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**

He had come home very tired after working for almost 12 hours. He was so exhausted. Since one month, he was continuously working on tax-returns, balance sheets and audits of various accounts. He used to leave by 8am to catch the 8:10am bus to his office and would return home by almost 9:30 at night. Though the financial year was ending the next day, he knew he would need to work this much at least till the first week of April.

Today being a Saturday, he had returned home just slightly early by 8pm. He had dinner with his family members literally after weeks, barring Sundays. But the exhaustion was clearly visible in his eyes. He came straight to his bedroom and partially lied down on the bed, leaning on the headrest and his one hand on his forehead, with his palm facing the ceiling.

Preeti finished all the cleaning in the kitchen and washed the used plates. There was some leftover from the cooked food, which she stored in the fridge. Switching off all the lights, she went to her bedroom to join her husband. She was happy to see him home early as it was the last working day of the financial year. And tomorrow being his rest day, Preeti thought of bringing the topic again tonight.

"Suniye..." She crawled to the bed and sat next to him.

"Hmmmmm...." Shubham responded after a few moments.

"Aap so rahe hai kya?" She asked hesitantly as she could see his eyes closed and his hand on his forehead.

"Nahi..." He replied with just one word.

"Woh... aapse kuchh baat karni thi..." She said.

He took off his hand and opened his eyes to look at her. "Preeti, mai sach me bohot thak gaya hun. Kal baat kare kya?" He still had some creases on his forehead.

Preeti, who was all set to broach the topic, loosened her stance. She lowered her eyes, "Ummm... Haan thik hai..." She said and turned to slide to her side of the bed.

But she was stopped by a gentle hold on her wrist and she turned to look at her husband. Shubham straightened on the bed while folding his legs. "Sorry Preeti... Mai tumhe waqt hi nahi de paa raha hun..." He mumbled.

"Nahi Shubhamji... aap kyun maafi mang rahe hai. Mujhe samajhna chahiye tha ki aap thake hai..." Preeti stated understandably.

"Nahi, aisi koi baat nahi hai... Kal Ravivaar hai na, aaram hi karna hai... Bolo..." He put a gentle smile on his face.

Preeti looked at her husband, who looked tired but was still ready to listen to her. She took a deep breath and started, "Shubhamji, woh maine bataya tha na, woh parlour ke course ke baare me..."

Shubham closed his eyes in disappointment. After being so tired, so exhausted, wanting to sleep badly but still wanted to talk to his wife, she had to talk about this. "Preeti... maine pehle hi tumse kaha hai... Maa ko nahi pasand ghar ki aurtein bahar jakar kaam kare..." His voice was still low, not wanting to snap at Preeti.

"Mummyji ki pasand-naapasand sab mujhe pata hai Shubhamji. Lekin aap kya chahte hai?" She questioned.

He looked down. Linking his fingers and resting his elbows on his knees, he sighed, "tumhe pata hai Preeti mai Maa ke khilaf kabhi gaya nahi hun..."

"Mai kaha keh rahi hu ke hume Mummyji ke khilaf jakar kuchh karna hai... Lekin unhe mana bhi sakte hai na..." She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

He looked back at her and he could see the hope in her eyes. He was the only person in her life she could ask for some things. He was the only person who could fulfil her wishes. He felt so dejected with himself that he couldn't even say yes to such a small request from her but he wasn't ready to go against his mother. He took her hand in his, "Preeti, mujhe kam se kam agle 10 din tak bohot kaam hai. Mai tumhara dil nahi todna chahta lekin kya hum iske baare me kuchh dinon baad baat kare?" He tried to just delay the conversation to avoid the dilemma of talking to his mother.

Preeti couldn't reply anything over this proposal. Her husband hadn't denied straightaway but he didn't agree either. But at least there was some hope that she could talk again after 10 days. After all, she has been waiting for this since months. So waiting for 10 days was not a big deal.

She gently smiled. "Thik hai... koi baat nahi... Aap ka kaam jab kam ho jayega to hum Mummyji se baat karenge. Abhi aap so jaiye." Saying this, she made him lie down and she too slided to her side. Switching off the table-lamp beside, she pulled the duvet over them and slowly fell asleep dreaming of her own beauty parlour one day.

