Khair, Tum Batao?

Chapter Two: "Apne Tu Dil Ka Pata De"

Aradhana Sehgal

My phone rings at around 10:20 PM as I'm sat on my room's desk, typing away in the laptop so mindlessly that I barely acknowledge when I have picked my phone and recieved the call

"Hello?"
"Aradhana, neeche aaja"
I recognise Nipun immediately, remembering again our interaction earlier and reply
"Give me five minutes"
"Theek hai, jaldi aaja"
I humm into the phone positively as the call cuts from his end and put my phone down.

One more slide, and I'm good to go. I quickly finish my work and change back into something presentable. Nothing too much, just a plain tee and jeans with some scarf incase it gets windy or cold and grab a lip balm, pocket knife and handkerchief for my pockets, heading out towards the deck yet again today.

I feel nervous, meeting new people that I have no idea about, but after contemplating running back inside atleast thrice, I just keep walking forward.

Just by the door that opens to the deck stands Nipun, who smiles when he notices me.

"Sab log bahar hain, aao milata hun"
"You sure?" I blurt out without thinking much.
I know him so little as well, why am I asking him for reassurance?

"Tension mat le, tujhe ajeeb lage toh wapas chale jana" he says with a shrug as if that's the simplest thing ever.

Does he not think of how awkward it'll be to face these same people for the next six days of this trip as well incase this doesn't go well? Or what if we accidentally make eye contact or bump into each other? How awkward it'll be if they don't like me? What if they-

"Itna sochegi toh phir toh ho gaya"
He pulls me out of my head and I simply replay his speech in my head.
Makes so much sense, why can't I think like that?

I end up just nodding and putting up my most confident smile as he politely pulls me along by my arm, pulling us towards a group of four people sitting in a circle, a table of food and beverages in between and a guitar along with a cajon sits in the group. They all look like college students, right around my age, dressed in starkly distinguished attires from each other. All they do is smile when they see us, oh so sweetly that I can't help but reciprocate.

Amongst the four, I recognise one immediately. I wave to him as me and Nipun take a seat and he waves a hi back, smiling at me, somewhat amused.

He sits on a burgundy bean bag, a cotton tee hanging on his shoulders, a scar peeking from his collarbone, shining under the light from the mast of the ship, right next to his thin gold chain.

"Hi again" says Abhijay, as I say hi back and smile, everyone else left obviously confused at our interaction.

"We carpooled to the port together" I explain to the group as Nipun gets up.

"Yeh Aradhana hai, subeh ko ham sath me gaa rahe the. Iski awaz chumma hai"
He says and introduces me to the group consisting of Jheel, Nishtha, Dhruv, Abhijay and himself.
They all look at me with an impressed expression but mostly Abhijay, who looks not only impressed but also intrigued.

"Shree Shree Mahan Nipun Ranjan ji ko ek baar me impress kar diya,dekha Abhijay?" Dhruv says as Abhijay pouts, complaining to Nipun.

"Main bhi toh gaata hu, meri awaz ko toh kabhi compliment nahi deta kutte"
"Jhooth bolna galat baat hai Abhi" Nipun says not even a second later, to which Abhijay replies
"Tu ghar chal zara, rehna toh tujhe mere sath hi hai"
We all giggle and it's a very light mood. I can tell they're all trying to put efforts into cracking jokes to keep the conversation flowing, and it's all so comfortable thanks to that.

I get to know that they had all met in the music club of their college, no wonder they all have scheduled jamming so casually.

Nipun starts strumming and Jheel sits upon the cajon, humming begins and we all slowly start floating along the tunes of 'Chahun Main Ya Na'. I can see Dhruv starting to record from the corner of my eye as I search up the lyrics.