Diary from Heaven

Band Baja Baraat

As Arun reached home at 13:00, he fought with his sister, Neeru, to get the computer. Neeru was busy studying, whereas Arun wanted to practice on the computer. It wasn’t precisely a console, and the small Intex speakers weren’t night club material either, but it did help him practice and create a playlist. He was as it is nervous about playing at a night club, so he irritated her and forced her to leave the room.

This was 1999, the year of the internet boom in India. Though the only dial-up network was all that was available to surf the internet, and the download speed was quite sad, but it did help him get a list of latest dance tracks in the market. Nero software had an excellent feature which helped him burn customised music CDs.

Upon moving to Gurgaon, he developed a taste for Rock and Trance music and luckily Prasad also had a nice collection of Punjabi music.

“Blah blah, blah, blah... was the summer of sixty-nine.” This is how a typical English track sounded to him, initially. He could not understand half the lyrics, but he still loved it.

Arun went through every CD and cassette, listening to songs and selected about 52 tracks as per the list of tracks he downloaded. This included; Indian and English POP, Rock, Trance and of course, Hindi, and Punjabi tracks.

Though his gig was only for two hours, he wanted to keep some for backup too. He was not taking any chances, so for hours, he selected and played the songs to create a perfect playlist. He would create a playlist, listen to it and then create a new one. He was quite nervous about playing at a night club.

By evening, he was ready with his playlist. He selected a nice t-Shirt and jeans, freshened up and got ready for the night. He looked into the mirror, “Yes, you can do this,” he said as Neeru walked past him teasing with her tongue.

“You...” said Arun as he ran after Neeru chasing her.

“HE’S GOING OUT AGAIN, HE WILL BE LATE, AGAIN,” shouted Neeru.

 “Why do you guys keep fighting and where are you going now?” asked Rajni while Neeeru hid behind her.

Arun stood with his hands behind his back, and head bowed down like a school kid getting scolded by his teacher. “I have to meet some guys from the college and then go for a night out. Please, it’s a new group, and I want to hang out with them,” he said sheepishly avoiding eye contact with Rajni.

Rajni and Neeru looked at each other as Arun pleaded with his sister for help. “Let him go mom or else he will bug us all night with his stupid music,” said Neeru while sticking her tongue out.

“Ok, go ahead, but do eat something while you are out, don’t starve yourself,” said Rajni.

“Love you, Maa,” said Arun hugging her.

“...and love you too,” he said, teasing Neeru and pulling her hair.

Shobhit picked up Arun from Sector 4 market at 7:30 PM. They picked up Harveen from 4-8 Marla, a suburb in old Gurgaon. Shobhit was irritated because she took half an hour to get ready. Harveen was elegantly dressed in a Punjabi suit.

“You are so boring, Harveen; I thought you would wear a mini skirt or something, even more, sexier,” said Shobhit teasing her.

“You look beautiful,” said Arun blushing.

“Thank you!” replied Harveen smiling.

Arun looked towards Shobhit who was staring at him.

“Don’t you dare forget who introduced you to her,” said Shobhit as Harveen blushed with her cheeks turning red.

“Stop teasing him, will you?” she said, hitting Shobhit on the head.

“So what does DJ’ing really mean to you?” asked Harveen as Shobhit drove towards Punjabi Bagh.

Arun looked back. “Music is the fuel that powers my soul. DJ’ing happened by accident, thanks to my friend Raghav, and it means the world to me now,” he replied.

“True that, mate; music keeps us going,” said Shobhit as he patted on Arun’s back.

"Looks like you all belong to well-off families?" asked Arun.

"Looks can be deceptive," replied Harveen.

“We all have issues in life, and some of us have issues with life as well, but as long as we are together, nothing matters,” said Shobhit.

“So, tell me about everyone,” said Arun looking at Harveen.

“Mitali was married at the age of 17 and divorced 20 because her husband was abusive,” she replied, looking outside.

