A Phone Call...

It was around 7.30 in the evening & I was chatting with my friends online… The mobile rang… It was a new number, read 99302 XXXXX (but I knew it was the customer care number of Vodafone, my service provider, bcoz many times in a day I receive call from similar nos.). I cut the phone… Again after 2 min, the phone rang with the same number flashing on the screen…

I took the call reluctantly.

Hello.

Hello, good evening Sir. Am I speaking to Mi-ste-r. Rohit ?

Yes. This is Rohit speaking.

Sir, I am calling from Vodafone. I hope I am not disturbing u sir.

(In the usual scenario, I would have replied in the affirmative and cut the call. But there was something unusual about this voice. I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t husky or sexy or anything. Maybe it sounded……familiar.)

No. Please carry on. What is it about?  

Sir, ur bill amt has reached 85% of ur Bill limit of Rs 2,500. Would u like to make an interim bill payment so that u can continue to be in touch with ur family and frnds? 

Ahh… yes. I will make the bill payment. Don’t worry.

Thank u very much sir.  Have fun !!!

The last words made me jump and sit up. Yes. No doubt the voice was familiar. The voice sounded so much like Priya. And the way she said ‘Have fun’ in the end, it had to be Priya. Nobody else could say ‘Have fun’ in such a sweet and personal way. The moment she said that, you would start having fun.

 

Priya was my classmate in college from F.Y.J.C… Long long ago that is. She had come to the college on a transfer from Delhi. She spoke English in a particularly different way. I was drawn to her feminine charm and her pleasant manners. She always used to end her conversation with ‘Have fun’. Soon we became good friends… But she left the college after S.Y.J.C as her Dad again got transferred to Delhi… Once she shifted to Delhi, we used to be in touch with emails or sometimes phone calls, but as years passed by, that also ended… we have not been in touch for almost last 5 years…

 

But she couldn’t be her. She needn’t be the only one in the world who ends her conversation with a ‘Have Fun’. Given her voice and manners, she was destined to become a news reader or something.

 

The voice and the conversation haunted me for 1-2 days. I even gave a call back on the no. but continuously got an engage tone… Soon I completely forgot about it. When certain things happen to you, you believe that it is the best thing or the worst thing that has happened to you in your entire life and miraculously, after some days, you completely forget about them.

And then, today, I got this call from a long lost friend.

Hello

Hello.

What Hello-Vello. How are you dude ?

Uggh…I am fine. I am sorry, but may I know who I am speaking to ?

Aaaa..yes yes. Who has time in this world to remember old friends. Aap tho bade aadmi ban gaye.

Ankur ? That’s you ? God! Where have you been?

I thought that question was mine. How are you man? No news for almost a year.  Making new friends doesn’t mean you lose touch with old friends buddy.

No…nothing like that. Just got busy with this mundane life. You tell me. How are you?

Hmm…yeah everything is fine. Listen, I have something to tell. You remember Priya ?

Hmm.. the Delhi  one?

Yes yes…. Some days back, she bumped in to my sister in the bus stop. Apparently, she was very happy to have seen an old face from College. She was enthusiastic about getting back to the College gang again. She gave her number.  Take it down.

Just a second… Yeah tell…

98206 XXXXX

Alright. You spoke to her?

Yes. She sounded very happy… She enquired about all our friends. Asked about you twice or thrice in a manner which made me jeolous.

( I couldn’t help the appearance of a blushful smile )

What else? What is she doing?

She told me she is working with the helpdesk of Vodafone. Earning quite a decent pack. Tell me, why do these call centre executives get paid so handsomely? Is it fair that I get peanuts for my government job ?

How is her family?

By her voice, I guess they are very happy. She got married & already is a proud mother of one son…

Ok.

Why don’t you talk to her directly. She will be happy to listen from you. You will speak to her right?

Yes…. Aab tu phone rakhega to baat karunga na… will give u a call after talking to her…

 

As Soon as I cut the phone, I got a call from the same no. 99302 XXXXX (Vodafone call centre no.)

