The Tune

By Princy Mishra

Repeated honking of cars in traffic, Street vendors trying to one up the other, people hanging out at stalls discussing the juiciest gossip over a cup of chai, somewhere a guy on a bike and an auto driver are having an argument, dogs barking.

This was like just any other evening in the bustling city. Away and unaware of all of this was Priya who was finishing her overtime, sitting in the complete silence of her office. The silence in her bay was so strong that she could even hear the other guy breathing sitting at the other end of the row. Her eyes were glued to the screen as her fingers were moving swiftly on the keyboard. Suddenly the door opened and there was a loud laughter that came in along with a group of people.

“Arey Priya, you are still working?,” screamed Anjali as she sat beside her trying to figure out what exactly Priya was working on. “Dude it’s the weekend, why on earth are you still in office. We thought you would be packing your bags by now. Come on just give some excuse and leave. Let’s go grab a drink,” said an over enthusiastic Ajay. The other guy in the bay was already uncomfortable with all the loudness. He put his earphones on, increased the volume, and resumed his work. Priya looked at them with literally no excitement whatsoever and whispered “I can’t, I must finish this otherwise they will make me work on the weekends. You guys go ahead, I will come next time.” “Come on Priya, it’s happy hours now and it’s been a long time since you have hung out with us. Like honestly, I don’t even remember when was the last we guys did something together except for eating lunch at the office. Ugh!!! Boring,” said Shreya moving Priya’s chair towards her.

Priya just silently nodded her head pointing towards the screen expressing her disappointment. The others look at each other, give a sigh and get ready to leave. “Fine then next time,” says Ajay patting on Priya’s head. As they leave the other guy in the bay calls Priya and says “how much work do you have left, I mean I can help you out. I think you should go.” Priya looks at him and smiles “Actually there isn’t much left but I have to be somewhere else as well, so I had to lie to them. It’s ok I will go with them sometime else.” She wraps up her work, packs her bag and leaves. Priya reaches home, immediately gets in her PJ’s, makes some Maggi, and starts watching Netflix. After 30 mins she gets a text from Shreya “Bro, you still working?”. Priya types “Yes, too much work” and then resumes Netflix.

The next morning, she is woken up by the sound of dragging chair. She opens her one eye and sees it’s the maid who also has switched off the fan and is moving things around so that she can sweep the floor. The maid was complaining all the while she was cleaning “Priya, your room is so untidy. Things are everywhere and why don’t you open your windows? There is no ventilation in this room. Do you know how important it is to have fresh air.” Priya listens, turns around and falls asleep. “It’s no use telling her, Priya at least switch off your laptop you will ruin that thing. Also, the kitchen is not that far, sometimes get up and use that dustbin. It has a purpose, it’s not there to be a showpiece,” Nags Anjali as she is making a hangover drink for Shreya who is sitting at the dining table holding her head. “Hey, how long have we guys been roommates?,” asks Shreya. “2 years” says Anjali. “1 year and 7 months”, screams Priya. Anjali rolls her eyes. Shreya says “Ya whatever, I mean longtime. How come Priya went from being the tidiest to the dirtiest one among us.” “My God, we are still discussing about me!!,” Grunts Priya as she wakes up and goes to the washroom “and also aunty for god’s sake’s turn on the fan as you leave.” Anjali giggles and tells the maid, “Honestly how can you forget every time to switch on the fan.” “Anyways Priya get ready we will go to this new pub that’s opened near Ajay’s place. They are having amazing offers on their drinks,” Screams Shreya while drinking her hangover cure. “SHIT!!!” thinks Priya as she is now out of excuses.

Priya comes back to her room, her things again scattered everywhere. There was a musty smell that filled the room. The room looked dark as curtains covered the window. She immediately hits the bed and goes to sleep. She spends the rest of the weekend locked in her room on her bed, binge watching series. “Priya come join us for lunch “, calls out Shreya. Priya comes out looking all disheveled, sits at lunch table, quickly gulps down lunch and gets up to leave. “Arey, you finished so quickly? Sit sit, we will tell you what Ajay did that day at pub. It was so stupid,” said Anjali while giggling throughout. She tells the story, Anjali and Shreya laugh out loud. Priya looks at them, laughs a little and says, “that was silly really, hmm ok I should go. My mother told me she would call.” Shreya and Anjali exchange glances as she leaves. Anjali comes closer to Shreya and whispers, “don’t you think she has changed a little.” “I know right, even I noticed,” says Anjali widening her eyes “she has been like this for a month now, I guess. She avoids going out with us…..” “I think she avoids going out altogether. She even orders in grocery. She hardly has lunch or dinner with us, she is always in that room,” cuts in Shreya. “Her previous project was better; she was so lively. Have you seen her room? It’s even started to smell,” says Anjali looking all disgusted. Anjali gets up and starts collecting the plates, Shreya follows her to the kitchen sink. “The worst thing is do you remember how much she loved cooking; she barely does that which is weird. Do you think there is some issue going on in her family? Or is it the new project?,” Asks Anjali looking all concerned. “Or maybe it’s some guy. She is always on the phone,” chips in Shreya. “Not everything has to be about a guy Shreya” says Anjali rolling her eyes. “Shall we talk to her. I think we should, I have been so busy myself I just never gave it a thought.” “Ok let’s talk to her tomorrow because you will be going on that office trip on weekend, and I will be visiting by boyfriend” says Shreya nodding her head.

