The Dream of The Dream (FARTHER: Chapter-1)

      ‘If you ever want to be nervous, then have the nervousness of being nervous.’ These words said by his wife were tuning into his ears. He opened his blue eyes and found himself sitting on a wooden chair, in a dim yellow lighted room. It was so dim, that he couldn't see anything else but himself. He was a guy in his early thirties, muscular enough to fit into his shiny blue-colored suit.

      Calm, melodious music was playing in the room. Every time he listened to this kind of music, he felt harmony. But today, he was restless. He got up from the chair and turned to look at something. He tried to smile and searched for a mirror-like thing. There was none. The room had nothing but a few pictures hung on one side of the wall - they had celebrities on them. He could not see the faces in those pictures clearly but could guess that they were popular by just looking at their posture. And then, he noticed a guitar hung on the other side of the wall. He pulled at a few strings, which created the worst music ever, and then stood by a window near it. 

      There, he saw his reflection in the window glass. He moved a hand through his wavy hair, around his chubby fair cheeks and stubble, and pulled out a hair from his broad nose. He then glanced intently over the slanted scar mark over his forehead.

      “Mr. Manbir?” He heard a girl’s voice calling him from outside.

      

The door of the room creaked and opened. Suddenly, a bright white light flashed over his face. A tall blonde girl in her early twenties, wearing a blue and white striped top with a brown skirt walked into the room, holding a collar mic in her fair hands.

“Mr. Manbir, are you ready, Sir?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, ...I am always ready,” Manbir replied nervously.

“Put this over your collar,” the girl said and passed the mic to him.

He took the mic from her and glanced at it.

“You want me to help?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“No, I will manage,” he replied, trying to pass a smile.

“Alright!” The girl clapped twice and continued. “Your entry is in two minutes. Be ready with the mic and your robots. Jump in once Timmy calls your name.”

He nodded while putting the mic over his collar.

“Okay, wish you all the best,” the girl said, showing a thumbs-up sign.

“Yeah, thanks,” Manbir hardly uttered a word.

“Hey, are you nervous?” The girl raised her eyebrows, trying to guess his expression, and put her hands on her waist. He shook his head.

“Good. And even if you are nervous, don't let this world know that you are,” she responded, passed a smile, and walked out of the room.

The white light disappeared as the door closed and Manbir was again showered by the same dim yellow light. He adjusted the collar mic and placed his hands in his suit’s pocket. Then, he turned around to look behind him. There stood those things at which he had smiled a moment ago – his two robots.

The two robots were standing in the darker corner of the room. One of the robots was made of shining steel and was of the same height as Manbir. He was wearing a white color jacket, like a doctor. The robot’s ears looked like they had a thick wire inserted into them and a stethoscope emerged in the place of his nose. Even though his face looked like a machine, there is humanness in his eyes, where a red-colored LED light was beeping.

The other robot was a few inches shorter. It had a girlish face and was covered with rubber skin over its metal body. It looked pretty, like a fairy, but had four hands just like a few Indian Goddesses. The first hand was holding a pair of scissors, the second held a hair straightener, the third a hairdryer while the fourth hand was holding a few hair clips. A blue-colored LED light emerged from this robot’s eyes.

“Get ready guys, today the whole world is gonna see you. You're gonna make a blast... Boom,” Manbir smiled at his robots.

Then, the melodious soundtrack stopped. Rock music began to play from the outer room. A few voices from the cheering crowd could be heard. Manbir opened the door. He picked out his spectacles from the inner pocket of his suit and wore them to sustain the white light. He stood on the left side of the stage, behind the curtains, from where he could see half of the audience sitting in the first row of the hall. He was delighted to see his own people there.

Nivia – his love, his life, his Twinsoul – a girl in her late twenties, was sitting in the front row, wearing a cherry red Punjabi dress over her slender figure. As Nivia was shaking her head to the music, her short, shoulder-length hair got tangled around her face and she rubbed her celestial nose over a toddler’s. They were doing the Eskimo kiss. The toddler was Ruhi, Manbir’s daughter, a part of his heart, with whom he was always very affectionate. Ruhi was an amiable girl of nearly one, with a chubby face and tiny but shiny brown hair. She had soft and fair skin, with the same blue eyes as Manbir’s. He smiled looking at them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, how’s life? A warm welcome. This is the Tonight Show with Timmy Fallon.” Manbir heard the energetic and familiar voice of the show’s host, and the rock music decreased its pace. He turned around to look at his two robots. They had followed him on their rolled wheels as Manbir had ordered them to.