Hello

Hello Sir, 3 days back I had given u a call for making the bill payment…

Hey Priya, I recognized u… When u had called me first time I doubt that it was u but was not sure… U say, how r u ??

I am fine Rohit… I just wanted to play a small prank on u… First of all, congratulate me… I got married & have a one year old son also..

Congrats Dear, but u have to give a treat… Just before ur phone came, I was talking to Ankur… Lets meet today evening… What say ?

Ok… Bye… will see u in the evening…

 

We all friends meet in the evening at a Restaurant & had lots of funs… Kept on talking for hours… We all were meeting after long time… It was great pleasure… It was one of my unforgettable evening….

I will end this blog with this message “New friends may be a poem, but old friends are alphabets… Do not forget alphabets bcoz u will need them to read the poem”…

A Pillow talk with GOD…

Dear God,

If at all u browse the net, if at all u come across my blog, if at all you happen to read this post, please give a few moments to think about what I am going to say…

I am very ordinary person, from very ordinary world. I don’t know how many people in this world think I am special to them. I know u exist but, I never thought of u as God. I thought of u as a person sitting beside me in the lonely bench in the park, having a nice little chat with me in the evening, about how things are going in my life…

All I ask is one small thing from u, little more happiness. I am not complaining, but just asking for something little more…. Well, it is a big thing, you may say. It is indeed. It’s 1.30 in the midnight & unable to sleep. I went to bed, and just like every other night I think about stuff… stuff….& more stuff…. what happened and what didn’t... In both cases, I wonder why it is so…. I never got an answer before I went to sleep unknowingly. And when I sleep, I get these dreams, both happy and sad, both sweet and nightmares. Sometimes, I wake up suddenly, not wanting to think about the bad thing I was dreaming. Sometimes, going back and trying to get some more sleep so that I can dream of that wonderful thing I dreamt about just minutes back.  Tonight, I’m unable to sleep. I kept thinking about how things are ‘unfurling’ around my life... I kept thinking about why I’m unable to do anything about it. I still haven’t got any answer for that.

Every time I feel like quitting, I have this urge to fight, again with full sincerity. But I do break down like now. I don’t know if it is okay to break like this. I feel very easily broken inside sometimes, and I don’t know, if it okay to feel like that. I rarely showed my sad part to anyone, and I have heard many people say that I never get so sad, or that I never grudge on people. I never show that out, because, for me it is the hardest thing to do…

When will I ever wake up on a day to hear a sweet surprise? I want a number of sweet surprises; just like I give to the people I love, like I make them feel so special. The other day, I phoned one of my friends to wish Happy Birthday. That person kept on saying in a so excited way, how happy it was to hear my voice wishing on the b’day. I do that to lot many people lot many times; because I know what it feels like not to be special….

Why are you not letting this happen to me? Are you reading this line? Or you too skip reading those long posts and read only those short posts in the blogs? Just give me one break. And let me know that it is a break! I want to be selfish. Make me selfish. Make me think of myself. Before I go & try to get some sleep tonight, I’d like to ask you, why can’t I have at least one sweet surprise tomorrow that will change my whole life? That will change the way a couple of people see me now.

God, I m not complaining about my life, nor I m saying that there are many obstacles in my life or I am very depressed… I know it’s just that I m passing though a bad phase…. There are always 2 sides of a coin, a good & another bad side… It’s just that at present the coin is on the bad side…
Hope you can understand how I feel now, in the middle of this night. Hope you give some thought about this….

Lastly, I want to say one more thing…If any of my friends get irritated or have a fight with me then later that day I feel so bad that my mind goes numb, my heart feels heavy, and I start hating and blaming myself for whatever happened. I would at that moment give-up anything to have that friend of mine back. I am saying this because I have a feeling that one of my friends is angry or irritated by me lately and I am still feeling bad about it. I hope that my view of the situation is wrong and she is not at all angry with me or even if she was, she has already forgiven me.

