Chapter 4: Who is Rekha? - Part 1

The nights went in the same way for Tejas, but now he had something to think about, something to reveal for himself. He started making mental notes as to how he would get information about Rekha. In a week’s time, in got friendly with Vijay in office. Tejas made a point to reach in office early and would also leave office early.

He tried to spoof around Vijay to ask about Rekha. He thought of asking about her after office hours. He waited till the office to close and Vijay to get free. Usually he used to leave office early and Vijay used to close the office after some time. But today he wanted to wait Vijay to close the office. He pretended to be engrossed in some important work and was looking at the clock on the nearby wall.

After sometime, Vijay came in his cabin and asked, “Sahib, will you be working late today?” Tejas looked to Vijay and said, “No, you can close the office in some time?”, hearing the answer he turned back and went outside his cabin.

Outside sun was going to set and people have started winding the day’s work. Vijay also completed his pending work and was waiting for Tejas to come out from his cabin. After 10 minutes, Tejas came out of the cabin, He found everyone has left and only Vijay was waiting for him. His job is to switch off all the lights in the cabin and lock the cabin. When he saw Tejas to come out, he jumped from the stool and went to lock the cabin.

Tejas thought, it is the right time to ask him about Rekha and why the officer told him to keep a distance with her? He waited for Vijay outside the office. It was around 20 minutes, Vijay took to lock and come out of the office. His job is to be very careful and even watchful and to close down everything before he locks the front door. Vijay came out in hurry, and saw Tejas standing in a distance. Seeing him standing, made him nervous, but he was not getting why he is waiting for him.

He came close to Tejas. While he was coming, he could notice Tejas was deeply engrossed in his thoughts. Actually, he was framing the questions; he needed to ask to Vijay. Vijay came near him and asked, “Sahib, are you waiting for me?” Tejas nodded at once hearing the question. Vijay again asked, “Why?” This made Tejas, to look at him. His face was full of questions. Vijay noticed that.

Suddenly Vijay asked, “Sahib, are you living in house no. 20?, the one which is near to Sarpanch’s farm and well?”

“Yes, but why are you asking?” Tejas replied

“And you have someone named Rekha living near your house.” Vijay asked again

“Yes” Tejas replied, as he was now getting fuel for his questions.

“Beware of that lady” Vijay started walking after telling this.

“Wait” Tejas shouted. Hearing his voice, Vijay stopped at a distance.

“You tell me clearly, who is Rekha? And why everyone is telling me to keep a distance from her?” Tejas asked Vijay in surprise.

Vijay maintained a long pause and was thinking whether to tell him or not. Tejas was new to this village and was not aware of many things. He is living in a place, where people are scared, even going there in the day time and he is living there.

Vijay thought, “Sahib should know this, so that he can protect himself”

He turned back to face Tejas. Till this moment, Tejas reached him. Once he reached to Vijay, he asked him the same question. Vijay’s face lost its glow and was turning pale.

“Tell me, what the matter is?” Tejas asked irritatingly. With a low voice Vijay said “Do you believe in ghosts and curses?”

Hearing this, Tejas wanted to laugh. This remembered, this is the second time someone is asking about ghosts. He was from city and do not believe in anything which cannot be scientifically explained. He made sure,  not to laugh in front of him and there are several beliefs and emotions attached to it.

“I don’t believe anything which cannot be explained” Tejas said in return.

Hearing this, a smile came on his face and he said, “You are like me, I also didn’t believe in all these things. But this village has made me realize that, there are many things above our belief and explanations, But no worries, since you are here, you will also start believing all these” Vijay paused after saying this.

Tejas was standing there and hearing what Vijay was telling. He found that full for fiction and was enjoying.

Then suddenly, Vijay asked “Are you scared of something?”

“Not scared but curious, everyone is telling me to keep a distance from Rekha and I don’t know why? Tejas tried to explain, but failed. Vijay standing there shook his head in approval, as if he understood what Tejas wanted to speak or explain.

“I understand, but can’t help. You have to help yourself by saving yourself from what is going to happen in future? What is can tell you is, your decision of coming in this village is what will make you repent” Vijay’s tone was sympathetic.

