Medha's Journey Through Hell

Hello all,

I am Medha! I want to tell you all my story. A Story of how a Asst. professor studying Phd in a reputed university had her life twisted and turned for years to come. This is going to be a long story as i remember things vividly thanks to my eidetic memory.

This was all 11 years ago when i had just finished my Masters in Business Administration. I was a bright student all through my university and finished as a gold medalist in MBA. I madly wanted to study more and my Head of the department called me to his cabin to talk to me on the day of the Convocation.

HOD: Medha! Congratulations Dear!

Me: Thank you sir. It was a great feeling today on the stage. I dreamt of it all my life.

H: You have worked hard for this and you deserve every bit of the accolades that you have received today. You were the best student in my 30 yr experience.

Me: Thank you Sir! On a lighter note, Do you tell this every year to the Gold Medalist?? (Grinning Sheepishly)

H: Ha Ha Ha! Guess what? Yes i do.

Both of us laughed

H: So What immediate plans?? Don't tell me you are planning to get married after this!

Me: No sir! I want to study more. I want to do my doctoral degree but have not given much thought other than the subject - Behavioral Finance.

H: That's wonderful. All the best to that. By the way, Can i ask you something? Rather suggest!

Me: Yes Sir! Please. I need all the advice from you. In fact i had planned to ask you.

H: Why don't you join as a research assistant to me? You will be teaching undergrad Kids some finance and i will be your guide for your PhD. I can get you the job in a few days. You can take a couple of month's break and come back here for the next academic year! Think about it. Take you time and let me know your decision.

Me: Sir! I am really honoured that you think i am a good enough assistant to you. I would be the happiest to be in this very university for my Doctoral studies. There is nt need to take time Sir! I will be here in two month's time for the joining.

I was the happiest in the world. Right since schooling i had never been to any other city to study and had been a part of the same university and now being able to complete my Doctoral studies there was the icing on the cake.

One thing i had planned to do in these 2 months were get away from books as much as possible. I was a bibliophile and i had to keep myself distracted from books. And hence i planned to join the Gym.

I wasn't all that fat per se, but i planned to get into better shape before i became an academician. I was all of 23 yrs but constant association with books had made me look like i was 50.

Gymming was a great way to get distracted from two things. Books and my mom. Books was something i planned to get distracted from. But getting distracted from Mom's nagging was an added benefit. Mom was behind me to get married and i had told her straight away about my PhD aspirations and if i get married it would be after i am get my degree. She was an academician herself and she would never have said no to me studying further but for one thing. She was a single parent as my so called father had died because of a plane crash when i was 2 years old and my mom had brought me up all by herself. She wanted me to get married when she was hale and healthy to which i used to assure her that 48 is not an age where people would generally die and given here yoga habits my mom would be healthier than me for more years to come.

Getting away to gym helped me get distracted for one and also get in shape. As mentioned, i wasn't fat or anything. I stood at a good 5 feet 5 inches tall, more than the average height and had a normal body figure but one thing that i was not was "Fit". I could not walk for more than 10 minutes without giving up panting or climb a flight of stairs at a time without breaks.

My Gym Instructor was a strict fellow named Anil. He would be severe on me if i did something wrong or i missed a session or two. He would make me do an extra set of Squats or ask me to stand on one leg for 3 minutes if i ever came late. If i missed a session, i had to run an extra 30 minutes at relatively high speeds on the treadmill. It was more because of the fear of this that i went to the gym everyday.

He used to train me to build my core strength and by the time i came home everyday i would be sweating like a pigs underbelly. I grew fitter and later in life realized that these exercises were the ones that helped me get through the most difficult times in life.

Beginning of the academic year 2006

It was the first day at work for me and i had to dress appropriately for the occasion. I did not want to wear kurtas or salwars like a student did as i was not any older and people would confuse me for some senior student. Hence i decided to buy a range of sarees to wear to work. I was to report to my HOD who would allocate my work and the classes i had to teach.

