of my head and snip away few inches. The cut hairs fell on my face, then to cape and few gathered in my lap. Few were even sticking to my face due to the wetness. I took my hand out of cape and was picking up the cut hairs and felt the softness and few sections were even longer than rest due to unevenness. Due to the thickness it took almost 30 mins to finish all sections. The final hair length was brushing the mid back level and it was very healthy. She combed my hair one last time to admire here work and showed it to the senior head. The senior head was satisfied with the length but suggested that it was still very attractive and voluminous. My heart skipped a beat and it was too much to process for me and I was pale. But after thinking for few minutes, she let me go since it was just the beginning of their reign and she wanted to keep some fun for later.

The Instructions:

Now the senior head came near me and played a bit with my hair and turned me towards the freshers. She told to others that everyone must not keep longer than this level and gave a weeks time for everyone to get their hairs length cut as per rules. Also she mentioned, they will be inspecting again by Saturday evening to make sure the hair length rules are met.

The punishment:

After the announcement, the senior head whispered into my ear – ‘Are you ready for your punishment princess? Lets have some fun’. I looked at her in her eyes which was having a envious glow. So much things ran into my head but to my shock, the leader head called out Sakshi to come forward. Sakshi understood her fate and didn’t wanted to provoke the seniors and came forward. Sakshi was asked to sit on the same stool as I was getting my haircut. The senior head took me by my hand to made me stand behind Sakshi. I didn’t understood what was happening and looked back at senior.

She then announced the crowd that Sakshi and princess will have to get their punishment for breaking rule 5 on disobeying us. I could have let them go with a warning if they would have broken any other rules. But disobedience is a serious rule break and I want it to be practiced with caution so others know what happens next time if they even think about breaking it. The senior head then took the comb from the table and gave it to me and asked to comb out Sakshi’s hair neatly till it glows and start to braid it. I was not understanding what was happening but took the comb and started with the process.

The punishment will continue in next part..