Raghav was sitting late in the office. It was 8’o clock and everyone had left except his boss Abhinav Kothari. Suddenly he got a call from his boss and he immediately ran inside Abhinav’s cabin. Abhinav shouted at him, “Where are the files that I have to show tomorrow morning to the builder”?
Raghav replied, “Sir I had kept the files on your table in the morning”.
“So I am lying”?
“No sir, I just wanted to inform that I do not have the files and you had to call me at 5’ o clock to review this file”.
Abhinav stared at him and waved his hand asking him to leave the cabin.
After half an hour there was no one in the office.
On Friday evening, Raghav saw Naina walking into her cabin. She was wearing a slim fit green suit and her hair was not tied today. She was looking gorgeous. She looked around and secretly took some fags of cigarette and rushed to her seat and opened her system.
Sameer was waiting outside her cabin waiting for the opportunity to enter her cabin. Within few minutes Sameer entered inside and both were smiling and talking like lusty birds. Raghav constantly kept watching Naina but did not have the guts to speak to her.
It was because he had guilt inside him that he had killed his brother when he was a child.
Raghav and his brother Dinesh were playing in the open ground after coming from the school. They saw a well nearby and went there. They tried to peep inside the well. It was scary. It was very deep and some foul smelled water was running at a slow pace inside it. Raghav could not bear it and started walking near the well. Suddenly Dinesh’s foot slipped and he fell inside the well. Raghav heard his screaming and came rushing to the spot where they both were standing. Raghav immediately reached the well and saw inside it but could not see anything as the well was very deep and there was water inside it. He started shouting and weeping but no one came for his help. After an hour he went home and narrated the incident to his parents. His father was very upset and blamed Raghav for not paying attention to his younger brother.
This incident shook him and he felt guilt for this incident thorough out his life. He completed his study in Mirzapur and decided to come to Delhi for job.
He got a job in Delhi which was lucrative based on his qualification and talent. However he could not succeed much in career as his boss and his peers kept bullying all the time.
He had accepted being bullied because of the guilt that he could have saved his brother.
He came to his room in the evening and took snacks to eat and then went to sleep. Since he was very tired he slept within minutes.
He heard some ringing and felt disturbed. He didn’t want to get up as he was tired but the ring didn’t stop. Finally he woke up and saw time. It was 7’o clock in the morning and someone was calling him.
He picked up the call and said, “Hello, Raghav this side”.
The person on the other side responded, “Raghav, why are you doing this to you.”
Raghav was shocked. This was his voice. He saw the mobile and shook it and again heard the voice.
Raghav asked, “Who are you?”
The voice said, “How does it matter Raghav? I can see that you become restless in the office, could not talk to Naina, sit late in the office and do more work than others. Why are you doing this? Do you still feel guilty that you killed your brother?”
Raghav said, “Yes, I still feel guilty. What choice do I have?”
The voice said, “No need to feel guilty. That was not your fault. Your brother’s foot slipped and he went inside the well.”
Raghav Said, “Ok. I am getting late for office. Let me get ready for the office.”
Raghav kept thinking but could not decide who had called him and how he knew so much about him. Moreover the voice was his voice only.
He again saw Naina in the office chatting with Sameer. He was upset but again guilt took him and he could not think anything else.
In the evening he cooked his dinner and slept. He had been sleeping within minutes of going to bed for last one week.
His eyes opened and he woke with great difficulty. Something was disturbing him. He saw the clock.
It was exactly 7’o clock. The mobile was ringing. He was terrified a bit and saw the screen. It seemed to be the same number who called him the previous day.
Finally he picked up the call. “Hello.”
The other side replied, “Hi Raghav. Good morning.”
Raghav was again terrified. It was the same voice. His own voice.
The voice said, “Raghav. Don’t be afraid of me. Focus on your work and come on time. Have confidence in yourself. You do more work than others in the office and still you get bullied in the office. Why?”
“Ok. But what I can do?”
“You can do and you have to do if you want to survive in this corporate world and live in this world. You like Naina?”
Raghav hesitated and said, “Yes. But she is dating another guy in the office.”
“If Sameer can date her, why can’t you date her? Find out about the guy that takes him away from her and you become close to her. Find out on social media and other sources available in the market. There is no harm in this.”
Raghav agreed and thanked the voice.
Raghav went to the office a bit confidently and surfed internet and talked to few people on the phone.
During lunch break he met Sameer in the lift and smiled at Sameer. Sameer looked at him and ignored. Raghav waited for some time and then asked Sameer.
“How are your wife and son in Lucknow?”
Sameer was shocked and became furious and said, “What is this bullshit?”
Raghav politely said, “I am asking, how is your wife and your son? Are you going to tell this to Naina or I should tell this to her.”
Sameer felt anger but couldn’t say anything. He requested Raghav not to divulge this to anyone and that he will take care of this.”
