One Night at the Call Center Read online

  “Well, anyway, so over three days we visited each other's stalls three dozen times, and by the end of it we felt…” Priyanka said and paused.

  “What?” Radhika said.

  “We felt that both the stalls belonged to us, and that as long as we were together we didn't need anyone else to visit,” Priyanka said and her voice choked up.

  My throat already had a lump the size of an orange in it, and I just nodded, trying to keep a straight face.

  We kept silent. I was hoping Priyanka would cry big time now.

  “Well, things change. Life goes on and we move on to better things. It is like changing from PlayStation to X-box,” Vroom said.

  I hate Vroom. Just when Priyanka was all mellow, Vroom's wise words brought her back to reality. She composed herself and changed the topic.

  “How far away are we?” Priyanka said.

  I looked at my watch.

  “Damn, Vroom, it is past 4:00 a.m. How much further?”

  “Around five kilometers from the call center. I'm driving more slowly now. Do you want me to drive faster?”

  “No,” we cried.

  “We're going to be late. Bakshi will flip,” I said.

  “I can take a shortcut,” Vroom said.

  “Shortcut?” I said.

  “Next left there's an untarred road. It was made for construction projects. It cuts through some fields and saves us about two kilometers.”

  “Is the road lit up?” Esha said.

  “No, but we have headlights. I've used it before. Let's take it,” Vroom said.

  After a kilometer, he took a sharp left.

  “Ouch,” Esha said, “you didn't tell us this road would be so bumpy.”

  “Just a few minutes,” Vroom said, “actually the ground is wet today from yesterday's rain.”

  We plunged on into the darkness, the headlights trying hard to show us the way. We passed fields and construction sites filled with cement, bricks, and iron rods. In a few places there were deep holes as builders constructed the foundation for super-high-rise apartments. I think the whole of Delhi had decided to move to Gurgaon, and people were growing homes along with the crops.

  “There, just one final cut-through and we'll be back on the highway,” Vroom said, taking a sharp right.

  Suddenly the Qualis skidded and slid down an inclined path.

  “Careful,” everyone shouted, holding onto anything they could find. The Qualis went off the road into a slushy downhill patch. Vroom desperately tried to control the steering, but the wheels wouldn't grip the ground. Like a drunk tramp, the Qualis rolled down into the site of a high-rise construction project.

  Chapter 29

  4:05 a.m.

  THE SLOPE HAD FLATTENED OUT, but the Qualis was still rolling forward, only slowing down when it hit a mesh of iron construction rods. Vroom braked hard, and the Qualis halted on the rods with a metallic clang, bounced twice, and came to a stop.

  “Damn!” Vroom said.

  Everyone sat in stunned silence.

  “Don't worry, guys,” Vroom said and started the ignition. The Qualis shook violently.

  “Turn … off… the … ignition … Vroom …” I said. I peered under the Qualis. There was a floor of iron below us that was shaking.

  Vroom's hands shook too as he turned off the engine. I think any remaining alcohol in his body had evaporated in fear.

  “Where are we?” Esha said and opened the window. She looked out and screamed, “Oh no!”

  “What?” I said and looked out again. This time I looked around more carefully. What I saw was terrifying: We had landed in the foundation hole of a building, with a frame of exposed metal rods covering it. The foundation consisted of a pit that was maybe fifty-feet deep, with a frame of reinforced cement concrete rods across the opening. The rods were parallel to the Qualis and jutting out at the other end, and they were all that supported us. Every time we moved, the Qualis bounced, as the rods acted as springs. I could see fear in everyone's face, including Military Uncle's.

  “We're hanging above a hole, supported only by toothpicks. We're screwed,” Radhika said, summing up the situation for all of us.

  “What are we going to do?” Esha said. The contagious panic in her voice made everyone nervous.

  “Whatever you do, don't move,” Vroom said.

  A few minutes passed where the only sound was the heavy breathing of six people.

  “Should we call for help? The police? Fire brigade? Call center?” Esha said as she took her mobile phone out of her bag.

  Vroom nodded, his face naked with fear.

  “Damn, no reception,” Esha said. “Does anyone else have a mobile that works?”

  Priyanka and Radhika's cellphones didn't work either, Military Uncle didn't have a mobile, so Vroom took out his phone.

  “No network,” he said.

  I took out my phone from my pocket and gave it to Esha.

  “Your phone isn't working either, Shyam,” Esha said and placed it on the dashboard.

  “So we can't reach anyone in the world?” Radhika said.

  A rod snapped under us and the Qualis tilted a few degrees to the right. Radhika fell toward me; Vroom held the steering wheel tight to keep his balance. He froze in the driver's seat, unable to think of what else to do. Another rod snapped, and then another, like feeble twigs beneath us. The Qualis tilted around thirty degrees and came to a halt.

  All of us were too scared to scream.

  “Does anyone have any ideas?” Vroom said.

  I closed my eyes for a second and visualized my death. My life could end, just like this, in oblivion. I wondered when and how people would find us. Maybe laborers the next day, or even after a couple of days.

  SIX IRRESPONSIBLE DRUNKEN AGENTS FOUND DEAD would

  be the headline.

  “Try to open the door, Vroom,” Military Uncle said.

  Vroom opened his door, but the Qualis wobbled so he shut it immediately.

  “Can't,” Vroom said. “Messes up the balance. And what's the point? We can't step out, we'd fall right through.”

  I turned around to look out of the rear window and noticed some bushes a few feet behind us.

  “Move toward the left. No weight on the right. We have to stay balanced until someone spots us in the morning,” Vroom said.

  I checked my watch. It was only 4:14 a.m. The morning was three hours away. A lifetime. And people might turn up even later than that.

  “Otherwise?” Esha said.

  “Otherwise we die,” Vroom said.

  We stayed quiet for a minute.

  “Everyone dies one day,” I said, just to break the silence.

  “Maybe it's simpler this way. Just end life rather than deal with it,” Vroom said.

  I nodded. I was nervous and I was glad Vroom was making small talk.

  “My main question is, what if no one finds us even after we die. What happens then?” Vroom said.

  “The vultures will find us. They always do. I saw it on the Discovery Channel,” I said.

  “See, that makes me uncomfortable. I don't like the idea of sharp beaks tearing my muscles, cracking my bones and ripping me to shreds. Plus, my body will smell like hell. I'd rather be burned in a dignified manner and go up in that one last puff of smoke.”

  “Can you guys stop this nonsense. At least be quiet,” Esha said and folded her arms.

  Vroom smiled at her. Then he turned to me. “I don't think Esha will smell too much. Her Calvin Klein perfume will keep her carcass fresh for days.”

  Beneath us there were two sharp “pings” as another two rods snapped.

  “Oh no,” Priyanka said as we heard another ping just below her. A flicker of light appeared on the dashboard. My cellphone was vibrating. We sprang to attention.

  “That's my phone,” I said.

  It started ringing. Everyone's mouths hung open.

  “How did it ring without a network?” Esha said, her voice nervous.

  “Who is it?” Rad