N95

It was a bright sunny morning..well it always is for Ram because by the time he wakes up Sun is at its brightest. Its 10 in the morning and all his flatmates have already gone to office. He wakes up to an irritating alarm, turns it off and plays, in full volume, Johnny Gaddar's title song on his laptop - not once, not twice but in an infinite loop. This song, specially the line - "zindagi jua hai khel yaar", made adernalin flow in him, filled him with excitement and made him think of himself as a gambler ready to take risks, as Sherlock Homes, as Veyomkesh Bakshi or as Johnny Gaddar. Dancing to the beats of his favorite song he gets ready for office, finishes his breakfast, turns off the music and leaves for office. By the time he reaches the gate of his society a bunch of rikshaw pullers gather up to invite him to their rikshaw. Now is the time for him to show his manipulation skills -- a must in a gambler..

Ram - How much for sector 4.
Many voices: Rs 20. Rs 25. Rs 15....

Many different bids were placed but none pleased Ram..

Ram(starts walking away from Rikshaw pullers): No, no. I wont pay so much. Its just(just!!!!) 10 blocks away. You people are asking too much.
Some Voice: How much do you want to pay then.
Ram(making his statement look logical): Take 1 Re for one block. Make it 10.
Voices: no no . thats too less..
One voice: okay come..I will take you in 10 Rs...

So Sherlock Holmes or Veyomkesh Bakshi or Johnny Gaddar gets into his newly hired, well negotiated chauffeur driven Rikshaw decorated with artificial flowers cascading down from the canopy. Having succeeded in displaying his gambler like manipulation skills, Ram sits comfortably and starts humming his favourite lines -- "zindagi jua hai khel yaar..hey johnny gaddar". Ram is half way through his journey when two men on a scooter call him.

man1: bhaisaab.. bhaisaab..
Ram: what?
man1: We have got a brand new N95 cell phone and we want to sell it to you...
Ram (showing of his nokia cellphone model ???. its so old that he doesnt even remember its model): No.I dont need. I have one.
man1: we are selling it really cheap bhaisaab!!! and you have very old one..
Ram: no. I dont need yaar..
man1: atleast take a look.. just once..
Ram: ok. Rikshaw please stop.

So, both rikshaw and the scooter stop. man0, who was driving the scooter is wearing goggles and looking straight, not interested in conversation at all. man1 gets down the scooter and start selling the phone to Ram - look at this sir, its simply a beauty.. a gem.. its got camera.. bla bla megapixels.. its super user friendly.. compact.. light weight.. operate it sir.. take it in your hands and see how it feels.. how it clicks magical pictures in just a push of a button.. superb pictures sir.. and see its sliding feature sir.. just slide it sir.. you will really look dashing with it.. just hold it sir.. just hold. Ram is puzzled now. Why is he insisting me to hold it. Could it be a bomb..

Ram: no i dont want to hold it.
man1(as if reading Ram's mind): why are you so scared. its not a bomb and neither are we terrorists..look..(presses some buttons)

Ram: ohk.. holds the phone and looks at its features.
man1: click a picture Sir..
Ram: no.. no i dont want..
man1: see its sliding feature.. its the latest model in market.. and this piece is brand new.. not even touched once. See not even a single scratch on screen..

Ram looks carefully at the handset and notices that its really a brand new piece without even a single scratch.Now, Ram gets interested but doubtful too and whenever there are doubts, there are questions.

Ram: How much are you selling it for?
man1: Rs 8000 only Sir..
Ram: Have you stolen it from somewhere?
man1: no Sir. do we look like thieves?
Ram: Yes, you do look like thieves.
man1: no Sir, we are not thieves. Its so cheap because its smuggled from abroad..look I have a receipt..

man1 shows Ram a receipt saying something like this:

Customs Department
new delhi airport address
phone: XXXXXXX

model: Nokia N series N95
Price Per Quantity: 35000
Pieces: 100
total: 3500000

some stamp underneath..

The Sherlock Holmes in ram awakens now. takes out his phone and starts dialing the phone number on receipt.

man1: whom are you calling?
Ram(its ringing!!): The number on receipt.
man1: no.. no sir.. if you want to buy, then buy... but don't call here..

