6. Ticket to Bollywood!

Mom, dad and Maha were here in NY with us, they enjoyed the premiere. It was the best day till date, before doing the movie and even while shooting we never realized Yaari was going to be such a turning point of our lives… but it proved to be so. Last night, we lived our dreams. So many producers and directors met us and praised our work, they even gave their verdicts about the movie and almost every comment made us more and more proud.

“Hussain beta!... Shehry beta! Get up… its 11 o clock. Come on get up and have breakfast” Waqas and Atif stayed at our place last night and we all slept in our room. ….we all still sleep together, it is fun sleeping together, dunno why!!!! Shehry and Waqas were sleeping on the bed, Atif took the couch and I slept on the floor wrapping a blanket around me.

I woke up… rubbing my eyes, I looked around and found myself on the bed, in between Waqas and Shehry…yeah! sleeping on the floor was abad idea. Waqas’s arm was wrapped around me, his mouth half open and Shehry was half on the bed, half hanging down. I pushed his arm aside and got up from the bed.

Suddenly I heard Maha’s voice coming from the hall and a smile spread on my face… a sister is indeed a blessing, after washing my face I went out and found her sitting on the slabe in the kitchen, mom was making something for us.

“Good Morning mom!” I stepped inside and Maha jumped down holding my hands.

“Hey Sain! I was waiting for you people to get up so you can take me to the park and make me have my favorite ice cream….. You sleep a lot” Maha said, her eyes twinkling, but a hint of complaint was there too.

“aaaw! Am so sorry princess, but I promise we will take you there and Ice Cream to khilani he pare gi aj, pakkkaa!” I kissed her cheek and she smiled ear to ear at me.

“Now go and wake up Shehry bhai , Waqas and Ati bhai… go” I said and she happily ran towards the room.

“Hussain beta! You were sleeping when some… Mr Farhan called on the landline” Mom told me, while putting milk in the pot and suddenly my hands stopped in the middle.

“What? Who?.... Farhan?” I put down the glass on the slab.

“Yeah! He said, you are not answering your cell number.” Mom told me

“kon tha? Koi khas kam tha kia? I thought you were sleeping so I asked him to call you in an hour” Mom added.

“Yeah! He is the assistant of Anuragh Kashaf; the director in bollywood. We met some months back during the shoot of Yaari and he asked for my portfolio. Actually Nosh introduced me to him, she has acquaintance with him” I explained mom and gulped down the half left glass of water.

“Oh! Then I think I should have woke you up, ” Mom said, looking worried.

“Nai nai mom, that’s completely fine. I will call him after breakfast. Don’t worry” I hugged her sideways and she smiled.

“Hey! Where is Dad?” I asked, looking around.

“He had breakfast early in the morning and then left with Aqeel… they had some business work” Mom told me and I nodded.

“Hussain beta! Go and call them… it's getting cold now” Mom asked

“Yeah! I asked Maha to wake them up, lagta hai use bhi sula diya hea in sab ne apne sath” I headed towards the room while mom smiled.

We had excellent breakfast after so long, after all mom’s food is the best food around globe.

“Ahhh! Mom itne dino bad am having a perfect naashta” I said, eating my Aaloo wala pratha

“han han! Or itne din jo mein banata raha wo kia tha?” Shehry glared at me with his mouth full of paratha.

“yeah! Those half cooked and sometimes completely burnt prathas….. Mom please train him till you are here” I looked at mom and Shehry threw an apple at me, which I caught in time and winked tight at him.

“nai nai! Aunty, don’t train him, rather bring a sugharr bahu for yourself” Waqas added and Shehry rolled his eyes.

“hahaha! Han we are thinking about that” mom said and Shehry’s eyes got wide in shock.

“You can’t be serious mom, and Waqas! bro kindly tu apni fiker ker” He looked at mom and then said to Waqas who was smirking at him.

“well, Shehry I am serious, we have a girl in sight for you. Kaho to we can talk to her parents” Mom said seriously and Shehry made a face.

“Mom, ap mujhe parathey banan sikha den… yei kafi hea” He said and we all laughed.