Shubham turned to the opposite side, keeping his hand below his head. He was immersed in deep thinking after seeing Preeti's bright smile. How could he be so lucky to get such a selfless and understanding wife! She hadn't asked him for anything in 8 months of their marriage. He had lashed out at her, when she had spoken about the parlour course for the first time. But she had taken it generously and waited patiently for the right time. She would ask him whenever she found him in a good mood and every time he had easily deflected the discussion giving some random excuses. He knew she understood all this. She couldn't be misjudged as an ordinary woman just because of the neatly draped saare and the overhead pallu. He knew he was wedded to a smart girl. But, she had asked for something which even he couldn't imagine her doing. He just couldn't imagine his wife cutting people's hair and doing the various parlour stuff. Why should a married woman belonging to such a well-mannered family need to do all these things? No no... He was still not ready. But he didn't want to upset Preeti too. With all the thoughts creating a storm in his mind, his tired body finally won the battle over his mind and he fell asleep.

On the other side of the Sea Queen Society, in flat J101, two men entered the house by opening the latch with their key. Sameer and Rakesh. It was for the first time that Rakesh had asked Sameer to come with him for a walk. Sameer had wanted to go with him but he looked back at Naina first and then at the stack of the plates in the kitchen sink. But Naina had prodded him to go with Papa telling she would do the dish-wash as it wasn't much. Sameer and Papa had enjoyed the walk as Papa was sharing his village stories and how they all shifted to Ahmedabad while Sameer was keenly listening to it.

As the two entered the house, they saw kitchen lights off and a jar of water kept near Rakesh's mattress. Soon Rakesh went on to sleep and Sameer locked the main door, switched off the living room lights and headed for the bedroom.

"Nainaaa..." He entered the room hurriedly and suddenly paused.

He felt disoriented for a moment and then looked around. The lights were dimmed, the curtains were drawn, there were three small candles lit in three different places to add to the beautiful ambience, and the fragrance of Mogra wafting in the room.

Woww... His wife had perfectly set the mood.

He blushed and just turned a little to have a look at his wife. She had her head down, closed her eyes and clutched a pillow in her arms.

'Looks like she is waiting for you Sameer.' His mind told him.

And not moving his eyes from her, he stepped back to the door and locked it. A mischievous smile played on his lips and he knelt down on the edge of the mattress. Keeping both his fists on it, he bent further and cleared his throat.

Naina opened her eyes and looked at Sameer. But what Sameer saw in her eyes didn't match with what he expected. He expected a sensuous look from his wife, probably ready to play a tease game with him to annoy him or just being shy. But here she was.... upset... and almost on the verge of crying.

He suddenly got tense. What just happened when he was on a walk? She seemed to be in a good mood because it was only her who must have created this enchanting ambience. Then what must have caused this u-turn of her emotions?

"Kya hua Naina?" He asked as gently as possible.

"Mai na tumhe bass surprise dena chahti thi..." She was speaking with a heavy voice and glistened eyes.

"Hmmm..." He let her continue.

"Toh na... maine parde laga diye... mogre ke phool rakhe the na fridge me, woh laake rakh diye... Lights bhi dim kar diye..." She was speaking like a child, who was probably telling her mother how someone ate her tiffin in the school. "Aur na, woh candles laayi thi na pichhli baar, chhoti-chhoti, rang-birangi, woh bhi jala di thi..."

He was just humming in between. He wasn't tense anymore as a smile had crept on his lips. He was just staring at the cute face of his wife.

"Phir...?" He asked, as she stopped speaking.

"Periods aa gaye..." She made a small face, trying hard not to cry.

Sameer was stifling laughter till now, but suddenly became serious. He looked down, got up from the edge and walked to the window.

Ohh no... Did he become upset? Of course Naina Maheshwari... What do you expect? He must be definitely angry. And why shouldn't he be. The periods had come almost four days earlier.

