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Shruti ka transfer hua tha Mirzapur ke ek chhote BSNL service office mein. Fresh out of Delhi, uske liye yeh jagah boring aur outdated thi, par nayi job thi, aur promotions ka vaada bhi. Office ke peeche ek purana telecom tower tha — rusted, almost dysfunctional, jisse log ‘Bhoot Tower’ bulate they. Shruti hansi thi jab uski senior Leela ne kaha, “Bas us tower ke paas mat jana… aur agar kisi ne kuch dikhaya ho — TikTok video types — dekhna mat. Kahi logon ne dekha hai, sab… gayab ho gaye.”
Shruti ne isse ek gaav ki stupidity samjha. Raat mein boredom mein usne ek local boy ka airdropped video accept kiya. Video chala nahi — sirf buffering karta raha. “Location restricted?” usne hairaan hokar socha. Par video file open hone se ek message aaya: “Only viewable near Tower 9. Come see.”
Curiosity mein agle din lunch break mein Shruti tower ke paas gayi. Ek patli si foot trail thi jiski taraf oblique fences khatam ho jaate the. Tower ke neeche jaake jab usne video dobara khola, toh this time it played. Frame mein tha ek ladka, teen chhatriyon ke beech aasmaan dekhte hue kuch bol raha tha — “Sunte ho? Awazon mein uljhan hai. Har sawal ek chehra ban gaya hai… hamesha ka.”
Video mein background static thi, par beech beech mein ajeeb si metallic gurgling sound aati thi, jaise koi bolte waqt chaba raha ho uske words. Jaise hi video khatam hua, Shruti ka phone freeze ho gaya ek black screen pe jisme dikha: “You listened. Now reply.”
Us raat Shruti ko neend nahi aayi. Ghar ke andar awaazein sunayi dene lagi — jaise koi bar bar keh raha ho, “Tum sun chuki ho… ab bolne ki baari meri hai.”
Agli subah usne dekha ki woh video uske gallery se gayab tha, par ek naye folder mein ek aur video tha — same ladka, par iss baar woh Shruti ke kitchen mein tha. Vo camera ki taraf mujhakar bolta: “Peeche dekho.” Shruti ne haste haste mudke dekha — ek dusre room mein balloon jaise kuch move kar raha tha. Par jaake dekha, kuch nahi tha. Video khatam.
Us din se vo har doosron se zyada chup karne lagi — phone pe kam bolti, office mein sunk-chup rehti. Leela ne uski halat dekhi aur bola, “Tumne vo video toh nahi dekha? Sab aise hi shuru karte hain. Us ladke ka naam Jagan tha. Usne pehle mirzapur ke teen local logon ke saath vo tower pe video shoot kiya tha. Sab log teen dinon mein bolna band kar gaye. Kisi doctor ko samajh nahi aaya. Fir Jagan bhi gayab ho gaya. Uska video ab sirf tower ke aas-paas aata hai.”
Shruti almost ro padi. Par tab tak der ho chuki thi. Agle kuch dinon mein ek ek karke uski bolne ki ability gayab hone lagi — pehle awkward pauses, phir words mix hone lage, aur fir… silence.
Leela jab uske ghar inspect karne gayi, to she found a new chair in the corner of the room — ek chhoti patli kursi, jo shruti ke kisi furniture set ka part nahi thi. Kursi pe ek scrap paper tha — “Reply Sent.”
BSNL office mein Shruti ke naam ka ek new auto-email responder start ho chuka tha. Har koi jo use mail bhejta, usse milta ek garbled audio clip jisme heavy static aur ek ladka whisper karta tha — “Agle bolne wale ka number mil gaya.”
TikTok pe kisi ne ek naye account se ek video dala: ek ladki, peeth dikhaye, tower ki taraf ja rahi thi. Background mein suna ja sakta tha: “Aawazon ko choone wale sabse pehle khud goonj ban jaate hain.”
Aur video ke caption mein likha tha: “Only playable within 300m of Mirzapur’s Tower 9.”
Tab se log poke karte hain — “Chalo Tower 9 ke paas challenge karte hain!” Par jo usse dekh kar wapas aaye, unhone kabhi repeat nahi kiya.
Ab YouTube par log us video ko recreate karne ki koshish kar rahe hain… par asli version kabhi viral nahi hota. Sirf wohi jaante hain jo strategy mein nahi, curiosity mein fail hote hain. Jaise Shruti.
