I disconnected the call, switched off my phone
and went to sleep. Lady Sleep, who usually is kind to me, was in off mood and
served me quite late. I woke late. It was the weekend and hence there was no
rush. I took my time to freshen up and switched on my phone – it showed 114
missed calls from unknown numbers.
I was numb. I called Gulati – ‘Dude, it is
getting on my nerves.’ I filled him with details before deciding on what to do
next.
‘I am going to Police. It is a case of
harassment- why!! It is full-fledged stalking.’
‘And what would you say to them? A girl is
harassing you by calling you from more than 100 different numbers. And what is her
interest in a not so attractive guy? – She likes his voice. Dude no one is
going to believe you.’
‘I need to do something.’ I was feeling the
heat somehow. ‘Shall I ask Shekhar to help?’
‘Dude!! Calm down. You are panicking for
nothing.’
‘But he is…’
‘A famous crime investigator. But there is no
crime here. And he is an extremely busy man. We should not take undue advantage
from him. This case does not need him - we will handle it ourselves.’
‘What shall we do?’
‘The next time she calls, engage her – Get to
know anything which would allow us to locate or identify her.’
‘I do not know. I will try. I think her voice
has a familiar touch – I am yet to place it on a person though.’
‘Well!! Keep trying on that too. We will end
this soon.’ Gulati said with flair akin to James Bond.
Despite his suggestion, I dropped a mail to Shekhar
explaining the situation and asking for his help. We are good friends and as
expected I got a prompt reply – he was busy in some case but referred me to a
Police Officer, Shiv Kant, who would help me. I called Shiv Kant and told him
my story. He gave me a patient hearing, asked me for a few details and promised
to come back within a couple of days. I was slightly relieved. I took my lunch
and watched an old favourite on my laptop. The day was going smooth until that
phone call put a break to it.
‘Hello!!’ she was tentative.
‘Yes.’ I said. It was time to put Gulati’s
strategy at work.
‘Ah!! I thought you would not pick the phone.’
‘I thought the same.’ I said with a chuckle.
‘Oh!! The mood is so different. I like this
version of ‘You’. So, how are you today?’
‘I am fine. It is strange though that you did
not address me as Karan.’
‘Ha ha!! I knew from the first day that you are
not Karan.’
‘And yet you chose to address me with that
name. Any specific reasons?’
‘You will come to know of that eventually. We
are just getting started to know each other.’
‘I am not sure. But let us start by that way. We
have not been formally introduced. I am Rahul.’
‘I know. I am Shamisha.’ I froze for a moment –
the mind went completely blank.
‘Say it again.’
‘What? My name? Shamisha.’ I went into a shell.
‘You sound surprised?’ She asked.
‘I used to know a girl named Shamisha once. Are
you the same girl?’ I was in two minds. I realized why her voice sounded
familiar but it was not exactly the same. I was in two minds.
‘It is for you to decide.’ She disconnected the
call.
‘Hello!! Hello!!’ I tried to call back but the
calls got disconnected.
I called Mithilesh. ‘You are not playing any
games with me na?’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘The girl who has been calling me all these days
now claims that her name is Shamisha.’
‘What?’
‘Yes. You are sure this isn’t one of your silly
ideas to get my love life going?’
‘Of course!! Why are you even thinking that I
would do such a thing?’
‘Because very few people know of my feelings for
her. And among them only you can act in such a rash way.’
‘Well, I haven’t. And why can’t she call you?
The girl who is calling you may be Shamisha.’
‘No. She is not. First, why would she call me
from hundred different numbers? Second, though the voice is very similar it is
not the same. Someone is trying to impersonate her.’
‘Who could that be?’
‘We will find that out. We will have a concall
with our entire group tonight. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
I took a deep breath – I had to find the guy
who was playing this thing on me. Only a few close friends knew about my
feelings for Shamisha. It should be one among them – strangely, I could not
think of anyone doing this to me (not even Mithilesh, even though I flaked him
for the same a few moments back). Who could do this? My chain of thoughts was
broken by a call from Shiv Kant.
‘Can you come over to my station?’
‘When?’
‘Now’
Using public transport would have taken a long
time. I called Mithilesh. ‘Busy?’
‘Nahi. Bol?’
‘Can you spare an hour for me? I need to go to
the police station.’
‘Okay. I am coming over to your place.’
As his car pulled outside my gate, I found
Gulati sitting there too. I looked questioningly at Mithilesh.
‘What? You do not want me to be present in your
first tryst with a police station?’ Gulati asked with a glint in his eyes.
I smiled. ‘Chal’ I said to Mithilesh.
Shiv Kant’s police station was swanky unlike
the ones we are accustomed to see in Hindi movies and serials. He greeted us
with a smile – ‘This place was renovated last year. You guys are looking
shocked?’ we nodded in tandem. ‘Well, you will be more shocked when I tell you
the reason I called you.’
‘What?’ I asked.
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