Tejas thought, this whole discussion is shifting from the main point. He quickly asked again, “Then who is Rekha?”

“Who Rekha?? There is no one called Rekha in this village” Vijay returned. Vijay’s recent statements blew Tejas from the place.

He shouted at Vijay, “but sometime back, you only told me to keep distance from her and now you are telling me there is no one living in this village with that name. Is it some kind of joke? “Vijay’s anger was seen on his face as his face was turning red.

Vijay was looking at Tejas , as if he was hearing all these things for the first time. His ignorant looks made Tejas more angry.

“Sahib, pls. believe me now only I came here and I found you talking with your own, how come I know, what and with whom you were talking? Vijay tried to explain.

Tejas was shocked and irritated. He was not getting that, from past 20 minutes, he was talking with him and now he is telling me that he came out of office now and didn’t knew what he was talking.

“What took you so long to lock the office?” Vijay frowned

“No sahib, I am on time, look its 5:00 PM” Tejas wanted to shout at Vijay for this. He looked at his watch, the ticked another minute and it was showing 5:01 PM. Now he was confused.

“Do you know anyone or anything about house no. 20 and Rekha” Tejas asked Vijay again.

“As of I know, there was a lady many years before called Rekha,  but it’s being a long time she left this village with his family and from then there is no one called Rekha living in this village” Vijay explained

“How is it possible? She is having a shop just near my house and I met her many times, She also sends me meals every day” Tejas tried to explain.

“Do you live in house which is near to Sarpanch’s farm and the well?” Vijay queried

“yes” Tejas quickly agreed

“Save yourself then!!!” Vijay started moving after telling this.

Tejas was standing there confused, frustrated and evaluating the whole case. It was very hard for him to evaluate both the cases.

“Whom to believe? And with whom I was talking before. I never day dreamt in my life and how a dream can be so real. But again, whom to believe” Tejas asked himself

Sun was setting and the darkness of the night started to overpower the sunny appearance of the village. People who were out for work, had started coming back to their families. Tejas started moving towards his house. He saw Rekha in the shop smiling at him, he also smiled at her. He tried to think of the possibilities of claims of a person not living and present there so strongly and physically. Although, he has never touched her but her presence is so much physical that would make anyone think of her presence.

“What about the meals?” Tejas shook his head and started walking towards the house. Before entering the house he turned back to see her, but she was not there. There was no logic for him not to believe she is not there.

He smiled at his foolishness in wasting his time, thinking something irrational. He cleared is mind and went for a shower.

Chapter 3: First Day in Office

It was 7:00 AM and people were gearing to get into the working mood. Those who were going to Mumbai for working were packing their bags and hurrying to catch the bus. There were not so much frequent busses to Mumbai, so one cannot afford to miss the buss. The frequency of these busses even cuts down in the weekends. So one cannot afford to leave in weekends.

Tejas woke up, rubbing his eyes. His mind was still roaming around the last night’s activities. In his thought, he checked his watch. The time was ticking 8:00 AM. His office would open not before 10:00 AM. He has lot of time to get ready. He opened all the windows to get some air and sunlight to come inside the room and to reduce the dampness of the room. His mind went again to the other window, from where he could see the well. He at once went away from the window. He told himself to forget everything, as he might be hallucinating because of the tiredness from the travel.

He went to the kitchen and started making some tea for himself. He had arranged a small gas and kept some emergency grocery in the house. He always had a doubt on his cooking skills, so didn’t go into cooking meals. But tea is OK. He smiled at this thought and continued making his tea. He took his cup and went out of the house, sipping slowly his own made tea. As soon he went out, his eyes enquired for Rekha.

“The Shop is open, but how come Rekha is not there?” he asked himself. Rekha’s helper was cleaning the shop and making it ready for her madam to come. Suddenly he saw Veera coming to him carrying a covered plate. He was sure that, Rekha has made breakfast for him and sent through Veera and that could be the reason, she might be late for the shop. He felt happy and guilty the sometime. Veera came near him with a big smile on his face.

“Malak has greeted you by sending the breakfast.” Veera said proudly.

Tejas kept looking at Veera surprisingly. Suddenly he smiled at the thought he was thinking.

“Thank him on my behalf and tell him that I appreciate his humbleness” Tejas said politely.

