LOVE AT FIRST VOICE
June 7, 2013.
Dubai, UAE.
It was a beautiful Friday morning, and I was still in my dream world. Suddenly, the mobile phone rang and the name ‘Hamdan Institute CPA’ appeared on the screen. I was little surprised as it was still early and a call from the institute was completely unexpected.
‘Hello, Salam Walekum’ I answered and yawned.
‘Hi, Siddhant, Walekum Salam and good morning.’ The answer came from a woman with a silvery voice.
Although I knew everyone at the institute and had a clue about how some of them sounded over the phone, her voice was new to me. I did not recognize it, perhaps due to my sleepy state.
‘Is this Nadia?’ I asked for confirmation.
‘Sorry Siddhant, Nadia resigned last Monday and went back to India. I have replaced her.’ She replied.
‘Ohh, It's okay. Tell me, dear.’ I woke up. My eyes were struggling to adapt to light.
‘Actually Siddhant, I have called just to inform you that today’s CPA class has been shifted from two in the afternoon to six in the evening. Mr. Mehta has some family function to attend.’
‘Thanks for the information. I will be there by six o'clock.'
‘Ohh-h-k Siddhant. See you in the evening.'
‘Yup sure. Bye, take care!'
‘You too. Bye,’
I was already feeling homesick for a couple of days as I came to Dubai from my Annual Leave just three days before. Those days back at home, family, friends, the streets of Ahmedabad – I was missing them all. Somehow, I managed to get a grip on things and learned to accept the reality that I would get to go to India only after one year on paid leaves. Till then, I had to work hard in Dubai to achieve more goals. However, I was quite happy that I heard HER voice in the morning.
After our little conversation over the phone, I could not stop thinking about her. I forgot to ask her name. Naturally, I could not find her on Facebook also.
It was around half past nine. It was still nine hours before I could see the face behind the silvery voice. I could not sleep in the afternoon as well. HER voice was ringing in my head. That one-and a half-minute conversation had my mind working on a loop over that voice.
Finally, it was four o’clock and I got ready for the class. I tried around six t-shirts and ran the brush through my hair multiple times. I checked myself in the mirror from all angles and shaved off every bit of hair from the face.
Aaqil, my earlier roommate-cum-friend from Egypt, was surprised by my strange behavior, as he had never seen be that way before. I would never dress up fancily for my classes. I would not put in any more effort than getting ready for home or to a friend’s place. Sometimes, I would even show up in tracks or night suits in classes.
‘Habibi, Shu hada? What's wrong with you?’ Aaqil asked in his typical Arabic accent.
‘Nothing Habibi. Just going to classes’ I replied,
‘Is everything alright? Are you sick or something? You never took this much time to get ready for classes...’ he asked.
‘I am okay. Bye for now. I am getting late’ I said.
‘Yalla bye Habibi. See you at night,’ He said.
I reached the Hamdan institute. My heart was beating faster than it usually did as I was about to meet the girl with the silvery voice. I took the elevator and finally reached the floor of my class. I took a deep breath and walked towards the class. I was sure she would in seated in the assistant manager’s cabin where Nadia used to sit. I did a little rehearsal in my mind. What to say? How to Say? How to talk with confidence?
I opened the door of the institute and surveyed the assistant manager’s cabin to spot her. However, I was disappointed. No one was inside the cabin. I was taken down by a sudden bout of disappointment and hopelessness. I saw the office boy Hanifa walked up to me.
‘Good evening Siddhant bhaiya! How are you?' Hanifa greeted me.
‘Hey Hanifa, I am fine. Thanks for asking’ I replied without looking at him as my eyes were still hovering over the cabin.
‘Bhaiya you look very handsome today. I have never seen you like this before. Maal lag rahe ho waise. Metro me ladkiyo ke bich me world war three ho Gaya hoga’ He chuckled.
‘Hmmmm,’ a careless reply released from me. My mind was desperately looking for her.
‘Bhaiya, today class will be held in room number three because CMA classes are going on in the room number one’ he informed.
It lifted my mood to know that my class would be held in room number three as it was directly opposite the assistant manager’s cabin. I rushed towards the class, as I wanted to grab the seat exactly near the door. I needed to be able to see the cabin area even with a sideway glance.
I entered the class. Raghuvir, Amrita, Vishakha Aunty, Rashid, and Krista already settled in their places. Thank god, nobody grabbed my favorite seat!
‘Hey guys, good evening!’ I greeted everyone.
‘Hello Siddhant, good evening’ Krista and Rashid replied.
Raghuvir was from Kerala. He never talked much in class. He simply smiled at me. Amrita winked at me. She was one of my friends in Dubai. Our offices were also in the same building and we used to meet several times in our office tower. Sometimes even in the elevator and restaurant.
‘Aahan! Look at the handsome person. What is this Siddhant? Some new avatar, haan?’ Vishakha Aunty teased. She was nine years older than I was.
‘Nothing Aunty. Just Aiven hi. I have a party to go to, after class’ I replied. I used to call her ‘aunty’ because I loved her cute little face. She, however, found it annoying.