The phone number exists and the man is afraid, seems like he is telling truth.. But Ram needs to have some clue who these guys are before he buys this phone. So, Ram looks at the number plate of their scooter.. the number plate is there but it is carefully hidden under a lump of mud..

Ram: okay.. let me just call my friend..
man1: call from this phone sir.. just put your sim card in it and see how sweet your friend sounds in this phone..

Ram(thinking): why does he want me to make a call from this phone? Does it have some kind of call activated bomb? But why would someone sell a bomb? No, nobody sells bomb to public.. they either place it or burst it..

Ram(starts taking out sim from his cell phone): okay. i will call from your phone.
man1: puts the sim in N95.
Ram: Hi Hari.. look i met some guys while coming to office and they are selling N95 for 8000. yes. the phone is real.. and its working fine..
Hari: It could be stolen or it could be a bomb too.. don't buy..
Ram: It doesn't matter if it is stolen and no one has guts to sell a bomb..can you confirm me the cost of N95 in market..
Hari: Its 35000.
Ram: okay. thanks..

man1: see Sir.. how good it sounds...
Ram: yes.. but i don't want to buy...
man1: why Sir..
Ram: I don't want to pay 8000 for a smuggled piece.. I can pay only 5000.. I am not a rich man.. you know..
man1: no Sir. we are already selling it so cheap...
Ram: no way.. am not going to buy it for 8000..
man1: hmm.. ohhk 7000..
Ram: no 5000..
man1: okay
Ram: okay. give me your contact number.. I will call you in evening.. and bring you the money.
man1: no Sir.. If you want to buy then buy it now..You think we are some kind of thieves.. sometimes you check the number plate, sometimes you call the customs office.. if you want to buy , then buy or else we go.. we can sell it anywhere for 5000..
Ram: But I am not carrying 5000 with me..
man1: But you do have ATM card..

This was the time to take final decision. By now Ram was sure that this is not a bomb and Rs 5000 was not a big amount for him but it was not less either. It was not money that was pushing him to buy this phone but the excitement,the feeling of being like a gambler, the feeling of taking risks.. adrenalin was flowing fast now.. Ram looked into the eyes of man1 for 2 minutes before saying anything.. Though he didn't find anything right in his eyes he couldn't say no.

Ram: okay. lets go..

Ram gets off the rikshaw, pays off the rikshaw puller and gets on their scooter..After some time three of them arrive at ATM. Ram still dint have any clue who these two men are and how is he going to trace them if anything goes wrong. So he tries something..


Ram: I have called from this phone..but i haven't verified if i can receive a call on this phone..
man1: what sir. when you are able to call. then you should be able to receive..
Ram: no.. I wont buy without verifying..
man1: ohhk..put your sim in this phone and i will call you..
Ram: ohhk..

man1 calls Ram from his phone. Ram is assured now that he got at least that guys number. Ram goes inside the ATM and takes out 5000. But then he thinks that they can be persuaded for a lesser amount and puts 1000 in a separate pocket.

Ram: I have only 4000 in my account.. Cant pay any more..
man1 gives a smile to Ram..takes the money from him, pushes the cell phone in his pocket and rides of on the scooter..

Ram takes out the cell phone, slides it 1-2 times,puts it in his bag and calls his friend...
Ram: I bought it man.. N95 for 4000..
Hari: cool..

After half an hour: in office.
Ram: hey dude.. look I bought N95 today..
Colleague: Really.. show show..
Colleague: waoo it really looks nice...hmm... but there seems some problem in sliding...
Ram: no. it slides smoothly. let me check..hmm.. its not sliding that smoothly now..I am not even able to push the buttons..It doesn't even open from back..where do i put the sim...ohh no its a plastic model of N95..

Ram sits on his desk with his head in his hands thinking what went wrong. Ram's colleague is playing his favorite song.. "hey johnny...". It was a working phone that he saw, he even made call from that phone then how is that phone not working now.. Just in front of the ATM he talked on this phone.. but then something happened when he went inside the ATM.. that guy- man1 replaced it with a plastic model and slid it inside Ram's pocket.. he doesn't even have that guy's number now..

Later in the evening while going back home same Rikshaw wala passes by Ram:
Rikshaw wala (smiling) : How is the phone Sir? Wish u had paid me Rs 20 Sir...