Another week goes by with Priya doing her usual office to home and home to office routine. Anjali and Shreya have a super busy week again and do not get an opportunity to talk to Priya as she tends to sleep before they come back home and goes to office before, they wake up. On Friday evening both Shreya and Anjali leave. Anjali tells Priya to take care of herself and that she will bring something for her when she comes back. Shreya who wanted to talk to Priya about her situation badly tries to control herself and makes her mind that she will discuss things with her no matter what when she is back. Priya locks the door and goes to sleep early.

She wakes up panicking, her heart rate all high. She has this weird feeling in her stomach, she was sweating profusely. She sits for some time in her bed, her face in her hands. She drinks water and tries to go back to sleep but instead spends the whole time looking at the wall. This has been happening to her once a while. The next day she spends the entire time watching series and ordering in food. She goes to sleep early again to be woken up suddenly by the same feeling. She was hyperventilating as she rushes to the washroom. She washes her face, comes out and takes a walk around her room. She removes a pile of clothes from her chair and sits there for a while. Her mind was racing with thoughts. Her heart rate still high. She was unstable, she wanted to scream, she wanted to throw things around. She gets up and proceeds to pick up the pillow, that’s when she begins to hear this sound. It was 3:45 am, there was silence everywhere. The sound became clearer as she paid more attention. It was someone playing a piano. “Seriously is this the time to play piano?,” she scoffed. She sat in her chair again holding the pillow, but the sound of the piano was quite distracting. It was a pleasant tuneful sound that cut through the dead silence in her room. She started going through her phone but stopped as she was not able to concentrate. She sat there and listened to the tune. “Seems like someone is practicing but at this time?,” she thought to herself with her eyes closed. All the thoughts occupied in her mind starts to die down as her mind is now filled with that tune, her heart calms down. She rests her head on the table and slowly falls asleep listening to the tune.

She is woken up the next day by the doorbell. The maid comes in and starts cleaning. Priya sits on her bed arranging the pillow and that’s when she hears the music again. She gets goosebumps as she gets up from her bed. She stood there musing for a while only to be interrupted by the maid who screams, “Arey beta move aside, need to clean under the bed. In which world were you lost?.” “Aunty are you listening to that piano tune. Any idea where it is coming from?,” asks Priya as climbs on the table near her window and sits. The maid while still cleaning speaks, “Ah, I guess it must be somebody who moved upstairs. There were some packers and movers' trucks outside the apartment a week ago. “Why do you always close your windows?” said maid all annoyed as moved the chair towards the table. Priya orders breakfast over food delivery app. After some time, the maid leaves and she come back to her room. The music was still playing. She stands there for a while and suddenly starts dancing to the tune. She twirls around the room dancing to the tune. She stops suddenly and laughs at herself as to how silly she was looking. She goes back to her bed and resumes Netflix. The tune stops after a while which Priya was unaware of as she was wearing her headphones.

Priya wakes up again in the middle of night with a crippling anxiety attack. She sits on the bed and starts taking deep breaths. She finishes the bottle of water near her bed. She puts her hands on her chest to feel it throbbing. She was on her way to the washroom when she hears the tune again. She checks the time it was 3:55 a.m. She smirks and goes to the washroom. She shifts her bed closer to the window, sits on her bed listening. She does not realize when she falls asleep. The next day she wakes up, orders in breakfast. She listens to the music while having her breakfast. When she was done, she dances her way to the dustbin to throw the packets and boxes. On her way back she slips on her pile of clothes and curses. “Damn it, this room literally looks like as if it’s hit by a tornado,” thinks Priya as she picks up her clothes from the floor. She folds them while humming the tune and keeps them in cupboard. She decides to change her bedsheet which she has been using for a month now. Removes all the bits of paper and wrappers from the floor. In the evening Anjali and Shreya come back, to be received by a very smiling Priya. They look at each other and together say “H…Hi, why are you smiling like that, it looks quite sketchy.” Priya gives them a dirty look and says “you both must be tired; I ordered some snacks for you. It’s in the fridge, I am going to bed now, I had a very tiring day.” “Tired doing what exactly?,” asks Anjali as she follows Priya into her room. “Tired watching netfliii….. Hey,yo why does your room look so clean. The maid does not come on Sundays right” says a dumbstruck Anjali. “No, I cleaned it myself, I was bored and had nothing to do so thought of cleaning it,” says Priya. Shreya who joins them also is as surprised as Anjali “I wish you were this bored every single day.”

