MaNan: Breaking Free

48|Letting go

Nandini's POV-

It is the evening of the fundraiser. I have reached the venue well before time to make sure everything is in place and nothing goes wrong. We have rented a huge, open ground for the night and it's been cleverly divided into multiple small sections, which we are going to use for different purposes.

A platform has been set up in the front for Aryaman's opening speech and the singing performances. To its right, a huge part has been sectioned off for the auction, with all our things beautifully displayed to attract the audience. There's a play area at the back for the kids and stall after stall of food and drinks line the perimeter of the ground. Most of the central portion is occupied by rows and rows of chairs facing the front. As an added measure, I decided to put up decorative lights all around the ground, bathing it in a multicolored glow.

The sky is clear and the weather is just perfect; neither so humid that our guests break into sweats, nor too chilly. I can feel a cool, pleasant breeze on my skin and numerous twinkling stars glowing down onto the grounds. As if to highlight the natural setting of our event, I can see several fireflies buzzing around in the air, illuminating every small part and leaving no room for darkness. The light from the fireflies, interspersed with the twinkling stars and my own decorative lights is shrouding the whole place in a warm, beautiful gleam. Ethereal.

As I stand here looking around, I can't suppress the sudden gush of pride I feel at what I have achieved. Tears well up in my eyes, threatening to spill over. If someone had told me, last year, that this is where I would be today, doing something this satisfying and feeling proud of myself, I would have laughed at them and called them crazy. Yet, here I am, having left everything behind, doing something good. All set to sing again.

Manik and I have spent every evening the previous week practicing for our performance. His working hours were crazy and it hadn't been easy to find time to practice, but we had managed. More difficult than finding time, perhaps, was the practice itself. We decided to sing romantic songs about undying love because, apparently, that is what our audience would enjoy the most.

No, it hasn't been easy at all, singing those songs with Manik next to me. They hit a bit too close to home and the feels occasionally caught me a bit too deeply, leaving me a blubbering mess. At times, I would read too much into the lyrics and get so overwhelmed that I would need to take short breaks to get away from Manik and clear my head. It was torture, trying not to feel what I was feeling as Manik looked into my eyes intently and sang songs about love. Also, after hours and hours of watching him practice, I am convinced that there's only one sight that's more fine looking than Manik- a singing Manik. When he sings, it feels like he gets transported to a different world and his eyes reflect such emotion that its impossible to look into them and not get lost.

He, on the other hand, had no such difficulty with any of the songs. He sang with the ease and perfection of an expert, smoothly strumming the guitar with his skillful fingers. After about two days, I had managed to get over myself and get rid of some of my nerves. At the moment, I am confident that I'll be able to get through the songs without messing up. It's not the performance that worries me, it's singing with Manik that does.

"All set?" Aryaman walks up to me a few minutes before the event is supposed to begin.

"Yeah, everything's done. Relax." I smile at him.

Soon enough, our guests start arriving, all looking impressed with the arrangements. They are being shown to their seats by volunteers and the children are already running to our game zone. Many people from my neighborhood have also made it, including Murthy uncle and aunty, who wave at me excitedly before sitting down.