Anokhi Fitrat

Chapter 3

It's evening time and there's a cool breeze that's all over the city. Nisha is sitting by the window in her cozy little apartment, reading a book. As a kid, Nisha loved to read and lately, she feels like the attention span of the world has reduced so much that they struggle with reading. Therefore, she has made it a point to read for 30 mins every day. Be it a book or an article or an essay or anything.

Her roommate Aakansha was cooking dinner in the kitchen, she could tell because of the aroma that had filled up the apartment. She went in to check on her and saw that she was frying "pakode" for "kadhi".

"Kadhi Chawal!! Haaye, kitne dino baad" exclaimed Nisha, with twinkling eyes. "Kuch help chahiye aap ko?" she asked.

"Nahi, bas sab kuch ho almost gaya, tu plates and all laga de" instructed Aakansha.

Nisha set up the cutlery and glasses of water for them on their coffee table in front of the TV. She and her roommate would make it a point to have dinner together and watch something. It gave them a chance to discuss their day and ask about what was happening in each other's lives.

"Toh kaisa raha tumhaara first day at the new company?" asked Aakansha, serving the hot Kadhi Chawal into their plates.

"Kaafi acha tha, log bhi kaafi welcoming hai" said Nisha, thinking about Kabir.

They continued to discuss each other's day and Aakansha complained about her manager and his unrealistic expectations. After finishing up with dinner and closing out the kitchen, Nisha would take a walk in her community park and talk to her parents. She bid good night to Aakansha, grabbed her keys, and went to the park.

She videocalled her parents who were at the dinner table. They placed the phone such that she could see all of them,

"Nishu, kaisa raha tumhara pehla din? Office kaisa hai? And Manik kaisa hai?" asked her mom, Vineetha.

"Offo Vinu, usse baat toh karne do, itne sawaal ek saath" said her dad Viren, coming to her rescue.

"Sab badiya tha, mumma. Manik bhi acha hai, uski company bhi bohut hi sahi hai" assured Nisha.

"Di, woh sab chodo, ab toh aapki nayi job bhi hai, toh salary bhi zyaada mila hoga, mujhe kya dila rahe ho" chimed her sister, Nikita.

"Niks, tujhe jo chahiye uski list bhej, main order kar doongi" said Nisha, shaking her head at her sister's childishness.

"Tune hi bigaad ke rakha hai isko, agar aise hi sab dilaati rahegi, toh yeh kaise seekhegi" complained Vineetha.

"Mumma, sab seekh legi, bas usse apne studies poore karne dijiye, phir woh yahan Bangalore mere saath rehne aajaaye toh sab sudhar jaayega" convinced Nisha assuringly.

"Dada, Daadi kahan hai?" asked Nisha.

"TV dekh rahe hai, toh weekend pe baat kar le, unse" said Viren.

"Chalo, mumma papa, ab main rakhti hoon, I have a long day tomorrow" said Nisha, wishing them a good night.

Nisha looked up at the sky and stars, while sitting on the park bench, deep in thought. She was always someone who was happy and grateful for everything she had going in life, she always felt she got way more than what she asked for, and yet sometimes, she felt a void as if something was missing. But she wasn't sure what was it or what should she seek for. She sat her for a minute or two in silence listening to her favorite track, before getting up to back to her apartment. 

—---------- BGM (Khaare Raste) —--------------------

Just as she turned to leave, she collided with something super hard, making her lose her balance. She closed her eyes in anticipation of a fall when someone grabbed hold of her hand, preventing that.

She opened her eyes to reveal a worried Kabir, who pulled her up, as she steadied herself. He looked at her asking, "Tum theek toh ho, I am so sorry, maine tumhe dekha hi nahi" and checking for any injuries.

"Tum yahaan?" she asked.

"Haan woh main isse building mein rehta hoon aur kabhi kabhi yahan hawaa khaane aata hoon" said Kabir, still looking at her to make sure she's okay.

"Tum bhi iss building mein rehte ho?" asked Nisha, bewildered at the odds.

"Tum bhi matlab? Don't tell me, tum yahan rehti ho?" asked Kabir, shocked at the coincidence.

"Haan, kitni ajeeb baat hai ki isse pehle tum yahan kabhi dekha nahi" said Nisha, sitting back on the bench.

"Well, I just moved a month back, it was time for a change from my old place" explained Kabir.

There was an awkward silence post that, as both of them were struggling to small talk. They had both been taken aback by the fact that they live in the same community. In order to end the awkwardness, Nisha gets up saying, "Anyway, mujhe chalna chahiye, kal office jaldi jaana bhi hai and upar se agar maine cab ko peak time se book nahi kiya toh phir toh late hi ho jaaongi, so good night" as usual leaving no room for argument.

"Listen! Now that hum same building mein rehte hai, hum office saath mein jaa sakte. I can pick you up and drop you" said Kabir quickly, standing up, not wanting for their conversation to end. In his mind, he cursed himself, wondering what was he up to. What would she think of him? They had known each other for one day and he was already offering to drive her.

"Nahi, it's no big deal. I can manage. Kyun faaltu ka takleef le rahe ho" said Nisha, refusing.

"Takleef ki kya baat hai iss mein, ek hi toh office jaa rahe hai, in fact, environment ke liye bhi acha hoga, one less car on the road" blurted Kabir desperately. Internally, facepalming himself for his lame reason.

"Anyway, no excuses. I'll pick you up at 8.40 kal subah building ke bahar. See you tomorrow. Good night" said Kabir firmly and leaving behind a rather confused Nisha.

Nisha knew he was the CTO of the company and Manik's friend. But he barely knew her, so why was he being so nice and friendly? Was he actually genuinely nice? Deciding that, she's overthinking it and everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt, she goes into her apartment and goes to do the one last thing she does before sleeping, journaling.

Dated Aug 16, 2023.

"Well, not too much to write today. But new day, new job, new office. It has been exciting, it has been really good. Met a lot of nice people. Met Kabir, who makes amazing parathas. Who is also the CTO of the company. Overall a good day. And yet, the void is still persistent. Life looks so good afar from an outsider's perspective and yet there's some sort of feeling of emptiness, a feeling unknown. But tomorrow will be a better day, a hope that this feeling goes away."

Tired of it all, she goes to sleep. Meanwhile, Kabir on the other hand, is lying on his bed, unable to get Nisha out of his thoughts. He had never gone out of his way to help a stranger before, he had never had lunch at the office with a colleague, he would always eat alone or with Manik. But having lunch with Nisha had given him an odd sense of satisfaction. The fact that she had liked his cooking, was something that made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. The thought of that memory, made him smile. And before he could decipher further, he fell asleep.

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