I am young, and I too had a dream. A dream to have an iPhone.
It's been around 5 years now. 5 years of people asking me - "When will you buy a new phone?" and 5 years of me telling them - "I will buy an I-phone soon."
Looking at my cracked, scratched, malfunctioning, and super slow "MI Y2" and seeing me use it with almost no worries whatsoever, made everyone think - Why the hell is this guy not buying a new phone? And my answer remained the same, always - for 5 long years.
My phone "MI Y2" has a broken screen, a faded back body, and a battery backup of less than an hour. From the volume buttons to the power button – Nothing works in it. But I was okay. I mean I love my phone. You see a phone mostly is a liability. But I used my phone for almost five years and turned it into an asset for myself. I couldn't settle for less and that's why I kept telling everyone - "Jab bhi luunga, iPhone hi luunga."
For people like me - Getting an I-phone is not that simple, easy, and straight. It's not something you buy overnight. It's a task, which requires proper mind mapping & financial planning.
After 5 years of enquiring about rates, checking offers, savings, and procrastination - I finally decided to get the damn iPhone on 8th March 2023 (I made such confident decisions before too but failed miserably in executing them.)
However, this time was different. I was in my Aram Nagar, Versova office when I called my friends - Naresh Malik & Amit Khare. I asked them to come to Infinity Mall, Malad. I told them - It's time.
I took a bus from Versova and they took an auto from Kandivali. Within 2 hours we met at The Infinity Mall, Malad. We entered The Chroma Store and checked for iPhone 14+ first. Shifted to iPhone 14 then and finally settled on iPhone 13. As Ghalib rightly said – "Bahut nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle."
You must know that all this was happening because I was under the impression that I will buy the phone on EMI. We finalized a green-colored iPhone 13 which cost 64,900/- rs. The salesman brought a brand new piece for us. He handed it over to the finance guys and asked us to visit the finance desk.
As soon as I started walking toward the finance desk. My friend Naresh got a call. He took it and walked out of the showroom. With a gesture, he called us out too.
"Kya hua ekdum se?" I asked as I went out with him.
"Abe Kandivali wale Chroma mein 62,900 ka mil raha hai. 2000 bachao." He said in style. We left the salesman hanging inside. and took an auto to Chroma, Kandivali. In 30 minutes we reached there and met the sales manager present.
"62,000/- mein dunga. Aa jao." He said.
We went to the finance desk and sat there. A boy in a red HDFC bank T-shirt named Alam came smiling and sat in front of us.
"Hara to nahin hai, Neela milega. Kar dun finance?" Alam asked.
I looked at Naresh and Amit. And they looked at me. I wanted the green one. But then came the golden words by Naresh - "I-Phone koi aam phone nahin hai. Ismein cover lagana hi padta hai. To koi bhi colour le lo farq nahin padta. Cheez wahi rahegi." Baat sahi thi - "Rang se koi farq nahin padta."
I agreed to the blue one and asked Alam to start the financing process. He asked for my Aadhar Card, Pan Card, Address, and Bank details from me, and after sitting idle for 10 minutes said -
"Aapka Cibil score -1 hai. Loan nahin milega."
I knew this would happen. I never used a credit card in my life. It was obvious that the Cibil was -1. Then and there I was reminded of those young guys roaming around the metro stations, malls, and banks - Begging me to get a credit card.
I was about to stand up from my seat in despair when Naresh handed over his credit card to Alam. He had a good cibil score and we were getting a loan of Rs. 50,000/- on his card. We were happy. Alam asked for the same details from Naresh, as he asked from me. Everything was going right when suddenly Alam the finance guy told us that Naresh's address was not getting verified, as he had some issue with his Aadhar card. Naresh ka aadhaar, niraadhaar nikla. And we lost our "Aadhaar" to get the iPhone.
Alam smiled. He asked us to leave without even saying it. We left the showroom and came back home. But the fire to get the phone was alive. "Ye patthar , ye dhuup, ye kaante - inse kaisa darna hai // Raahein mushkil ho jayein to chhodi thodi jaati hain." Said Subhan Asad.
Naresh went to his flat and I & my roommate Amit came to ours. I was still thinking of ways to get the phone, and Amit was doing the same. At around 1 AM me and Amit thought of Shivam Agrawal. Another friend of ours, Who came with us to Mumbai from Indore. We knew that he had taken some loans before and he might have a great cibil score. "Yaad karne par bhi dost aaye na yaad // doston ke karam yaad aate rahe." Says a couplet by Khumar Barabankavi.
The next day I.E. On 9th March 2023 - A third attempt to get the iPhone was in place. I had a show to host that day and so I went for it to Bandra. On the other hand - Amit, Shivam, and Naresh too had a show to put up. They went back to The Chroma Store, Kandivali. They were taken by surprise when they didn't find Alam there. There was a whole different finance guy they had to face this time.