He had told me that i had to take a few courses for the undergrad students.

I was to teach 1st year commerce students' their Economics. It was my favorite subject and i was looking forward to the classes. My first session was slated to three days from then when classes started for the students. I prepared myself for the class dutifully for the next three days.

As i entered the class on thursday, the class was all silent and suddenly murmurs started across the class. Apparently they had not expected someone so young to be teaching them. I wanted to keep the session very informal and allow the students to express their opinions.

Things were great till the end of first semester. I was happy with the work i was doing. The students also wanted me to be their faculty for the next part of economics in their 2nd Semester.

This was the time when the problem started for the first time. It was on the 5th of february 2007 as i entered the class, there were a bunch of students at the back with their mobiles seeming distracted. I warned them not to use their mobile phones during class hours and continued with the lecture. Some time later, they were again at it with the mobile phone. I had to go and confiscate the phone. They were petrified and i did not know why as i had promised them that i would return the phone once the lecture was over.

I kept the phone on my desk in the class and began lecturing again about the effects of subsidies on the fiscal well being of the country. The phone started ringing and as i cut the call, i could see a naked picture as a wallpaper. I was shocked but did not talk about it during class. Once the class was over, the bunch of students who were sitting at the back bench almost ran to me for the phone. I sensed something fishy and told them to collect it from me at the staff room post lunch. I went to my room and pressed the lock button again and saw the naked picture again. The Face was strikingly similar but i could easily make out that the image was morphed. I tried to remember whom the face in the picture belong to and suddenly it flashed to me that it was of a student of the same class. Her name was Sheetal and she was among the more beautiful girls in the class. I was shocked at the sight and i took the phone directly to the principal's office.

The principal called upon the said students and asked whose phone was it. One Boy came forward and *Phat* i heard a slap on the face. His name was Nikhil. The Principal had an expression that even gave me shudders. Nikhil was asked to unlock the phone and he pleaded that he would not do anything similar in the future. Down came another slap on the other cheek this time by the director of education. He unlocked the phone immediately and started sobbing that he was sorry. We all were shocked to see more pictures of girls in the class morphed as naked photos and had been shared in whatsapp to other students. On probing further, he admitted that the photos were also shared in porn websites. As we browsed the phone further, i came across a picture of mine uploaded on facebook in this Phone. I went to him and asked him about it and he mentioned that he was morphing this picture on his phone when i had confiscated his phone.

I was shocked and tears started flowing down my cheeks. In Rage i hit him without any caution. I punched him in the stomach and slapped him again and again. I could not bear the humiliation. I was howling in the principal's cabin hitting nikhil.

I was held by some faculty and made to sit down. Nikhil was Rusticated from college. He was not to attend college from the very day. My HOD came to me and told me that nothing had happened and asked me to take a leave for a week and come back fresh.

I was not in a position to think about anything else that day. I walked like a zombie to the parking and drove home without knowing how i negotiated traffic.

I spent the next two days curled up in bed crying. I could not think of anything else but the fact that if i was late by 15 minutes, some guy would have taken a picture of mine and morphed it to look like i was nude and sent it across places. I had immediately deactivated my facebook account and all my other social media channels when people had access to my photos. I could not trust anyone. I had narrated the entire episode to mom and she was supportive. She asked me to plunge into books and distract myself. She made me do chores in the house that would take my mind off all the nonsense. That night, my mom asked me to get some veggies i went out and as it was a cold night, i wore my sweat shirt over the tees i was wearing and left home. I had to walk some 600 meters to buy the veggies and i was lost in thought as i was walking down the lane.

The next few things occurred in a split second when a car came by my side, the door opened and i was pulled in forcefully. I felt a blow to my head and i do not remember the next few minutes or hours. I was screaming was all i remembered when i woke up in a room.

The ceiling fan circling made my temples ache. I could not open my eyes completely. I was kidnapped and it took me a whole hour to realize.

- To be continued.