Naina was mentally cursing herself for no fault of hers. She had planned everything so nicely for their night, as tonight being a Saturday night, she knew Sameer would be in a mood just like the other times. And she had spoilt it. His as well as her desires to make love tonight.

She felt like crying but some sounds that fell on her ears stopped the flow of her tears. She looked up and saw Sameer standing near the Tape-recorder and shuffling with some cassettes.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to guess what he was doing. Don't you dare to play 'yeh duniya yeh mehfil mere kaam ki nahi' Mr. Sameer Maheshwari or I'll just kill you. She had taken over her Devi mode by now.

As Sameer inserted a cassette and pressed the play button of the Tape-recorder, her mood again switched to happiness. She heard a melodious tune of violin and saw Sameer approaching her with a smile. He forwarded his hand to her and asked for a dance as a gentleman. She happily accepted the offer and stood up. He then took her to the free space on the floor, kept his right hand on her waist and held her right hand in his left one.

They heard the whistle playing and started moving to the rhythm. And soon, Sameer found himself lip-syncing with the lyrics as the voice of Kumar Sanu rang in the room.

Humko sirf tumse pyaar hai

Humko sirf tumse pyaar hai

Keh rahi hai dil ki bekhudi

Bas tumhara intezar hai

Humko sirf tumse pyaar hai

Humko sirf tumse pyaar hai

He twirled her and pulled her back on his chest. And wrapping his arms around her belly, he continued with the song.

Dhoondhte hain hum tumko dar-ba-dar

Jaane kab kahaan miloge humse humsafar

Kaisi dooriyan, kaisa faasla

Hum yahaan pe aaye sun ke pyaar ki sada

Ab na tumse door honge hum

Tum pe dil kya jaan nisaar hai

Humko sirf tumse pyaar hai

The shine in his wife's eyes assured him that he was successful in making her not regret her early periods. He had made her believe not to blame herself for spoiling the night. He was upset for a moment. But... just for a moment. Because he had immediately realized that she may hold herself responsible for the whole thing, whereas he wasn't disappointed at all.

The couple in the room kept on smiling, laughing, nuzzling and kissing each other on cheeks, forehead and lips as the song continued to play.

A doorbell ring made Sameer wake up from his sleep. He looked around with squinted eyes and his gaze fell on the small alarm clock on the side table. 7:30am. It was time to wake up, but the feeling of his wife clutching him tightly was heavenly. They were sleeping on their sides, engulfing each other in their arms. He had wrapped his both hands around her and rested his chin on her head. While she was peacefully sleeping in the crook of his neck and holding his shirt in her grip on his back. As he looked at the sleeping beauty in his arms, he kissed on Naina's forehead, pulled her closer to him and again fell asleep by ditching the idea of getting up.

"Sameeeerr..."

A voice fell on his ears with some sounds. He jerked with the sound again and he immediately kept his hand on Naina's ear as he didn't want her to wake up. He realized that Papa was knocking on the door. He gently disentangled himself from Naina, pulled the duvet on her properly and got up to open the door.

"Ji Papa..." He stepped out of the room and slowly shut the door to avoid disturbance to Naina.

Rakesh was waiting outside the room facing the opposite side. He turned, "Arey, woh Aditya aaya tha. Use kuchh zaroori baat karni thi tumse. Isliye uthhaya. Maine usse kaha hai Sameer khud aa jayega milne. Jao jakar dekho kya baat hai." Rakesh said.

Sameer got freshened up and called Aditya. As Aditya came in a minute, he informed, "Sameer, yaar ek audition ke baare me pata chala hai. Film ke liye hai. Suna hai bohot bada audition hai. Hero ke liye, Hero ke doston ke liye aur kuchh side characters ke liye chal raha hai. Aur aaj hi hai."

"Audition? Kahan hai?" Sameer asked.

"Vasai me. 11 baje se hai. Isliye toh itni jaldi aaya batane." Aditya replied.

Sameer's eyes widened. "Vasai me? Aditya jaane me hi 2 ghante lagte hai bus se. Khair, kab tak nikalna hai hame?"

