“Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected” – Faith Sullivan.
It was half past eleven in the night, and my android phone with a diamond-shaped Quad Camera at the back was vibrating. I picked up the phone from the side table, turned it around and saw an unknown number flashing away on the screen.
“Who would call me at this hour?” I thought.
I avoided picking up the phone, and once the mobile stopped its circular dance, I navigated to the only App which could possibly help me, True Caller. After waiting a few seconds, the App threw a name, ‘Vivaan Kamat.’
Not even a second had passed when the notification section of my cell phone buzzed, filling up a few lines at the top. I swiped the screen from top to bottom using my right-hand thumb and saw the message, “May I call you now? This is Vivaan Kamat here.”
My mind was racing, thinking, “Who is this person? Do I know him?”
I swiftly pressed the circular icon at the bottom of my screen, which resembled a tri-colored wheel with a blue dot in the center. Then, with the help of the address bar at the top, I logged on to my outlook email. I now searched for the name Vivaan to double-check if this person was from my company.
“Hmm, there is Vivaan but not a Kamat,” I murmured, still unsure of the identity of this person.
At that instance, I received a message from Mr. Vivaan on WhatsApp.
“Hi.”
“I am Vivaan Kamat here…”
“May I call you now?”
“Can we have a few words regarding your new book?”
“Dr. Manas gave me your mobile number and your book.”
So realizing that Dr. Manas, our family doctor, gave him my number, I finally responded, “Okay, please call.”
As my phone vibrated, I picked it up, responding, “Hello!!”
“Hello, this is Vivaan Kamat; Dr. Manas gave me your number,” he said calmly.
I intently heard what Mr. Vivaan wanted to say as he continued, “I was in Jade Hospital for a few days due to some health problems.”
“I am an avid reader and like reading books, but I did not have anything to read in the hospital.”
“So, Doctor Manas gave me your book to read!!”
“Okay,” I responded, using the true form of an SMS.
“I speak Marathi but have been trying to improve my English, hence like reading a lot of books.”
“Sadly, I found the language difficult to grasp in some of the books I read,” he explained with a level of agony reflecting in his voice.
“Yes, some books can be tough,” I replied while roaming between my room and kitchen.
“But as I read your book, I was amazed at how simple it was to read!!” he exclaimed in a cheerful tone. “The dialogues are also short and simple,” he added.
A tingling sense of happiness flowed from my ears toward my heart as Mr. Vivaan mentioned, “I will recommend this book to my workers as well!!”
Mr. Vivaan explained he had a shop near Jade hospital. He wanted his workers to pick up English and found my book an excellent option to recommend.
“Thank you,” I replied, continuing my short messaging dialect.
“You know, once I picked up your book, I just couldn’t keep it down, but then I got discharged,” he stated, explaining his medical condition to some extent.
Mr. Vivaan now detailed how he got my contact number, as Dr. Manas was not in the hospital when he left. “Dr. Manas works in shifts; hence I left a message for him in the ICU to call me, as I wanted a copy of your book.”
I continued to hear him as he stated, “Mr. Manas called me sometime back saying that the book has not yet been released and gave me your number!!”
“I want to buy the first copy of the book!!” he exclaimed, “as I want to complete reading the story,” he said, hearing which I felt elated.
I calmly replied, “Currently, the print version is available on Pothi; it will soon be available on Amazon.”
Mr. Vivaan and I discussed about my book for a few more minutes before hanging up.
