Of The Stars That Breathe

1. Male Ego.

"Yo, is it necessary to do all this?", I asked Nupur, my elder sister, while applying a nude matte lipstick on my lips. I looked at them when I had finished applying.
Hmm, not bad.

"For God's sake, Ahalya, take the efforts to dress up sometimes! We are in Dubai for crying out loud!", she replied frantically, her high heels insanely thrumming on the wooden floor of the hotel room where we stayed.

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror. The lipstick had dried, giving off a fuller look to my lips. I was forced to apply a thin line of eyeliner and mascara by Nupur; matching it was my black dress which was made out of lace and had a deep cut down my chest. I had bought it back at home, thinking it was sexy and was so excited to wear it. I guess I looked satisfactory enough.
It was the first time in ages since I had appreciated how I looked. Before all the negative thoughts came back, I made my way out of the white bathroom.

Nupur was sitting on the bed, waiting for me.
"Let's go.", she smiled and tucked a lock of my long hair behind my ear.

We were staying at the most luxurious hotel of Dubai, Burj Al Arab. So, when we reached at the bar of the hotel, it clearly took my breath away. It was massive; in no comparison to the small, dingy bars back in India, and was decorated with shifting blue, violet and indigo lights, which seemed to give off a rich ambience to the place. A shining disco ball was hanging on the ceiling of the centre-most part. All around us, people were drinking and dancing, mostly tourists. I scanned through the cheerful crowd. It seems that no one is from India.

Except for my two brothers, of course. Nupur, Ahaan and myself were siblings. The remaining one, Jeh, was our maternal cousin. Ahaan and me are twins, both 17 year-olds, while Nupur is 4 years older than us. Jeh is a year younger than Nupur. The boys had reserved a table beforehand and were already flailing their arms so it took us no time to join them.

"I have ordered two bottles of Budweiser for us.", Jeh said to Nupur.
She cheered.
"Aur tum dono ke liye", he said looking at me, "two cokes."
I rolled my eyes at him. I mean, I understand under-age drinking and all, but they won't even let us take a teensy-weensy sip of the beer.
"Bohot na-insaafi", Ahaan said to me. I snorted.

Jeh had organised this trip as a type of farewell to Nupur. She was going to Australia next year, permanently.
"Last time with us. Fir hum sab se jaan chhootegi teri!", I recall him saying this to her back in Ahmedabad, our home.

A waiter came with two bottles of Budweiser. My two elder siblings-cum-morons cheered and started drinking. After ten whole minutes, our cokes still didn't arrive. With all my remaining patience wearing off, I stormed to the bartable at the very far corner of the room.

"Excuse me...excuse...ex..fucking listen to me...!", I started.
Argh! No one was even acknowledging me!
"Yes, ma'am?", an Arabian bartender finally came to the counter.
I sighed loudly and said, "Yeah, can I get two cans of coke, please?". He nodded and after two minutes, he returned with my order.
"Keep it on tab with the people on table no. 8.", I pointed to my group and started to make my way back to our table.

I noticed that now, a group of Indians had occupied a table that was somewhere between my way. They were the only Indians besides us. It was occupied by four boys maybe 2-3 years older than me. When I passed them, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Tum saath ho jab apne..."

"la la la la laaa"-I sang from behind them. Shit.
I realised what I had done.
I couldn't help it! It was my favourite song!
3 pairs of eyes turned towards me. All the boys, except one who was facing the opposite direction, could see me. And when he finally turned, all eyes were on me. Fuck.

The guy in front of me wore glasses with an orange-pinkish tinge that were a little too big for his face, below which adorned his too-trimmed beard that was cut in an even shape. His attire consisted of a black shirt with contrasting white pants. A little lower than the tip of the nose, was a small mole that complimented the slenderness with which his nose statured.
And then finally, I looked at his eyes.

"Umm... I am sorry. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-I didn't-fuck it-I didn't mean to interrupt you...", I stammered.

The shock on his face was clearly visible. "Ohh, umm, no problem. Uhh...are you Indian?", he asked nervously while scratching the back of his neck.
Oh my God.
The voice.
His voice.
So....

Is he mad?
Inadvertantly, my sarcasm kicked in,"Nope. I am a Mexican girl who just happens to know the lyrics of a Bollywood song!" I said in a very fake American accent.
It bought me a surprised chuckle from him.
"Wow! I mean, do you even know who I am?", he exclaimed with an air of pride.
Ego.
It. Is. Always. The. Ego.

I don't know whether it was my distrupted mental state or it was just natural, but my mind just exploded!

"Always this fucking male ego, damnit!", I snapped and made my way back to our table. I didn't even look back.
'What did he think of himself? Heck, what do boys even think of themselves?!'
I thought; my feminazi side kicking in.

The three of my siblings were staring at me. "What took you so long?", Jeh asked and looked behind my shouder at the group of boys.
"Hey! Woh ladka....Doesn't he look exactly like that YouTuber? CarryMinati? Yeah, I think it's him only. Atleast pichhe se toh vaisa hi lagta hai.", Jeh said.
"Oh, come on! He's such a busy bee! I can't imagine him being here!", Nupur exclaimed.
"Maybe he's his doppelganger...", Ahaan trailed unsurely while trying to catch a glimpse of that boy.
Nupur slapped the top of his head and said, "Stop quoting The Vampire Diaries all the time!"

I wanted to ask who CarryMinati was because I had no idea about who or what he is.
But the embarrassment of being faced by their shocking looks which they often gave me when I didn't knew a particular personality, prevented me from doing so.
Maybe I will just google him afterwards.

When the three of them started gossiping yet again, I stole a quick glance back. All the boys were chatting, except that gulabi-chashma-guy. He was looking straight at me. I averted my gaze and my attention back to my people with my heart thrumming like a war-drum in my chest.

"Here's to Nupur and her strict-ass never bothering us from now onwards!", Jeh exclaimed and we all clinked our drinks.
They started laughing again.
But for some weird reason, I couldn't.
What if..
What if he....
Did I just insult a YouTuber?
Holy Shit.

...

// lekin mil jayenge ghumantu
teri meri duniya golamgol //

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