“Tell me about Tina, she’s quite jovial,” asked Arun.

“She is the force that keeps the group together,” she replied.

“Tina is from a conservative Rajput family and in love with Gaurav, a Punjabi. Though marriage is still a long way, she is always under stress as to how will she ever tell her parents about Gaurav. They are quite serious about each other and are planning to get married after college,” she said.

“So what’s the problem? They should just get married and then she can tell everything to her parents,” said Arun smiling.

“The problem is that her parents are so conservative that whenever she visits her home in Jaipur, she wears a salwar kameez with her head covered with dupatta all the time, instead of the usual minis and middies,” she replied as Arun looked confused.

“She doesn’t have any problem with the traditional clothing at all. The girls in her family usually get married at a very young age, and her mother is fighting hard to ensure that she completes her studies first. Her father has already selected a Rajput groom for her,” she said as the smile on Arun’s face changed to a grin, and he kept quiet.

“My father passed away two years ago, and my relatives got me hooked on to drugs so that they could control my property. I am financially well off, but my relatives only visit me when they need money. My mother passed away when I was quite young, so this group is all I have,” said Shobhit.

“So there’s much sadness in his life, and he always presents himself as this cool uncaring dude. Looks can be deceptive,” thought Arun as he looked towards Shobhit.

Ever since Arun joined BTS College, he looked up to Shobhit for his impeccable style and persona.

“What about the French girl?” asked Arun inquisitively.

“Her name is Rose; she came to India after her mother passed away in France. Her mother is French, and her father is Indian. Her father doesn’t like India much. She lives alone in Tilak Nagar,” replied Harveen.

“What about you?” asked Arun as he looked at Harveen, blushing. He was expecting a fairy-tale story about her life, and he was in for a shock.

“My parents are going through a messy divorce, so there’s too much fighting and screaming at home as they are still living together,” replied Harveen with moist eyes.

“All in all, a colourful group, you might say?” said Shobhit.

“I am sorry,” said Arun looking at Harveen as she wiped her tears.

“That’s all right, don’t be sorry; our lives were already miserable before you became part of our group, so it’s not your fault. We all have our problems, but as long as we are together, we can survive,” Harveen replied, smiling as Arun also smiled back.

As the sound of Tutak Tutak Titiyan hit their ears, Shobhit raised the volume, and the sombre mood in the car changed as the three performed some groovy bhangra moves, while seated.

They reached Band Baja Baraat at around 9:30 PM. Tina, Gaurav, Mitali and Rose were already there enjoying drinks. The colourful trance lights from the dance floor were all over the night club, setting the mood for an exciting evening.

Night clubs were quite rare then and Band Baja Baraat being one the first in Delhi NCR, was crowded most of the times. It was a Punjab themed night club.

Arun felt as if he had reached mini-Punjab as he entered the club. The ceiling was decorated with rustic lanterns and the centre of the night club looked like a typical village chaupal (village sitting area).

Shobhit called in the waiter who handed over the liquor menu to Arun.

“What would you like to have?” he asked, looking towards Harveen.

“I don’t drink,” she replied, playing with her hair.

“So, I presume even Mr DJ will not have any drinks tonight?” said Gaurav at his mischievous best. Everyone looked at Arun as he looked at Gaurav.

“Aaaaaaa...” is all Arun could utter.

“We get it, relax, pal,” said Shobhit taking away the liquor menu.

“Don’t irritate the DJ,” said Shobhit winking at Gaurav.

“Thank you,” said Arun taking a sigh of relief.

“Let me show you your playground,” said Shobhit as they both walked towards the console.

As they walked towards the console through the dance floor, Arun could feel the energy running through his veins. This was going to be his first gig at a night club, so he wanted to give his best and make it memorable.

Upon reaching the top, Arun waved his left hand over the console. As he brought his ear close to the turntable, he closed his eyes for a few seconds as if he was bonding with the console. The console was on autoplay with some latest Punjabi and Bollywood tracks playing.