Veera shook his head and started moving.

“I will take these plates by evening” he said without turning and raising his hands.

After couple of minutes, Rekha came to the shop and was greeted by her helper. She rolled her eyes and saw Tejas staring at her. She smiled and entered the shop. Tejas felt awkward and lowered his eyes. It was now 9:00 AM and his office would start in an hour. The village development office was around 15 minutes from his house.

Tejas realized that he has to shave, take bath and eat his breakfast, too much in small time. He quickly ran inside and started getting ready for office. Soon he was out for office. The village office was a small but clean area. People have started gathering there from early morning hours. It was his first day in office and he has to take the charge and start his work.

He was greeted by peon Vijay. He told him that sahib will come any time. He gave Tejas a comfortable place to sit and gave a glass of water. He kept on asking about the person from the peon and every time he had to listen the same answer.  After an hour, he saw a medium built person entering the office, sweating and nervous. He at once went into the cabin. Tejas sat there, looking all these. He stood up, peon at once came near him and said, “He is the big boss here, he is the one you are looking for”. He glanced at his watch; it was 12:00 PM. He asked the peon, “Is this the normal routine for him to come late?”. Vijay at once defended his boss saying, “Sometimes he gets late as he has to come from near village.”.” How come a person take 2 hours to come from a village just 2 KMs away?” Vijay thought.

Finally the officer called him inside his cabin. He started telling all stories to Tejas, some important, some not so important and some totally weird. He told Tejas that, he made a big mistake coming here as this is not a good place to work in odd hours. He told Tejas not to go by the beauty of this place, as there are lot of mysteries buried in this village. He also told Tejas to be aware of a lady called “Rekha”. Tejas was surprised to hear her name. He asked the reason. The officer thought for a while and said, “you will yourself understand the reason?”

He finally took out the transfer and handover papers from a drawer and signed the copies and gave one to Tejas and filed the second one. He raised from his chair shook hands with each other and left the office. Tejas was left alone in the cabin. He went to the other side of the table and sat on the chair. He felt a level of excitement after sitting on the chair. He started laughing on the words, which the officer just said about Rekha, he thought how could such a beautiful lady be dangerous?” He waved out the thought, by a knock on his cabin door; it was Vijay holding a tray with a cup of tea. He came inside and kept the cup on the table.

Tejas didn’t see much of what was happening, as he was engrossed in his own thought of Rekha. He felt a strong attraction growing inside him. He jerked and woke up, he smiled on his silly thought and sipped the tea kept in front of him. Soon after, he heard greetings outside the cabin and went to check. He found Sarpanch sahib in the office. He came out of his cabin and went personally to greet Sarpanch. He invited him to his cabin and told Vijay to bring a cup of good tea along with some snacks.

Sarpanch came to meet Tejas and to share his thoughts for development of the village. Tejas liked the ideas told by Sarpanch and kept a mental note to start working on it. In the whole conversation, Sarpanch was insisting to increase the connectivity between the city and the village, which will attract lot of tourist to visit this small village. Tejas happily noted all the points and started prioritizing them. He also told Sarpanch sahib that he will need his help and guidance in this. Sarpanch happily shook his head and assured the help to him.

Tejas wanted to ask more about Rekha and wanted to clarify those statements which he heard from the officer. He was evaluating the time and place to have these discussions, in this whole process; Vijay came inside the cabin to take back the plates and tea cups.

“This is not the right time and place for me to ask anything about Rekha to Sarpanch” Tejas thought.

It was around 4:00 PM and people have started to wind up their pending works. Some of them started leaving, as they have to catch busses to their respective villages. Sarpanch check his time and asked Tejas to accompany him.

“It’s a good time to clear my doubts” Tejas thought

At the next moment, he and Sarpanch were walking in the narrow streets of the village. Tejas finally asked, “I  hope, you will not feel bad, if I ask you something”

“Certainly not!! Go ahead” Sarpanch replied

“Who is Rekha?” Tejas asked. Hearing this question, Sarpanch’s face turned pale became upset.

Sarpanch waved the question and started walking quickly towards his house. Tejas was standing and felt a wave of surprise inside him.

“Definitely there is something wrong and I have to get in the root of it!” Tejas thought and entered his house.

