Half Girlfriend

‘You seem upset. Did something happen today?’
‘I told them I want to study music after college. They want me to
marry into some rich Marwari family and live like a queen. I don’t
want to live like a queen. That is not what I dream of.’
‘Trust me, kings and queens are overrated,’ I said.
She remained silent.
‘What do you want, Riya? Do you have a dream?’
'Well, dreams suck.You get attached to them and they don’t come
true.'
’Sometimes they do.’
‘Not in my case.’
'What is your dream?’ I asked again.
She looked at me. ‘You’ll laugh.’
‘Try me.’
Site smiled.‘Okay, so, I have this dream. I want to play music and
sing...in a bar in New York.’
'Wow.’
'What? You think it’s stupid, right?’
No. That’s quite specific. Singing in a bar in New York.’
'Yes.That’s it. I don’t want to be a famous singer or a rock star. I
don’t want to marry a billionaire. I just want to sing in peace,
surrounded by passionate people. I want to own a house in Manhattan,
myhouse, filled with books and music CDs. I want to play basketball
on weekends. I don’t want to check out a dozen lehengas for my
engagement.’
'Sounds like you have it all figured out.’
‘Not really. Maybe it’s just an escapist fantasy. But I have had it
since I was twelve. We had gone to New York. The city blew me away.
I saw people who loved what they did. They weren’t rich, but happy.
And there was this lady in a bar.. .she sang from her heart, unaware of
everything around her.’
The sun was setting, and the sky turned from orange to dark grey.
We had now reached the point near Rashtrapati Bhavan where Delhi