THE INTRO
“Dreams, my mother always told me, represent
part of our unconsciousness…the place where we store the true parts of our
soul, away from the rest of the world.” Naah! this is not me saying it. These
lines are from ‘bitter frost’ by Kallin Gow. The best part of dreaming is the
possibility of doing anything. But then dreams are not just what we see in our
sleep. Well, we dream anywhere. From listening songs in buses and trains to
just thinking about our future at night, we all day-dream. And then there is
Mumbai. A city of dreams as we all know! where day dreaming is a norm. Well,
such dreams compel people to relocate here and make them true. Mumbai was and
is a ‘dreamland’. Im telling you all this because the protagonists of this love
story are based in this city. Yes, this is a love story and all the characters
of our story are imaginary. They have some resemblance to some real mates I
know, but then let’s assume them to be fictional. Lets assume that this is a
Rajasthani puppet show. Now like every puppet show, even our story has a hero.
Let’s start with the hero of our story then….
And then once upon a time in dreamland, not so very long ago, lived
Rohan aka wiki aka chaalu pandey amongst many other names. Doctor by
profession…well he had just started his practise some months ago in a private
hospital where he nearly spent 20 hours of his day treating patients. He had
started his practise with great enthusiasm only to get bored in some months and
now it had become a routine for him. His friends had barely graduated and those
who had, spent their day doing nothing at home. And here is Rohan, treating
patients whole day long. Now as some people think, a doctor’s role isn’t just
about poking the injections down someone’s ass. It is a genuine profession
which involves great responsibility and this responsibility was the driving
force behind Rohan’s hunger all the while long. He worked tirelessly for all
these months, barely going anywhere with any of his friends or family. He had a
dozen nicknames. Always the topper, his friends would call him Rancho. He could
explain any basic concept to anyone, hence he was called wiki. He had a
fascination for eye wear but he was a miser and hence Chulbul Pandey as he was
called, he would roam just anywhere anytime with his favourite black cheap goggles.
Destiny had a different plan for him it seems. His life was slowly
inclining on the boring side of life until when his parents thought of going on
a two-week long tour. Initially reluctant, Rohan, the only child to his
parents, soon gave in to their idea after nearly 10 days. These 10 days were
enough to push the tour date to early June as being a peak season, all the
tours were full. The tour schedule consisted of Sikkim and Darjeeling, mostly
because his mom “dreamt” of seeing Darjeeling and his dad too, only for the
fact that he had grown up seeing Rajesh Khanna sing a song for Sharmila Tagore
and that you had to book Sikkim too along with Darjeeling.
All
this though came at an expense. Rohan had to spend a week ahead listening to
his mom’s chants as it was because of him they had to book the tour which
coincided with the advent of monsoon in India. Some days went by in a jiffy and
now in addition to the gruesome 20 hours, Rohan could barely stay at home as his
parents would shop all evening long and pack the bags as they were to leave in
few days. This would soon be followed by his mom’s chants, who was a very kind
hearted woman otherwise, but the mere thought of being drowned in the rainy
hills was enough to drive her crazy. Rohan had packed his bags well in advance
and would usually spend his evening at the beach minutes away from his house.
At the beach, he would meet Riya, who was his best friend from childhood who
knew him inside out. Theirs’s was a special friendship as some people on
twitter had guessed but well beyond that Riya had some mystical powers of
sensing his mood just with the way he would initiate a chat with her on
WhatsApp. Rohan confided everything to her which largely consisted of his poems
in any language he could think of writing and some stories he wished he could
right in addition to some silly jokes on which Riya laughed anyways and then
would slam him in the pretext of just kidding. Somehow the other serious side
of Rohan always won the battle and here it was, a beautiful soul trapped inside
a robot that he had become.
Rohan gulped down the last sip of pepsi standing near his window. He
looked down the empty road. It was past midnight. It was too humid and he could
sense it as he went out of the air conditioned bedroom to the dustbin to throw
the bottle. He had returned home well early that day as they were to leave at
5am early in the morning to catch the flight. But now, he could barely sleep.
He was tired of just rolling on the bed, couldn’t play games on his mobile
phone as the battery was low and was fed up of listening to songs too. No! he
wasn’t afraid of something nor was he under hyper tension too. It was just the
routine for him. He could barely sleep the night before the day he would be
excited of. Be it exams, presentations, some convocation or even a small
picnic! The only thing troubling him that night was that he wasn’t excited of
the tour. All he knew was the terrains and the numerous monasteries and temples
around the state. He finally just rolled over on his bed as a small clock in
his room gave an alarm. It was 2am and Rohan lay there wondering what the tour
had in store for him and smiled a bit thinking it would finally give him a much
deserved break from his chaotic life just like the empty road down below which
would be full of chaos and horns and crowd everywhere but, as of now, was
deserted. He felt deserted in the same way but he was happy for that.
“Wake up, c’mon! we’ll be late”, Rohan heard
those words and woke up all of a sudden. His dad was already ready and so was
his mom minus her makeup. He checked the clock in his sleepy state which showed
2.20am. He felt relieved but again checked the clock in a near petrified state to
realise that the clock had stopped working. He switched on his mobile phone which
was probably overcharged and he could see his eyes red swollen on the black
screen thanks to the dim light just above him. It was 4.10 in the morning. He
was just 10 minutes late but had to do all his chores in the coming 50 minutes
and they had booked a cab for 5am. His next ten minutes were spent just sitting
on the commode doing absolutely nothing. He could sense he was suffering from
constipation which he would during his exams too, a main reason he would never
eat anything when anxious. But today he wasn’t anxious too! He took a bath, got
ready, had a light breakfast and was ready by 4.50am even before his mom was.
It was a moral victory for him considering that fact that had he been late, his
mom would have started again to taunt him. Rohan, in a haste checked all the
windows and all the switches in the house. His parents were near the lift as he
closed the door. All he could see was the 2.20 in the clock in a mirror as the
door closed. Rohan locked the door as his dad called him. He was feeling proud
that he was ready on time for the first time in his life as they sat in the
taxi sharp at 5 o’clock. The taxi sped through the empty roads whose footpaths
were full of people jogging. Rohan had never seen the beauty of the streets of
Mumbai in the early hour as he was always lost in “dreams’ of being a doctor
and then the day ahead in the hospital. But now, his life was like the crowded
yet empty roads in the morning, full of joy! He felt fresh and could sense the
beautiful tour that lay ahead of him now. He was all ready to leave Mumbai, the
dreamland!
TO BE CONTINUED
© 2016 FWA
