The ringing of the phone echoed through the silent room, waking Ashu up.
“Who could it be calling so late in the night,” he wondered, answering the phone.
A familiar voice greeted him, “Happy Birthday!”
“Suraj? Thanks. But it’s such an odd hour...” Ashu said.
“I wanted to wish you right at the stroke of midnight,” said Suraj enthusiastically.
“I appreciate this, but you could have waited till the morning. I’ll have trouble going back to sleep now,” Ashu said.
Suraj did not expect this reaction. He stopped talking to Ashu.
A few days later, it was Manjeet’s birthday. Suraj called up Manjeet’s house at midnight to wish him. While, Manjeet was sound asleep, his mother answered the phone.
“Manjeet?” said a voice from the other end.
“Who is this?” enquired Manjeet’s mother.
“This is Suraj. Don’t you recognise me, aunty?” Suraj replied.
“Is everything all right?” his mother asked worried.
“Oh, yes. Absolutely. I just called to wish Manjeet on his birthday,” Suraj replied nonchalantly.
“But you could have done that in the morning as well. You gave me a scare,” she said.
In response, Suraj disconnected the call.
Suraj’s mother who had woken up by then, said, “You should not bother others in the middle of the night. You’ll disturb them.”
“You always find fault with me. You never appreciate my affection for my friends,” Suraj pulled a face and went to sleep.
The following day in class, Suraj did not speak to Manjeet and even skipped his birthday party. Manjeet felt bad and all of them discussed Suraj’s behaviour.
“Suraj loves us a lot. He just doesn’t realise the trouble he causes by calling at midnight,” said Sudhir. The other friends nodded in agreement.
“I have an idea which may break this troublesome habit of his,” said Amol and shared his idea with others.
Midnight lessons
That Sunday, at the stroke of midnight, the phone in Suraj’s bedroom rang.
“Happy Monday, Suraj!” a cheerful voice greeted him.
“Ashu? Are you out of your mind?” Suraj asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Oh, we forgot to tell you. All of us have decided to greet each other every night,” Ashu explained.
Suraj was irritated.
“Anyway, you can go back to sleep now,” said Ashu, and disconnected the call.
Suraj’s friends began calling him every night to wish him for the strangest of reasons.
One night, when Suraj’s mother saw him dozing on sofa, she asked him, “Why don’t you sleep in your room?”
“How can I when I am sure to get a call from my friends wishing me for something or the other,” Suraj said exasperatedly. “Is this an appropriate time to call somebody?!”
His mother smiled. “I think your friends are trying to give you a taste of your own medicine.”
That’s when it struck Suraj. “I understand now how troublesome it can be when I call people at midnight just to wish them,” he said apologetically.
“You can talk to your friends about it tomorrow. Now, go to bed,” said his mother, happy that her son had finally understood his folly.
“That’s okay, Mom. I will answer the phone call just this once. I want to know what they are going to wish me for today,” said Suraj with a wink, and they both burst out laughing.