An Unheard Scream – Chapter 2: First Experience

It was nearly 4:00 PM when Tejas woke up. He felt fresh from the morning journey. To him this small nap was very essential. Village Headman was sitting in the courtyard reading something. His face was serious; it felt as if, he was someone different from the actual man.

Tejas came out to the courtyard rubbing his eyes; headman greeted him and asked him “So did you had good sleep?”

Tejas quickly replied to the question, “Oh Yes!!! Thanks”. Headman called his servant Ramu and said, “Hey Ramu!!! Get some tea for both of us and don’t forget the snacks.”

Ramu quickly ran inside the house and starts preparing, what was said. Tejas was surprised that, it’s been such a long time he is here and how come he has not seen any of the family members. He thought weather, he should ask the headman regarding his family or not. He was not sure how headman will react.

With the flow of curiosity, he gathered some courage and asked to the headman, “Sir, it’s been time I am here but I am not able to meet with any of your family members. They have gone somewhere?”

Headman raised his head from the book and looked to Tejas and smiled. He said “Oh yes!! They wanted to meet their grandparents, so they went there. ” avoiding the next obvious question he continued “I had to stay here because you were supposed to come and secondly there are some important works pending to be finished.”

Tejas was listening to this quietly and was wandering who all will be there in his family. Headman told him about is family, about his wife shanta and their 2 sons Shankar and Surya. Shankar was a year elder to Surya. Both of them finished their schooling from the village school and now concentrating on farming and other village activities. Tejas felt a urge of asking, why he didn’t send them for higher studies, but he confronted himself from doing this.

Finally Veera came running. Is face was pale because of the tiredness and it was evident that he was working the whole afternoon and didn’t got a chance to even lie down. He proudly said to all of them that the room Is cleaned and it ready to be accommodated. Headman and Tejas started walking towards the house. Veera has already shifted his luggage in afternoon only. They reached the house and found that the state of the house changed drastically, with everything cleaned.

He smiled to Veera and handed him a 20 rupees note. At first he refused to take anything, but when Tejas insisted he took the note and greeted him. His face glowed seeing the note and was also smiling out of joy. Tejas thought, In cities like Mumbai , happiness cannot be bought paying 100 rupees and see here people get so much happy after getting 20 rupees.

Villagers called Headman as “Sarpanch sahib” or “Malak”. Sarpanch Sahib requested Tejas for a small tour of the village. It was Saturday evening and so there were not many people in the village. Tejas agreed to the request and went out.  Sarpanch sahib waved his hand to the lady who was sitting in the grocery shop just opposite to his house. She came out running and Tejas kept looking at her. Sarpanch introduced Tejas with Rekha. He said, “Rekha is a daughter of our school teacher, she teaches children mostly in the evenings and runs the shop in weekends”. Tejas was listening all these with lot of interest with his eyes struck on Rekha. Rekha was standing with her head bowed down and in the brief intervals, she looked at Tejas.

The village was more beautiful than expected and the planning of the houses constructed there was well planned. With every house in the vicinity, there was stretch of green fields adjacent to every house, which showed their ownership. The males of the village go for farming every morning and spend the whole day there. The irrigation facility was made intelligently which is a web of small canals had taken directly from the river.

Tejas was impressed to see the planning and rated it better from most of the other villages. Sarpanch showed him the village school and the market place. There was a temple constructed in the market place and he was told that people come here to worship here, every Wednesday. After completing the visit to all the important places and meeting with important people, they returned back to the same place. Sarpanch took him to show his farms, which was near to the river. The farms covered long stretch and there were people working for him, who did not have their own land.

Tejas found a small well digged in one stretch of the farm marking its boundary. Tejas was surprised to the well when there was such a planned irrigational facility. He was told that the well was digged much before they came up with this mechanism. Tejas found fascinating to stand there and looked to the river, flowing slowly giving a beautiful look of its majesty and grandness. There were few people there, enjoying the cold water to beat up the heat. His eyes went to the forest on the other side of the river. He looked at the Sarpanch and wanted to ask something to him. But Sarpanch’s face turned serious with a glimpse of fear, as if he remembered something horrifying and wanted to come out of it.

