My parents didnt seem to be quite amused with that statement of mine.After the wonderful experience of getting a cupboard at Marianville,(described in detail here) we were going back to my cousin Jimmy and Timmy's place .I was supposed to get a new sim for myself so that i won't make my dad poorer than he should be.
After the usual talk on how careless I am, blah,blah blah and repeating it in front of Bobby Vellyappan, Maries Velliamma ,Jimmy and Timmy, a magical solution was found for this apocalyptic problem- get one of my cousins to get a sim for me.And the lucky person was Timmy.
He's my age,a nice sweet person,recently graduated as an engineer and who is ,by my standards, quiet. I've never seen him violent or angry. Ever.His final year exams were approaching and he was supposed to stay indoors ar all hours and learn.Now dear cousin Timmy went out and got me a new sim.
Which resulted in-
7 Am:"Get up! it's 7 already! you have to reach your office by 9:30!'
(I know Amma. I have this thingy called an 'alarm' in my phone which I have set so that I can get up when I want.)
9:15AM:"have you started walking to the office? Is there a lot of traffic? Do you remember the way? are there people walking ?Are you about to reach? Are you sure you are on the right way?"
(No, I'm still thinking if i should stay and reply to your questions or get to the office on the first day before time and create an impression. )
1:00 PM: 'Is it your lunch break?What have you got for lunch?Did you buy a pickle bottle yet?Don't go out of the office,just stay there even if the break is long,Okay?'
(yeah,yeah,right.I'll surely stay put when there's a pani puri ,pink guava and lots of other things beckoning my tastebuds to wash away the hostel food)
5:30PM:'Is it over?No? It will get over soon, right? I mean before it is dark?'
(Sure.The main concern of everybody at Draft FCB+Ulka,Bangalore is to ensure that I reach back at Marian Ville before dark.)
6:30PM:'How much longer would you have to stay there? Tell them that your hostel is strict and won't let you in after 7.'
(Ofcourse.That is exactly what i would do on my first day-ask them to leave me early. )
8:00PM:'Are you back? No? It must be really dark ,right? You sure you are on the right road? There are people on the road ,na?Like, don't walk through deserted alleys, Okay?'
(Fine.Fine! And I can cross the road if you would just stop eating my ears.)
9:00PM'Did you have dinner? What was there?"
(Amma.I.Am.Just.Too.Tired.)
11:00PM:'Sleep early, na? You have to wake up tomorrow at 7! Want me to call you?'
(No.But you are not going to 'Not call' ,are you?)
Since my phone connected me with the rest of the world, i had to fight the urge of flushing it down the toilet. But thankfully the no. of calls per day drastically reduced after i lost my temper once and said i won't pick up if there's more than ONE or a maximum of TWO calls a day.
A couple of days later ,i was happily working away on my comp at the office when the phone rang.
'Hello?'
'Hello.May I speak to Mr Rohit?'
Rohit? Oh Timmy! For a fraction of a second i was lost coz i had forgotten Timmy's real name.
'I'm sorry,he's not available right now.Who is this?'
'This is from Airtel, Ma'am. We are calling for the verification process of this number.This is Mr Rohit's number,right?'
'Yes,Yes.I am his sister.'
'What is your address,Ma'am?
well...Jimmy and Timmy lived at Horamavu....
'Horamavu'
'The complete address please.'
'I....I just moved into Bangalore recently...I dont...'
'Ma'am can you tell me your father's name?'
That was easy.
'Bobby'
'Full name please'
Gulp. What was his full name? I call him Bobby Velliappan.Lemme guess...
'um....Bobby Emmatty?'
'Ma'am, I'm sorry,but we have to cancel the connection to this-'
'No, Bobby J Emmatty!'
'Sorry, Ma'am, we'll have to cancel the connection. Kindly contact the customer care.'
'Bobby James Emmatty?'
'Ma'am I have to hang up now.Please contact the customer care.'
Darn. Why the hell did i pick up. And what a great call that was- claiming to be Rohit Bobby's sister without knowing Bobby's full name? Well done, Resh.
Timmy wasn't picking up his phone, but Jimmy was online then and i explained how my mom would die of heart attack if she wouldnt be able to talk to me.Jimmy said that Timmy should be in some class or learning something. After a while, i got through to Timmy.
The poor chap had to leave his books go to the Airtel customer care and fix things for me when he should have been earnestly learning.
My internship was over and I was enjoying the last weekend at Bangalore with an assortment of friends- Shibu,his junior ,Jo and cousin Nitin.While coming back from Amoeba,I just looked around my camera bag for my phone and I couldnt feel it. No amount of frantic search in/out that place could find it and i sadly realized that my phone has also entered the long list of things I'd lost recently,including 4 umbrellas and one sim.(the stars hadn't revealed yet that one more umbrella would be lost and that i would jump into a swimming pool with the new phone i was going to buy).
The sad news had to be broken to my folks who'd be coming to B'lore the next day.So i called up Amma from Nitin's phone.
'You lost your phone now????What were you thinking?How could you lose your phone???Now how will i get to meet and everything else? Silly Idiot!'
Nitin had to part with his phone for the night so that my mom could sleep peacefully during her busride to Bangalore.
Now dear Timmy, who was supposed to learn for his exams, who was not permitted to wander around with Nitin and me because of the exam, had to take away a few hours of his precious time trying to cancel the number-
'What was the last call made from this number?'
'I don't know...It was with my sister'
'What was the duration of your last call?'
'@#$%%^6^77'
From what i've heard, Timmy lost his cool completely and swore that he would not offer to buy a sim for any living soul on this planet.And though i caused him to lose out on many many hours,he's finally an engineer now :)
