Phone repair ka hisaab do din mein barabar ho gaya tha. Argument ka hisaab badhta gaya.
Sunday subah Mehak ne service centre ki receipt ka photo bheja.
MEHAK: Screen replace ho gayi. Payment received. Dhanyavaad.
CHIRAG: Dhanyavaad kaahe? Toda hum, judwaya hum. Newton ji ka rule hai.
MEHAK: Newton ne phone repair par koi rule nahi diya tha.
CHIRAG: Har action ka equal payment reaction.
MEHAK: Aap science se maafi maangiye.
CHIRAG: Pehle aap.
Mehak ne phone ko takiye par rakh diya, lekin smile ko nahi rakh paayi. Neeche gali mein scooter ruka. Shanti Devi ki khidki khulne ki awaaz aayi, phir band hui. Unka surveillance system kisi app se tez tha.
Sana floor par pair modkar baithi Noor Chikan ki pending sheet dekh rahi thi. Sunday ko kaam karne ka uska iraada nahi tha, par manager ne “sirf ek chhota correction” bheja tha, jo teen tabs aur do missing bundle slips ka nikla.
“Reverse Gear?” Sana ne screen se nazar uthaye bina poocha.
“Naam Chirag hai.”
“Do din mein correction ho gaya. Progress fast hai.”
“Receipt confirm kar rahi thi.”
“Receipt ke baad Newton kyun aa gaye?”
Mehak ne chat hide karne ki koshish nahi ki. “Woh ajeeb hai.”
“Neon Shirt zyada ajeeb hai.”
“Sameer.”
Sana ki ungli keyboard par aadha second ruki. “Mujhe naam maloom hai.”
Mela wali shaam chaaron ka group bana tha—PHONE DAMAGE SETTLEMENT—jisme Bachchu Singh ne vendor payment screenshot forward karwane ke baad group chhod diya tha. Zafar Chacha ek ghanta member rahe, phir likha: “Hisaab ho gaya ho to buzurg ko azaad karein.” Ab group mein roz koi na koi bekaar cheez aati. Sameer ne Kanpur ki basket chaat ko veg galouti se superior bataya; Sana ne us claim ko “data-vihin rashtravaad” kaha. Chirag ne cracked-screen meme bheja; Mehak ne sirf full stop reply kiya, jis par aadhe ghante debate hui ki Lucknowi full stop insult hota hai ya punctuation.
Mehak ne Chirag ko private message kiya.
MEHAK: Ek baat clear rahe. Lab ke time repeated calls nahi. Surprise visit bilkul nahi. Patients ke saamne personal baat nahi karungi.
Reply turant nahi aaya. Mehak ko halka sa afsos hua—shayad tone zyada strict tha. Phir Chirag ka message aaya.
CHIRAG: Theek. Hum bhi machine chalate waqt phone nahi uthate. Timing bata do.
MEHAK: Lunch uncertain. Shaam 7:30 ke baad message kar sakte hain.
CHIRAG: Terms and conditions accepted. Privacy policy bhi bhej do.
MEHAK: Pehla clause: bad jokes limited.
CHIRAG: Yeh anti-Kanpur discrimination hai.
Boundaries par usne mazaak kiya, lekin boundary maani. Agle teen din lab hours mein koi call nahi aaya. Sirf shaam ko ek message—kabhi Fazalganj ki machine ka photo, kabhi Pushpa ke banaye aloo parathe, kabhi koi quote jise Mehak turant fake prove kar deti.
Chirag ka loud andaaz text mein bhi tha, par beech-beech mein woh sachchi baat seedhe keh deta.
CHIRAG: Aaj Mishra ji ne bola file seedhi chalao. Aadmi ko bhi koi bata deta to life smooth hoti.
MEHAK: Aadmi instruction sunta tab na.
CHIRAG: Point noted, receptionist madam.
Mehak ko “receptionist madam” pehle chubha. Phir usne samjha woh mazaak uske kaam ko chhota karne wala nahi tha. Chirag apni machine ki baat jitni detail se karta, utni hi curiosity se poochta ki lab mein label mismatch kaise handle hua. Usne kabhi report ki medical value poochkar use doctor banne ko nahi kaha.
Yeh chhoti baat thi. Isliye badi lagti thi.
***
Monday noon se pehle Sameer ne incident report ka title type kiya:
INCIDENT REPORT — INBOUND DELAY AND SYSTEM OUTAGE
Uske neeche cursor blink karta raha.
