LOVE IS IN THE AIR

It was a hot sunny Sunday. The heat Gods were just not kind to us earthlings.

"Its very hot Dee" I told him "Where are we going? " "To my studio" he said. Dee was nick name for Devesh Vikar. I called him with various nicknames. This was one.

Devesh is a copywriter in the advertising world. He has a fairly good work experience in his field but his love lies in the world of theatre. "Theatre is my first love and my passion" he would tell me "and football world cup close next!" (Guys !! ).

Dee and me are very good friends. That day Dee was taking me to his studio at Bandra. Dee and his friends have a theatre group. This studio however belongs to their mentor where they do majority of their brainstorming, scripting and rehearsing. Dee and his friends have taken up stints in the world of English theatre for quite sometime now.

Dee always aspired to write and direct his own play one day.... and perhaps act in it too. He wasn't looking for commercial success particularly. He just wanted to achieve that milestone, the happiness of telling a story and narrating it to an audience through a great performance he'd tell me. And I simply loved that about him.

He would always tell me how every second of the day this thought was always at the back of his mind. And how his busy work life wouldn't allow him to write. To me he seemed like a serious guy when I met him the first time. But later... we got along like a house on fire.

Sometimes his behaviour would just surprise me. He could switch from being a sweetheart to being a moody artist in matters of seconds and you wouldn't know what happened! Nevertheless he was a fabulous guy.

I was looking at nothing while I was lost in these thoughts when the bike suddenly jerked. "Here we are" he said, it almost brought me back from wherever I was.

"Ahhh .. great" I said while getting off the bike. It was a really sunny and hot afternoon. The bike definitely wasn't a good idea. And Dee wasn't very fond of bikes either. I was surprised that he had brought one here to pick me up. But then riding it through the small bylanes of Bandra through the tree laden roads wasn't bad at all. And secondly I love bikes!!. I wasn't sure what his reason was. But I enjoyed my ride.

Dee was wearing a denim and a checkered shirt. I was wearing black haram pants with a maroon cotton short kurti and a sling bag. I took a wet tissue out of my bag and wiped my face, while I offered one to Dee too.

"You think this will work on my heavily bearded face" "How about offering me a shower instead " he teased me. Along with his witty sense of humour he had an inate ability to flirt, which was an integral part of our conversations.

I held him through his arms and told him "Sure.... but let's finish what we are here for first" and winked at him. Both of us have shared a goofy sense of humour ever since we have met.

As people, we are chalk and cheese. I'd call him chalk and I'll keep the cheese for me. Simply because I am yummy and more desirable... :p

As for Dee.. he is a creative guy. He loves his zone and space at one time and then suddenly he will bounce to being happy and crazy. It is really difficult to keep a tab on his moods.

But something about him was awesome and kept drawing me towards him. He was honest, very passionate about his dream of doing theatre, sensitive and a very caring person.

To his stark contrast was me. Rightly the cheese! A Fun loving extrovert, vibrant and always on the go.

Dee had taken me to his studio to show me around. It was a nice silent place in the bylanes of Bandra and we could hear the sea and feel the warm breeze.

It was a long time since I was pestering him to see the studio I had always heard of from him. I had never really seen his studio. For the last 4 months or so Dee was busy writing a play that he would discuss with me online, on phone or whenever we met. He was so involved in it. He would spend almost all his weekends here at his studio thinking and working on the script. I really wanted to see the place!

"Will u have something?" He asked me as we entered his not so big yet not a small studio "We have a pantry here. A small kitchen you can say. I can definitely make you tea or coffee."

Before I could say no. He went on. "Don't think of the trouble I'll go through or that I am making it specially for you, its my routine. I make my tea when I step in here and I could make another one for you! "

"hmmmmmm... I hate you" I mocked at him "ya I hate me too, high five" he told me and started laughing at me. "I love that silly face you make" he said" Ya and I hate that silly face you have" I retorted - this time we both laughed together.

Dee loves keeping a beard and to be honest it was this beard that brought us closer to being friends. Because I totally HATED it!

Everyday we would talk or meet, the beard always had its mention in our talks. The first time I saw his beard in the picture I was like OMG thats a lot of beard. And then on I would often tease him about how his love for a bushy beard would keep his girlfriends from getting to his cheeks or chin. And he'd always say "All my girls have pampered and stroked it so far. And that I have received no technical complaints really."

Every few days I would come up with some new idea of doing something with his beard style and he would dismiss it saying, "Nope. The stuble is all you have for now" (One annoying nut he could be.)

Now here we were, sitting at his studio with a cup of lemongrass and peppermint tea he is a pro at making. "Dee I am so happy, I get to see your studio." I said. "I had always heard about this place from you."