Raghav smiled and very confidently walked onto his seat. He saw Sameer who was bluffing on his seat. He stood from his chair and started walking to Naina’s cabin. He reached her cabin and saw me. I was smiling and he was bluffing. He quietly took a U turn and returned to his chair.
Raghav reached home and started cooking his food. He was whistling and was happy and didn’t have the urge to sleep immediately after the dinner.
Raghav slept late and woke up in the morning at 7’o clock. He did not want an alarm now.
The voice said, “So Raghav, how are you feeling now.”
Raghav replied, “Cool. It seems things are turning good now.”
“Raghav, you will see drastic change in yourself if you keep on following my instructions. But remember one thing.”
“What?”
“Never tell anyone that I call you every day and give you tips otherwise people will consider you a fool and no one will believe you. This can lend you in trouble and I also will stop calling you.”
“I promise. I will not let anyone know about this.”
They both laughed and talked for some time.
Raghav got ready for his office. He was doing his work when he was called inside his boss’s cabin. The boss shouted at him regarding files. But Raghav was quiet and was smiling. He replied, “I already kept the files on your table and you had to call me for review. I cannot stand the whole day in your cabin and wait for my turn.
The boss stared at him but didn’t say anything.
Raghav came to his cabin and saw Naina. She ignored him as usual and was waiting for Sameer.
After sometime Naina went out of cabin and returned after an hour.
She seemed to be upset and was not able to concentrate on anything.
Raghav observed her for some time and then went inside the cabin.
Both of them were in the café late in the evening having strong coffee with plum cake. Naina was still upset and informed Raghav that Sameer was married with a son and didn’t inform me. Rather he was flirting with me. I earlier broke up with guys and didn’t want to breakup now.
Raghav said, “Naina, don’t be upset. Thanks God that you came to know earlier otherwise he could have married you and ruined your life.”
They talked for some time and Naina was cheerful now.
Next morning, the voice said, “So Mr. Raghav, how are you feeling now? Naina is yours and boss is not bullying you.”
Raghav was cheerful and said, “Wonderful my friend. It seems this daily conversation has changed my life. Love you my friend.”
On Monday Raghav went to his boss’s cabin and said, “Sir have you checked the files?”
Abhinav said, “No. Is it urgent?”
Raghav sat on the chair without asking and said, “Yes.”
“Why”
“Because the company’s license is valid for one year and tomorrow is the last day for renewal otherwise we will have to cancel all contracts.”
Abhinav literally sprang up from his chair and started sweating. He wanted to ask Raghav how it could be dealt with since he had been doing this earlier without any complaint and still being bullied.
Finally Abhinav asked, “I am not sure how it will be done in such a short time. I have many payments to be done and if contracts get invalid, I will on the road.”
Raghav assured his boss that he will take care of all these things and Abhinav should focus on his core area.
Every evening Raghav and Naina would hang around after the office hours and Naina would leave Raghav’s house very late in the night.
One day Naina took Raghav’s hand and said, “Raghav, will you be true to me and tell everything. I mean I do not want you to hide anything from me.”
“Of course, I love you and will not hide anything.”
“Raghav, I am saying this I have become tired of breakups and cannot afford any more breakups in my life.”
“I understand.”
They both hugged. While hugging Raghav suddenly saw his mobile lying on the table and felt uneasy.
Naina could feel his uneasiness and asked, “My honey, tell me what is bothering you?”
Raghav hesitated and said, “Nothing.”
“I can feel something is wrong and you are hiding something.”
Raghav was blank. He recalled the voice’s words. “Never tell anyone that I call you every day and give you tips otherwise people will consider you a fool and no one will believe you. This can lend you in trouble and I also will stop calling you.”
He had to say something. He could not be excused.
He said, “Naina, actually I get a call every morning that prepares me for the day.”
“What?” Naina exclaimed with surprise. “Are you joking?”
“No. I get a call and tell me how I can be confident and deal with everyday issues.”
Naina studied his face for some time and said, “Let’s go the Psychiatrist tomorrow.”
Raghav was afraid of Psychiatrist as he had visited earlier also but the doctor could not understand this.
The voice had also warned Raghav not to visit any doctor as they will not believe him and hence will not be able to treat him.
Next day, Naina was relaxing in Raghav’s arm in his house. She asked Raghav about the same thing and he replied the same thing. Now Naina was on her toes.
She clearly told Raghav that either he should visit the Psychiatrist or she will have to walk away from his life.
Raghav had no choice. He was regretting why he informed her about the phone calls. His life was at stake now.
Naina and Raghav went to the doctor and told her everything including guilty of killing younger brother.
The doctor informed that this is happening due to mental restlessness but still decided to visit Raghav’s residence next morning. The doctor came at 6.50 AM and Raghav and the doctor waited for 7’o clock. Both were nervous. What will happen if the call didn’t come and what if the call came?
