Haunted 3G

I recently moved to Dubai. One of the first things that people do when they move to Dubai is buy some really cool gadgets, things that they had only been hearing, reading and watching videos about, till date.

My husband bought a Mac, a Nikon, and a Bose. I just looked around: grey, white and black boxes, and a bunch of figures to describe them. I am what you may tag as ‘technologically challenged’. Gizmos are to me, what poetry is to Stephen Hawking.

“May I help you ma’am?”

Yeah, can you please show me the way to a garden? I thought.

“Yeah, can you please show me the way to the Apple counter?” I asked, instead. I loved their TVC, but not for its rational contents:

‘If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone’, it said and left me wondering, “Wow, what a way to say – me, best!”

And so, I just repeated a name from the last commercial that left an echo in my mind.

“You want an iPhone?” I heard a voice from behind. The voice of a five year old, who has just robbed a toy store.

I turned around to look at the happy man holding the Mac, Nikon, and Bose bags.

“I don’t know, baby.” I replied, and started following the store assistant.

“Take one. You’ll love it!”

“Why?” I asked. Yes, I did ask.

“Why? It’s an Apple!” His face looked like I had just asked what two and two summed up to.

And this was another thing I could never understand. The adjectives in this part of the mall were either the non-decipherable - 3G, 640 x 960 P, 512 MB something-something or simply, ‘Apple’.

I maintained the ‘why’ expression, so he gave another try.

“It’s a phone, a library and a music player in one.”

“Oh. Nice!” I said, and he giggled.

So, now I had my iPhone, loaded with my favourite music - my best friend when my husband was touring.

One day, when I got bored of my house, I decided to take a stroll at the lakes below my building. I plugged in the new earphones and set my playlist on shuffle.

“Tum itna jo muskara rahe ho…” I hummed along as I walked towards the staircase that took me to the lakes.

“Tum itna jo… kehi deep jale kehi dil…” something happened. The song changed, suddenly. I stopped, pulled the iPhone out of my pocked and checked. Yep, it had jumped a few songs. I dismissed it as my incompetency to handle the new appliance. I might have tapped on something while walking. So, I resumed my walk.

The phone was new, and so was the experience to walk along the lakes. The next day, at around the same time in the evening, I went down. Today, I felt like listening to soft rock…

“You took me right, out of the blue… tu jaha, jaha rahega, mera saaya...” It changed again! Exactly where it had changed yesterday - at the stairs that led me to the lakes. I froze, looked around. The beautiful palm trees that dotted the Lakes Walk looked creepy in their shadows across the glass buildings. And they appeared to be swinging completely in synchrony with the song. I dismissed the thought again, though not so convincingly this time, and walked on.

By the time I was back from the walk I had forgotten all about it. And the next day when I did remember it, I was convinced that it was just a play of my mind.

Today, again I started for the walk. The thought was there, but wasn’t really bothering me, till the time I stepped out of my building. I was purposely listening to a mindless, peppy number.

“Munni badnaam hui darling… Gumnaam hai koi…” It happened. Right where it had happened before - on the stairway. This wasn’t funny. But what was it? I looked around. The same tall shadows danced on a tune that only I could hear.

I thought for a moment. This was too much of a coincidence. If I was pressing a key by mistake, how can I be doing so again and again at the same precise point? What is it on this staircase?

I had laughed with my friends while watching Exorcist. But this was beginning to scare me.

I looked around, again. People went by their normal lives. No one seemed to be affected by any supernatural force. I didn’t feel like going any further. But I didn’t feel like going back home either. I was alone at home. There was still one more day to go before my husband returned. And I was scared to be alone.

I decided to continue, put on another peppy number and try to forget, just as the other two days. I was sure it wouldn’t happen beside the lakes, but only at the staircase. I changed the song and started walking. But the thought never left my mind this time.

I returned home after a short walk and watched a few comic videos before sleeping. The next day I decided to visit a friend, rather than spend the evening alone.

Hubby returned early next morning and the first thing I wanted to tell him was this. But I waited. I knew he would only laugh, but I still wanted to give him enough time to settle down.

“I gotta tell you something.” I said, as soon as I saw comfort on his face.

“What happened, baby?” He must have known from the way my voice sounded that it was serious.

I narrated the incidents, and told him my fears. He stared at me for a while, then asked for my iPhone.

He played around with a few touches and gave it back to me. “It won’t haunt you any more.” He declared.

“What was haunting? How did you…? What did you…?”

“Shhhhh. You had your Shake Control turned on your phone. Every time you climbed down the stairs, it shook in your pocket and changed the song. I’ve turned it off now.”

“Oh.”