By the time Adil stepped out of the audition room, One hour had already passed. The nervous energy that had filled the building earlier had slowly disappeared. Some candidates were leaving with hopeful smiles, while others quietly walked away, disappointment written on their faces. As soon as Adil entered the waiting hall, he spotted Shah Rukh Khan sitting comfortably on a chair with a cup of tea in his hand. The young actor immediately stood up when he saw him.
"There you are!" Shah Rukh exclaimed with a grin. "I was beginning to think Mahesh Bhatt had signed you on the spot." Adil smiled faintly and said "Not yet." Hearing it Shahrukh laughed and said. "Good," Shah Rukh laughed.
The two walked outside together. The atmosphere around the studio had become quieter. Cars passed by on the road, and the cool evening breeze carried the familiar sounds of Mumbai. Suddenly, Shah Rukh pointed toward a small roadside tea stall. "Tea?" Adil looked at him. "We just had one inside." Shah Rukh grinned. "That was nervous tea. This one is victory tea."
Unable to argue with such strange logic, Adil followed him. A few minutes later, both sat opposite each other on wooden benches while the old tea vendor placed two steaming cups in front of them. Around them sat office workers, taxi drivers and ordinary people discussing cricket and politics. Nobody paid much attention to the two young actors. They were simply two dreamers among millions in Mumbai.
Shah Rukh took a sip and sighed happily. "Ah, life is beautiful." Adil just shook his head and said. "You sound eighty years old." Shah Rukh burst out laughing and countered. "My friend, wisdom doesn't depend on age." Then he suddenly pointed at himself. "I'm twenty-three." Then he pointed his finger at Adiland said. "And you're seventeen." He shook his head dramatically. "Look at us. Six years apart, sitting here like two unemployed philosophers discussing life." Adil chuckled in response and replied. "We are employed."
"Barely!" Shah Rukh laughed. "Besides, nobody knows whether today's audition will change anything." For a moment, both fell silent. Then Shah Rukh smiled. "You know, sometimes I forget you're only seventeen." Adil raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because you behave like a forty-year-old professor." Shahrukh said teasingly. "And you behave like a schoolboy." Adil countered. "Exactly!" Shah Rukh laughed proudly as showing off. "That's why people like me." Adil shook his head helplessly. He was speechless at this narcissist person. He simole said. "You talk too much." Shahrukh khan said immediately in reply."You talk too little. That's why someone had to" Both of them started bickering.
After a while, Shah Rukh became quieter. "You know something?" Shahrukh said. "What?" Adil said as he looked at him. "Sometimes I think we're crazy." Adil asked. "Why?"
Shah Rukh leaned back and stared at the sky. "Because look at us. I'm twenty-three. You're seventeen. We sit here drinking tea after an audition, discussing dreams while millions of people are chasing ordinary lives. Who knows? Maybe after ten years we'll still be struggling and laughing about these days."
Adil looked at the traffic passing by and smiled slightly while saying. "Then we'll drink tea again and laugh." Shah Rukh stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Seriously, Adil, I don't know how your mind works."
Another comfortable silence followed. After finishing his tea. Shahrukh looked at him again. "You know what I like about you?" He said. "What?"Adil asked. "You don't panic."
"I do." Adill replied. "No, you don't." Shah Rukh shook his head, smiled and said. "You're calm. Too calm and this thing of yours, It's annoying." Then he went on saying. "But maybe that's normal. We don't know what happens next. Maybe someone gets selected. Maybe you. Maybe me. Maybe none of us." Shahrukh khan looked at his eyes the asked. "Imagine both of us getting rejected."
"Then life goes on." Adil replied with simole words. Shah Rukh pointed at him immediately. "See! That's what I mean. You say these things like an old man."
Adil just smiled and said. "My father says I think too much."
"And your mother?" Shahrukh asked.
"She agrees with him." Adil replied.
After hearing his reply, Shahrukh said humorously. "Good. Your parents are wise people." Then he satrted laughing and Adil followed.
Eventually, darkness began to descend over Mumbai. The lights of the city slowly came alive. Shah Rukh stood up and stretched his arms. "Well, Mr. Serious, we have done our part." Adil nodded and said. "Now we wait."
"Exactly, Now it depends on luck" Shah Rukh smiled further added. Then, bith of them shook hands. "See you soon, my friend," Shah Rukh said. "See you soon." Adil also said.
As Adil watched him disappear into the crowd, he couldn't help but smile. In his previous life, Shah Rukh Khan had been a distant superstar admired by millions. But here, in 1989, before the fame and glory, he was simply Shah Rukh. A young man with dreams, fears, endless energy and an unusual ability to make people laugh.
By the time Adil returned home, Meera Sharma Ali was already waiting anxiously near the door. "How was it?" she asked immediately. "It went well," Adil replied.
She smiled brightly. "Thank God." Arif Ali looked up from his newspaper and said. "Good." His wife frowned. "That's all you have to say?" Arif smiled and said. "If he says it went well, then it went well."
Dinner that night was cheerful, but beneath the smiles, everyone knew that the most difficult part had now begun.
Days passed in waiting, Adil attended lectures at his college as usual. Life itself remained unchanged.
But every evening, as he returned home, his eyes would unconsciously drift toward the telephone. And every time it rang, Meera would rush toward it faster than anyone else. Yet each time, disappointment followed.
And so, as Mumbai moved forward with its endless rhythm, somewhere in the city another young actor named Shah Rukh Khan was probably doing exactly the same thing, Waiting. Because dreams were beautiful.