"Wahi toh tujhe batane aaya tha. Mujhe Aai-Baba ke sath Siddhivinayak jana hai. Toh mai toh nahi aa paunga. Mai koi bahana bhi nahi bana sakta. Toh tu chala jaa. Mujhe batana jo kuchh bhi hai." Aditya said with a sad face.

Sameer was disheartened to know that he had to go out today, on Sunday, when it's a rest day for Naina from her studies. He wanted to spend time with her but there wasn't any option now. As he was getting ready, another disappointment struck him as he registered that Naina had to cook now despite being on her periods, but Papa had assured him that he would not let Naina work much. He was also reluctant to go to the audition as it would consume his whole day, but he couldn't afford to miss this opportunity. After having a quick breakfast, Sameer kissed Naina on her forehead and left for the audition at 9 o'clock carrying his portfolio in a bag.

As he walked down the stairs, he bumped to Nirmalaji midway, as she was going to mandir.

"Arey Sameer beta, subah subah kaha jane ki tayari chal rahi hai?" Nirmala asked curiously.

"Ummm... Namaste Auntyji... woh bahar ja raha hun... Kaam se." He answered.

"Arey wah! Kaam mil gaya?" She spoke excitedly. "Chalo achchhi baat hai... lekin beta dekho na... Aaj Ravivar ke din sab log aaram kar rahe hai aur tumhe kaam pe jano pad gayo... Ab Shubham ko hi dekhlo, itne dinon se itni mehnat kar raha hai, lekin aaj saara din aaram karke thakan nikal dega..." She adjusted her pallu.

Why do these women talk so much without listening properly? Sameer muttered an inaudible curse.

He tried to interrupt her. "Auntyji, kaam mila nahi hai... Lekin kaam ke silsile me hi ja raha hu. Shayad mil jaye."

Nirmala's expressions changed, "achchha? Abhibhi mila nahi kaam?" She raised her brows. "Beta, bura mat manna... ab apna bharoso toh hai, lekin is kaali jubaan ka bharosa koni... Lekin ab tak toh kaam mil jana chahiye na... nahin toh ghar kaise chale hai... ghar ka aadmi toh mane ghar me hi dikhove hai..." She put a fake smile on her face.

Sameer went silent for a few moments. He just nodded to her and took his leave from there stating he was getting late.

Sameer walked to the Andheri bus stop and waited for the bus while pondering over Nirmalaji's statements. It had been mere three days since his class was over and he was at home for the whole day. He had even visited casting agencies on the immediate next day. But he forgot that the people around would always have their eyes on him, judging him. They won't see if a man is going out of his home in the morning and coming back in the evening. They will see if the man is going out to earn money. He could see a feeling of pride when Nirmalaji was talking about Shubham. That how she is proud of her son who works day and night to earn money for a living.

And here he was, struggling. They were managing their expenses from the money Sameer received after selling his house along with the furniture. They had kept some hefty amount in a fixed deposit for security and reserved some for them. He knew he had only limited money left now and he badly needed to work. Not to show to the society but for his family. Naina and Papa.

A horn of the bus broke his reverie. He looked at the destination plate, 'Dahisar Bus Sthanak'. Yes, this was the one he needed to board. He just took one step, and he saw people around him running and pushing each other to get into the bus. He too moved forward and tried to grab the handle of the door, but someone stepped on his shoes so badly. He whined in pain but forgetting about it instantly, he again resumed his attempts to board the bus.

Finally after getting into the bus, Sameer managed to get a window seat. By this time, he had learnt to embus skillfully. Had it been a few months before, he would have skipped at least two buses like this to avoid the crowd or straightaway opted for an auto-rickshaw or taxi. But gradually he was learning to save money as an effect of travelling with Naina and Papa. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead. His gaze fell on his shoes, and saw them smeared with dirt. That man who stepped on his foot had completely ruined his white shoes. But he wasn't a rich boy of Ahmedabad anymore, who would have just thrown this pair and purchased a new one. He was a common man living in Mumbai, who had come here with some dreams, who was living here in a small 1BHK flat and who was struggling to get work. He needed to keep this pair of shoes at least till next few months. He just folded the handkerchief reversibly and cleaned the dirt.

