After dinner, I gathered my closest friends in the corner of the study room.
"You remember what I told you earlier?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
They nodded.
"We can each pitch in. If three of us put in five hundred each, that's enough to get a decent second-hand phone. We hide it in the cupboard and only use it at night."
They exchanged glances, and I could almost see the gears turning in their heads. A mobile in 2009 wasn't just a gadget—it was power, freedom, and the chance to stay connected with the outside world.
By the time we returned to our dorms, the deal was sealed. Tomorrow, after exam, we'd sneak out to the market and hunt for a phone.
Morning sunlight spilled into the hostel corridor, bouncing off the pale yellow walls. The air was thick with the smell of pressed uniforms, ink, and a hint of nervousness that came with exam days.
I arrived at exam center. Pavani was there too, standing a few steps ahead in the queue. She noticed me and gave a small wave — not too big, the kind that could go unnoticed by anyone else, but somehow made the morning feel lighter.
We walked into the hall together, our shoes squeaking faintly against the tiled floor. A quick smile passed between us before the question papers landed on our desks.
Time dissolved in the scratch of pens and the shuffle of answer sheets. By the time I was done, the hall still buzzed with frantic writing. I leaned back, eyes wandering until they found Pavani — still deep in her paper, lips pressed in concentration.
The last bell for the exam echoed through the hall, and pens dropped almost in unison. I leaned back in my seat, letting out a quiet sigh.
I glanced over at Pavani. When she finally looked up and caught my eye, I smiled.
"All done?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said, stretching her arms. "You're always the first one to finish."
I shrugged. "What can I say? Either I know it… or I don't. No point sitting and pretending."
She laughed softly, and for a moment, it felt like the noise of the hall faded away.
"I've got something going on after exam today," I said, picking up my things.
She tilted her head. "Something?"
"Yeah… I'll tell you tonight." I let the words hang there, enjoying the way her eyes widened just a little.
"Tonight?" she echoed, like she wasn't sure if she heard me right.
I just grinned. "You'll see." And before she could ask anything more, I slipped out into the corridor, leaving her staring after me.
I stepped out into the bright afternoon, the smell of hot tar and dust rising from the road. A group of my hostel friends were leaning against the compound wall, waiting.
"rey, Sid!" naveen called. "shall we go?"
"Yeah," I said, walking over.
"But where will we even buy one?" Deepak asked.
We turned to a tea seller nearby, his kettle hissing softly. "Bhaiyya, is there any mobile shop around here?"
He pointed down the main road. "Go straight, second left, you'll see a shop with a red board."
The three of us exchanged a quick look, and without another word, we started walking.
The mobile shop was small, barely enough space for a glass counter, a few hanging accessories, and a dusty poster of a film star holding a flip phone. The shopkeeper looked up from behind the counter.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"Small mobile," I said. "Easy to carry. Good battery backup. And… uh… not too expensive."
He grinned knowingly — probably not the first time a hostel group had come to him with that exact requirement. One by one, he took out a few models: slim black ones with monochrome screens, a sturdy keypad phone with a flashlight on top, and even a bright blue one that looked like it could survive being thrown off a roof.
Finally, I agreed on a simple Nokia model — compact, light, with a week-long battery life and just enough memory for storing a few important numbers. Perfect for sneaking calls after lights out. But naveen and Deepak wanted a mobile with internet so we decided on a second hand Micromax mobile.
The deal was struck, cash pooled from all our pockets. As we stepped out of the shop, the weight of the little box in my hands felt far bigger than its size.
"And where will we charge it?" asked Deepak, frowning. "we don't have any plugs in hostel"
I tapped the box thoughtfully. "I think it comes with enough charge for a day. Tonight, we don't have to charge it at all. We can come here tomorrow and charge it for sometime. But… I just realised something."
"We forgot the most important part — the SIM card."
Both looked at me
Everyone groaned at once. Without a SIM, the phone was just an expensive gaming toy.
We went back to the mobile shop, The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.
"Forgot something?"
"Yeah… you got any SIM cards?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Not here. But two shops down this street, there's a guy who can arrange one… no ID needed."
We hurried down the narrow lane the shopkeeper had pointed to. The place looked more like a paan stall than a mobile shop, but sure enough, the man behind the counter had a stack of SIM packets in a small tin box.
"what do you want?" he asked.
"Sim card" I said.
We didn't waste time asking questions. "How much?" I asked.
"It will be 100 rupees. Fifty rupees talktime already inside", he said.
It was getting late, and the bus would be at the stop any minute. Deepak quickly paid, the man shoved the SIM into my hand, and we ducked into a corner to slot it into our new phone.
The screen lit up — a strange satisfaction seeing the network bars climb.
Without saying much, we made a dash back to the bus stand, we switched off the phone and hid it inside bag which we bought for just today for this purpose. We boarded just as the bus pulled in, hearts still racing we headed straight to our hostel. We took the phone out and hide it inside a box filled with snacks for now.
We went down to classrooms to study for next exam. We waited eagerly for clock to hit 10:30 so that we can back to room and use mobile. They are discussing what to do with it.
"Let's download aarya 2 songs and listen", naveen suggested.
"Yeah", Deepak also agreed.
I cleared my throat. "Actually… I need it today. To chat."
Both of them froze and turned toward me.
"With whom?" they asked in unison, half shocked, half curious.
I hesitated for a second, then sighed. "I met this girl at the exam… and she gave me her number."
Their eyes widened even more. So I told them the whole story — from the coffee at the bus stop, to her name, to how she scribbled her number down for me. By the time I finished, they were grinning like this was the most exciting thing to happen all month.
"Can I have it for tonight", I asked again.
They looked at each other little depressed as they were planning to listen songs and then turned towards me.
"Okay, you can have it for today but tomorrow it will be ours", naveen said.
Then the time finally arrived we came to room freshen up and switched offthe lights. We put our bed against the doors that it can't be open suddenly. I took the mobile out and switched it on reduced it's brightness and put it on silent mode.
"All the best", both said at the same time while getting ready to sleep.
I wrapped myself with blanket and sent my first message.
"Hi pavani, this is Siddharth" , heart started racing a little bit while waiting for her reply.