Zoya, a twenty-five-year-old Pakistani pop star, meets emerging Indian cricketer Kabeer while he is on tour in the country to play a match to promote Indo-Pak friendship.
One thing leads to another and soon Kabeer and Zoya are inseparable.
As their relationship is put to the test in the wake of mounting tensions between the two countries, they both stumble across a long-buried truth that will forever change the course of their lives.
Here’s an excerpt from Arpit Vageria’s Love Knows No LOC:
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As Kabeer settled into his seat on the flight, memories of his last meeting with Zoya came flooding back. This was the last leg of his tour. It was also his last chance to restore the selectors’ faith in him and secure a place for himself in India’s international cricket team. On his way from the airport to the hotel in the bus with his other teammates, he read his last WhatsApp chat with her over and over again until the bus drew up at the Taj hotel in Mumbai. Even though he wanted to stay completely focused on the game to avoid disappointing his city, as he had done the last time, his thoughts repeatedly drifted to Zoya. He wondered where she was. Whether she had fallen in love with somebody else or, worse, forgotten Kabeer like a bad past and moved on.
There’s enough time to watch an entire movie when commuting through Mumbai’s gridlocked traffic, he thought. He wasn’t aware how long he had been listening to the playlist being fed into his earphones; it had already been repeated twice or thrice; all were tracks sung by Zoya. He remembered her telling him that every song she sang was inspired by him and that she had conceptualized these lyrics in his very presence.
That made him feel special.
Kabeer barely noticed the crowd of fans waiting outside the hotel, holding up placards with his name on it. The girls in the crowd frantically waved to catch his attention; some of them were wearing masks with his face painted on them—all for one smile in return.
A hand on his shoulder shook him out of his reverie. Arko was a teammate from Team India A, playing for Mumbai Riders in the T20 tournaments. He nodded to Kabeer indicating that it was time to disembark. Kabeer felt a tightness in his throat. He quickly looked around, hoping no one had noticed his emotional state.
Arko stared at Kabeer as he saw him sniffling and wiping his nose. ‘This is affecting your game, Kabeer; however, I’ve seen you in worse phases before. You can snap out of this as well.’
‘I’m just not used to being without Zoya,’ Kabeer said gruffly, picking up his rucksack and moving down the aisle of the bus.
‘You just have to get used to living without people who don’t belong with you in the first place,’ whispered Arko over his shoulder.
‘She was mine.’
‘She is a Pakistani,’ Arko stated flatly.
‘So?’
‘She was a habit; you’ll get over her. After what she did to you, you didn’t have any other choice. There were a million things that you could have done, but you did the right thing.’
Kabeer took a moment to register his words.
‘Don’t blame yourself, Kabeer,’ Arko encouraged. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’
Love Knows No LOC is a cross-border romance like no other! Available Now!
