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Con Man Conned



Ever done a prank with a friend? Well most of us do that. And needless to mention that evil cell phone adds to your capability to prank with someone. The basic ingredient required is a cold ruthlessness in executing your plan . And the victim is  forced to believe a canard  and act accordingly.  Simple isn't it? Thankfully No. Another prerequisite is something related to the “art” aspect of the game i.e. an individual’s capacity to execute the science of prank.

I have come across many such great pieces of art. And many a times have been on receiving end too. Whether it was that day when I felt a kiss of vertigo upon being informed that I was booked under some IT ACT for using a free message center number resulting into free SMS, or the most recent one which I am going to give a short account of soon, the best part was a sensational enjoyment they produced after the disclosure.  But nonetheless, I have crafted some of the great pranks with folks as well. Following story takes you into what happened on an office day.

A friend, Suresh (name changed), who is in dire need of a switch, got a call. On the other side was a soft spoken guy identifying himself as Aashish from Relocation Department, Accenture (the funny thing is that no such department exists in reality). Suresh had actually appeared in an interview at Accenture for the job switch. Aashish informed him that he had been selected and is required to make a choice between Amsterdam and Tokyo as his posting location. Having never been to a foreign land and a deep commonplace desire to work from onsite, made Suresh to gasp in orgasmic joy. A series of subsequent calls at regular intervals containing strict formal questionnaire made Suresh nothing but to incline towards the verisimilitude of the story.  The dimension of his smile was getting larger and larger with Aashish’s slow and careful revelations of add-on perks e.g. a complete honeymoon package after he married.

But this smile was short-lived as Aashish made his final revelation that it was a prank and he is none other then myself calling from a different number. A beautiful imaginary outline created in air out of a white smoke of incense, howsoever charming is ephemeral. Isn’t it Suresh (name changed)?

Now at 8:30 in evening on same day, when I was beaming with high spirit, I got a call. Dr. Saumya was on other side from emergency department MAX Hospitals, Noida. The same morning I had visited the hospital for an ultrasound of abdomen as suggested by a doctor, while the report was still to be collected. Saumya began with inquisitive cross questions like what actual problem you have been facing in abdomen area? I replied to her with obvious anxiousness. She then asked whether I have been on heavy medications? Then she went into technicality of things asking me if I have ever had swollen lymph nodes. My morale had , by now, started sinking like an unfortunate boat.  I, while collecting whatsoever amount of courage I could, with a never experienced kind of stammer in my voice, said “Ok…Ca ca can you …pa pa please tell me the... what exactly the …problem is?” She replied with a professional medico’s balance of tone “Look Pratik we have found some swollen lymph nodes in your stomach which is not a good sign , plus there is some swelling in your liver. We would request you to please take it seriously and come at 9 o’clock in the morning so that we can go for some confirmatory tests.” I felt like collapsing on the floor. My body felt weightless.

I went to Suresh and a few other friends and attempted to narrate it with clear-cut horror on my shrunken face. They got concerned too and Suresh asked me to come with him in his car to MAX Hospitals. Other friends accompanied me too.  On the way, I felt myself lifeless with no energy to even speak a word. My blood sugar probably went down and my pulse rate soared up. Somewhere in Atta market, Suresh came out of the car in a pretext of tire puncture suspicion. And he opened the door of car where I was sitting and said with a devil’s smile “Chal aaja…Prank tha.” I would not describe how I felt later to leave it upon you to imagine. But yes I said that this was the best prank I ever fell victim to. You see what a professional  I am apart from being a great admirer of this form of art.





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