The stranger's voice at the other end his tenuous link to the outside world and also his sanity, the Delhi-based executive locked down in his Bihar village dials in often to seek reassurance that all will be well and to share his many fears.
On Tuesday, when news came in that the three-week lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus was extended till May 3, his spirits plummeted and he called the helpline again.
The 57-year-old spoke for hours, said Abdul Mabood, the founder of Snehi, which has been running a dedicated telephonic counselling service since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on March 24.
The phone and data card is what is keeping the executive sane in these uncertain times and Mabood is worried about what will happen if this link snaps.
"He spoke for hours about his fears and anxieties, I could figure out that the uncertainty of the pandemic was weighing on him. He was reading stuff on the phone and was asking me about them. He didn't want to share his fears with his family and the only one he could speak with openly was me.
"He spoke of losing his job and fears of what would happen to his family if anything happened to him," Mabood told PTI.
Snehi is just among the several helplines holding out hope for those struggling with stress, fear and anxiety and the executive one of the thousands holding on to that slender lifeline.
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According to Mabood, his team of 10 counsellors has been handling 60 to 70 calls a day. They have been forced to let many calls go unanswered because of the volumes that are coming in on their helpline.
With worries about the pandemic combining with questions on what the future holds in terms of jobs and careers as well as family well-being, more and more people are reaching out for help, say psychologists and metal health experts.
Helplines launched in several parts of the country have been buzzing with people's anxieties on the rise. From students panicky about exams to the elderly worried about their health and those in between stressed about careers and jobs, the calls are flooding in.
The toll-free number set up on April 3 by the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in collaboration with an NGO, for instance, received over 2,000 calls in less than a week.
The helpline at Bengaluru's National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), announced by the Union Health Ministry on March 29, received around 2,500 calls in less than a week.
Dr Harish Shetty, a Mumbai-based psychiatrist, said he gets five to six new cases a day. Among his patients is a man who admitted himself in hospital, convinced he had COVID-19 despite testing negative twice; a 15-year-old who was midway through his exams when the lockdown was imposed and hasn't slept in days; and a 35-year-old man who has been seeing WhatsApp messages and become psychotic, aggressive, insomniac and suspicious.
"He said that the virus would come flying towards him and infect him through his arm, said Shetty.
All three had no history of mental illness, no drug intake or alcoholism, he said, adding that a lot of new cases of phobia and fear are coming in.
A large number of people who are anxious can be handled with counselling and advice but a small number need medication. While in the first week we had no cases, in the last few days the numbers are swelling, he said.
"Due to the lockdown, people feel isolated and disconnected with the world People don't know what to do. It's very utopian to say talk to the family, it does not happen that way. Anger and irritability increases," said Shetty.
While new cases are cropping up, people with mental health issues and the elderly are the most vulnerable, the experts said.
In one case, a 50-year-old man in Andhra Pradesh, a father of three who'd watch coronavirus-related videos all day, convinced himself he had COVID-19 after he developed flu-like symptoms. He'd beg people not to come close and would pelt anyone who approached with stones.
According to Tisha Jhaveri from Wellness Volunteers United, a volunteer-based free helpline, most need someone to listen to them.
They need a connection with the world outside. We get calls ranging from people fearing for their lives, their jobs, even their relationships. Some who are stressed over finances and some burdened with responsibilities. In most cases, we speak to them and calm them down, but in some cases when they seem suicidal we turn them over to professionals," Jhaveri said.
The helpline receives around 60-100 calls a day, she said.
Sometimes, unresolved anxieties push people over the edge. Within a month of the outbreak in India, there were cases where the sheer fear of the pandemic pushed people over the edge, the experts said.
A 23-year-old, for instance, jumped to his death from the seventh floor of a hospital in Delhi soon after he was tested. Later, it was found he was negative for the disease.
Mental heath counsellors have tips for those feeling low. Shetty recommends yoga, enough sleep and acts of kindness such as calling up someone who is alone and chatting with them.
Mabood suggests thinking of the positives like the number of people who have recovered from the disease.
All strongly suggest keeping off social media and WhatsApp and say everyone should concentrate on their well being.