      Manbir looked through the curtains again. This time he saw his mother, sitting on the rightmost corner seat beside Nivia, wearing a yellow Paithani saree. She had a little discomfort in her old, mid-sixties eyes.

“And now, our first guest for tonight, is Manbir Chowdry, fromNew Era Robotics, all the way from India.” Manbir heard the host’s voice again. Timmy didn’t pronounce his surname properly. It’s actually ‘Chaudhari’, but Manbir didn’t care about it.

      He walked a few steps while peering through the curtains. He instantly stopped as he saw his father. There was an empty seat on Nivia’s left and his father sat next to the empty seat. Ruhi was propelling her hands to pull at his father's white cotton shirt, but he was not at all looking at the kid. His father moved his attention to the stage and Manbir felt his father looking at him. He always had those angry red eyes throughout the seventy years of his life. Manbir never knew the reason for it. He began to shiver after seeing that look in his father’s eyes. His earlier nervousness had returned.

      “So, here comes….Manbir Chowdry,” Timmy repeated.

      

      But Manbir didn’t walk there. His whole body was shivering and he felt a sudden coldness. His heart was pounding faster and he couldn’t even catch his breath, as it was getting colder. He closed his eyes and remembered Nivia’s words again.

       ‘If you ever want to be nervous, then have the nervousness of being nervous. Other things are of no value.’ He stood still for a minute, remembering those inspiring words again. As he opened his eyes, he saw the tall blonde girl, standing on the other side behind the curtains. She was gesturing to him to go on the stage.

      ‘I am the best. I am the best. Keep your fear aside, Manbir. Go and Rock. You are a brave heart, that's what your name is. Don't fear. Don't fear.’

 

Mumbling to himself, he walked further and placed his hand over his heart. The two robots followed him. He heard a few cheering voices from the crowd who were yelling, ‘Love you, Timmy.’ Walking past the main stage, he saw Timmy Fallon, a famous celebrity and Hollywood actor. Manbir had always admired his show. Even though Timmy was a guy in his late thirties, he had such fresh skin, a perfect posture, and innocent eyes, that it was difficult to guess his age. Timmy smiled at Manbir, which is enough to make anyone's day.

Manbir walked further, adjusting his tie with one hand and waving at the audience with the other. There were nearly three hundred people gathered in front of him, and millions of people were going to watch him on television. Nivia smiled, showing a thumbs up to him, and made Ruhi do the same. Manbir’s mother looked at him with prideful eyes, however, his father passed no expression.

“Ohh, so here he is. All the way from India and ‘New Era Robotics’, Manbir Chowdry,” Timmy Fallon announced while making random hand movements at the audience and at Manbir.

 The crowd cheered as both the robots had followed Manbir, scrolling over the floor. Timmy was impressed and shook hands with Manbir.

“Hello Manbir, it's really great to see you and your robots.”

Manbir was still a bit nervous as he looked at the audience.

'You have to make this day successful, Manbir. You’ve got this chance to get on TV and you have to make it memorable for the people. Perhaps, someday, Ruhi will see this video when she is older. Speak with confidence and sarcasm, Manbir.'  

 

Manbir looked carefully and confidently at Timmy, thinking of what to reply.

“I feel great too, Timmy, and here, take a look at my robots. They are so excited to meet you, they even forgot to bring their own legs,” Manbir replied sarcastically after a moment.

“Ohh, you are funny,” Timmy said, laughing. And a few laughing voices came from the audience.

“So, let's introduce everyone to your robots, Manbir,” said Timmy. Manbir walked close to the first robot, wearing a white jacket.

“So, he is The Doc. He has knowledge of all the diseases and their medicines. Look at this,” said Manbir, holding the stethoscope coming out from his nose. “By using this, he can understand your body condition and search for suitable medicines from the data stored in his system. My company, ‘New Era Robotics’, is planning to make more robots like him so that everyone will have their own doctor in their home.”

“Wow!” Timmy exclaimed and clapped over it, followed by the audience.

      Manbir looked at them and then at his people. He found Nivia searching for something in her purse. She then pulled out an asthma inhaler and breathed with it. He was worried.

      ‘Are you alright, Darl?’ He wanted to ask, but Nivia nodded at him and indicated with her eyes, telling him not to worry.

“But, let me ask you one thing,” Timmy said and Manbir diverted his attention back to the stage. “Do you hate doctors? Do you have an enemy among them, which gave you this idea of creating such a robot to destroy his career?”

