City of Dreams

16.

The Gods have meant That I should dance And in some mystic hour I shall move to unheard rhythms Of the cosmic orchestra of heaven And you will know the language Of my wordless poems And will come to me For that is why I dance.
Faith and initiative rightly combined, remove mountains, barriers and achieve the unheard of and the miraculous.

                             ***

"What magic did you do? Papa ke saath dosti kaise ho gayi, achanak?" Shehnaaz asked wondering when they were alone on the couch in the living room.

"Bas, you said to spell my charm and I did!" He lay down on the couch feeling relaxed. Heads on the sofa arms and legs on her lap.

"Kuch bhi... bolo na... jao flashback mode on karo aur detail main batao... I want details!" she snapped her fingers to know every single piece of information.

"You get so snoopy sometimes..." he giggled. "Acha chal batatha huin. We were quiet for a few moments in the elevator and stairs. When he saw the view, his face beamed. Then I started the conversation, showed him a few places which we can see from the terrace, that's when we made plans to visit those in person and I added a few other places of interest. But ek baat hain, tera baap mast movie buff hain. He is like you in many ways, once he starts to talk then there is no stopping."

Shehnaaz chuckled hearing that, "Woh toh hain! I can talk a lot... Singing toh mera second passion hain, talking is my first!" she giggled pressing his heels and snapping the toes for which she received a moan from him. "Dard ho raha?" she asked.

"Haan yaar, bahut dino ke baad gym start kara hain na, full body main pain ho raha hain. Though, I don't mind it... It's a good pain, you know." He forwarded his other foot for the same treatment.

"Pain bhi good and bad hotey hain?"

"Haan... of course yeh meetha dard hain. This pain says that my workout is helping me build muscles and whatever I am doing is benefitting me."

"I hate Gym! Breathing exercises karo lo, it's easy and helps me with singing, diet kara lo, shopping and walking karo lo... but gym is so boring" sitting on the other end of the sofa she pressed his calf and asked him to continue. "Woh sab chodo, what happened next, tell me that"

"He also has somewhat of the same ideology about gym, like you, when he asked me about my fitness. I gave him some tips and asked him to join me at the gym tomorrow so that I can show him some exercises to reduce his belly and some general cardio tips to have a healthy body."

"Sahi hain... waise Papa bade lazy type hain. Kaam karva lo, but gym sym... nope. Don't make him do much tomorrow. Apne jaisa mat samaj lena unko, ki josh josh main ek hi din sab kar lo. Ek piece main Delhi wapas bejhna hain unhe, Mumma ke paas."

"Hmmm..." he hummed with closed eyes, enjoying her fingers doing magic to his aching legs.

"Neend aa rahi hain?" she asked, giving a tickle to his feet.

"Hmm..." giving no reaction to her tickle.

"Room main jaa ke so jao" she suggested.

"Tu bhi chal" he demanded.

"Nahi... please understand na... Papa..." she pleaded.

He scoffed and took his feet away from her and pushed her out of the couch and dropping her in the floor.

"Jaa phir yahan kyun baiti hain?"

She sat in a single seater sofa across him and twisted her mouth in anger, "Tumhe nahi lagta tum bahut jayda advantage le rahe ho mere achepan ka. Main na bahut patient huin tumahre saath warna badi kutti cheez huin main. College main sab darthey the mere se. Par yahan toh koi value hi nahi hain meri. Sahi hain! Kya kare... Ek hastart hai ki kabhi wo bhi hume manaye, par ye kambakht dil kabhi unse ruthta hi nahi."