‘Okay cool. Cut down on the booze and please stop calling me ‘aunty’,’ the annoyance ringed clearly in her voice.
‘Sure,’ I smiled.
Although I was talking to my classmates, my mind and eyes were still looking for the girl. I left my bag on the chair next to the door and went to get some drinking water. As I passed the manager’s cabin, I noticed a girl in there. It seemed as if a serious discussion was on between her and the manager. I could see her back only. She was in a high neck, black, full-sleeve t-shirt teamed with a pair of red trousers. I tried to listen to her voice but it was rather impossible as the door was locked. Something told me, she the same girl whose voice was ringing inside my head since the time I talked on the phone. I decided to wait outside till she stepped out of the cabin. I started fiddling with my mobile phone. I unlocked the screen pattern, locked it once again and arched my neck to grab a side view of the girl. While I was failing miserably in my attempts, I failed to realize Mr. Mehta come in. Our eyes and he clearly seemed bothered to find me outside the class. I greeted him awkwardly, left the pursuit of the girl and followed him into the class.
My mind was all over the place. I found it hard to focus on anything else and instead stole glances of the cabin. I was not interested in what was going on in the class. I was staring at Mr. Mehta while he was looking at the students and at her cabin while he was writing on the board.
‘Excuse me. Sorry guys. Mr. Mehta, sorry to disturb you but, Mr. Yasir is looking for you.’ A voice reached my anxious ears. It did not take me a second more to realize that it is the same voice I have been on the lookout for.
Yes! She was the same girl with the black T-shirt and red trousers. Gosh! She was beautiful! My eyes started fixating on every inch of her flawless fair skin. There was not a single mark or zit on her face. I could not keep my eyes away from her face. I was simply staring at her. I never felt my heart beat so fast. She was only one and a half feet away from me. Before I could be amazed any further, a charming smile spread through her face. She looked at me for hardly a microsecond. I smiled, but she did not even notice my smile. I controlled my emotions.
‘Okay, I will be there in two minutes.’ Mr. Mehta replied.
‘Ohh-hh-Kk.' she said.
I liked her style of saying ‘Okay.' It is as if she was doing a postmortem of the word with laughter.
She sat on her seat in her cabin with a bunch of documents, which Mr. Yasir had given her to study for the institute and the courses providing by the Institute. She looked so cute while studying the books and pamphlets very curiously. She was moving left to right and right to left in the chair while reading. However, one thing that did not leave her side was her disarming smile. I could not help stare at her foolishly.
The lecture finished at eight o’clock. She came out from her cabin to greet us. Amrita and Vishakha, my classmates, welcomed her. I also wanted to talk to her, but I froze at her proximity. I could not speak a single word.
I reached home, threw my bag on the floor and lied down on my bed without removing my socks and shoes. I was quite upset because I could not talk to her, leave alone asking her for her name. It would be six more days before I could see her again, listen to her voice and know her name. I did not even remember when I slept.
Aaqil came, literally kicked my ass and woke me up. He informed me that I had to be at the club ‘Rock Your Soul’ to celebrate the birthday of Madeena, a famous belly dancer from Egypt. He was working at the club as a DJ. Madeena was a relative of Aaqil and was my friend too. She knew me through Aaqil. She knew me and Aaqil to be sharing the same apartment and would sometimes send delicious food for the both of us. I was one of her biggest fans. She was an outstanding performer and a lot of people would come in the club primarily to watch her perform on popular Indian item numbers.
Madeena was stunning and gorgeous. However, her belly dance outshone her facial beauty. Smiles and winked eyes were always there while she was dancing. People would go crazy after watching her dance. The bold colors on her costume and the perfect cuts suited her like a dream. There was such gracefulness about her that even though her clothes failed to cover several parts of her body, she never appeared vulgar. I would cheer when she would make the show grander with her sizzling moves on popular Indian item songs like ‘Choli ke peeche kya hai, munni badnaam Hui, Sheila Ki jawani’ and sometimes classic mujra like ‘Dil Chiz Kya Hai, Salam-e-ishq Meri jaan, muje naulakkha mangwa le’ etc.
I reached the club by 11:30 PM. I sat on the first table facing the stage near the dance floor. The tables in the front were specially reserved for VIP guests. I was neither VIP nor Special. I managed to get the table, as I knew Aaqil personally. The waiter asked me for a drink. I ordered a 30ml Chivas Regal with Coke.
Aaqil came in and soon the club starting swooning to an Arabic song. The music started with a piece of drumbeats that went on for one completely minute and that are when Madeena made her grand entry. She was in the classic Arabic attire, with a scarf covered half of her face barring the beautiful bold eyes. The whole club turned into clapping stadium and whistles and claps poured on. ‘El alem Allah something-something something-something’ played.
I predicted it was Amr Diab's song, the famous Egyptian Singer. Sometimes Aaqil used to play some of his songs at home. So I had knowledge of few of his famous songs like Tamally Maak, Ana Aa’yesh, We Malo, and Habibi Nour El Ain.'