Late vehicle: driver ki galti. Network: IT ki galti. Mis-sort: label ki galti.
Manual exception sheet: yahan cursor ne jaise Sameer ko seedha dekha.
Tinku side desk par return parcels scan kar raha tha. “Bhaiya, preventive action mein kya likhenge?”
“Tum apna kaam karo.”
“Hum hi to Friday bole the exception sheet.”
“Isliye tumhara naam witness mein daal dein?”
Tinku chup ho gaya, lekin Sameer ko apni hi awaaz Dubey sir jaisi buri lagi.
Usne group chat khola. Sana ne subah Noor ke kisi bundle mismatch par ek sarcastic status dala tha: DATA DOES NOT BECOME RUDE JUST BECAUSE IT DISAGREES WITH YOU.
Sameer ne private message kiya.
SAMEER: Ek professional help chahiye.
SANA: Fluorescent shirts ka audit nahi karti.
SAMEER: Incident report. Manual sorting mein error hua. Format hai par likh nahi paa rahe.
SANA: Sach type kijiye.
SAMEER: Corporate sach ya actual sach?
SANA: Isi question ki wajah se warning mili hogi.
Sameer ne phone table par rakha. Do minute baad uthaya.
SAMEER: Actual: truck 3 hr 20 min late. Scanner sync nahi. Humne dispatch bachane manual sort bola. Tinku ne exception sheet poochha. Humne baad mein bola. Do packet galat bag mein. Dispatch 20 min late.
Sana ka reply ek blank template tha:
Event/time. Known condition. Decision and decision-maker. Immediate result. Correction. Customer/route impact. Preventive control. Owner and deadline.
Neeche message: “Adjective kam. Time aur action zyada. ‘Team ne decide kiya’ mat likhna agar aapne decide kiya.”
Sameer ne type karna shuru kiya. Pehli baar usne “I authorised manual sorting” likha to chest ke andar kuch neeche gira. Report mein usne late line-haul aur network downtime mention kiya, par unke peeche nahi chhupa. Usne packets recover hone, bags reopen hone, bees minute delay aur scan restoration ka exact order likha. Preventive action mein printed exception sheets at every sorting table, outage-time initials, secondary label check aur daily scanner test dala.
Tinku ne draft padha. “Achha hai.”
“Tumko grammar aati hai?”
“Nahi, par isme aap hero nahi lag rahe. Isliye true lag raha.”
Dubey sir ne report shaam tak padhi. Sameer ko cabin mein bulaya.
“This is usable,” unhone kaha. “Warning record par rahegi. Thirty-day review. Preventive actions tum implement karoge.”
Sameer ne relief ko grin mein badla. “Yes, sir.”
“Aur Tinku ko Friday ignore kyun kiya?”
Sameer ne glass ke paar Tinku ko dekha. “Because I thought speed was enough.”
“Ab?”
“Speed without trail is future headache.”
Dubey sir ne file band ki. “Yeh line report mein hoti to kaat deta. Jao.”
Bahar aate hi Sameer ne Sana ko message kiya.
SAMEER: Job bachi. Aapki consulting fees?
SANA: Ek chai. Extra sweet. Public place.
SAMEER: Bas chai? Hum premium client hain.
SANA: Aap warning wale client hain.
Sameer ne phone ko dekha aur pehli baar usse Sana ki teekhi baat insult nahi, invitation lagi.
***
Chirag ka Lucknow trip company ke hisaab se abhi adhoora tha.
Tuesday ko Agarwal sahib ne quotations dekhe. “Do hi?”
“Sir, teesra lunch mein band tha. Card hai, phone pe rate—”
“Maine teen written bola tha.”
“Par do mein comparison ho jayega.”
“Material grade dono ka alag hai. Third supplier isi assembly ka authorised stockist hai. Chiku, mela ghoomne ka time mila aur quote ka nahi?”
Chirag ne jawab ke liye muh khola, phir shirt par bacha thandai ka halka daag yaad aa gaya. Sameer ne social media par mela selfie daali thi; Agarwal sahib ka nephew usse follow karta tha.
“Galti ho gayi, sir.”
“Thursday tak laao. Travel company pay nahi karegi.”
Workshop mein Mishra ji ne lecture nahi diya. Bas kaha, “Sample phir se le jaoge?”
“Nahi, dimensions aur photo se quote de dega.”
“Pehle confirm kar lo.”