There were two hours to reach his destination including a bus-change in Dahisar to Vasai. He relaxed on his seat and started observing people around him. It was his favourite hobby to observe nuances of people whenever he had some spare time. Today being a Sunday, he didn't see office-going people or school-college students. This crowd consisted of few sellers. Some of them were carrying books, some women had food items while some had daily-use equipments for housewives. He knew they must be heading to local railway stations to sell them. There were four daily wagers on the front seats, the only long seat facing the crowd. All the men were slim but well-built, two of them had a grey shade in their beard. They were carrying four-storey tiffin and looked in their thirties. He saw some families too, who might have just stepped out to spend a good day. In the back seats, some teenage boys were chit-chatting with each other. They were talking about the latest released films and discussing which one to watch. Just a couple of seats ahead of him, there was an old couple in their sixties. He had seen them putting their suitcases in the overhead cabin. So they might be traveling to some place or returning from somewhere.

At 11:20am, Sameer entered the audition hall as per the address given by Aditya. It was an old British construction, and the auditions were held in the big hall on the first floor. He could see mostly men. Perhaps, there were auditions only for male actors. He was walking through people sitting in an arrangement of multiple rows facing one another, to get a seat and finally got one in one of the corners. He always liked corner seats to have a view of people. And today, he could see literally thrice the usual number for auditions. A thought struck his mind if he would really get selected competing with these many boys. But Aditya had informed that the auditions were for many roles. So he hoped for good. He saw a man was distributing some forms, maybe the audition scripts. He kept his bag on his seat and got up to get one for him, but returned with two after registering his name on the desk. One of them was a scene given to prepare while the other one to fill up basic personal details. He actually didn't understand the need for the second one, but proceeded filling it. As he was done with the script, he resumed observing people again.

He had to admit that he was surrounded by absolutely good looking and handsome boys. Well-built, well-maintained and so charming. Well, he wasn't less either. He had a charm too. Some of the boys actually looked from a rich family. He could easily identify the imported jackets and shoes they were wearing, having worn them himself till a year ago. There were some average looking boys too at the other corner. One of them was wearing a bell-bottom, giving a feel of the 80's. Sameer giggled watching the boy's attire. He then saw a boy at the other corner, with a form in his hand and asking for something to the men sitting. Some were saying no to him, immersed in their sheets, while some were just ignoring him. And in the next moments he saw him approaching towards his row. He looked down just to pretend that he didn't notice him.

"Bhaiyyaji..." The boy asked pleadingly to Sameer.

Sameer looked up, "ji."

"Yeh faram bhar denge mere liye? Mujhe Angrezi nahi aati." He showed him the form in his hand.

Sameer smiled at him. "Haan kyun nahi... Baithiye na..." He extended his hand to take the form.

The boy sat next to Sameer with a generous smile, "Dhanyawaad BhaiyyajI. Pehle kabhi kisine aisi parchi nahi bharwayi. Yeh pehli baar dekh rahe hai yaha."

Sameer looked at the form and took out his pen, "aapka naam?" He asked.

"Suresh Choudhary." The boy replied.

"Umar?"

"Bees."

"Height?"

"5ft 8inch"

"Telephone number?" Sameer asked while filling the details one by one.

"Hamare paas telephone nahi hai. Lekin hamare chawl ke neeche Raju Bhaiya ka dukan hai. Woh hame bata dete hai. Unka likh lijiye?" Suresh took a small diary from his pocket and dictated a number to Sameer.

There were a few casual details like address and experience which Sameer filled up after getting the information from Suresh.

Giving the form back to Suresh, Sameer casually asked. "Aapke paas script nahi hai?"

"Hame script nahi milti." He replied while smiling.

"Matlab?" Sameer was perplexed.

"Hum junior artist ka audition de raha hai na. Toh hame dialogues nahi rehte. Bass kuchh bolne ke liye kehte hai. Aur thodi bohot shakal dekh lete hai." He said.

Sameer saw the boy carefully again. He was an average looking boy, wearing clothes which lower-middle class people would wear. He could see his oily hair combed properly. And normal chappals in his feet.