“Bhaai…. I wanna got to the park” Maha looked at me with a puppy face and I smiled at her.

“Yeah! Just give us a few minutes, we will get ready and then we will get to the park and have your favorite ice cream.” I said and Atif playfully messed up her silky soft hair.

“Hey! Guys, Anuragh’s assistant called in the morning” after a couple of silent moments I said and Shehry, Waqas and Atif stopped eating and started staring at me.

“What?.....”I looked at them one by one.

“Anuragh Kashaf’s Assistant?.... man! What did he say?”Shehry asked, looking all surprised.

“Did he offer you a movie or something?” Atif asked before I could answer Shehry.

“Ch! No man! I couldn’t talk to him, I was sleeping and he tried on my cell. Then tried on the landline and spoke to mom” I explained before Waqas could ask any idiotic question and their expressions got grim.

“What the hell man! Why did you sleep?” Shehry said angrily and I rolled my eyes.

“Han to saari rat jagta rehta na k subha Anuragh Kashaf k assistant ne call kerni hea” I said and started sipping tea.

“chal! But now call him asap man!” Waqas said and I nodded

I got up and headed to my room to check my cell phone, there were 6 missed calls…. Shittt!

I dialed his number and waited, within every single ring my heartbeat was increasing. I always wanted to be a star…no! actually  a superstar. I wanted to rule the sky being the brightest star on it. I was a die hard fan of Shahrukh… people used to compliment me as “ hey! You resemble Shahrukh a lot”… “you look so like Shahrukh”… “your smile reminds me of Shahrukh’s” . It was a big thing for me, but deep down I don’t want to become another Shahrukh, I don’t want to be known as second of him. I want to become THE HUSSAIN ASIF…. A superstar.

“Hello!....” after a couple of rings he picked up, a feminish male voice spoke.

“hey Hello! Its Hussain Asif speaking”  I said

“Yeah! Yeah! Mr Hussain, I called you in the morning, but I guess last night’s even made you tired” He said, a hint of smile evident in his voice.

“Yeah! It was definitely an eventful night for us, ” I said

“Mr Hussain, Mr. Anuragh wanted to talk to you, just hold on a second, ” he said and put the call on hold.

After two or three minutes the same voice came back;

“Mr. Hussain, he is a bit caught up in work, couldn’t talk to you right now. I am sending you an email, kindly check that and reply asap” he said and I hurriedly opened my laptop without hanging up.

“Yeah! Okay, I will check and reply” I said and he hung up.

I put down my cell and checked my mail, there were three new mails and the last one was from Anuragh Kashaf. I opened the  mail

“Dear Mr. Hussain Asif!

I want to congratulate you and the rest of the team of Yaari, for making a great movie like that. I can see great potential in you and that is why I want to offer you to work for me.

We have a modeling agency, we have a renowned name in the film industry as well. I want you to join us as a model, I am sending you the details, kindly check and ponder over my offer.

Hope to hear a YES.

Regards,

Anuragh Kashaf.

Check the attachment.

I kept on looking at the screen, unable to believe what I just read. When suddenly I hear screams from my back and somebody jumped on me.

“oyeeeee chaa gaya tu Shehzadey!” it was Waqas who was yelling at the top of his lungs and Shehry and Atif were on top of me.

“oooow….man! Let me breathe” I said controlling my laughter, holding my stomach.

“You people were reading my mail?” I said, looking at all of them and they rolled their eyes.

“Abey I changed your nappies when you were this much…. And you are asking me this idiotic question?” Waqas said being too dramatic and I chuckled.

“Congratulations bro!..... Congratulations” Shehry said and hugged me so tight that I almost felt my ribs are going to collide.

“Yar… I couldn’t believe its Anuragh Kashaf!... teri nikal pari” Atif gave me a high five and I smiled ear to ear.

“So…. Should I reply with a yes?” I asked, raising my eyebrows and three of them looked at me as if going to slap me or something.

“Shokhyy Bakri he rahe ga tu….. Ofcorse man! Say yes” Shari said, patting my head.

“This is a real opportunity” Waqas added

“The ticket to Bollywood Sain… the gate to your dream land” Atif said and I nodded smiling widely.