It became a habit of Priya for the next few days to wake up every day to the music, get ready and go to the office. She would still wake up from sudden anxiety attacks once a while in the middle of night but would go back to sleep listening to that tune. To her the music was as calming as babbling brook that would make her tranquil and soothe her down. One day she wakes up not to be able to hear the tune. She becomes distressed. She pays attention and finds out the sound is very feeble. She immediately opens her windows to listen to it. The music was clearer, and she smiled. She spends an hour at the window listening to it. In the evening Shreya comes back early from office. She sees Priya and asks surprised “You didn’t go to office today or just back super early?.” “Nope I took a sick leave didn’t feel like it,” says Priya as she comes to the dining room to meet Shreya. “Thank God you finally took a leave. Like obviously you needed a break, Me and Anjali have been telling you this for soooo long” says Shreya as she fills her glass with water. “Also, I got some groceries, there were none in the house", says Priya pointing towards the bag of groceries. Shreya looks at the bag and goes “since when did the online grocery gave their stuff in a bag like that.” Priya raises her eyebrow and says, “it was not online I got it from the store downstairs, the store that you can see from my window. Apparently, they were having a sale, some really good discount.” Shreya looks at her awestruck thinking what made her go downstairs. She tells all of this to Anjali the moment she comes back from office. “Really??? That’s weird and great at the same time, I mean it’s also confusing like what happened,” asks Anjali confused.

One day Priya does not hear the music, it was not even feeble. She comes out of her room to ask Shreya and Anjali if they can hear it. She figures out that now the sound is coming a bit clearer in the kitchen area. She goes to the kitchen room with her phone and sits on the kitchen counter going through Instagram. She starts to feel hungry and immediately switches to a food delivery app. Her eyes suddenly fell on eggs on the counter. She sits and thinks that she has nothing else to do, so she takes out a pan and decides to make an omlette. Anjali comes out of her room from the smell. She is dumbstruck to find Priya in the kitchen cooking. “Are you cooking something?” asks Anjali. “Yes, I was thinking of making an omlette,” replies Priya. Anjali with a bright smile on her face screams at the top of her lungs “ Shreyaaa!!!!!! Come quickly, Priya is making her super famous omlette.” Priya who is almost about to drop the pan screams “Dear lord, could you be any louder. Almost gave me a heart attack. But seriously though how long has it been since I have made this omlette.” “It has been eons", joins in Shreya “I missed it so much.”

“Then why didn’t you ask”

“We thought you were always tired from all the work your new stupid project has been giving you, we didn’t want to bother you”

“Ya true work sucks out all my energy, just doesn’t make me feel like doing anything.”

Anjali and Shreya look at each other. Shreya points at Anjali to make the first go. Anjali takes a deep breath and asks, “well about that, we can understand that work can be exhausting but we just wanted to know if it’s bothering you very much? I mean for some time now you have looked and behave a little differently, as if you are just not interested in anything. You don’t come out with us, you always sit distracted, you are always in your room? So is there something else. I mean we just wanted to know.”

“You know na we will help you out if there is anything, you can always talk to us,” adds in Shreya.

Priya goes all silent. She switches off the gas stove. She is not able to hear the tune as her mind is now fixated on Anjali and Shreya. She looks at them and goes “I don’t know, I don’t think there is anything. I don’t….”

“Priya don’t do that, be honest. Trust me you will feel better,” interrupts Anjali.

Priya takes a long pause and says “that’s the thing I just don’t know, I am working, and I know what I am working on. It’s just that I don’t see a future in this. Also, at the same time I don’t want to do higher studies. It’s not like I hate my job or anything but there is always this lingering question ‘What next?.’ I feel clueless all the time. Like what am I doing or why am I doing this. I also kind of lose interest to do anything else as well. Sometimes it gives me terrible anxiety attacks at night which makes me lose sleep and sometimes all I do is sleep. It's scary. So, that’s the thing I just don’t know.”