Manbir thought for a moment and replied, “Yeah, I hate Doctor Jaikall.”

“Who is that? Any famous doctor?”Timmy asked impatiently.

“Naah, I am just kidding. Dr. Jaikall is the villain from Shaktimaan. It’s a TV serial of India's first superhero,” Manbir replied swiftly.

A whistling sound came from the audience and the spotlight moved there. An Indian, a young Punjabi guy, wearing a turban stood up in the crowd and whistled again.

“I love Shaktimaan. Really miss him,” the man yelled.

“Yeah, I love and miss him too,” Manbir replied.

“Oh man, I need to see this Shaktimaan,” Timmy said unknowingly. “Do you think that this guy, Shaktimaan, would ever like to join the Avengers?”

“He works independently, but well, I will take your proposal to him,” Manbir replied laughing.

“Alright, now tell us about that gorgeous lady robot.”

Manbir walked close to the second robot, the one with four hands, and said, “Anyone can guess just by looking at her that she knows all the parlor stuff. That's why she has things like these in her four hands. She can cut your hair the way you want. You have to tell her the name of the haircut and all the images are listed in her system. She can straighten your hair and do all the other stuff that is usually done in parlors,” Manbir shrugged as he finished explaining.

“Oh god, so you are going to close off the parlor business too?” Timmy said as he shook his head. A light chuckling sound came from the audience.

“What's her name? The parlor girl?” Timmy asked, making a guess.

“No. She is Senorita,” Manbir replied quickly.

“Oh, I love that name,” Timmy exclaimed.

“So Manbir, after deciding to close down doctors and parlors, do you have any further plans to make something else and close other businesses too?”

      

      Manbir got silent again as he saw his father had changed his position in the audience and now, there were two empty seats between him and Nivia. Ruhi was still trying to reach her tiny hands towards Manbir’s father, and Nivia was stopping her from doing it.

      “Manbir?” Timmy diverted his attention again. “Any plans to close other businesses?”

Manbir rubbed a finger over his chin, thinking. “Yeah, I have. I have a plan. I have been thinking about making the wittiest robot, who knows how to make jokes and talk funny. So, he can do comedy,” Manbir spoke and Timmy started laughing. His chest literally shook due to his laugh.

“I am planning to start a show of his own, you know like the tonight show…,” Timmy held Manbir's shoulder to cut down his sentence before he could finish and Manbir stopped speaking.

“Don't. Please, don't ever do it, man,” Timmy said and started laughing again. He laughed for a few seconds and then controlled himself.

Timmy straightened his shoulders and said, “Alright guys, so Manbir seems to be a nicer comedian than me. And now, let's interact with his robots- The Doc and Senorita.”

Timmy walked close to the first robot, The Doc, and asked, “Does he really know all the medical stuff?”

“Why don’t you give it a try ?” asked Manbir, placing a hand over Doc’s shoulder, who then walked forward.

      Timmy sat on the nearest chair and The Doc moved his grippy hands of three fingers to hold his stethoscope nose and put it over Timmy’s bosom. 

      “Are you sure, he knows it all?” Timmy asked with sudden worry and Manbir nodded.

      “He doesn’t spark, does he?”

      “No and even if he did, I guess you must have insurance for sure,” replied Manbir, and half of the audience laughed. 

      The Doc circled the stethoscope over Timmy’s heart and after a minute, pulled it back.  “You...have...a ...little….stuffy...nose...because...of ...the ...beer...you...had...last...night.” A slow-paced voice came out from the robot’s system.

“Ohh, God! How did he know that? And he speaks too?”

“Yeah, he can diagnose from his system and gather information about the food we eat. The response then gets transferred into audio waves through his control board and reaches us.”

“Ohh man, amazing work you have done,” Timmy said while getting up from the chair.

“I...suggest...you...to...take...ibuprofen...and...Naproxen...tablet...for...your...cold.” Another voice from The Doc’s robot system said.

      “Oh, I will for sure...Thank You,” Timmy said and walked to the middle of the stage, facing the audience. “ So, isn’t this amazing everyone?” 

      A fabulous cheering response came from the audience. Some of them were cheering ‘India! India’ while others were yelling ‘I want to check myself’. Manbir looked once more at the audience and then at Nivia and his mother – both were smiling at him. He moved his eyes to his father, but he had no expression and was busy cutting his nails, holding a nail cutter in his hand. It seemed like he hadn’t bothered to look at the stage for a single minute.

      ‘How can you be like this, Baba? It’s such a huge platform for me and for the world. And what shit are you doing before the camera?’

