ADHOORI DASTAAN

Chapter 7 - Sweet Encounter.

Aarohi and Kabir sat in the taxi. The journey was taking more time thanks to the heavy traffic. The driver started radio for timepass. 

Radio Jockey - "Hello and welcome to Red FM 98.2. I am your host and dost Vicky. Today's weather was supposed to be sunny but there was unexpected shower. Just like 'Love', sudden and surprising. Love happens when you least expect it and then your entire life changes. But what is love? Hormones in your body or..." 

"BAKWAS!!" (Rubbish) Aarohi and Kabir said in unison and looked at each other.

"Pyaar bevakoofi hai aur jo usse karta hai usse bada gadha aur koi nahi. (Love is stupidity and one who does it is a donkey)" Kabir said.

"Moreover there are som many girls in this world, why to waste your precious time and love on one?" he said giggling. 

Aarohi rolled her eyes in response. 'One more self proclaimed Casanova'. 

But Kabir wasn't one. After Aisha's fiasco, he had purposely created this bad boy Casanova image for himself to stay away from girls, and to not fall in love.

"Pyaar dard hai."(Love is pain) Aarohi softly said to herself looking outside the window but it was heard by Kabir. 

He felt a strange connection. On a single day, he had met two people who had been through heartbreak and hated love. First the one who wrote those lines and the second one sitting beside him. 

"Aur iss dard ki dawa yeh hai"(And this is the medicine for the pain), Kabir said removing his hip flask. Aarohi raised her eyebrow and glared at him. 

"Dawa daaru. Har marz ki dawa hai yeh"(Alcohol is medicine which cures every illness) saying he lowered his mask and took a sip. Kabir had a very familiar face, Aarohi felt she had seen him somewhere but couldn't recollect. Kabir again offered her his drink.

"Sharab dard kam nahi karta, sirf uska ehsaas kam karta, woh bhi kuch waqt ke liye. Alcohol, drugs, its all just a way to numb your senses so you don't feel the pain. In psychology its called escapism. The more you numb your senses the more addicted you become to the numbness. Nothing heals the heart's pain, with time you get used to live with it. If alcohol really reduced pain, don't you think young, old everyone would be carrying bottle with them?" Aarohi said looking in his eyes. 

Kabir raised his both eyebrows in amusement, "Why don't you try politics, bashan acha deti ho aur itni khoobsurat ho ki saare ladke tumhe hi vote denge."(You give good speech and are so beautiful all men will vote you.)

"Unbelievable" Aarohi muttered getting annoyed.

He continued, "But one thing you rightly said, 'Nothing heals the heart's pain'. And I am happy numbing it". 

The driver who by now had recognised Kabir put a brake and turned, "Aap Kabir Raghuvanshi hai na? Woh famous singer?"(You are Kabir Raghuvanshi? The famous singer?). Kabir smiled and nodded in response.

'Yes, 'The Kabir Raghuvanshi', the singer everyone were going gaga over. Aarohi had listened to his songs, loved them to be honest. He indeed had a soulful voice. But more than his voice, people were going mad on his looks, which no doubt were attractive. Had it been any other day, she would have been excited to sit beside a celebrity. But thanks to the past few minutes interactions, she didn't find him attractive. He was nothing but a spoilt self centred brat. 

'But why was a great singer like him in a taxi, offering drinks to her?' she wondered.

***

Kabir removed the page from his pocket to reread the lines. It had given him an unsaid peace. Aarohi who was busy playing candy crush looked at the paper and  got amazed.

"What is this paper doing with you? Where did you get?" Aarohi enquired.

"It flew towards me, I liked the lines written on it. Do you know who wrote it?" Kabir asked enthusiastically.

"Yes" Aarohi said and paused, while Kabir intently listened. "I wrote it" she said.

"What!! I should have guessed it!! It's weird how I felt the same connection twice!!" he said placing a hand on her shoulder, which he immediately removed when she glared back.

"You write beautifully, Ms. .." Kabir asked forwarding his hand for a handshake.

"Aarohi Goenka" she replied placing her hand on his.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Goenka." he said warmly shaking her hand. "Aarohi, your name itself means music tune, no doubt you write such amazing lines."

Aarohi blushed in response. It had been a while since some had complemented her. And that's when she realised they were still holding hands. She slowly removed hers. 

"So how did you write these lines, any inspiration or are you professional lyricist or it's just a hobby?" Kabir asked several questions in a single breath surprising Aarohi.

She always had this preconceived notion of stars being snobby and arrogant. No doubt this person was weird but still didn't have the air of arrogance around him. He was humble and friendly.

There were a lot other things Kabir wanted to ask, like about her breakup which inspired her to write these lines but felt it would be intruding.

Aarohi - "Writing is my hobby. While sitting on the bench, I heard a humming tune of a song I couldn't recognise. I don't know who hummed it. Based on that tune I wrote these lines."

"WOW!! Weird coincidences are happening. That was me humming. It's actually my new song. For which I was writing lines. I was finding inspiration when this paper came. Strange isn't it?" Aarohi nodded in response.

"First you heard a tune, you wrote lines on it and then the paper flew and came to me of all the people at the marine drive. It's weird how life works." Kabir said smiling brightly like a kid. 

He gave the paper to her. "I will have to write something by tomorrow morning. I hope something comes out of my mind."

Aarohi gave the paper back to him, "You can keep this. You need these lines more than me. It will just catch dust if kept in my house but you will make a beautiful song out of it."

"Sorry I cannot copy, these are your lines. It's cheating" Kabir resisted.

"It would have been cheating or plagiarism, if you had used these lines without my knowledge. I am myself  giving you these." Aarohi said with a warm smile which could melt anyone's heart.

Before Kabir could reply, Aarohi asked the driver to stop, as her destination had neared. She wanted to buy some groceries, so stopped few blocks back.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Raghuvanshi. I am sure your voice and these lines will make a chartbuster song. Bye, take care" she said with a bright smile, while paying her share. 

"And remember drinking is injurious to health"  she said before leaving.

Kabir sat there smiling like an idiot at this unexpected encounter. He looked at the paper and his smile broadened.

***

Aarohi was shocked as she saw caught herself smiling. 'That was a sweet encounter. I should tell this to Kairav Bhaiya' thinking she removed her phone and saw Abhimanyu's message.

Her heart sank reading the message.

*******

Author's Note - How was the chapter? Vote and share your thoughts in the comments.