Good night God… J

Hostel No. 13....

Hi Friends, in my previous post “About Myself”, i had mentioned that i get angry when someone even after promising doesn’t give a comment on my post... Yaar agar comment nahi karoge to mere blog ki TRP kaise badegi..... Just kidding yaar....  I thank you all for reading my blog & giving a comment on it.... Thanks a lot.... (Direct Dil Se !!!)

Hey Khyati u had commented in my previous post that “kyon bore kar raha hai apne baare me batakar....” & u had asked me to write stories only.... So aap ki aagya ka palan karte hue mein iss time apne baare mein kuch nahi likh raha hu.....

Sudeep u had asked that kya mein shaadi kar raha hu kya... Dude, mera abhi itni jaaldi shaadi karne ka koi irada nahi hai... Pehle life mein thoda settle ho jane de warna jo ladki aayegi woh meri haalat dekh kaar hi bhag jayege... Hehehehe.....

Chalo yaar, bahut personal baatein ho gayi warna Khyati ko phir se gussa aa jayega & this time also she will bang me.... Abhi taak mein last time ki maar nahi bhula hu....

Before stating my story here’s a statutory warning that “this story is little scary & those who all have weak heart read this story at their own risk....” lol...

Dev was allocated a room in Hostel No 13. Of course all his batch mates will stay in the same hostel. "Any batch that came into Hostel 13 turned out to be the most violent batch in the campus", said one of the seniors who knew Dev.

 

Dev gives a damn to all such stereo typing. He just nodded his head, but did not give a second thought on that. He continued his life in the hostel. The ragging from the seniors was too severe. Dev has taken it in his stride. Once the ragging period was over, everything seemed fine. Dev and his batch mates started concentrating on their academics.

 

 It was a new moon day and the night was dark. There was a power shutdown. The students had lit candles in their rooms to finish their pending work. Suddenly sound of bangles was heard in the hostel. The sound was as if a woman wearing bangles was struggling against something. Probably an aggressor was holding her hands tight and she was using all her energy to push him aside. There was absolutely no body shrieking for help. Initially all the students started shouting on the lookout for the aggressor and the woman. Usually no woman ever comes towards the boys’ hostel area in the campus and the sound of the bangles has taken everyone by surprise. The students decided to remain silent and a few students have taken the initiative to search every nook and corner of the hostel and the surroundings. There was no sign of any woman. But the sound of the bangles continued unabated.

 

Meanwhile someone in the batch ran to the seniors’ hostel to tell about the happenings. Some of the seniors also rushed to the hostel to hear the sound of the bangles and the sound was very clear to everyone. The matter was immediately reported to the hostel warden and the college authorities rushed to the hostel along with some policemen. Everyone was able to hear the sound of the bangles. No one was able to clearly identify the direction. The police ensured that all the students came out of the hostel and carries out intense search operation. They could not find anyone. But the sound of the bangles continued. As the police continue their search, the power supply got restored in the hostel. The sound of the bangles could not be heard any more.

 

The police and the college authority dismissed it as a foul play by some students and leave the hostel. Dev also believes in the same theory. He does not give a damn to the concept of ghosts and other spirits. He was doubly sure that someone has played a practical joke on the students in the hostel.

 

Then he and others in the hostel settle down for studies. Meanwhile one of the senior who was in the same hostel earlier visits them. He enquires about the happenings and tells the history of the hostel as was known to him.

 

“Around 20 to 25 years back, when there were no girl students in the college, no local woman ever dared to enter the campus. Some student leaders in the campus used to be ruthless in the campus. The reason behind the fear was the presence of a guy called Kabir in the campus. He used to rape any woman at will irrespective of the age. For him old or young never used to matter. He also then used to allow his followers to do what they wish to the women. The administration in the area was altogether absent and even if the poor women die, there never used to be any complaint against the student leaders and no case was ever booked against the college goons. Once a poor girl, who was the daughter of a local industry worker accidentally passed through the campus. She was least aware of the fate in store for her. It was Kabir himself who spotted her. It was like prey getting into the lion’s den.”