He turned to Tejas and said firmly, “Since you are in this village, let me tell you something very clear. No one is permitted to roam around this place after 8 in the night.” Tejas wanted to laugh out of it, but restrained to do so. He gave a surprising look to the Sarpanch and asked “Why?? What happened??”

Sarpanch’s face showed his angriness, as he doesn’t expect anyone to throw questions to him back. His tone and look was now more serious and with a harsh voice, he said, “You better mind your own business and whatever is told to you, just do it”

They quietly returned to Tejas’s house and Sarpanch called Rekha again. She came with a surprised look and asked Sarpanch, “What happened Sarpanch sahib?”. Sarpanch told Rekha, “Since he will be staying in the house alone, you need to take care of his food. But ensure that this happens before 8 PM.” Rekha understood the point and gave a nod to Sarpanch.

Sarpanch turned and started walking towards to his house, but suddenly he stopped and turned back. He called Tejas to the house and pointed to a window in the back side of the house. Pointing the window, he said in a deep harsh voice, “Never open this window in the night, especially after 8 PM”. He at once turned back and started to walk towards his house.

Tejas felt, Sarpanch wanted to say something more than just this, but he might be thinking that he is new to this village. Sarpanch might open up in some week’s time. Tejas carried town attitude and all these things, which he was listening, not only surprised him but also made him laugh.

Dinner was ready as expected before 8 PM and was delivered to his room. The food was good enough, which reminded Tejas about his family back in town. First he thought, it was much early to have dinner as the next day was Sunday and there is no hurry for him to sleep and wake up early. But he thought of the Sarpanch’s statements and took the meal. He had bought all the necessary groceries from the shop which included some eatables, which he might munch, whenever he felt bored or lonely.

He completed his dinner well in time, so that he can hand over the dishes back to Rekha.

Tejas thought “Now what??” there was no TV in the room for entertainment. He looked out from his front window and saw no one was there on the road. He thought, this might be because there are not many people in the village itself as it is a weekend. The room was hot and humid, he was feeling uncomfortable sitting in the room and with one window open, was not making much difference.

He checked his watch, it was ticking 9:00 PM. He opened is door and went out to get some fresh air. Outside the climate was better than, what was inside. He took a chair and kept it on the veranda outside the door. He thought, “Will it be safe, if I sleep here only, the weather is just fine to give me a nice sleep.”

He rolled his eyes around but didn’t see any one. He thought of the Sarpanch’s voice and entered inside the room half heartedly. The room was the same. He planned to open the other window. His hands stopped for a moment, but then he opened the window. The window took time to open as it was jammed, showing that no one has ever touched this window or opened. Cold breeze came just after the window was opened and hit on his face. He felt relieved and went to sleep.

He shifted his bed towards this window and prepared himself for a good sleep. He couldn’t sleep for some time, as this was a new place, but soon he went to a deep sleep. It was an hour or so, it jumped on his bed and started looking all around the place. His eyes were red of fear and his heart was beating fast. He looked outside the window; the river was flowing like the same nothing has changed. He leaned against the window to see outside, Sarpanch’s fields were clearly visible in the open moonlight and also the well.

It was quite a mesmerizing; he jerked his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He checked his watch; the time was 1:30 AM. He felt tired and went back to the bed, suddenly turning back he saw someone sitting on the edges of the well and looking towards him and within some time it disappeared. Confused Tejas thought, he might be seeing  and feeling things because of his tiredness. He didn’t bother to think on this and went back to his bed.

“Sometimes unexpected seems to be too expected”..check out How Tejas cleared his doubts in my next post

An Unheard Scream – Chapter 1: The Village

“Most deadly screams are often unheard”

Sun was setting down, with its own pace and the air was getting more and more damper. The light was getting dimmer and dimmer. The river bank which was full of people some time back has started to be vacant. The liveliness and colors of the nature, was getting over powered with the black color of the night. It might be the time for the predators to wake up and search for their prey. Their hungry eyes look around to see any trace of their prey.