Anjali and Shreya look all concerned. They look at each other and remain quiet for a while then Shreya asks “you are ok right, if you want, we can get some help from you, actually one my colleagues also suffers from anxiety issues. She takes some medication for it. I will ask her who her doctor is. Maybe you can visit them”

“Oh, come on it’s not that serious. You guys, I will be fine. Plus, I have been feeling better for the last few days. Weirdly I have been sleeping better and feeling better,” replies Priya as she serves the omlette.

Anjali on her way to dining table pulls Shreya close to her and whispers “you still get the no. of that doctor.”

As they set the table Priya calls from behind “Hey guys, can we eat here in the kitchen. Like this tune is so mesmerizing. Can’t get my mind of it.” “What tune?” asks Anjali. “Aah this one. Ya this one gets played day and night, are you not bored of it yet?.”

“Bored???,” Scoffs Priya “it is so calming.”

“This is the kind of music they play for those super posh parties in Hollywood movies, where everybody is ballroom dancing. All we need is a guy who comes and asks us to dance with him. We will be in our super elegant gowns. So romantic,” describes Shreya as she stands there imagining.

“yo! Stop daydreaming missy,” quips in Anjali. Shreya frowns.

“I mean we can dance now here. Ballroom dance, plus who needs gowns when we have such amazing PJ’s” says Priya as she pulls in Shreya.

“I like this. Who needs guys. Ladies are you ready?” asks Anjali as she brings forward her hand. The three of them start dancing. Giggling all the while, prancing around the house. They then fall to the floor laughing as their stomach starts to hurt.

Days went by and everything just seem to be going back to normal. Priya would still go to sleep early but she used to wake up extra early as well so that she can meditate while the piano was getting played in the background. It was something she started recently. She started cooking but would do it mostly on weekends. Then one day she woke up early as usual to start with her meditation. She got her yoga mat and everything ready in the dining hall and sat down. She waited for the tune to start but it did not. She went to her bedroom and checked if the sound was coming there but nothing, there was pin drop silence. She opened all the windows of the house to figure out if the sound was coming from some other place. Alas there was nothing, no tune, no sound. She sat on the yoga mat waiting. Minutes turned into hours, the sun rose, birds started chirping, there were sound of vehicles on road but no Piano. She was confused and agitated as to what happened. This happened for the next 2 days. Priya started to become distressed but would console herself thinking that probably the person was out of town or was taking a break, that they will be back soon.

She woke up early the next day as well but sadly there was no music again. Priya's frustration was slowly growing she was pacing restlessly from bedroom to kitchen and kitchen to bedroom but stoped midway thinking “Why am I acting like a crazy person, maybe they will be back next week. It’s ok Priya let’s wait, stop being so obsessed”. Priya went to office and came back. As she entered Shreya pulled her in and shouted, “I heard it today, the tune that you said you were not able to hear anymore. Well, I heard It today. I didn’t go to office as I was not feeling well so I was home the entire day. But it was being played at a very odd time, around afternoon 2:00 pm”. “Really!!!!!,” Priya jumped out of happiness. She was all smiles and could not contain her excitement. She ate her dinner quick, set her alarm and went to bed all elated. She woke up and sat down in the dining room all ready. But again, the tune did not play. She kept checking the time but still there was nothing. She became very anxious and uneasy. She waited for the sun to rise. For people to wake up. She waited till afternoon. Still no music. Frustrated she got ready to go upstairs to check up on the mystery piano player. She remembered the maid told her that the new person lived 2 floors above her. She reached the floor and stood in the corridor confused which house the person belonged to. She took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell of the first door. There was no response for 2 mins. She stood there, her heartbeat all high. After some time, a kid opened the door. He looked at her for some time and screamed, “Mummy there is somebody at the door.” His mother came running all curious who the person was. Priya smiled awkwardly and waved. The woman stood there waiting for a reply from Priya as to what she wanted. Priya stuttered, “uhm…ah…I live downstairs, so I uh..you know…I have been listening to somebody play a piano every morning. So, I wanted…..” “He is disturbing you also right!!!,” interrupted the woman pointing at a door where the person lived “You have no idea, he just moved in now and always plays that piano early in the morning ruining our sleep and he plays it every single day. My husband complained so he started playing it in the afternoon till evening but what about our kid's studies? They are always distracted.” Priya was dumbstruck and looked all bewildered. She was not able to understand the sudden outburst. The woman came closer to Priya and said, “listen even the neighbors are disturbed by this, let’s all go together and complain.” Before Priya could say anything, she started knocking on the neighbor’s door. Priya kept looking at that door unclear whether she should go ahead and check up on that person. Before she could think of anything all the neighbors had gathered. She looked around not realizing when did this happened. She overheard some of them muttering “This is the reason we don’t allow bachelors” “what is up with this piano thing, everybody thinks they are Tansen or something” “ruins my sleep every morning.”