This guy whose name I don't know asked for all similar details to sanction a loan. Everything went perfectly. Shivam's cibil score was 500+ he was getting the loan easily. We were close enough to get an iPhone when the finance guy asked Shivam - "Sir, aapka rent agreement de dijiye."
"Vo to teen maheene mein expire ho jaega." answered Shivam. The finance guy didn't even ask for the bloody expiry date of his rental agreement. He just asked for the agreement as address proof. Because you see none of us are from Mumbai. But this guy I think has a thing to give – TMI (Too much information.)
The finance guy immediately denied giving any loan to Shivam. Enough "Gaalis" were however given to him post this incident. 5 years in Mumbai and he was naive enough to say such an idiotic thing. "Achchhe logon ke saath kabhie bura nahin hota - They say. Hota hai, bahut hota hai - I say it with proof." If I would have been there I would have quoted Aaaga Qazalbash's couplet to Shivam – "Bade seedhe saadhe, Bade bhole bhaale // Koi dekhe is waqt chehera tumhaara."
But I wasn't there. Everything was told to me when I came back from my show.
This was the third attempt - which failed flawlessly. And now I lost my fire to get the iPhone too. The next that I went to the office, worked, came back home, and slept. There was no conversation around iPhone now. Just before going to bed that night I said to myself - "Qismat mein nahin hai toh nahin milega. Koshishein bekaar hain. I-Phone lene ka khayaal chhod do."
And then came the day. D-day - 11th March 2023, Saturday. I and Amit went to Goregaon from Malad to have some Poha. Once you lived in Indore, you can go to any extent to get good Poha. We reached a little late however and didn't get any. Riding back home, I don't know what got into me - I asked Amit to stop for a while at Vijay Sales, Malad. He turned his head towards me and smiled.
At 11:15 AM sharp on 11th March 2023 - We were at The Vijay Sales, Malad. The first customers of that day. We were about to put out our fourth attempt at getting the damn iPhone 13. Till now we were experienced enough. We didn't go to the iPhone showcase area. We directly asked for the finance desk and went to the first floor. This was where we met Jitendra Kushwaha. Finance Manager(IDFC First Bank.) He was Alam part 2. (it's not Aram nagar part 2. Read again.)
Madad karne waale har jagah hote hain – Kahin Alam, toh Kahin Jitendra.
We clearly said to Jitendra - "Humara cibil score nahin hai. I Phone 13 lena hai. Kuch ho sakta hai to batao."
"Hoga na sir. Baithiye aap." Jitendra was more than confident. We sat down in hope. "Umeed bahut badi cheez hai. Lekin bahut chhoti cheezon mein bhi mil jaati hai."
Jitendra followed the same process of asking for my Aadhaar, PAN, Address details, etc, and denied the loan to me. He then checked Amit's details just for the sake of it and told us that he can only give us 25,000/- rs. loan And that too on Amit's account and not mine. We looked at each other and stood up. "Thank you." We murmured and walked out. 4 failed attempts in a row. Aai-Phone humaare paas aa hi nahin raha tha.
With sad, hopeless, and pale faces we started riding back to our flat. All hope was lost, fire exhausted and dreams shattered. It was when Shivam Agrawal called me.
"Film dekhne chal rahe?" He asked.
"Nahin. Aaj ek aur baar aaye the I-Phone ke liye. Baat nahin bani. 25,000 ka hi loan mil raha hai." I said in a low voice.
"Tu de kitne sakta hai. Ye bata." He asked.
"Bees hazaar." I figured quickly.
"Bas toh! 20,000 tu de, 25,000 ka loan hai. Bache 17,000 mein deta hun."
"Vijay Sales, Malad. Infinity ke bagal mein. Aa jaa turant." I said and disconnected the call.
"Wapas chalo. I-Phone aaj hi aayega." I asked Amit to ride back to Vijay sales.
At around 2 PM on 11th March 2023 - Me, Amit, and Shivam were standing in the billing queue of Vijay Sales, Malad. And at around 2:30 PM Jitendra Kushwaha, Finance Manager (IDFC First bank) handed over a Brand New Blue Colored I-Phone 13 to me.
After 5 long years of waiting, manifesting, and procrastinating, I finally got an iPhone. After 4 failed attempts, with the help, efforts, and dedication of my friends. Friends, who believed in my dream of getting an iPhone more than me. And who all went far to get me what I wanted.
I now have an I-phone with me. And I am happy & satisfied. I feel like a winner. But the happiness I think is less of the phone, and more of the fact - That I have a few friends who accept me the way I am, who cares for me, and will always back me whatever happens.
Keep Visiting!
No comments:
Post a Comment