Sapno Ka Shaher

Thoda hai... Thode ki zaroorat hai...

The April breeze was turning hotter now and one of the two men having their night walk was gradually sweating. Rakesh took out his handkerchief from his white pajama and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Kitna paseena aata hai yaha Mumbai me. Din-ba-din bass garmi badhti jaa rahi hai." Rakesh muttered.

Sameer ran his fingers through his hair. "Haan. Yeh samundar ke wajah se humidity bhi badh rahi hai. Ahmedabad me garmi rehti thi lekin phir bhi seh lete the hum. Papa, hum AC kharid le kya?" He said excitedly.

Rakesh looked at him and smirked, "Baasssss. Paise aaye nahi ki kharcha karna shuru. Arey kal sirf tumhe Vigyapan milne ka phone aaya tha. Abhi uske paise mile nahi hai. Pata nahi kaunsi cheez ka vigyapan kar rahe ho." Rakesh muttered.

Sameer rolled his eyes, "McDonald Papa. American brand hai. Burger aur Pizaa banati hai." Sameer shared the details of the company he was shortlisted to shoot an ad for and for which he was supposed to shoot the next week.

Rakesh shook his head, "haan haan jo kuchh bhi naam hai uska. Aur mahashay,  seedhe AC lene ki baat? Haan waise tumhe Ahmedabad ki garmi ke baare me kya pata. Tum toh rajkumaro ki tarah AC ki hawa me sote honge na. Humse puchho bhai ki garmi kya hoti hai?"

Sameer passed a look to his father-in-law as they entered the gate of the Sea Queen Society. "Papa, aap hamesha mujhe itne taane kyun maarte ho? Hamesha mujhe paison ko lekar tokte ho. Ab kya isme bhi meri hi galti thi ke mai aise ghar me paida hua?" His voice contained a serious tone.

Rakesh halted near the J wing entrance and so did Sameer. Rakesh looked down for a moment. He knew that he had always taunted Sameer for belonging to a rich family and taking the benefits for it. But this time, he was just saying it as a joke. He didn't want to give him the guilt of being a rich spoilt brat at all. Because he had seen that very rich boy Sameer Maheshwari turning into a helpless common man just like him, after coming here to Mumbai. He had seen Sameer so miserable and vulnerable in front of his eyes. He had seen that lone tear in Sameer's eyes and those lost expressions on his face when they were returning from Anant Mahadevan's office. He had seen Sameer going all quiet after getting a rejection from a producer's office. He had seen Sameer losing his temper when he had to be dependent for his life decisions taken by a third person like Nirmalaji. And he remembered how Sameer had waited patiently to withdraw his own money for the acting class. He had seen Sameer thinking deeply and writing something while sitting in the balcony. It wasn't that he didn't feel for Sameer or he wasn't affected by seeing him lost, but it was just that they still had the formalities of the relationship they shared. That slight hesitation of being a father-in-law to Sameer was still there in his mind, which was refraining him to hug Sameer tightly and console him. And he just didn't want that. And that's why when he had heard Sameer calling him 'Papa' instead of 'Papaji' almost 2-3 times, he just broke all the mental barriers of himself and let Sameer call him 'Papa'. It wasn't just for namesake, he truly wanted to become a Papa for Sameer and that could be at least the start of it.

Rakesh put his handkerchief back to his pocket and turned to look at Sameer. He smiled, "Pata hai Sameer, jab tumne school me headboy ki pratiyogita me hissa liya tha 11vi kaksha me, uss dauran mujhse kaha gaya tha ki mere liye ek bada sa cabin banne wala hai. Senior Librarian ke hisab se."

Sameer was taken aback a little as he was expecting a glare from Rakesh after his accusation, but instead he saw him smiling and talking about school memories. He was listening to his father-in-law intently.

Rakesh continued, "mai bohot khush tha apne cabin ke liye. Ghar me mithai tak batwa di thi iski khushi me. Lekin phir pata chala ki jis jagah pe mera cabin banne wala tha, uss jagah pe parking banegi kyunki tumne apne Nanaji se woh karwaya, mujhse ya Arjun se badla lene ke liye."