Love and Music

Practice

Arshi woke up early the next morning despite sleeping late. She could not control her excitement as it was the first time that she would practice with the Akshat Amit band. Everyone had agreed to reach by 11:00 AM the next day for the practice session. 

Arshi got up and went to prepare her breakfast, sandwich and coffee after which she went for shower, planning to eat the breakfast after her shower. As she came out of the shower, she heard her phone ring and was happy to see her mother's call. She profusely picked it up while heading to the dining table where her breakfast was placed. Her mother congratulated her and motivated her to give her best at the practice session and work hard in this new journey that had just begun. 

After she hung up the call, she had breakfast and dressed up in her casual tee and straight pants, dabbed some lip gloss and left home with her bag. She had already booked the cab during breakfast and it was waiting downstairs. She was very punctual and ended up reaching the studio by 10:45 AM. The studio door was open and the lady in the reception casually greeted her stating that she had been instructed by Akshat sir to let her in as she was going to be a part of the band. She was really happy. 

As she entered the studio, she found a short and thin girl sitting there who got up and introduced herself,"Hey! You are Arshi?" Arshi nodded  profusely. "I am Radhika Mistry , the manager of the Akshat Amit band. I am the one who looks after the Live concerts and I tour with Akshat Amit to assist them with the on stage preparations, stays,hotels, flights and the financial aspect of the band. I have heard that you are an amazingly talented singer and also a music producer. And you are quite young too. Great to have you in the band and hope that you enjoy living in a suitcase like we do." she said laughingly. Arshi replied smiling,"Its my pleasure to meet you and thanks a lot for all your kind words. It means a lot to me. Hope that I become a valuable addition in the band." The two girls conversed happily till the other members came. It was as if the two of them had been friends for years. They chatted about music , band, tours, concerts and a lot more. 

Darshan Joshi (the drummer of the band), Aditya Menezes(the keyboardist of the band), Roshan (the bassist of the band) and Vashishth Mehta(a singer in the band) arrived and introduced themselves and began to set up the studio for practice. Meanwhile Rahul Ved , Akshat sir and Amit Sir also arrived. Akshat sir briefed Arshi about the set that they were to perform for the next concerts to come. She being an ardent Akshat Amit fan knew the lyrics of almost all the songs that were a part of the set. They practiced again and again with the band to achieve perfection. Arshi had accommodated herself effortlessly in the band. She complimented the voice of  the other singers perfectly. They practiced till 4:30 PM. No one had actually realised how fast the time had passed and they had passed way beyond lunch time. There was a knock on the door and that was when Arshi was introduced to another custom of the Akshat Amit band that is the evening tea that the entire band had together along with some cookies and chatted for sometime. She enjoyed the tea but there was nothing better than the conversations that took place. She actively participated in all the discussions and seemed to effortlessly fit in the gang. The band again began with the rehearsals and everyone rocked it just fine. This continued till 8:00 PM . At about 8:00 PM, everyone decided to call it a day. Akshat sir remarked, Arshi, you really fit in the band well and a little bit of practice for a few more weeks will make you perfect for live shows. The best part is that you are good with lyrics and you do know all the songs well. Lets meet tomorrow and rehearse the set again. Moreover I was planning to add the new song of our album to our set for Rahul and Arshi to sing. Rahul is the original singer of the song and I think Arshi will be able to fit in with him.I think we can rehearse the song tomorrow with the both of them." Arshi and Rahul agreed to meet tomorrow before the band comes and practice the song once for the sake of familiarity. Arshi and Rahul did gel along well and their voices too complimented each other perfectly. 

Everyone left the studio by 9:00 PM. 

Arshi reached home,showered and got the dinner to her room and was surprised to find a Whatsapp message from Rahul.  It read-'Hey. Are you free? Needed some help regarding the background score. Is it possible for you to come on a Zoom call now? Only if it is not too late. The meeting link is there below.' She joined immediately. Rahul said"Hey! Thanks for joining in...." The discussion went on and on and the music was on the verge of being done. Both of them completed the music production and sent it to Manish Khan (who is responsible for mixing and mastering the song).

After the session of music was over , they both chatted for sometime about music and their lives and how everything was going on in the world. Arshi was surprised to know that Rahul was the son of a famous Film Director and Producer and was astonished to see his down to Earth attitude. They chatted for over an hour and finally decided to retire to bed at 3:00 AM. It seemed as if they had known each other for decades and had been thickest of friends. 

Arshi lay on the bed thanking her luck to have such a great band to perform with. Rahul lay on his bed and thanked his luck to not just have found someone to assist him with music but also to talk to.

TO BE CONTINUED..

JUST A SMALL QUESTION NOT RELATED TO THE STORY:Did anyone recognise the people in the image posted above? If yes, Do let me know in the comments right here..😊❤