me, mobile and missed calls

sometime in september 2003 i started to use mobile with an airtel connection. i didn’t own the handset, the connection was not on my name and i didn’t keep this handset with me all the time. simply because it was a dc (not as in “dc = dusre ka computer” but as in “dc=dusre ka cellphone”); the actual owner was piyush, one of my closest friends. i simply used it for reasons non-revealable :d .. it was a motorola handset.

those were the good days, i would say, everything owned by anyone in the vicinity (people known as friends) was owned by you as well. be it a mobile, computer, apparels, shoes, books or anything else for that matter. hostel life has it’s own advantages & disadvantages. i learned or derived the slang “teri girlfriend meri girlfriend” in those golden days only. such was the bond between among us all, brothers of soul. we may be far apart now but the feeling still stands the same.

the very next year, in september 2004 i got my own mobile handset, courtesy to navneet dev singh. i gave him my debit card and asked him to buy a nokia 3310 for me. he brought back samsung c100; color screen,gprs enabled with an airtel connection. reason : it’s the flavor of the season, it’s the style. effect : my budget for the month got screwed up.

anyways, i needed the mobile. i used it for good 50 months before being constantly forced by, garima, ravi manghnani & my driver, to buy a new mobile. i gave in to their demand and bought a nokia n73m. anup helped me buy it. i hate shopping; i get too confused. i tend to throw money on the counter, grab my stuff and run away as soon as possible. i still have the same nokia handset along with a reliance cdma handset (helped by vineet to buy it) lg3100. and for the matter of fact i still have my samsung c100 (i don’t use it though).

the reason i am writing here about my mobiles is very simple, i want to tell you one similarity among those all; missed calls. pretty fancy stuff this missed call is; ain’t it? we indians invented it and used it to the core to shake even the top wireless carriers in the world. due to missed call concept they had a hit of 30% in their revenues.

what is a missed call? as per wiki “a missed call is a telephone call that is not answered by its intended recipient prior to the termination of ringing on the recipient’s end. the ringing may be terminated by the caller simply by hanging up the receiver of a landline  phone, or pressing the appropriate button on a mobile phone, or if the answering machine or voicemail  picks up on the recipient’s end.”

on a normal, regular day. i have half a dozen missed calls in my mobile call-log. mostly, the reason is not someone trying to gimme a missed call but me missing it, sometimes intentionally as well. all these years, since i got my first mobile; i tend to keep my mobile in silent mode. mostly because of my irregular sleep cycle or for the convenience of my roommates.

i prefer to keep my mobile in airplane mode (light’s mode); no ring, no vibration. though more than often it’s not possible due to some reason or other to keep it in light mode. i still try it. at other times it stays in vibration mode. very rarely my cellphone stays in ringing mode. and most importantly my mobile always finds itself unattended in some corner of my room below something.

so you can imagine how tough it could be for me to attend a phone call… most of my friends and relatives know that i don’t carry my mobile with me, mostly. having said that; i would like to confess that at-times i use their knowledge of this fact to cover up for intentional missed call. at times, i simply don’t pick up the call be it from anyone. exceptions could be there..

the list of people, i don’t pickup calls from with the intent of not picking it, includes best of my friends, my family, my managers, my colleagues or anyone you can think of. how important the person could be, how important the call could be; if i don’t feel to pick it, i won’t. though i know that sometimes it could backfire often it doesn’t as everyone knows about my above stated habits.

i was thinking yesterday if there is at-least one person, who i could say about. that i always pick up his or her calls. i thought about everyone; all of my best friends, my closest pals, my relatives, my family, my so called lady loves, my boss. i couldn’t think of a anyone whose calls i always failed to pick unintentionally except one person. if i miss a call from this particular person, i call him immediately as soon as the phone stops ringing.

oh yeah, i missed calls intentionally from my father, sister, best friends and everyone else for the matter of fact but from this one very specific person; trust me or not i have even missed a few international calls as well because i was angry upon the caller. i don’t know, why? i can’t explain, why? i may not know, how? but there is this one person who i could say with best of my memory i pick each and every call from or call him back after intentionally missing it immediately, if i am aware of it.

i have found my self in situations where i wanted to talk to someone so badly that i have been waiting for the call for ages and still i wouldn’t pick. i will watch it ring, i would feel hurt and extremely tempted as i want to talk to this person, it could be anyone; ranging a large circle of people i have in my life. but i would miss it intentionally.

reason; i am in bad or sad mood. i am feeling down or want to be alone. or simply, i am feeling sleepy. or maybe, i simply don’t want to talk about something which is inevitable on this particular call. i don’t want others to bear me in such mood-swings. not many people can take it.

though, i am still grateful to the gods that i picked up the call made by daddy when he was admitted in the icu in a totally alien city due to some heart problem. his health broke down during journey. he called my at 0600 and after releasing first call after a shot conversation i called him back immediately as i realized the fear in his voice. may i always pick up such calls of emergency.

i also wish that i always pick up calls on which the called needs some help, due to any-reason, what-so-ever. may be he just want to talk to someone because he is in bad mood or needs something; an advice, a shoulder to cry on or anything which i could arrange or provide in any means.

now you might be wondering; what is the reason? i always pick call from that one person; may be because when i hear that voice, i feel happy, jovial, relaxed or simply i feel good. and you might also want to know – who it could be? obviously i am not gonna answer this question, i don’t want to make you feel jealous and that person feel odd.

so find it yourself..because i am not gonna tell you “who is that girl?” i think it’s a big enough hint, ain’t it? it shouldn’t be tough now… lolz… what do you think? give it a shot and who knows if you are right; you might find a pack of chocolate via courier…:)

p.s. : and for all of others who might feel bad about my this habit, don’t you find it comfortable that i call you back. no matter what if i miss call intentionally of unintentionally i always call back. i always do. though, time frame might be spread through a big range.. :d

she might read this post just not to believe that it’s her i am talking about because of the fact that she is sure i have missed her calls a lot. trust me on this; it was never intentional as best as i could recall it; you are not more important than everyone else but simply a special friend – very special…:) if only you knew it… *sigh*