Here’s a short, instructive story about unblocking a number on WhatsApp.

Maya typed: “I’m sorry. I unblocked you. Miss you.”

Maya stared at her WhatsApp chat with Priya. The last message, sent three weeks ago, was a single gray tick. Then nothing. No profile picture, no “last seen,” no blue ticks. Just an empty void.

There was Priya’s name, sitting quietly in the list.

She tapped the three dots in the top right corner. Settings. Then Account. Then Privacy. Her finger hovered for a second before tapping Blocked contacts .

But when Maya went back to her chat list, Priya’s conversation was there again. And this time, her profile picture had returned—a silly photo of the two of them from college.