“This is it,” he said to himself as he opened his eyes and high fived Shobhit.

As Shobhit left, Harveen came up to the console and stood by Arun’s side.

“Good luck,” she said, holding his hand.

Arun felt feverish as Harveen left. He felt on top of the world; he was in love with a beautiful girl, and by the looks of it, she loved him too.

As Harveen left, Arun got the console ready. He plugged in the headset to check the volume, tone and pitch. He played his usual favourite Return to innocence by Enigma to test the system. He kept For An Angel by Paul Van Dyk on PFL. He went down to the floor to get the feel.  As he walked back to the console, he looked back towards his friends. Shobhit sent a thumbs-up his way, and he walked back confidently.

As he started his playlist with a Punjabi track, everyone from the group got up and moved to the floor. His eyes were hooked on to Harveen, who began moving to the beats. It seemed like a dream, a beautiful dream. Soon, he got the hang of the equipment. The floor came alive with almost everyone in the club grooving to the lively Punjabi beats.

Shobhit came up with a drink for him, but he politely refused as he looked towards Harveen.

“Enough of Punjabi; lets Rock, baby,” Shobhit said, asking him to change the music genre. Though Arun was not sure, he switched to international tracks with Long Tall Sally, followed by Sweet Child of Mine, and then some tracks by Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and many more followed.

While Harveen and Mitali stayed away waiting for Punjabi tracks, Tina and Rose rocked the floor. To his surprise, the crowd loved non-Punjabi tracks as well. Harveen came up and stood there without saying anything for a while.

“Should I or shouldn’t I?” Arun thought and nervously moved his hand towards her, and to his relief, she held his hand. Arun kept changing the music while his eyes were fixed on her. It was as if he couldn't see anyone else on the floor. They stood there, hand in hand, silently. Their silent conversation was interrupted by Gaurav as he came up to the console.

“Put it on autoplay and come down to the floor,” said Gaurav as Arun looked towards Shobhit on the floor. Shobhit waved for him to come down and Arun switched to autoplay. Gaurav pulled him down towards the floor. He kept holding on to Harveen’s hand as they made their way to the dance floor.

Everybody cheered and danced like there was no tomorrow. Arun was shy, and also he hadn’t danced before. They stood lost in each other’s eyes when Tina brought them back to the real world. Harveen took the lead, at first, Arun felt awkward and kept looking at her, but soon started following her steps.

As the playlist moved to Rail Gaddi remix track, everyone cheered. Everyone in the club joined in to create a long human train.

After a while, Shobhit called an employee and whispered in his ear. He went up to the console and changed the song to Lady in red. Everyone booed at first, but slowly, couples got together for a slow dance. Harveen held his hand and placed it on her back, he pulled her closer, and they both moved slowly to the music. Tina and Gaurav’s PDA was visible while Shobhit, Mitali and Rose enjoyed their drinks.

The songs kept changing, but Arun and Harveen were inseparable. Arun moved his face closer to her, she closed her eyes, and he kissed her. It was magical as he felt current flowing through his veins. They kissed for a few seconds as Arun moved back and noticed that her eyes were still closed as if she was in a trance. As the foam machine filled the floor with foam, it was as if they were dancing on the clouds.

Suddenly the music stopped and Happy Birthday song played as everyone gathered around a table to celebrate a guest’s birthday. Arun and Harveen looked around awkwardly as if both were rudely woken up. Harveen was blushing, so was Arun. Tina pulled Harveen away and said something to her as they walked towards the washroom. Arun breathed heavily as if he had stopped breathing while he was with Harveen and turned around only to find Shobhit staring at him.

“Gaurav got me down here, and then we were dancing...” he said stammering as Shobhit burst into laughter.

“I am playing with you, buddy; it is ok. My boy has become a man today,” said Shobhit as Arun blushed.

Everyone settled for a while as the birthday celebrations were taking place.

