The 3 Stooges

This is the story of 3 friends, a la Dil Chahta Hai. Let's call them A, S, V. They studied in college X which is where they met and became friends for life. College X had a system of having a test every saturday. Everyone knew that the tests didn't matter but they still had to take it. If someone were to miss a test they usually told a friend to submit a piece of paper with the name of that prticular student with or without a few lines so as to give an impression that he was present. Life went on.

On one occasion, A had to miss a test. Casually, he told S and V to write a paper for him and submit it. All of them knew that this was a joke and they won't do it. However, on the D-day, S told V to write a few pages for A which S would submit. Reluctantly, V wrote 4 pages and gave it to S. As fate would have it, S was caught while submitting the paper. When asked where the A was, he said that A had left after giving him the paper. The prof. L would have nothing of it and he went to the office to look at A's picture to see if he had come. It was the last day before Christmas vacations and all 3 of them spent sleepless nights during the entire vacation.

After College reopened all of them missed classes the first day for fear of what might happen. Next day during one of the classes A and S were called to the Vice Principal F's office. After a few minutes V was also called up. He was surprised to get the call as he was nowhere in the picture. Upon reaching F's office, he saw A and S standing in front of F and L. F asked V whether he had written the paper for A but foolish V didn't realise that his bluff was over and said no. S immediately refuted V's statement and said that it was V who had written the paper. V was caught!

Here is what happened behind the scenes. A and S went down and confessed their crime before F and L. F was getting ready to announce a punishment for them when suddenly L said "This doesn't look like your writing S. Who wrote A's paper?" Then he noticed poor V's paper lying below theirs and the resemblance in writing could not go unnoticed. Thus, A and S had to tell the truth.

What happened to them after this is irrelevant. The important thing is the effect of the incident on their friendship. They will never forget this for the rest of their lives. This incident acts as the glue which binds them for the rest of their lives...

P.S. - As Barney Stinson would say in HIMYM, "True Story!"

P.P.S. - I am back after a bit of a hiatus as I was preparing for an exam and then had to take care of a few important matters. I hope to be regular once again.