They knocked at the door. Priya stood at the end in a corner agitated waiting for the door to open. A part of her did not want the door to open because she herself did not want the person to face the wrath of the neighbors. After some time, the door opened. A young guy stepped out. He was lean and tall. He had specs on. He looked around a little perplexed by the amount of people there. He asked in an appeasing tone “Yes please, can I help you.” There was a calmness in his demeanor. Priya looked at him in dismal. The neighbors started whining together. They were all in rage as they demanded him to completely stop playing the piano or they will inform the apartment society board. Amid all this the guy was trying to calm them down by apologizing when he suddenly looked at Priya. She seemed different to him compared to others. Priya just stood there trying her level best not to be the part of the group. Priya looks at him again and they have an eye contact. Priya immediately looks away. She did not want him to think that she was also a part of all of this, that she was disturbed by his music. She looks at the people once again and walks away dejected.

Priya could not sleep at night as she was feeling guilty for some reason. She turned and tossed around her bed. She even thought of going upstairs again. She checked the time it was 2:00 am and realized how inappropriate it would be. She woke up knowing she won’t be hearing the tune for a while now. She knew the guy would wait for the neighbors to calm down so that he can again start his practice. She thought he might need some space as well, so it wouldn’t be suitable for her to visit his flat.

“Where the hell is Anjali?,” mumbled Priya as she waited for Anjali to come downstairs. Anjali planned to go shopping together with Priya, but she was late. Priya was restless kicking the pebbles on the road. Her eyes fell on a truck parked at some distance. Furniture was getting loaded. “Somebody is moving out,” thought Priya as she walked towards the truck. She stood there for a while observing the things getting loaded. That’s when she saw the men carrying a huge piano. Her eyes widened and before she could think of anything she heard a voice from behind, “excuse me, can you step aside?.” Priya turned around and it was the same guy. He was holding a box in his hands. Priya kept looking at the box unmindfully. Her eyes were on the box, but her mind was now racing through thoughts. The guy noticed that Priya was fixated on the box. He chuckled and spoke, “This box contains some very embarrassing stuff that’s why I am the one carrying it. Can’t risk anyone discovering.” Priya looked at him realizing she has been creepily looking at the box for a while now. She smiled clumsily. She pointed towards the piano and asked, “so you are the Piano guy?.”

“Guilty for that” replies the guy smiling. “This apartment seems to be a fan of you I guess,” adds in Priya.

“Ya that’s why I am moving out. Can’t handle this much fame,” says the guy in a sarcastic tone. Priya laughs, she looks at the piano again and says, “what is that tune that you play every day.”

“Uh! I wrote it myself. It was for my college assignment. It is not really that good that’s why I was practicing it, trying to perfect it every day.”

“it was perfect from my perspective”

“Oh, come on now, either you are trying to be modest, or you are just pitying me.”

Priya smiles and looks at him. They stand there awkwardly looking at each other. “Okay, so I should just get going, my hands are hurting like hell. Anyways bye, take care.” Says the guys trying to break the awkward silence. Priya gives a coy smile and steps aside. The guy walks by her slowly. Priya waits her heartrate at it's peak. Without giving any thought she calls from behind. The guy turns. “uh..um…Your music is honestly really good so keep up the good work. And for what it’s worth it was really life changing,” says Priya hesitantly. The guy looks at her with warm eyes. He looks down all shy and the looks at her again and says, “Now you are just exaggerating. But I will remember at least one critic gave me a complimentary review apart from others who call it and I quote 'Sheer noise!!!'.” Priya laughs again and points at the box asking if he needs any help. The guy nods his head. “Bye and all the best for your future,” says Priya smiling. She feels her heart getting heavy but tries to cover it up. The guy nods his head and walks away. He gets in a cab and looks at Priya and waves. Priya watches as the car leaves. She keeps looking at it till it’s completely gone from her sight. She suddenly feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around and it’s Anjali. “What are you looking at?” asks Anjali as she is puts on her lip balm. “Nothing …. remember the piano guy. He just moved out,” says Priya trying her level best to act casual. Anjali stops knowing exactly what Priya is feeling. She tries to act cool and asks, “oh so did you meet the guy? How was he.” Priya goes on and on about the neighbor fiasco and then about the conversation she had with him getting a little sad by the time her story ended. Anjali looks at her a little worried. They stand there for a while when suddenly Anjali asks, “so what’s his name?”

Priya has this sudden realization and her heart drops. She looks at the road and says with a quaver in her voice

“I don’t know.”

By Princy Mishra