“It’s past midnight now, enough of English-Vinglish, dole out something that causes an earthquake on the floor,” said Shobhit as Arun was about to walk back to the console.

“Don’t you worry, I came prepared with something that is sure to cause an earthquake. You guys are gonna love it,” said Arun.

Arun again took control of the console and got his playlist ready to end the night on a high note. Everyone went ballistic as he played Jumma Chumma De De. Seeing the excellent response, Arun took a sigh of relief as it was a big risk playing this track. Both young and mature crowd enjoyed it. He would mute the track, in between, and everyone on the floor would shout out, ‘JUMMA CHUMMA DE DE.’ He followed this with mixes of; Mei Jatt Yamla Pagla Deewana, Khaike Paan Banaras Wala, Sapne Mei Milti Hai and many more classic and current Bollywood tracks.

Shobhit pulled Arun to the floor and instructed an employee to handle the console. Gaurav went up and asked the guy on the console to play Ae Meri Zohra Jabin. Shobhit got Arun and Harveen together as everyone danced around on this immortal classic track. Contrary to what Shobhit had said about crowd loving only Punjabi music, they also loved Bollywood, English classic Rock and Trance as well.

The crowd left the club past midnight, Shobhit, Arun, and others stayed till 04:00 AM. Once the floor closed, it was late munch time. While Arun and Harveen sat together without eating, drinking or saying anything, Gaurav, Tina, Mitali, Shobhit and Rose were high on alcohol and munching till they finally left at around 05:00.

As they all left; Arun waved at Harveen, who went towards Gaurav’s car and then came rushing back to hug Arun. She kissed him on the cheek, got in Gaurav’s car and left. Harveen was staying at Rose’s place for the weekend.

“Mere do anmol rattan...” sang Gaurav teasing both.

“THANK YOU!” screamed Arun looking towards Shobhit as they went to the parking together.

On the way back to Gurgaon, Shobhit stopped at 32nd Mile Stone’s pan shop for mitha pan (sweet pan).

It was around 07:00 when Arun reached home. Since there was no college on Saturday, he straightway went off to bed to avoid his father and brother.

Arun was still in the same mood as last night and didn’t want to sleep; he was on cloud nine. He held the pillow between his legs and kept thinking about Harveen.

Suddenly he got up and sat on the bed, worried.

“What if she knows that I am not financially well off?” he thought.

“I can’t lose her,” he mumbled as Granny entered the room.

“Is something wrong, son?” she asked as Arun looked worried.

“Is it ok to hide the reality, I mean I am not lying or anything just hiding the truth?” he asked.

“Hiding truth is as good as lying, son,” she said, kissing him on the forehead as she got busy with her daily chores.

Arun went off to bed, still worried how Harveen would react. He got up at around 13:00 and went to the Printing Press. He called Rose from the landline.

“Hi, Arun,” said Rose even before Arun could say anything.

“How did you know it was me?” asked Arun.

“Because she’s here,” she replied mischievously.

“May I speak with her?” he asked nervously.

“What’s in it for me?” asked Rose teasing him.

“Treat on Monday in the canteen,” replied Arun as Rose giggled.

“Hiiiiii!” said Harveen snatching the phone from Rose.

“Hi!!!” said Arun.

“I was scared to call you at Rose’s house,” said Arun.

“Why?” asked Harveen.

“I was not sure about Rose’s family. Thought her father or brother might pick up the phone,” he said.

“Hehehehe... how are you?” she asked giggling.

“Lost...” he replied.

Arun tried hard to keep his voice low so that Prasad, who was working close by, couldn’t hear him.

“Me too,” she replied as Arun took a sigh of relief.

“Last night was...” she said.

“....magical?” he said before she could say it.

“Yes, it was magical; it was divine,” she said.

“YES!!!” said Arun as he raised his fist in the air.

“I mean, it was divine, yes,” he said mischievously. Harveen blushed, feeling Arun’s excitement.

