Love and Music

Coffee

The next morning Arshi got up late than usual. She had spent quite some time chatting with Rahul . Within a couple of days, she and Rahul had become great friends. She went to the kitchen after her shower to prepare some eggs for breakfast, gulped it down and left home in a hurry. She could not afford to be late as she had to practice the new song of their set with Rahul at least once before the band came in.

Luckily she reached on time (not on time but just 5 minutes late). She went inside the studio and to her surprise saw that  Rahul was already in the studio. He was immersed in his work when Arshi called out-"Hey Rahul. Good Morning. Sorry for being late." Rahul replied surprised to see Arshi,"Hey! Good morning Arshi. You are not late, actually I came way too early at about 8:00 AM. I had some work with Manish.  He just sent in the final piece of music and it did not come out that well. I thought you were not going to come as the practice session got cancelled.  But if you are here, Why don't you join me and Akshat sir now? Some edits need to be done." Arshi questioned him about the practice session and Rahul replied telling that she must not have checked the Whatsapp group. She actually hadn't. The practice session had indeed got cancelled as Darshan sir and Amit sir were not free and it was impossible to practice without Drums and Zendrum (the instrument that  Amit sir used. It was the main soul of the band.)

Arshi happily agreed to stay back. She enjoyed working in the studio and editing songs. She along with Rahul joined in the Zoom meeting along with Akshat sir, Amit sir, Manish and Dhiren(a great musician and the one responsible for final editing purpose). It was the first time that Dhiren and Manish met Arshi and by the end of their 2 hours session of music , they were already impressed with Arshi. She was great at her job and indeed gave in valuable suggestions. She had seemed to gel well with everyone and impress everyone with her skills. The session finally ended and the music was ready to be released after a couple of days.

Arshi was just about to leave as Rahul stopped her,"Arshi, Are you in a hurry? If not, we can stay back post lunch and practice the new song for the set once." Arshi decided to stay back and they both practiced the new song for sometime. Arshi had never practiced that song earlier but having Rahul around helped her a lot. They practiced till lunch time after which they ordered lunch from Bombay Vintage which happened to be the favourite restaurant of both of them. After a sumptuous meal,  they again went back to practicing the set. They could not even realise how fast the time flew. It was already 6:30 PM and Rahul stopped singing and said Arshi," I am done for now. Wanna go out for a coffee? Idhar paas mein hi,there is an awesome cafe.(There is a great cafe nearby). Arshi politely replied,"No thanks, Rahul. But I really do not like coffee of these cafes in Mumbai. Why don't I just make a coffee here in the pantry. I am not that bad at making coffee though." Rahul happily agreed as long as he got his coffee. Arshi went to the pantry and Rahul  accompanied her. She made coffee as he sat on one of the Kitchen Stools in the pantry.

"Arshi, Are you from Mumbai or somewhere else?" Rahul asked trying to start the conversation. Yes, I was born and brought up in Mumbai. I earlier lived with my parents but they have now shifted to Madurai to the ancestral house after my father's retirement. Now I stay alone in Mumbai in the same rented apartment. I was also supposed to go to Madurai after I was done with my college studies but thankfully I got an opportunity to work with all of you and I did not have to shift out of Mumbai."Arshi replied, "Are you from Mumbai?" She asked. She was done making coffee and now poured into two mugs for her and Rahul. She passed the mug to him and both of them walked out of the pantry to the main studio. Rahul answered her question after both had settled down with their coffees."Yes, I am also born and brought up in Mumbai but I belong to a family of Kashmiri Pandits and my family had left Kashmir even before I was born and I have spent my entire life here in Mumbai. I have never even got a chance to visit Kashmir after I was two years or so." Arshi was surprised to know that he was from Kashmir. She asked him,"When did you compose your first song? I had heard that it was at a very young age that you had started to make music." Rahul replied smiling,"I started programming and composing songs when I was like 12 Years old and my mom herself is a Kashmiri folk singer. So we had a studio at home even before I was born. Me and my mom did a lot of work together. I did program and compose a few Kashmiri songs for her albums. So I started composing and programming at a very young age." 

The conversation from then on was engrossing for the two of them and it took them about an hour to complete a mug of coffee which otherwise both of them would have gulped down in no time. Rahul vented his heart out, explaining Arshi how the music industry is no more interested in original music and now only remakes of old songs are being made. They also talked about  music, love, relationship, family and many more topics.

 At about 8:00 PM, Arshi left in her cab while Rahul headed home in his car. The two of them had got to know so much about each other and had become very close friends. It was as if they knew each other for ages. The foundation of belief and trust was what their friendship very strong. A conversation over a cup of coffe had made a lot of difference in the friendship which was earlier just a formal one but now they had actually known a lot about each other andhad become true friends over workmates.

As soon as Arshi reached home, she got a message from Rahul. It read 'Hi. It was great talking to you and the coffee was also amazing. Thanks a lot for the coffee as well as listening to my  rant. Looking forward to more conversations and coffees together. PS- Tomorrow is an off day for everybody as not much work is left in the studio. So you need not come to the studio. If needed we may have a Zoom Meeting if directed by Akshat sir.' Arshi replied to the text immediately,' You are welcome for the coffee and you were not ranting at all. It was just a normal discussion. By the way, Thanks for the info. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye. Good Night.'

Arshi and Rahul had found a great friend in each other. They got well with each other and their passion for music added to their already strong bond. Rahul believed that he now had another addition in his little group of close friends which earlier included Anushree and Esha. As for Arshi,she had found a confidant and a true friend in Rahul who would stand beside her at all times.