Winter in Germany was not very cold until two weeks ago, in February, when the temperatures plunged to minus 18 in a place like Karlsruhe, which usually is the warmest city compared to other cities in Germany. With lots of snow everywhere, the last leg of Winter was still on. The schools were not open; it was still the crazy "home-schooling" period. The kids couldn't play outside, and mostly they spent time indoors playing different online video games.
I can never fathom what positive things do kids exactly learn in playing aggressive and gory games, killing one another with guns, protecting their own teams against the others etc. Anyways, it is a matter of debate every single time in my house. That day was just like any other when Tanay's four friends (two from his class and one from the fourth class) had gathered at home and wanted to play a game called "Fortnite" (the kids' version). We have set a limit for Tanay where he can play only for an hour in the evening. Those friends, along with Tanay, were trying to reason with us as to why they couldn't play that game in the afternoon that they were at our home. We flatly refused and wanted them to play outside or just sit and talk or play board games or cards. But they tried every bit of strength to convince us in letting them play "Fortnite". They couldn't argue more and had to go out as they couldn't just sit at home, not playing that game.The friend from the fourth class had kept his white iPhone for charging at the same place where Atul's black iPhone's charging dock is situated. Atul's black iPhone was lying next to that white iPhone, and then after some time, the kids came back, watched a movie for some time and then left at 6 pm. Out of the four friends, one friend had already left, and the other's mom had come to pick him up as they stay in the next town. The boy from the fourth class stays very close by. He also left along with the other boy whose mom had come to pick him up. There was a lot of commotion in the house with the boys talking, laughing, leaving etc. I reminded that friend from inside my study room to take his iPhone without fail. He said he did, and they left. That was on a Friday evening.
On Saturday morning, Atul tells me that he is not able to locate his iPhone. We literally ransacked the whole house to check if he had kept it somewhere inside. Usually, Tanay and Atul believe that I have a magic wand to locate things that are generally not visible. And they always ask me to look out for things that they can't find easily. I helped him look everywhere but couldn't find it. We determined that the iPhone is not at home, and someone had sneaked out with the phone when we didn't realize it.
Tanay had gone for a sleepover to his friend's place on Saturday evening. We called him and checked with him. He said he hadn't seen the phone. I called that friend whose phone was charging. He also refused and said he just took his phone. I messaged the other friend's mom who stayed in the other town and asked her to check with her son about the phone. He also didn't have a clue. We were perplexed and sad by the fact that the office phone was lost. Atul had recently got a new iPhone from the office, and he wanted to transfer the old photos and contacts to the new one. But with the old one gone, it was not going to be possible. He was even thinking to inform the office that he lost the phone and would have to pay a fine or something. The only saviour, in this case, was it was not possible to tamper with the phone as it was locked by his fingerprint. iPhone becomes useless for the other person as it has a strong security mechanism. Atul told me that it wouldn't be possible for anyone to hack in or log in to the mobile. But still, the loss was bearing on my and his mind. Tanay tried to ask his friends differently and tell them that it was an important phone and belonged to the office but in vain.
After almost five days after the iPhone mysteriously vanished from our house, those two friends came on Wednesday evening last week, running and panting to us. The other boy who stays in the other town was visiting someone near our house, and they both claimed that they found the iPhone near the old apartment, where that boy stayed. Someone had thrown it on the ground near the building. His mom sent me the mobile's photo on Whatsapp telling me that the kids are shocked to find the mobile like this, and they will bring it to us. Atul thanked them both profusely. We tried to ask them how and where did they find the phone. They told us that they were playing and found it lying just like that on the ground, and they suddenly realised that it was Tanay's dad's iPhone. So they brought it to us.
We smiled at each other. We didn't say a word. We got the message and found it extremely funny how those two boys were trying to convince us about the iPhone. After fidgeting with it, someone realised it is not going to be of any use to them. So it was found intact, I guess. From then on, I am cautious with things like iPad or iPhone lying around just like that. We didn't realise that a thing like the iPhone would just vanish from the house. People nowadays are surrounded by so many costly gadgets, and it's not a big deal for kids or adults to see them around as a routine thing. But that day, we realised temptations are lying around in one form or the other and in a weak moment, anything can happen.
Some questions kept bugging me, though.
No one else had come home that day, and we hadn't carried the iPhone out or thrown the iPhone somewhere.
Did the phone just fly out on its own and reach that boy's old apartment?
Did it grow legs and decided to take a walk for a few days or stay outside and see how good or bad it is out there?
But these questions were left unanswered.
Maybe you could help me find answers to it ;)
Every experience is a lesson learnt!
माणसाच्या अंगी असलेले सत्व, रज, तम या गुणातील कोणता गुण केव्हा आणि कशासाठी प्रबळ होईल हे सांगताच येत नाही.
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