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”…