Sameer cleared his throat, "aapke auditions bhi yahi ho rahe hai?"

"Haan, woh waha." He pointed to a door at a far end.

Sameer looked in the direction and he found out that there were three such rooms where auditions were being conducted and one of them was for selecting junior artists as per film's requirement.

"Aap dusre auditions nahi de rahe?" Sameer genuinely wanted to know about Suresh.

He chuckled, "hamari jaisi shakal walon ko Hero ka role kaun dega Bhaiyya. Woh toh aap jaise logon ke liye hai. Aap toh ekdum Hero jaise hi dikh rahe hai Bhaiya." He genuinely praised Sameer for his looks.

Sameer was bewildered to see his smile. He wasn't ashamed of accepting to be an average looking guy. He knew where he stood and was trying for only what he could get.

Sameer continued his questions, "toh aap kabhi Hero nahi banna chahte the?"

"Nahi nahi Bhaiya. Yeh kaam toh hum isliye karte hai kyunki baki kaam ke hisab se isme jyada paise milte hai." He stated.

"Baki kaam?" Sameer frowned.

"Haan. Woh hum Mazdoori ka kaam karte hai na. Samaan uthana, ek jagah se dusri jagah pohochana, truck me se maal utarna. Yeh sab kaam karte hai. Poore pachas rupaye milte hai Bhaiyya ek din ke. Lekin junior artist ke usse bhi jyada milte hai. Toh sath me yeh bhi kaam kar lete hai. Ghar ka kharcha bhi chalana hota hai na." Suresh's eyes were shining with pride.

Suresh turned to look at the door once and said, "achchha bhaiyyaji. Hum waha rukte hai. Audition shuru ho rahe hai. Aapka bohot bohot dhanyawaad. Mai dua karta hun aapko Hero ka role zaroor mile." Shaking his hands with Sameer, Suresh walked to the other corner of the big hall.

Sameer kept watching Suresh's retreating back. How happy and content he was looking even after such a life. A new face of this industry was introduced to Sameer through Suresh and he found himself so small in front of that twenty year old boy.

'poore pachas rupaye.'

He could see the happiness in his eyes while stating he earned fifty rupees a day. He remembered he had given almost Rs.80 to Kanji to bring two crates of cold-drinks and various packets of chips, on the day of Uttarayan last year. And he saw Suresh, who was working more just to earn more money for his family. He recalled how he was romancing with Naina in college when he was Twenty and how he spent his Nanu's money for his luxury and his friends. Suresh was a daily wager which involved a lot of physical work and Sameer felt ashamed of himself that he would often skip his exercise. He badly needed water as he was completely choked. He looked around and found a water cooler at the end of the hall. He walked to it and drank a glassful of water.

He turned and looked at the hall again. And suddenly he started spotting more average looking men than the good-looking ones, from the spot he was standing. A mere change in the place he was standing and his perspective got changed too. This was the reality of this industry. There were always good-looking men shown on the screen as heroes, doing heroic actions, behaving as an idol. But one could hardly see the thousands of average looking crowd, though talented, getting rejected for the same. Was it really necessary to have good-looks to teach the audience about some morals? A commoner looking guy can influence people too with his perfect expressions and good dialogue delivery.

So the coolie who lifted their bags when they came to Mumbai was true. 'Yahan achchhi shakal ke kam se kam paanch log utarte hai, jo Hero banne aate hai.' Yes, because no-one pays attention to the rest of the mob, who too want to become a Hero.

The auto-rickshaw driver who drove them to Anant Mahadevan's office was also stating the facts. 'Bambai jaise shaher me pet paalne ke liye kuchh toh karna padta hai na.' Yes, Suresh was a living proof in front of his eyes.

And, he was right though. Nobody was born with a silver spoon here and tried for films just because he was good-looking or as a hobby. There was a mass of common people who looked at this entertainment industry as a mode of living, as a mode of income. Not everyone here was dreaming big to become a superstar one day. Some of them looked happy doing even small character roles.

But, who was he in this fraternity?

