Chapter 7: Epilouge

“What happened next?” he asked her

“She went inside the room and stopped in side, the dead bodies were lying in front of her. She was speechless and turned back to the crowd. She at once closed the door, people outside were knocking, banging, pleading to her to open, but she didn’t open. Then one of them saw a light in one of the upper floor rooms and an image of her standing near the window. She was still and not moving anywhere; suddenly she went inside and closed the window. Then they could see, something hanging from the roof of the room. It was quick to realize that, she hanged herself from the roof. People saw this whole this speechless, helpless. There was nothing much they could to save the family. They cursed the night and cried for loosing this family all together. Their anger was then moved to Raghu and they thought, he has done everything. Raghu lived in the house just below the house. It was the first house from the Sarpanch’s house. The mad crowd went to that house and started banging the house. Without any clue, Raghu opened the door and suddenly one farmer dragged him outside and all of them started beating. One of them questioned him, why he was not in the fields today. His father was not well, so he stopped to take care of him; he tried to convenience the crowd. He also said that he met Sarpanch sahib in his house and told him about his absence. Hearing this crowd lost their senses and started beating him to death. After he lost his senses, they took him inside the house and locked the door from outside. One from the crowd ran to this house and brought a bottle filled with kerosene. They poured the kerosene on the house and lit it from outside. Raghu got his senses back and went to the window; he saw fire coming out and started crying for help. People moved away from the burning house and were standing. Raghu was pleading to the crowd for help but no one turned out. Then he tried to get out but was not able to unlock the door. Soon he realized that all his efforts are waste and his whole family was going to die. He shouted to the crowd, “The way you people killed me and my family without knowing the truth, I curse this village that from now you will also never know the truth and will die searching it.” With these words, fire took the whole house in itself along with the people living inside it.”Rekha stopped suddenly.

“I have to go inside, I have left with lot of work to complete and I have to give food to my parents.” She said looking to the door.

For Tejas everything was falling in the correct place. He looked at Rekha and asked, “Its being lot of time, and we are sitting outside. If you don’t mind, can I come inside the house and get some water to drink also I can ask you some questions, while you complete your work and also I can meet with your par ants also...”

“Do you really want to come inside? And meet my parents” Rekha asked mysteriously

“Why not? If it’s not a problem for you people!!” Tejas potentially asked

“Certainly not!! You are more than welcome!!” She smiled at Tejas and holded his one hand and took him inside.

Tejas could feel a sense of dipretion inside the house. The house was dark from inside and there was a scent of blood from every where. Rekha’s voice came from behind, as she guided him to sit in a place, “I know this place is bit dark, but my parents don’t like much light.”

“Not a problem...” Tejas showed the gesture. Rekha came to him with a glass of water and gave to Tejas. He took the glass from her hand and began to drink. The water was clod and sweet, which relaxed Tejas very much.

He suddenly asked Rekha, “I want to ask you something, regarding the story!!”

“Yes… go ahead” she replied at once.

“Firstly, what was the name of Sarpanch’s daughter? And secondly, how do you know exactly what happened that night?” Tejas completed with a silence.

A blur voice came from somewhere, “Sarpanch had a daughter named REKHA and it is me who faced the entire thing”

Hearing this, glass fell down from his hands. Tejas started panicking.

“All this time, I was talking to the dead… oh god and now I am going to die” Tejas started shouting. Suddenly he saw three body figures coming out from the dark.

“You don’t have to get afraid from us, we are not going to harm you” One of them said

Tejas realized the white shadow, he often saw on the edges of the well was one of them. He accidently shouted, “I have seen you many times from my house. You are the same, whom I saw on the well.”

“Yes, she is Rekha.” The same one said.

Soon, Tejas felt a drift of unconsciousness coming on him and his eyes getting heavy and heavier and he fall asleep.

Time flew and a honking woke him up. He found himself sitting in a bus and the bus was standing in the city bus stop. He tried to remember, but couldn’t remember what happened to him. The last he could remember was, he was walking towards the Sarpanch’s house.

He came out of the bus and got his whole luggage. He could hear, someone saying “Go and never come back!!”

Chapter 6 : The Reveal

“I don’t believe what I have seen tonight!” Tejas muttered sitting on his bed, rubbing his head. He was not getting proper words to describe this feeling or the situation. One realization, he was having, that there is something very wrong in this village and he need to report this to the Sarpanch.

