Dreams Aren't Real

Chapter 1

20th August ’14

“Are you going to meet that bitch again?” yelled my mother from the kitchen. I pretended not to listen, she pretended not to care ‘cause everyone knew the answer. But the care was evident in her eyes, while she was serving the delicious pakodas to me. My mom was the best cook I’ve ever met, but I never admitted it. She had a dual master’s degree, yet she chose to cook for us. We lived in a joint family, so she never got a chance to step out of it. And so was the case in almost every family I met.

Anyways, the “bitch” she was talking about was Tanya. I still remember every possible detail of the day we first met. “UNO,” called a sweet, mesmerizing voice from above, and a card from the game glided down to my feet. “yaar, would you please give the card back to me?” I looked up only to get entranced by her smile and curls of her hair caressing her face, as she looked down at me, and then at the card. She took the card, thanked me, and carried on with her game of UNO in the sleeper cabinet above. This was how we met first, in a bus going to Manali for an excursion organized by our school.

“What time’s your flight?” asked mom, though she knew it.

“It’s tomorrow at eight, mom” I said, eating the last pakoda in the plate. Then she took away the plate. I felt guilty for letting her take it.

“Did you pack your shoes,” she asked, while I was unpacking the stuff to find my shirt I told her not to pack. This was the shirt Tanya had gifted me on my last birthday, and since it was my last day before I’d to go, I had to wear it.

“Yes, how many times did I tell you not to pack it?” I murmured. She shrugged as she always did.

“Here’s it, now pack all of it,” she looked pretty exhausted “and come out when you’re done. I need to talk to you.”

I wondered what did that mean, and I finished packing as fast as I could do. I really hate packing.

“Okay, Arpit,” mom called my name only when it was something serious, and that made me nervous “I know you’re going to meet her now, but beta, don’t keep thinking about her all the time. You’ve to move on now. There are plenty of girls out there, you’ll find someone better.” My mom never liked Tanya, because she was Punjabi. Mom hated Punjabis since some old friend of hers fled with a Punjabi girl. I don’t have any other evidence to support my verdict.

I never replied to such things, and mom never expected a reply. “Where are the keys?” I asked. She pointed towards the shelves. And in my way, I wasn’t thinking about anything else but the Manali trip.

Black tank tops was what she was wearing in the chilly weather of Manali, while everyone else had layers of clothes over them. “Wo dekh teri bhabhi,” said an overconfident friend of mine, who claimed to have had sex with a senior when we were in class seven. I felt blue, since it wasn’t only me who had a crush on her. In fact, every other guy in my tent was talking about her. This infuriated me. I went straight to her, and stood still with nothing to say. Though I had planned a plenty of things to say, I just couldn’t. I was spellbound by her glittery eyes, looking straight into mine. “Hey, HEY,” she growled and shook me into consciousness. This was the first time she noticed me, and I had portrayed myself as a loser. Now everyone in my tent was talking about me. Even my best friend, Gaurav laughed at my helplessness. While having dinner, I was sitting alone as everyone else had had maggi, when I was regretting what had happened. What happened next was unimaginable. “May I sit,” asked Tanya, in politest tone I had ever heard. “Yeah,” I said hesitatingly. “I’m sorry for shouting at you, but you weren’t even breathing.” I couldn’t even reply to that. “Anyways, forget it. I’m Tanya” she said gesturing for a handshake, while other guys in the dinner area were constantly staring at us. It felt great as they all envied me. “Arpit,” I said and shook hands with her.