‘Dally eiono something-something Wallah, Allah Allah Allah’ Madeena removed the scarf from her face. More whistles and clapping. It was Amr Diab’s song.
I was still upset. My eyes were on Madeena but my mind was still thinking about HER, the assistant manager. Madeena noticed me while dancing; she smiled and winked at me. I smiled back at her for politeness sake. In a way, I was not feeling like being a part of the revelry that day. Everything around simply existed without notice and the music felt like chaos. I was holding the glass of Chivas Regal in my hand for at least twenty minutes but its level had not gone down. I was not also in the mood to drink even.
Aaqil announced that we would be celebrating Madeena’s Birthday after her performance. The clock was five minutes to strike twelve. One of the waiters brought the cake and put at the center of the dance floor. Madeena insisted me to join in the cake cutting. I could see all the staff and special guests of the evening joining to celebrate the moment with Madeena.
After the birthday celebration, Madeena left and went inside the dressing room. Aaqil went to the DJ box and started playing music. The party people swooned to the sensual music. Almost everyone was drunk. I also sat on my chair and finished my pending peg. I usually do not feel drunk even after downing three-four pegs of whiskey. However, that night, I felt drunk even after one peg of the same whiskey brand. I could not think of anyone else but her. I did not even know her name at that time, and I felt as if I had just started falling madly in love with her. It felt ridiculous to fall head over heels over someone whom I had known for a brief period of just a minute.
I decided to leave. I went to the DJ box to meet Aaqil to inform. The loudspeakers near his DJ cabin made it impossible for me to speak out loud enough for him to hear. He gestured me that he could not get a word of what I was uttering and I gestured back that I was leaving. He seemed upset and threatened me to stay. I could not leave. I came back to my seat and ordered another peg of the whiskey. Although my head was already going in rounds, I decided to go for another glass. It was not enough for me. I ordered a third. Five pegs later, I started hallucinating about her everywhere. The hair, the face, the smile danced through my visions.
It was around one o’clock. Aaqil announced again that Madeena would be performing soon. She came to the dance floor, this time wearing something different. She was performing with props like stick and wings. I could not see her properly as my eyes were half closed. After Madeena’s performance, Aaqil played a few Bollywood songs, I guess. I stood up and went to the dance floor.
The next day Aaqil told me that I danced like crazy, but I was not smiling. My eyes were closed. I had no idea what songs were playing and I only remembered that I was missing her bad. It was around half past two. Time was over for the club. Aaqil asked one of the staffs to drop me home. I slept without removing my clothes.
The next day, Aaqil and I went to the restaurant where Madeena had thrown a party for her birthday. Aaqil and Madeena asked me what led to all my wildness at the club last night. I denied the discussion.
‘Who is she?’ Madeena knew that the story had a ‘her’.
‘She? No No, no one.’ I replied.
‘Tell yakhi; I have never seen you like this before’ Aaqil said.
‘I like a girl, guys.' I said
‘Hey, Congrats dude!’ Madeena said.
‘Mabrook Mabrook bro, who is she? And what’s her name?’ Aaqil asked.
‘She is working in my institute as an assistant manager, and I don’t know her name.' I said.
‘What the heck? Why didn’t you ask her name?’ Madeena said.
‘I was afraid to ask her name and I didn’t even have the courage to say hello to her,’ I said sadly.
‘Is she sexy?’ Aaqil asked and winked.
‘She is beautiful, Habibi,’ I said.
‘Hmmmm, I think you are in love with this girl.' Madeena said.
‘Kind of, but I do not know for sure. I can’t stop thinking about her since I listened to her voice over the phone. After seeing her, I was bowled over.’ I said.
‘Now I got it why you were taking so much time to get ready for class. Trying to impress the girl, huh?’ Aaqil asked.
‘Yes, I fell in love with her voice itself and thankfully she is beautiful and charming too.’ I replied.
‘Ya, Allah! You are crazy Siddhant.’ Madeena laughed.
‘Why so?’ I asked.
‘You are a typical Indian man. Just like your Bollywood movies. You fall in love with the girl whom you don’t know even properly.’ she said
‘That’s love baby. It is all about feelings. Maybe I will hate her after knowing her properly or I may even start loving her more. God knows, but at present, I have started thinking about our future plans.’ I said with a smile.
‘Ha ha ha ha ha, What if she is already married?’ Aaqil asked.
‘Then, maybe I will have to find out if she is up for an extramarital affair’ I joked.
‘Shut up both of you. Siddhant, please take time, try to know her first, before making any further plans.’ Madeena spoke like a true guardian
‘You are right; even I don’t want to rush. It’s my life, and I have to take care about that.’ I said.
‘Cool guys, so let’s have our food, enjoy the meal and Mads, Happy Birthday and thank you for the treat.’ Aaqil hugged her.
‘Happy wala birthday Mads,’ I hugged as well.
‘Thank you guys; you both are sweet.’ She smiled.
