1 day ago
Ring…Ring…Ring
"Welcome to Novohotel, my name is Hardik. How can I help?"
"Oh…The check-out time is at noon."
"No worries…Have a nice day."
"I don't understand why these people call the reservations office instead of calling the reception for these kinds of questions."
"Hardik, don't talk about our guests that way, you know they are all stupid. Hahaha"
"Haha…It is true Aisha, I forgot about that. By the way…what are you doing after work? Should we grab a drink? We need to celebrate you getting engaged to a stranger."
"Haha…I will be the person telling you that in a year when your parents set you up for an arranged marriage."
"No…no…no I am not falling for that trap. The only way I am getting married is by falling in love with a girl like Priyanka Chopra."
"Huh…Dream on Hardik, dream on. We can go for just one drink, after that I need to meet my stranger fiancé for dinner."
"Perfect, sounds like a plan."
Mumbai, often called the "City of Dreams," is a vibrant metropolis and the financial capital of India. Nestled along the Arabian Sea, the city thrives on its bustling pace, with life moving as swiftly as its iconic local trains. The daily grind sees millions navigating the city's intricate web of transport, from packed suburban trains and crowded BEST buses to the ever-present yellow-black taxis and auto-rickshaws.
Mumbai's people are its heartbeat—resilient, diverse, and relentlessly on the move. From street vendors and corporate professionals to Bollywood stars, the city welcomes all with open arms. Its neighborhoods pulse with contrasting energies: the luxurious high-rises of South Mumbai meet the humble chawls and sprawling slums, creating a kaleidoscope of cultures, dreams, and aspirations.
Despite the chaos, Mumbai exudes a unique charm, where strangers lend a hand during a train rush, where festivals unite millions in celebration, and where ambition and opportunity fuel the unstoppable spirit of the city.
Hardik and Aisha go to their usual spot for a quick catch and drinks. They talk, laugh, and gossip like any other work friends do. They met each other 5 years ago in college and originally bonded over their mutual love for anime. To find someone who watches and talks about it was very difficult and so they instantly clicked. After graduating, they were apart for 2 years until recently when Hardik joined Novohotel. Soon Aisha's fiancé came and after a short introduction, they all departed.
Hardik is usually shy until you get to know him. Belonging to a middle-class family, he had just enough to have a good life. His father retired and his mother is a housewife. He has a younger sister who is in university studying to become a doctor. Just a normal person living an ordinary life in not so ordinary city.
But on that day, everything changed.
As Hardik gets ready to leave, he hears a loud noise that comes from outside. It sounded as if two cars had collided. Nothing odd in the city of Mumbai but something about it felt different.
Hardik rushed outside to find nothing, except for the fact that he was not the only one who had heard the noise. Everyone and everything came to a stop when they heard the noise.
Another sound, loud enough to cause tremors in the ground. People screaming in confusion, panic rising, and cars screeching from the sudden breaks.
A final sound that came from the sky. As everyone's eyes look up people notice a faint silver line running along the sky. Extending in branches as if it was a sign from the gods for the time of extinction.
Within seconds those like shattered like glass and converted into a large black space with white lightning shooting out of it as if they would devour everything. The city that never stopped—where trains crammed people like sardines and honking cars created a never-ending symphony—was eerily silent as the black fissure spread across the sky. Hardik, however, was frozen in that spot, too confused to think, too scared to move.