Zest----II

Alex saved his guitar from the drops. He closed it in his case and sat quietly on his chair…there was a serenity in his face, the pair of black glasses were still on his eyes…his face affirmed…his mind was still there on the stage…the judders of the crowd were still perceivable from inside…ringing in his ears...ears willing to hear them over and over again. It was a promise given to Mr. Joel, that he will prove his worth, who gave the band a chance to prove itself. A musical career was what awaiting for him now. It was his dream which he had seen every night with his eyes closed…and now visualizing the world to see it. Thoughts kept orbiting around his head….the daily practices…his sleepless nights…pondering over words…sewing with strings of music…tuning his guitar…..he unbuttoned his velvet shirt and leaned back…sunk in thoughts of past and dreams of the future.

The band manager came in smiling and clapped hands with all the members, and patted Alex’s shoulder “You did it my boy!!” ignited a smile near the corner of his lips “We all did it!!”

“Did Joel call you up?”

“He was supposed to come here. Isn’t it?

The words were not loud enough to be heard by the man who entered then. Joel was a tall man with a big belly, carrying a mark of a businessman on his face. A man is known for his stolidity, but that night he seemed beguiled too. He seemed like a father of a newborn child, happy and proud, discovering a gem in his house…the gem he had overlooked hitherto. His eyes were on the man sitting in velvet with black glasses. He turned towards the rest of the team and shouted: “You are marvelous!!!” The boys were ready to hear appraisal from his face and broke into cries of infinite intensity. The voices were enough to reach distant corners of the world and inflicted a wide smile on Alex’s face. He was waiting for the next verdict from Joel, the much-awaited one. He had kept his promise, and now it was the turn for the other person. Joel went to Alex and said to the manager “And especially he …he has rocked the stage today”…he brought out the papers and instead of resting them on the hands of the stretched hands of the manager kept on Alex’s lap. “Read it yourself my boy….here’s the pen…sign in and enter the world of stardom”

The last action of Joel was a bit unprecedented, and the celebration stopped suddenly. When something moves in a direction completely opposite to what expected, it leaves an expression of astonishment on the viewers. Joel couldn’t guess the gravity of the situation. He thought he would make them shout even louder as any other normal person would have done. And as for Alex, the dream which he had seen over these days now became a tangible reality, to be touched, to be felt…he wanted to feel the treasures he had visualized with his eyes closed, with his eyes open. But fate had already taken away that capability from him. The obvious words were told by the manager “He can’t read, he can’t see!”

Alex was still numb…still feeling the words written on the paper with his hands, smiling with joy, the eyes beneath those glasses are the barriers between them and his vision. The glasses were only a veil to cover his expressionless eyes…but were not enough to hide the tears slithering past his cheeks…