After two weeks of brainstorming, online learning, choosing between the numerous web development tools, multiple meetings regarding the content to be posted, social media learning curve and all the related juggernaut, our blog was finally published. Initially, I shared it with a few close people and they were surprised to know that I write! That was expected, my writing had been for myself. Most of the times limited to my diary, sometimes shared with very close friends but that was rare. Now, that I had decided to write a blog, I thought I should share it with a few more people. So, I decided to make a WhatsApp broadcast group by going through my contact list. Little did I realize that my contact list would turn out to be a reflection of the last two decades of my life.
As I scrolled through the contacts, the first one that made me stop was a contact named Ice Cream. There were no other details. I had stored this number during my graduate college days. It was the phone number of a small roadside ice cream vendor. I didn’t know his name then and I don’t know it now. But I have plenty of memories associated with this number. His ice-creams were freshly made everyday and extremely delicious. No branded ice cream could compete with the taste. But why had I stored his number?
Our hostel life was full of fun. And the fun had no time limits. We used to have a full gang present in our room and plans used to be made spontaneously irrespective of the time of the day. Tea plans at the nearby dhaba, sandwiches, Chinese food, lassi, and ice creams. Yes, the same ice cream I mentioned earlier. We used to love the flavours he served – Anjeer, Mawa, Gulkand and many more. There were many rounds of eating multiple scoops of various flavours. Sometimes in the hostel room, there were heated debates on trivial topics and those would often end with a plan to have ice cream. At midnight, and even past midnight, the ‘Ice Cream’ number would be dialled. This guy would wake up for us and serve us ice cream at any time we wanted. His sleepy face would radiate happiness and satisfaction in the knowledge that his ice cream had such a fan following. I don’t know if his stall still stands there, if the ice cream still has the same taste, or whether he will identify me if he saw me. This one phone number brought so many questions to my mind but with a smile. I have already started making plans to visit the city and see if our ice cream stall is still there!
Then I stopped at the next group of contacts. They had a suffix of my school name. All these were my schoolmates. When I was in school and later at junior college, there were no cell phones. Landline phones were used and they were used only for important communication. After school, I left my town for junior college in a city. My friends stayed back. There used to be an exchange of letters, in-land letters to be precise. I still have those letters after 24 years! All with beautiful handwriting, decorated with small designs and handmade emojis and full of innocent love. I missed all those friends today. I can just pick up my phone and call them, text them, or email them instantly but I have no idea where I lost that innocent love.
Then came the contacts with the next suffix. All those from my post-graduation institute. It reminded me of that phase in my life which I consider transformational. This phase gave me the confidence to face life. Looking at those numbers I remembered my first year of post-graduation. How I used to dial my consultants’ numbers with a shaky voice and tremors in my limbs. Sometimes I used to rehearse what I would say in advance. As time went by, I got familiar with the hospital work, gradually gained some knowledge and a few skills, and then those same calls became easy. When I heard my bosses say, “You handle the emergencies on your own!” “You can do that!” “Call me only if you feel something is beyond you!” it gave me immense confidence and ability to handle any critical situation in my practice. I still dial these numbers occasionally and experience one of the best teacher-student bonds!
And then there came those few numbers which were dialled the most at some point in my life, not just for a conversation but even for some other ‘codes’. One missed call was a code to open the window and look down and exchange messages. Two missed calls were for getting ready and coming down from the hostel room for a ride or a movie. There was no count of how many times these numbers were dialled each day. There was a time when these numbers were part of my life. And now? They are just there in my contact list. I have no memory of dialling them in years. And I am left wondering – wherever life mright have taken us, do these innumerably dialled numbers deserve just a dormant place in my contact list?
Have you revisited your entire contacts list ever? I recommend you do it some day and it will bring you a lot of nostalgia. Do share your experience in the comments!