Exactly at 7’o Clock the mobile rang. The doctor felt uneasy. Raghav picked up the call and put it on speaker. The voice said, “Doctor, you should not have come here. How will you treat Raghav when you are not in stable mind? I came to your clinic today and you forgot to refund balance towards your consultation fee and rather argued.”
The doctor could realize that same thing had happened today in the clinic but how this voice knew about this? She started sweating and asked for water. Raghav went to bring water and came back very shortly.
The doctor was not there. He searched everywhere but could not find her.
Next morning the voice was shouting at him. “Raghav, why did you inform Naina about me? I had strictly told you not to divulge this to anyone. Now you see how I will ruin your life. If you can rise because of me, you can also go down in your life. Now you see what I will do.”
Raghav regretted and said sorry many times but the voice didn’t listen. Raghav did not receive calls from that day onwards.
The doctor informed Naina that the call came and it was exactly Raghav’s own voice. Naina could not believe but had to rely on doctor’s statement.
Raghav was very upset with the call received by the doctor and informed Naina about this call.
He didn’t keep well for few days and decided to relocate to another city. After couple of days he relocated to Nasik.
He joined a logistics company and had to supervise the entire operations of the company.
But he decided not to keep any mobile as he didn’t want to face the same situation again.
One day his boss had to go abroad and asked Raghav to keep him posted during his absence in India. He asked Raghav to buy a mobile as he could not escape this and had to update his boss whenever his boss calls him.
Raghav was reluctant and said, “Sir I do not want to keep mobile as I feel disturbed.”
The boss said, “Yaar in this fast world of new technologies you will have to keep a phone otherwise it will be difficult to interact and get updates about the functioning of this organization.”
Raghav had to agree. He had to survive in this corporate world and had to feed himself.
He went to the mobile shop and started searching for a simple phone. He was looking for a phone which is not sophisticated but is very simple to use. His only purpose was to update his boss whenever required. He searched for about half an hour and kept on asking the shop owner about the features.
Suddenly his mind went blank for some time.
He saw a mobile box in the last rack that caught his attention. He forced his mind and recalled the model. This was the same Sony ICD-PX 470 that he had in Delhi and where voice used to prepare him for the day.
He stood there for some time and came out with the same model from the shop. He purchased SIM from another shop and requested the guy not to confirm his mobile number and also requested to write SIM number on a piece of paper. The staff looked at him with surprise and inserted SIM in his mobile.
Raghav next day went to his boss and handed the slip to his boss where his mobile number was mentioned. The boss laughed and kept the slip in his pocket.
The doctor called Naina and asked if she knew anything about Raghav. Naina told her that she had been searching for a couple of months and finally got a message from Raghav few days back only mentioning his new job and location.
Raghav got up as usual in the morning and was getting ready for the office. He was happy that everything was going fine and he will now meet Naina. In fact he had already informed about his job and location to Naina few days back.
He was about to leave when suddenly his mobile rang and heard his voice again. He was very upset. He looked at his watch.
It was 7’o clock.
He was sweating all over his body and everything happened in the past again started lingering in his mind.
He fainted and his eyes were closed.
He woke up and saw sunshine outside. He saw around himself and found himself at a new place. Naina was sitting by his side giving him fresh juice. She seemed to be weak a bit but was smiling.
He was about to ask how he came here but Naina spoke before he completed his sentence. “When you had sent me message about your well being and new job, I was very excited and wanted to meet you. The doctor had also called me.”
“But why did the doctor called you?”
“To explain the phenomenon of calls received everyday that prepared you every day. The doctor had done very extensive research after getting call at your home when you were in Delhi.”
“Do you know what she informed?”
“No. But why?”
”She informed me that the mobile had a feature where you could record your voice and play it at a specific time fixed by you. Though the feature is common in most of the mobile but generally no one uses this and hence the attention was not paid on this aspect earlier.”
Raghav and Naina now looked at one another and laughed together but could not believe this theory for some time.
Naina then continued, “In fact I did a blunder by leaving you only because of this nuisance created by the voice. I should not have left you like this. I had decided to come to Nagpur, talk to you and settle in life with you. When I came to your apartment I found you in unconscious state and cried. I asked for help from the local guys around and who took you to hospital where doctor confirmed that no physical injury had happened but there seemed to be some mental disturbance. It didn’t take much time for me to come to the conclusion that it was because of the guilt you had. I took you back to Delhi and went to the Psychiatrist who suggested rest for some days.”
Raghav looked into Naina’s eyes. She was wearing the same slim fit green suit but her hair was tied. She had cat like eyes and was looking horny.
Raghav didn’t have much confidence and was weak. But he could not do anything. He had to accept what he was and improve his confidence by having sessions with Psychiatrist.