“I am excited too, can’t wait to see you again,” she said.

“Me too, can’t wait,” said Arun as he noticed Prasad staring at him.

“This is for work, not for romance,” said Prasad as Arun signalled him to keep his voice down so that their dad couldn’t hear. Since the staring did not stop, Arun told Harveen that he would call her from Shobhit’s home and disconnected the call.

“Stay at home for dinner tonight,” said Prasad as Arun left the shop showing Prasad his tongue and teasing him. Prasad smiled at his kid brother.

Arun reached Shobhit’s house. It was a three-storey bungalow in New Colony. Though located in the narrow streets of old Gurgaon, Shobhit's home was quite big. In a recent valuation, it was valued at Rs 1.2 crore. His relatives were quite eager to sell the property and get their share.

Shobhit opened the door. He looked disoriented with hair scattered all over.

“At this time?” said Arun looking at his watch as Shobhit seemed high.

“Naa, man; this is from last night, still high,” said Shobhit laughing.

“I need to make a call,” said Arun as Shobhit led him to the drawing-room.

“What do you want to talk about?” asked Shobhjit mischievously teasing Arun. He knew that Arun was here to call Harveen.

“I am going to tell her about my family’s financial situation,” said Arun.

Shobhit took his hand, looked him in the eye and said: “Look, man, if she truly loves you, then she won’t have any issues with your family’s status.”

“I have not known you for a long time, but I do know that she feels the same way about you, as you do for her and it’s beautiful,” he said as Arun nodded his head and called.

“Hi, what took you so long?” said Harveen answering the phone.

Arun looked at his watch, it took him only ten minutes to reach Shobhit’s place but didn’t say anything and he just smiled.

“Can we meet today?” asked Arun. He could only hear a giggle from the other side.

“Can we?” he asked again.

“So eager?” said Harveen mischievously.

“Yes...” replied Arun.

“I am sorry, as much as I am also eager to see you, Mom and Dad had a huge fight today morning, so I am heading back home now. I can’t leave Mom like this; she’s crying,” said Harveen sobbing.

“Hey, don’t cry,” said Arun.

“Sometimes I wish that they would indeed separate and maybe all this fighting would end,” said Harveen.

“Don’t worry; everything will be all right. We will meet on Monday and anytime you want to talk then call my shop or Shobhit and leave a message, and I will call back,” said Arun looking towards Shobhit who nodded his head.

“You know what, I was keeping this for a special moment, but I think you need it right now,” said Arun and paused.

“What is it?” asked Harveen wiping her tears.

Arun took a deep breath.

“I know it’s too soon because we have just met but... I love you, Harveen,” said Arun as Shobhit left the room smiling.

“Dumbo,” said Harveen as Arun was taken aback by her response.

“Did I say something wrong?” asked Arun nervously.

“No, dumbo, I was waiting for you to say this last night,” said Harveen.

“Aaaaaa...” was all Arun could utter.

“I love you too, my Dumbo,” said Harveen kissing the phone.

“Phewwwwww...” was Arun’s reaction as he felt relieved.

“I love you so much...” said Arun.

“Love you more,” said Harveen.

“Can’t wait to see you on Monday,” she said.

“MONDAY...” said Arun hysterically.

“That’s too long,” he said.

“Hahahahaha... bye,” said Harveen as she kept the receiver down.

Arun kept the receiver down while holding his heart. Shobhit walked in with drinks.

“Cheers, buddy,” said Shobhit as they both took a sip and kept their glasses on the table.

“What if she changes her mind?” asked Arun taking a sip.

“Changes her mind?” Shobhit asked back.

“But she just said that she loves you too,” said Shobhit who looked confused.

“What if... what if she changes her mind after knowing about my financial condition?” said Arun.

“You worry too much, she loves you, cheers,” said Shobhit raising a toast.

“To you and Harveen, together forever,” said Shobhit.

“Together forever,” said Arun taking a sip.