PHD

Don't laugh at me. But helmets have life. Or shall I say, soul? At
least this one had. It loved its master so much, it refused to be with
anyone else. Don't believe me, do you?

Normally, I'm very protective about my things. I rarely lose anything.
I always replace things in their places. Religiously. But this one
time, I failed. And I think it's the curse that did it. Don't laugh at
me.

Some time back, I was at my friend, Sanjay's place. And he had this
old, dusty helmet lying in a corner of his room that I would see every
time I visited him. That day, I asked for it. I had lost my new helmet
and I needed one till I had enough money to buy another.
"Take it, it's not mine anyway." Sanjay shrugged, pointing at his other
helmet. He picked up the relic, dusted it and handed it over. It was an
ordinary crash guard helmet. Dull grey, full faced. The visor had a
crisscross of scratches. The shell had a crack, the fiberglass packing
material showing through. Looked like someone had tried testing it.
Maybe five six years old, I guessed. 'That is right," he said. "It
belongs to my brother's friend, who died in a crash five years ago. The
helmet survived." Ok, that explained the crack. But was it safe? "Oh,
absolutely," he said.
"Only, be careful where you leave it when not on."

Now what was that, I wondered. To this, Sanjay had an incredible story
to tell. Of course after he told me, I laughed so hard, I nearly fell
off his bed. But now it's a different story. That's why I keep
preparing you - Don't laugh. Because this could happen to you too. And
you might even regret falling off from wherever that you're reading
this.

Coming back to what he told me -- The helmet had a haunting past. Right
after this friend of Sanjay's brother?let's call him Anil, died, the
helmet disappeared. Nobody thought much of it. These things happened.
Wallets, wrist watches, a lot of other more important stuff vanished
from accident sites. Queerly enough, a year after the accident, another
friend of Sanjay's brother, let's call him Rohan, saw the helmet lying
on a sidewalk. He needed one badly and it was his lucky day. He looked
around and picked it up. Sanjay's brother Arun spotted it with him and
said, 'Hey that's Anil's. How did you get it?" A rather embarrassed
Rohan recalled how he'd found it. Well, it ended there. But not quite
so. A month later, Rohan lost the helmet. Apparently someone had stolen
it at an unattended parking lot.

Life moved on. Five years later Arun spotted the helmet again. This
time at a workshop where the mechanic had hung it carelessly over an
iron pole just outside his workshop. Arun silently picked it up when no
one was around (A workshop with no one around? Ha! You must be kidding.
But that was how it was) and brought it home. It's been with Sanjay
ever since. I shook my head at this incredible story and walked out,
helmet in hand, even as Sanjay gave me that 'Well, it could happen'
look.

These days I'm waiting for Arun to call me. I was at a carnival last
month when I experienced what I now refer to as PHD (Phantom Helmet
Disappearance). I must remember to sue the helmet lock company. Or
maybe I should see a professional 'medium'. Or maybe call Jim Carrey.
I'm sure he'd love to act in a movie with this story. I wonder if
Anil's reading this and smirking at me.