 

“Kabir and others have resorted to mass rape that the girl succumbed to her fate in the hostel itself. The hostel was nothing but hostel no 13. There were many good students in the hostel who heard the groaning of the girl and also the sound of her bangles. But no student ever dared to say anything against Kabir in the campus. He used to openly move around with a country made rifle.”

 

“The body was then dumped in the nearby fields. However the college authority has this time taken this very seriously, but could not find a solution. There is no point in approaching the police. Kabir’s family was so powerful in the state that the authority fears getting into the legal mode. Before the authority gets an idea, Kabir was shot dead inside the campus. The bullet shot came from a window in the hostel and slowly the equations in the campus changed. Over a period of time, the college was opened for girls as well.”

 

“All of us know the story. The seniors pass this story from batch to batch but none of us heard the bangles sound the way you people experienced. We all believe that a ghost is haunting the hostel, but it was proven today.”

 

After listening to the story, Dev gets convinced that the seniors were involved in the foul play. But many in his batch started believing that a ghost haunts the hostel.

 

There was a talk in the campus that student violence has always been the bloodiest in the hostel no 13. Even the college administration confirms the fact. Dev thinks that it is seniors who are creating the hype about the hostel and some goons in each batch are resorting to violence to prove the point of the seniors. He decides against believing such stories.

 

3 months later, one of their batch mates Rajiv hangs himself in his room and dies. It happens just before a local festival. Now the majority of the students get convinced of the presence of a ghost. The room where Rajiv died was abandoned by all the students. No one dared to even go near the room.

 

Dev decides to use the situation as an opportunity. For a very long time, he had been behind the hostel warden to give him a better table and chair. He was using table and chair that were not good. A leg of the table was broken and his chair also was a damaged one and he was feeling uncomfortable using the same. He now gets the table and chair from Rajiv’s room. He knows that no one can object to his decision. His room mate objects saying that it is not good to bring anything from Rajiv’s room. Dev gives his room mate two choices. Either he should part with his quality chair and table or should allow him to get the one from the room of Rajiv.

 

Dev finally brings the table and chair from Rajiv’s room. He is now very happy that he got something that the warden has not given him for quite some time. His roommate now leaves for home to have a change. In fact due to the forthcoming festival season, the students had been waiting for an opportunity to leave for their homes. All the students leave the campus. Dev’s home is far away from the campus. He also wanted to concentrate on studies a bit more. He decides against leaving the hostel before the holidays start officially. Though all the students in his batch planned to leave, he knows about the presence of senior batches in the hostel and hence there was no need to worry for food. The college canteen will anyway be kept open for the senior batches. Dev’s roommate is no more interested to stay with him. He shifts his entire luggage to another room before going home. Dev then changes the lock of the room. He is now alone in the room and happy about it. He will have no disturbance any more from anyone.

 

It was the night of the festival. Dev was all alone in his hostel. He was very busy studying for the next terminal exams on the silent night. He has a habit of keeping the window and ventilator always locked while in the room. Also the winter was very cold. Whenever he goes even to the bathroom, he goes by locking the door of his room and carries the key along with. Late in the night while reading a text book, he goes to the bathroom keeping the book open on his table. He of course locks the door.

 

There was still stunning silence all around. Of course it will be silent when no one is there in the hostel. Dev returns back in just 5 minutes and his heart fails as soon as he opens the door.

 

The fan that was off earlier was running at full speed. The book was still open on the same page that he was on earlier, but some content in the book was underlined and there was a signature of Rajiv wishing Dev good luck in the exams.

 

Dev’s body lies there for some days. The sweepers did not go into the hostel thinking that no one was present in the hostel. It takes time before the college realises that Dev died. After this incident, no student was ready to stay in the hostel. The college authorities had a tough time allocating new rooms for the students and over a period the haunted hostel was converted into a utility area...