       Manbir wanted to step down and yell at his father, but his attention was redirected as Timmy called him.

“Alright, the audience will get a chance to interact with The Doc after the show… but now, what can Senorita do for me, Manbir?”

      “She can give you a nice haircut.”

      “Oh wow, really?”

      “Give it a try...tell her the name and she’ll give you the same haircut.”

      “Does she speak too?”

      “Not really, but we’ve encoded a system of playing songs while she works, so the person who’s getting the haircut will not get bored.”

      “Oh, that is amazing! So, which haircut should I get?” asked Timmy in excitement, walking close to Senorita.

      Manbir picked out a paper from the inner pocket of his suit and passed it to Timmy. It had pictures of the hairstyles and their names. 

“All of these are loaded into Senorita's system,” said Manbir, as Timmy was taking a look.

Suddenly, a crying voice came from the audience. It was of a toddler. Manbir turned to look and it was Ruhi, his daughter, who burst into a cry. Nivia was wiping Ruhi’s tears and showing her the little doll she had. Manbir stuck his eyes out to look at Ruhi. Nivia was moving her around, from her left hand to her right while Manbir’s mother was clapping for her, but Ruhi was only crying louder. Manbir moved his attention to his father, who had interchanged his seat with some man and was now sitting three seats away, farther from Nivia and Ruhi.

Timmy glanced at Manbir and the crying toddler, guessing it was something personal. He walked to the middle of the stage and said, “Alright guys! It’s time for a break and afterward, we’re going to interact with Senorita on The Tonight Show with Timmy Fallon.” The lights of the stage went to a dim yellow, showing just the silhouettes of Manbir and Timmy. Pulling a mic out of his collar, Timmy pressed a button to switch it off.

“So, she’s your daughter, eh?” Timmy asked and Manbir nodded. 

“She is cute.” Manbir passed a light smile and nodded again.

“So, you love her a lot, ah?” asked Timmy and Manbir nodded once again.

“Do you think you can be the best father in the world?” Timmy asked and Manbir turned silent for a moment. He looked at Ruhi, the way her cheeks had turned pink and her eyebrows made curvy lines. Just then, Nivia showed her another blue barbie doll, which made Ruhi smile.

“I don't know about the best, but I will surely be a better father to her than my own father was to me,” said Manbir in a hurry, still eyeing Ruhi. Then, he realized that half of the audience present in the hall was looking at him. Manbir was puzzled by this and saw Nivia raising her eyebrows in worry and moving her hand around her neck.

It was then that Manbir realized that he had forgotten to turn off his collar mic. Manbir shifted his neck to look at his father, who was already passing a frowning look at him. As Manbir matched his eyes with his father’s, he got up from his seat and said a few curse words, which Manbir couldn’t hear. He then walked to Manbir’s mother, held her hand, and dragged her towards the exit door. Manbir began to shiver again like before. Nivia saw this and rushed towards him, holding Ruhi in her arms.

While Nivia was still climbing the stairs to the stage, Timmy tapped over Manbir’s shoulder and asked, “Are you alright?” Manbir looked at the exit door. His mother was still eyeing him with pride, but his father was making her move out. He looked at Manbir and yelled a word, which always left a deep scar in his heart. The word was ‘Famnamespoiler’. Listening to it, Manbir fell unconscious and dropped in the middle of the stage.

The audience had returned to the hall. Timmy was yelling at the tall blonde girl to call a doctor. A few people in the audience started shouting, suggesting they use The Doc robot for Manbir, and laughed. Manbir’s mother and father had walked out through the exit door. Nivia was sitting beside him, sobbing, holding Ruhi in one arm and caressing his forehead with the other hand.

Manbir was still unconscious but could ascertain a few voices. “Wake up, Darl. Wake up.”

                        *     *     *

The moment Manbir opens his eyes, he found himself lying on the bed in the bedroom of his house. Nivia was folding up a few clothes and placing them in the cupboard beside his bed while Ruhi was sitting in her cradle, playing with a few tiny bells. He realized that nothing he saw had actually happened. He was in his house, safe with his wife and daughter.

 “Wake up, Darl. Wake up,” Nivia said, placing the clothes in the cupboard. As she turned, she realized he was already up. She looked at him and gave him a wide smile.

     “Why do you always forget to take off your spectacles before going to sleep?” Nivia asked.

But Manbir didn't hear it with his consciousness. He was looking all around the walls of his bedroom.

Ohh, shit! It all was just a dream…