Ping. Ping. Ping-ping-ping.
The phone wouldn’t stop buzzing that morning. I glanced at the screen. It was our apartment WhatsApp group — the one meant for “important updates only.”
The thing about the Keshav Kunj WhatsApp group is this: it always starts with good intentions. Someone shares a helpful reminder, like “Garbage pickup time has changed to 8:30 am.” Another person replies politely: “Thanks for the update.”
And then… it happens.
The slow slide from civility to chaos.
It generally takes no more than three messages.
This time, it began innocently enough with a single message:
“Please keep garbage bags outside your door by 8 am.”
Before I could put my phone down, another message popped up:
“8 am is too early! Some of us are still asleep.”
Then another:
“If you wake up late, it’s your problem. Don’t blame others!”
I sighed. It was only 8:10 am.
By 8:12 am, someone had changed the topic completely:
“And while we’re at it, dogs are barking all night! This is becoming unbearable.”
At 8:13 am, someone else jumped in to defend the dogs.
“Put your garbage bags out, it will be breakfast time for the dogs. The barking will stop.”
At 8:14 am, another message appeared about the shortage of water in B Wing.
By 8:15 am, the group was a full-blown battlefield.
Garbage, dogs, water — everything was under debate.
I stared at the screen, half amused, half horrified.
The pings came so fast I couldn’t even read them.
There were now factions forming:
Early Garbage Pickers vs Late Risers Gang
Outright Dog Haters Activists vs What to do about Dog Lovers Group
The Water Crisis Coalition vs Everything Is Fine Brigade
And then there was that one guy — every group has one — who kept sending “Good Morning” messages with fifteen flowers 🌸🌸🌸, completely ignoring the war raging above his post.
The grand finale came when someone accidentally shared a personal voice note meant for another chat. Let’s just say it had nothing to do with garbage, dogs, or water — and everything to do with their mother-in-law.
The group went silent for twenty seconds. Till the voice note was deleted.
Then the pings returned, louder than ever.
Finally, the group admin stepped in with a message in all caps:
“PLEASE KEEP THIS GROUP CIVIL. ONLY USE FOR IMPORTANT UPDATES.”
For five glorious minutes after that message, there was peace.
The silence was beautiful.
I thought maybe, just maybe, we’d all learned our lesson.
And then, at 8:21 am, a new message appeared:
“Does anyone know why the lift isn’t working?”
And so, it began all over again.
At Keshav Kunj, the everyday drama doesn’t stop.
It just… pings.
***