Anokhi Fitrat

Chapter 4

—---------BGM Dil Dhadakne Do (From ZNMD) —-------

Next morning, Kabir was seen rushing through his apartment, shoving his breakfast in, packing up his tiffin box with more food than he usually takes. He had told Nisha he would pick her up at 8.40 and he couldn't be late. He had ten mins to get to his car and reach the front of the building. He rushed out, but not before looking at himself in the mirror, making sure he looks decent, and then grabbed his house and car keys and made his way.

He drove and reached the front of the building, to find an already present Nisha, who seemed to be engrossed in her book. He honked the car to gain her attention and waved at her.

She opened the door and sat in the passenger seat wishing him a good morning and flashing her warm smile.

"Morning, I am so sorry I am late and I made you wait" blabbered Kabir apologetically.

"Hey no worries and you are not late, I am just early, see it's 8.40 now. Waise bhi tum thoda late bhi hote toh bhi it's alright" assured Nisha, showing her watch to him.

"Aise kaise alright, mujhe late aana bilkul nahi acha lagta, and agar koi mujhe bolega ki I'll be there at 9 and if they are not, I get very annoyed. So I wouldn't want anyone else to feel that. Don't you get irritated when people come late?" asked Kabir, after explaining his stance, curious to know what she thinks.

"Well, pehle chidti thi main bhi, par abhi main prepared rehti hoon" said Nisha, pointing to the book in her hand.

"Kyun ki maine realise hum log aur unke haalaton ko control nahi kar sakte, toh iske liye thoda khud ke time ko manage kar lo. I take a book wherever I go as a sign ki agar koi late aaya, toh universe ne mujhe thodi si free time de diya ki main padh saku" finished Nisha, with a slight smile.

"Wow, main aisa pehle kabhi nahi socha, I'll remember this," said Kabir in awe of her maturity, glancing at her sideways while driving.

"So Jonanthan Livingston Seagull huh? Waise not that I wanna discourage you or anything, but woh book ek dum mere sar ke upar se nikal gayi thi. It could be because of I was in a different state of mind but I just couldn't get myself to finish it." commented Kabir, looking at her reaction.

Nisha smiled, "Well thank god I am not the only one, I started this because mere ek friend ne gift kiya tha mujhe and he said ki it was inspiring for him, mujhe bas abhi tak iss book se neendh ki inspiration mili hai aur kuch nahi, but I don't like leaving books unfinished, so trying to get on with it" clutching onto the book.

"You know, main bhi aisa hi sochta tha, but recently kisi mujh se poocha ki what is the purpose behind reading for you and I said, primarily to learn new things, perspectives, thoughts, etc and he said, if thats the case then why think about finishing a book, despite it not teaching you anything, if the book doesn't resonate with you at the time, toh pick up something else that does and learn something off it. You can always revisit the unfinished ones instead of wasting your time struggling with it and that kinda changed my mindset. Toh abhi main books finish karne ko itna seriously nahi leta" justified Kabir thoughtfully.

Nisha glanced at him with intrigue, fascinated by this perspective. She added, "Well, you know what Kabir, what your friend said makes a lot of sense, maybe I will try and imbibe it. You know, the whole point of my reading is to learn and grow. So I guess it's time to grow a new point of view about not finishing books". There was a newfound respect for Kabir in her mind, he seemed so smart and thoughtful about approaching things in life and so open to change. I guess they both learned something from each other today. Both of them hadn't realized that they reached their office, because they were so engrossed in the conversation. They walked into the office together smiling and conversing, only to be faced with a confused Manik, who stood there with his arms crossed.

"Hey, tum dono saath mein?" questioned Manik.

"Long story bro! But pehle I need to grab a coffee and get on a call with investors, baad mein milta hoon" said Kabir to Manik and he turned to Nisha smiling, "See you later!" while she smiled wishing him a good day.

"Ek minute, yeh sab kya chal raha hai" asked Manik with a raised eyebrow, as Nisha kept smiling. She snapped out of it at his question saying, "Kya chal raha hai matlab, kuch nahi woh actually Kabir bhi mere building mein hi rehta hai, toh uss ne mujhe ride offer kiya, bas aur kuch nahi" and starting to walk towards her desk.

"Kabir ne tumhe ride offer kiya! Kya baat hai, agar mujhe pata hota ki tum dono ek din mein itne acche dost ban jaaoge toh main pehle hi mila leta tum logon ko" smirked Manik nudging her teasingly.

"Manik, kuch bhi bakwas mat kar, anyway, aaj hum lunch saath mein kar rahe hai na, yaad hai tumhe apna promise? Mera treat?" reminded Nisha, changing the topic.

"Haan baba, yaad hai I'll come to your desk at 12, let's leave early to beat the traffic," said Manik, letting her get back to work.

Meanwhile, Kabir was engrossed in meeting all day till 1 but still kept looking at the time wondering when he can get to lunch. He remembered packing extra food in case a certain someone wanted to eat it. Just before he had to hop into a meeting at 12, he poked his head into Manik's cabin which looked like he was heading out, he called out to him asking, "Kahan bhaage jaa raha?"

"Kuch nahi yaar, lunch pe aaj bahar jaa raha hoon, toh maine 12-2 mera calendar block kiya hai, anyway I am late. Baad mein aake baat karta hoon" said Manik, rushing out before Kabir could ask further questions.

Kabir went back to his cabin, prepping for the 12 pm meeting. Finally, after what felt like a day's long call, he had managed to convince a new client to get on board with them and he wanted to inform Manik about it, right away. But remembering he wouldn't be back till 2 pm, Kabir fetched his lunch box, excited to have food. He walked out of his cabin, his eyes searching for a certain someone, but saw her desk empty. He went to the break room and looked around trying to spot her. Disappointed that he couldn't find her, he wondered if he should ping her on chat and ask her whereabouts. Deciding against it, he sat down on a table placing his box, waiting in anticipation that she might show up anytime.

An hour passed, but she seemed to have disappeared. He started feeling a sense of disappointment and thought to himself, "Par mujhe bura kyun lag raha hai, uss ne mujhse thodi kaha ki hum lunch saath mein karenge, naa hi maine usse poocha, toh phir kis baat ke liye itna kharaab lag raha". Disheartened, he picked up his tiffin without eating and went back to his desk to work.