"Whenever you went underground for days thinking or practicing you always told me it was this studio." He smiled .. "Yep this is where I was when I wasn't at office or with you" "Ohhh and the jealous me thought you didn't love me anymore" I teased .. "Oh I still don't" he said looking at me with a straight face.

I threw a cushion lying there at him. It was a prop lying there which I put to perfect use at that moment. "High hopes not that I "love" you, you crazy head" Suddenly the fun had to stop as Dee told me "Ok girl I need to step out for a while. Just need to get some things. You be here and I'll come back in a jiffy." And started to head out.

"But where are you going! ? " I asked. "Just around the corner"he shouted while he was already out and leaping onto his bike.

"Aahhhh he left already" I sighed. "I wonder where he's gone. I don't even know this place" I thought to myself. I just decided to explore his studio.

The studio was a fairly big hall with 3 green rooms attached. 1 large and 2 small ones. There were mirrors on one side which could be hidden behind a curtain when not needed. On one side was a rack full of small props. Scarves, coats, hats, vases, carpets etc. There were spot lights and other technical and sound equipments.

On the other side was a wall of fame. It had pictures of their group - the fun moments they had while performing , portraits of each member in their best dresses. I smiled as I saw Dee's picture in a blazer holding an award. I couldn't figure out what was it for and I made a mental note to ask him when he comes back.

The wall was like a mirror to the hard work this group had put up over the years. The picture collages actually showed the physical progression of the members. From geeky looking boys to thoughtful bearded actors. Some grew tall. Some grew wide. I was smiling to myself while I was looking at the wall and I just couldn't get my eyes off all the stuff that was pinned up there. It actually reflected the body of work these guys had done over a long time. And I sooo wanted to soak it all up.

"Hey there" Dee called me from behind. "What are you looking at" I turned around and told him "all the stuff that you wouldn't yap about whenever we met" and turned back to the wall. "Really and I thought I talked a lot. Now I am wondering where I spent the last three months talking if it wasn't you." He laughed at me again.

I made that face again and he hugged me from behind and said "awwww don't be sad I was kidding" I gave a half convinced smile. "I have something to show you today." He told me in my ear. I turned around and looked at him with an excited expression. "What! " I asked him smiling again. He said " its a surprise and you will love it" "Waitttt... its the 30th of July. Wasn't the playwriting competition result to be announced one of these days???" I asked like an excited kid.

"You won it right?? You did?" He smiled and handed me a smart leather folder. I was sure it was his winning certificate or whatever one gets on winning a writer's competition. I asked him smiling. "Should I open it?" "Yup all yours" he said.

I opened the folder and it had a note written on a handmade paper that said - keep the smile on. Your surprise is in the green room 1. Used to his pranks I didn't want to whack him with the folder for harassing me and waste my time. I just went towards the green room. And Dee quietly followed me smiling.

The lights of the green room were off. I stepped in and couldn't see a thing. " Where are the light switches to this room Dee?" Dee switched on the lights and I was shocked to see a parrot in a cage. A bouquet of flowers and another leather folder. The flowers looked perfect for the occasion. But I was kind of surprised with what a parrot was doing there.

The moment I looked at Dee to ask him "what ...." "I love you" the parrot said. "I love you. ..I love you. . I love you" it kept saying and kept jumping in his rather huge cage. I was looking at Dee in surprise and he was smiling at me. "I LOVE YOU" Dee said, and opened his arms. I couldn't believe what was going on. It was one of the sweetest things Dee had done ever! I ran into his arms and gave him a biggg hug. Turned up, threw my arms around his neck and kissed his silly fuzzy bearded face. "What the hell is this you crazy guy!!?? "You always call me the boring geeky chalk. Here's my LOVE to you my cheese"

I couldn't help but laugh with him. I pointed at the leather folder. "What's that there?" "See for yourself" I took my arms off his neck and turned to pick up the folder while he threw his arms around me from my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"This is to let you know that Mr Devesh Vikar has won the first runner up position in the playwriting competition." I read ... I was a little disappointed with him missing the place of a winner. "Oh no! 1st runner up eh. ". But I immediately smiled and said. "So what!! Congratulations!!!! You won!! He smiled and said yes ... "but read on" he told.

I pecked his cheek and continued reading... "We would also like to congratulate Mr Devesh Vikar for opting to write such a wonderful story. It brings us immense pleasure to propose to you that our company would like to adopt this story and would like to co-produce this play with you for our pan India dramatics festival tour" "Paaaannn Innddiaaaa dramatics touur!! Woohoooo" I screamed .. "I love you ...I love you .. I looveee you" I screamed in excitement and hugged him tight... "I love you. . I love you. .." the parrot said too. Dee and me started laughing.

I looked at Dee n told "IIII loooove you. The parrot too looked at Dee and said "I love you". I opened the cage door smiling at the bird and let Mr Parrot go. It was a fantastic Sunday. And LOVE was literally in the air ...