Someone dreaming big to become a successful star one day? Someone who wanted to earn money out of it? Someone who will remain overshadowed by doing only side roles? Or someone who will be lost forever in the pursuit of the glamour...

He occupied his seat again and waited for auditions to start. At the knock of 1, the auditions commenced and people started entering one by one in the different rooms. Sameer just noticed the expressions of people before and after the auditions. Some looked confident, some looked nervous while some didn't look affected a single bit. He realized he had completely forgotten the lines he had to speak. He dipped his head in his sheets and focused on memorizing it again, while it tookalmost two and half hours for his chance to come.

Sameer Maheshwari.

He heard his name and stood up. Before walking to the room, he just set his hair and wiped his face with his hand once. As he stood near the door, he was asked, "lead role ke liye aaye ho?"

He couldn't utter a word for a moment, he gathered a lot of strength and muttered, "Haan." Trying hard not to stammer at the doorstep itself.

As he entered the room, he stood in front of the camera and began his audition from the personal information.

'Hi this is Sameer Maheshwari. Age 22. Height 5ft 10inch. Maine Natasha Antara Acting School se diploma course kiya hai aur ab tak ek commercial aur ek print ad mein feature kar chuka hun. These are my profiles.'

He then turned to his left and then right to give his profiles and as the assistant gave a call with 'action', he switched to the character to perform the scene.

Sameer returned home by 5pm in the evening. Somehow Naina had felt that Sameer must not have eaten anything outside. She was just feeling so restless, that she had kept sandwiches ready for him. As Sameer finished the sandwiches in silence, Naina gently asked, "Audition kaisa tha Sameer?"

"Bass. Jaise hamesha rehta hai. De diya." Sameer didn't look at her while answering.

As Naina went to the kitchen to keep the plates, Sameer went to his bedroom and searched for his diary. He then went to the balcony and arranged a chair and a cane stool for him. Naina came there looking for him, but when she saw Sameer with his diary, she silently left from there.

Sameer spreaded his legs on the stool and rested back with his eyes closed. He recollected the moments of the whole day. Starting from Nirmala Aunty in morning to his to-and-fro travel to Suresh and then to his own audition.

He opened the lid of the pen and his thoughts got penned down in his diary...

He didn't realize that he was sitting there for almost two hours. Thinking, reminiscing some things.

"Sameer, khana lag gaya hai. Chalo." Naina said.

He smiled at her. Putting his pen between the pages he had just written on, he folded the diary, placed it on the stool and went inside with Naina.

The strong evening wind just thought of reading what he wrote and the pages of his diary riffled to halt at a bookmark, rather a pen.

It read -

Mai ek bheed ka hissa hun...

Jo har subah tayyar hokar bahar jata hai, aur sham ko thak-haar kar ghar laut'ta hai...

Mai ek bheed ka hissa hun...

Jo bus stop par bus ka intezaar karta hai, logon ke dhakke khata hai aur phir bhi manzil par der se hi pahuchta hai...

Mai ek bheed ka hissa hun...

Jo roz sapne dekhta hai, aur unke poore na hone par maayus ho jata hai....

Lekin jo phir ek nayi ummeed jagata hai aur phir sapne dekhta hai...

Mai ek bheed ka hissa hun...

Iss bheed me na jaane kitne log hai...

Koi shikshak hai, jo iss desh ka bhavishya bana raha hai...

Toh koi student hai, jo college ki canteen me apna poora din bita raha hai...

Koi engineer hai, jo badi badi imaarte bana raha hai...

Toh koi mazdoor hai, jo wahi eetein utha kar apna pet paal raha hai...

Koi sarkari naukar hai, jo daftar mein baithkar aish kar raha hai...

Toh Koi aam aadmi hai, jo usi daftar ke chakkar kaat raha hai...

Lekin mai... Iss bheed me mai kaun hun...

Mera wajood kya hai... Bheed me hote hue bhi kya meri koi pehchan hai...

Aaya toh tha yaha apni alag pehchan banane...

Iss bheed me rehkar kahi apni asliyat bhi na kho du mai...

Mai... Sameer Maheshwari... Yahi bankar rehna chahta hun...

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