Give My Regards to Soul and Romance

The policeman knocked on his window and told him to move his car.The queue in front of him is getting longer, so he reluctantly crawled his car few inches and checked the time,still five minutes remaining for the arrival of flight,so he rolled down his window turned off the engine and increased the volume of the radio.

A swarm of people were filling the place, going from god knows where to god knows where.The cars were queuing up at the back, and the policemen were doing the rounds and asking everyone to move their vehicles.

People were coming out from different gates, some with heavy luggage strolling the trolleys managing their kids, some in airline uniforms, some were wearing full winter gears though the temperature is touching 40 degrees, and some were wearing the bare minimums,some with straight face, few with a smile and few with swollen eyes.

Meanwhile the policeman came again, so he moved his car few more inches and changed the radio station, John Denver was at his melodious best with "Country Roads". 

He was staring at the arrival gates discreetly lost in his thoughts, he got his eyes affixed on a dusky woman, coming out of the arrival gates, who must be in her late 30's little taller than others walking around her, wearing a green kurta with blue demins and skechers' shoes,yellow and blue floral print scarf was loosely tied around her neck. Gold coloured cotton bag with aqua green straps was slung around her shoulder.As she neared his car, she took out her mobile and dialled some number but in vain, which can be deciphered from the dejection at her face. She than came near a big steel dustbin and took out her cigarette box and started searching for a lighter in her bag with no luck, then she searched the outer pockets of her stroller and met the same fate.

He was still innately staring her, meanwhile the mobile on his dashboard beeped and the message read "Landed Bro! 20mins more", he put the mobile back and took the lighter and his cigarette box and went near to the same dustbin, where the lady was still searching her bag for a lighter with cigarette pursed between her lips.

He light his cigarette and offered her the light, so she bought her pursed lips near his hand and took a really long drag from her cigarette and thanked him.

He asked "Long flight?" to which she confirmed.

Than they were silent for a minute. 

She was staring at some distant object, lost in her thoughts. 

And out of the blue she asked "How long does it take to reach Airport from Greater Kailash?"

He gulped the smoke and went little near the dustbin to make the ash fall into it and said "About 30 minutes."

She again took out her mobile and dailed some number and met the earlier fate.

Mellow voice of Bob Dylon was coming from the car's radio. 

She said "They have wasted the Nobel on him."

He protested " I beg to differ ma'am. He is a phenomenal artist, and I am a big fan."

She furthered the argument "That explains your bias...Mister. I think giving such prestigious awards to Rockstars, is only going to dwarf the importance of it."

He retorted "Well! Call me biased or whatever you want ma'am but I think this is a big time recognition of the artist, which was long due."

She smiled and said "Even I like Bob Dylon and his songs, but I have always held Nobel in high regards and this is something I least expected."

He said "Have you expected Obama?...I bet you didn't"

And than there was a pause in conversation.

He continued  "So, who is your favourite singer?"

Without a pause she replied "It has always been Rafi Sahab."

He smiled and sang "Kya hua tera vada..."

And bigger smile came to her face and she said "Oh! Those were the days."

He introduced himself "Hello! I am Abbas!"

"I am Shefali"

"If you want, I can drop you at Greater Kailash"

She didn't said anything for few seconds and took out another cigarette from her box and took a long drag from it, and said 

"Thanks! I will manage."

"Are you sure?"

"Okay! Lets just wait five more minutes, if my driver don't show up, you sure can drop me." and she offered him the cigarette she was smoking, which he took from her hand.

He quizzically asked "Rafi Sahab!.. Sounds quite old school.. So what do you do?"

She replied 

"I am working as a freelance journalist"

"That explains the aura of sophistication."

She blushed and took back the cigarette and smoked.And asked 

"Why such affinity for Bob Dylon?"

"You know, I always thought artists like him have always stood out in the crowd by the sheer brilliance of their work.Be it Beatles or Coldplay, and for that matter Dylon is no exception."

He took her stroller and kept it on the backseat of his car, and changed his mobile profile to airplane mode.

As they were passing those giant billboards along the way she asked

"Can we grab a Cuppa coffee somewhere?"

"Sure.. What about cuppa tea."

"Sounds cool to me."

And he pulled over near a roadside chai wala.

As the small kid with torn clothes came with two terracotta glasses of chai in his hands, she said 

"I hate this thing about these roadside vendors."

"What?" He asked.

"Child labor... I feel for these kids."

"Have you ever thought about any alternative? Because I think if they don't work somewhere, they'll  beg, borrow or steal."

She took a deep sigh and said 

"That's one way to look at it."

And she got lost in her thoughts staring at the road in front of her.

As they crossed 'Chirag Delhi', he asked 

"Do you know the adress?"

"Oh yes! Auntie texted me the address this morning only." And she scrolled through her text messages in her mobile and read the address to him.

He confirmed to her that they are almost there.

And both of them remained silent till they reached the destination.

As they reached, he rechecked the adress with her, and stopped the car right outside plush bungalow of her auntie.

As he took out her stroller, he said " It was a pleasant surprise knowing you, Sheffali."

 She smiled and shook her hand and with a wink she said "Likewise Mr. Dylon."

He laughed and said 

"How can I contact some freelance journalist, if I have some news that are worth sharing."

She blushed and smiled and said "You already know the address.. Let's leave the rest on fate."

He smiled too and left the place humming the song of Rafi Sahab "Aaj mausam bada... Beimaan hai bada.."

And she remained stationary till the time he turned his car and came back where she was standing and she said quoting the lyrics of the song 'Human' by Killers 

"Give my regards to soul and romance."

And he completed the line by saying 

"They always did the best they could."