Sapno Ka Shaher

Sunday Special!!

It was well-past 10:30 at night. Most of the lights of the society houses were dimmed by now. Rakesh papa was into a deep slumber, but the Maheshwari couple in their bedroom couldn't find a way to sleep.

Sameer was sitting on his side of the mattress, had taken both the cushions for comfort of his lower back, leaning on the wall and his legs spread. Naina had laid her back partially... Well, partially would be so unfair here... She had completely laid her back on his chest, him being just like her personal pillow, his cheeks resting on her head and his stubble doing its favorite job of messing her hair. Sameer had circled his one arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him every now and then, while his other hand had a piece of paper in it. Naina had a book of 'Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Statistics' in her hand, folded though, while her other hand too had a piece of paper in it.

They both were staring at those two pieces of papers since the last 10 minutes now. No word had been uttered since the last 5 minutes. But the silence was still so peaceful. Those were the cheques they had received on the day of the ad shoot, which had taken the sleep away from their eyes.

It had been two days since the commercial shoot and they both were in a state of shock since then. Not only Sameer had been paid a good amount for his debut on the Television commercial format, but Naina too was paid an amount of Rs.5000 for her contribution of four lines to the ad.

They both were unbelievably scared when the director had torn the dialogue sheet given to Sameer. Naina was literally on the verge of breaking down as she held herself responsible for Sameer losing his first TV commercial, that too because of her stupid suggestions for the ad. But the next moment, they were put into a big dilemma as Naina was being asked for permission to use her lines.

Why would they ask for Naina's consent to use her lines? They can of course use it. They thought.

And asking for permission wasn't enough shock for them, when Naina was actually paid for it. Paid for using her four lines for the ad. Seriously?

Well, there are certainly good people around here. They felt it cannot be a lie when they say people of Mumbai have a big heart. They indeed have.

After returning home, they had kept their cheques in front of Lord Krishna, thanked god for his blessings on them and prayed for their beautiful future. 14th March 1996, Thursday. They will probably never forget the day when they received their first pay-cheque. But just like a child is obsessed with his new toy, they both were obsessed with their pay-cheques. It was so fascinating for them to see their names on it and of course the amount with it. Not that it was their first earning. They had earned money by themselves in their boutique business. But getting such a big amount for such a little effort was happening for the first time for them. Also it wasn't that they didn't get time to deposit the cheques, but they were still not over with it. And this was their routine for the past two nights now.

"Sameer...." Naina finally broke the silence.

"Hmmmmm..." He responded.

"Yeh cheques bank me jama kar do. Warna hum aisehi ghoorte rahenge isse." She said in a low voice, words hardly escaping through her mouth.

"Hmmmm..." He again just hummed.

She turned her head to look at him. Is he really listening? And she got the answer. She took the cheque from his hand and placed both the cheques in her book.

She sat straightened, turning towards him, "Sameer, kal yeh bank me jama kar dena." She repeated.

"Kal Sunday hai Naina..." he said.