Deep into the dampness of the forest, the noise of the nearby river was very prominent. The river was getting slower in its pace with widening of its breadth. There was fog everywhere and its definitely not the place for anyone to visit at this point of time. This was the time of silence to take over, leaving a feeling of death full eyes. It’s the time for the death to come out from the creeps and make a choice. Between the sadness and gloomy face of the swamp, suddenly there was a scream of a girl. The helpless scream of the girl, hits the trees and dissolves in the dense fog floating over the swamp.

Who is she and what happened to her?, Was she was someone or just an illusion? Answers to all the questions will be found in the later parts of this story.

The story starts from a small village called Kishanpur, planned in the lap of nature. Kishanpur is around 161 Kms far from Mumbai. People passing by this place get fascinated by its beauty and simplicity. This place has all the qualities for becoming a tourist attraction in near future.

Tejas was happy to go to this place for work, his dream is to work in such remote places because of this dream, he got himself educated in rural development and worked as a development officer from past five years. This is the fourth village, where he was being transferred. Although he has visited this village quite often, but he feels the beauty of this place keeps on increasing day by day. Now, since he will be staying here, he is very much excited about this.

The journey this place from Mumbai, was a pleasant one, thanks to the new roads. He comfortably reached the bus stop of Kishanpur. He looked at the surroundings first and then on his watch. It was 12:00 AM and not much people were there at the bus stop. He was confused weather, anyone his come to receive him or not. Although he was having the address, of the head man, but he was expecting some kind of welcome. After waiting for almost an hour, he picked up his luggage and started walking towards the headman’s house. Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulders from behind. He at once looked behind and saw a mid aged man looking at him with concerned eyes.

Tejas asked him in utter surprise, “Are you looking for someone? And how can I help you?”

The man was silent and looking at him at the stretch.

Tejas asked him again, “What is your name? and Whom are you looking ?”

With a confused stare, he hands over a small chit to him and asked him “I am looking for this person, have you seem him”

Tejas opened the chit and found his name written on it. At first place he was relieved that at least some one has come to receive him but then he was equally concerned as to whether this man will be able to carry my luggage.

He gave a confirming smile to the man. The man was also relieved to see him, he at once asked, “Please allow me to carry these bags sir”. Tejas was surprised to see, such humbleness in people living in such a small place, he at once asked his name, hearing this question, the man proudly responded , “Veera”.

While going to the headman’s house, he was keeping a mental note of the population and the number of houses built there. He also wanted to get more information about this place. He wanted to analyze this information more as this was a Sunday and most of the families might have left the village to enjoy the weekend.

Headman’s house was built massively on a small height from the other houses. The architecture of the house defined the prosperity of the family living there. There were decorated and clean stairs leading to a open courtyard. The courtyard was well designed with chosen artifacts and plants of various species, to the inside of the courtyard, there were many cushions covered with white sheets kept parallel to the wall.

Veera told Tejas to wait in the courtyard and he will call the headman. He gently kept the luggage at one corner and went inside to call the headman. The view of the whole village from there was breath taking, although it was an hour they took to reach here, but then also he was not tired. He thought, “Comparing to the time, the climate is not so much hot here. It is indeed pleasant. He was very happy that he will be staying here and will be able to enjoy the beautiful weather.”

Headman came out to the courtyard with open hands. He greeted Tejas, as if he was waiting for him from a long time. He told Veera to accompany him and Tejas to show his place to live. Veera went forward with the keys of the house and opened the house for them. It was a decent place to live, not used by anyone in near future. It had a small cot placed in the middle of the front room; inner side of the house was a small kitchen and an attached bathroom.

Headman instructed Veera to properly clean the whole house and fill the water bottles with fresh water. He also advised Tejas to have a shower, till the time his room is getting cleaned. Veera quickly filled provided necessary quantities of water to him. Tejas enjoyed the shower and it made him looked fresh. He took out clean clothes from his bag and wore them. He combed his hair and became ready to go with the headman to his house for lunch.

Lunch was served in a large room connecting to the kitchen. They had to sit on the floor for that, but it was elegantly managed. The room was made a some degrees colder than the outer temperature and Tejas felt a sudden urge to sleep. Tejas enjoyed the traditional touch in the meal served hot. After completing it, headman requested Tejas to have a nap and then he can move to is house after evening tea. Tejas readily agreed to this.

                           Find out what happens with tejas on his first night in the village? In my next blog.