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Mumbai ka heatwave peak pe tha. Sabir, 27, ek freelance video editor, raat bhar kaam karta tha aur din bhar sone ki aadat thi. Uska kaam zyada tar documentaries aur low-budget OTT thrillers hoti thi. Ek raat shoot se wapas aake usne decide kiya ki purane WhatsApp groups ko clear karega. Phone full ho gaya tha, aur kuch chats toh last 3–4 saal se touch bhi nahi ki gayi thi.
Ek group mila: “ZAMA 2012 BATCH”. Ye unke zamane ke college ke doston ka group tha. Mostly dead. Aakhri message tha:
“Bro, party at Kite Studio tomorrow?”
Kite Studio… wahi jahan Amit ne suicide kiya tha.
Amit, unka sabse creative aur introvert dost. Final year me documentary banate waqt, pata nahi kya hua tha, usne apne edit room me hi khudko latka liya tha. Sab shock me they. Sabir guilty tha. Usne last minute pe edit cancel kar diya tha, kyunki uska camera crash ho gaya tha. Amit ka project incomplete reh gaya tha. Uske baad group ka silence permanent ho gaya tha.
Sabir ne nostalgia me chat kholke scroll karna shuru kiya. Aur tab uski aankhon ne register kiya — “Amit is online”.
Uska heart ek second ke liye ruk gaya. Profile pic — wahi purani black-and-white candid photo — par ‘last seen today at 2:13 AM’.
Sabir chilla ke bola, “What the hell?!”
Usne turant Megha ko message kiya, jo Amit ki close friend thi.
“Tune dekha? Amit online dikh raha hai WhatsApp pe!”
Megha replied nahi kiya.
Sabir ne phone restart kiya. Fir se group khola. Amit still online.
Sabir ne message bhejna chaha, par screen freeze ho gayi.
Ek system notification aya: “This chat cannot be closed until all footage is delivered.”
Kya matlab tha iska?
Next morning, Sabir edit suite gaya. Uske D drive me ek naya folder dikha: “Kite_Reel_001”. Click kiya. Andar 6 RAW MP4 files. Metadata… from 2017. Amit ke death se ek din pehle.
Footage me clearly dikha Amit akela baitha tha, kuch whisper kar raha tha. Sound distorted thi. Sabir ne earphones lagake sunne ki koshish ki.
“Tum sab mujhe ignore kar rahe ho… par main apne final cut kahin na kahin drop kar chuka hoon.”
Sabir ne screen recorder chalu kiya, footage extract kiya, aur WhatsApp me Megha ko bheja.
Ek aur system notification:
“Unauthorized tracking detected.”
Usi waqt uska laptop band ho gaya. Screen pitch black. Sirf ek line:
“Apna scene kat… warna uska scene pura ho jayega.”
Sabir pure din tension me raha. Raat ko 2:13 AM pe uska WhatsApp kokhula. Apne aap.
Group chat jali: “All members online now.”
Group me sab dormant dost – Bhaskar, Neha, Imran – sab online dikh rahe the. Sabki profile pic black ho chuki thi. Sab ki last seen: 2:13 AM.
Tab ek naye user ka message aaya: “Final Cut Rendered.”
Sabir scream karne wala tha jab webcam apne aap chalu ho gaya. Uske saamne khudki image dikh rahi thi – par aankhon ka color black ho chuka tha. Background me Amit khada tha, camera ke bilkul paas. Uska haath Sabir ke shoulder pe.
Then screen went static. Jab Sabir hosh me aaya, subah ho chuki thi. Laptop on nahi ho raha tha. Phone dead.
Woh Megha ke ghar gaya, darwaza pe knock kiya. Ek madam ne darwaza khola. Usne bola, “Megha toh teen mahine pehle hi suicide kar gayi. Yeh kis baat ka mazaak hai?”
Sabir ne usse poocha, “Uska phone mil sakta hai?”
Madam ne frowned kar ke kaha, “Police ne sab collect kar liya tha. Kya aap… Sabir hai?”
“Haan… kyu?”
Madam pale ho gayi. “Megha ne ek voice note chhoda tha. Bola tha – agar WhatsApp pe 2:13 AM ke baad koi Amit ko online dekhe, toh use warn karna. Par uska message kabhi deliver nahi hua.”
Sabir zurück gaya apne flat. Google drive me ek naya video mila: “rendered_final.mov”
Click karte hi video chalu hua. Sabir khud edit suite me tha. Tabhi screen ke kone se ek aur face chhup chhup ke camera me ghur raha tha. Amit ka nahi… us se milta julta, but distorted.
Caption aaya: “Export Complete. Now Playing Forever.”
Us raat ke baad Sabir bhi kisi friend list me “online at 2:13 AM” dikhai diya tha.
Aur kisi ke chat se woh group delete nahi ho raha tha.