“I have to meet Sarpanch tomorrow morning for sure and talk on this!!” he made a mental note of this and went to sleep. But unfortunately, he was not getting the much required sleep as the thoughts of the hanging women was coming in front of his eyes. He woke and sat on his bed at once, as is he saw someone near his bed.

He was very much sweating and was also feeling sick.” How come cold has increased so much at once?” he thought. He went near to the window; outside the moon light was falling on the stretched fields, drops of dew on the leaves were glowing like small diamonds. The scean was mesmerizing by itself and he felt much better in that. His eyes scanned everything in the vicinity and stopped near the well; the same shadow of a lady was sitting on the edge of the well and was looking at him. He could feel the pain in her eyes and the urge to tell him something.

“What she wants to tell me? And could she would be the same lade whom I saw in Sarpanch’s house? He thought. There were endless line of questions coming out of his mind and he wanted answers to all the questions. “There is indeed something, Sarpanch is hiding from me, but how can I go to him and ask about this” he thought. “He would get angree as I have not followed what he said to me “he said to himself. But he wanted to explore and go deep into the situation.

He was not afraid now and thought of communicating with the lady. He planned to go to that well and speak to that lady. Things were not so easy, as it seems. “Why would someone connect with me and start talking? I have to do something to win the confidence on me, but what??” thinking this, he saw his watch; he lost an hour’s good sleep.

“I have to go and get some good sleep, as tomorrow will be a tough day” he convinced himself and went to bed. As soon as he fell on bed, he was in deep sleep.

The day came quickly and tejas was rubbing his eyes sitting on the bed. After finishing all the work he was thinking of going to office or not. He was not getting that type to energy today, as he used to get other days. This might be because of insufficient sleep. After thinking a lot on this, he decided to give today a break and the next 2 days were holidays.

He went out and sat on the veranda, evaluating his next course of action and was also waiting for his breakfast to come. It was almost an hour he waited for his breakfast, but it didn’t come. He thought of going to Sarpanch’s house to check. He quickly took his bath and got ready, he could realize the tiredness appearing on his face.

He started walking to the Sarpanch’s house, he recollected all the incidences happened to him a night before. He saw the abandoned house and also the well, but he neglected that. He went upstairs and knocked the door. After couple of knocks, the door was opened by a lady.

“I want to see Sarpanch sahib!!” he told to the lady

She looked surprised and asked “Who are you? And what is the intention of the meeting?”

“I came here in this village recently and sahib knows me!!” He answered

“Why I am being asked so many questions, all of a sudden?, she should know me, as Sarpanch would have told her” he thought in mind.

She was not sure what to say, after a brief pause, she told, “how is it possible?”

“Why this is not possible? Call Sarpanch and he will tell you who I am and who you to ask me so many questions.” Tejas was getting more and more irritated. “Call him and he will tell you who I am?” Tejas started to shout.

That lady was looking at him with utter surprise and was not having any clue, of what to tell him. She waited him to cool down. After sometime, Tejas cooled down. The lady started telling him, “We have been living here for ages, this house belonged to Sarpanch, but the whole family died in an accident long time back and then we took over this house. It’s being almost 12 yrs we have been living here. We were not here as we had to go to our relative’s house for some days. We returned just couple of days back.” Tejas was listening with cold hands.

The lady saw his condition getting bad and invited him inside the house.

“Are you sure, this house was locked last couple of days” Tejas reconfirmed. “Yes certainly” she replied at once.

“Do you know Rekha?” Tejas enquired. “Rekha?? Why are you asking that?” She asked surprisingly.

“No, just tell me, do you know Rekha? He again asked and there was a brief pause between them, “I am Rekha” she said after a brief silence. The reply hit Tejas like a huge blow. “How is it possible? You are not, whom I met few days back” Tejas said getting hold of himself. “ Are you sure, you met with someone named Rekha only because I know there is no other Rekha in this village apart from me and as I said, I was not there in this village for some time” she tried to explain.

Tejas felt helpless within himself of being treated like a fool. He didn’t like that; he didn’t come to this village to be fooled. “Why would anyone fool me? I don’t even know anyone here” he tried to ask himself. Rekha was standing beside him and was looking all these. She was sensing the helplessness of Tejas and wanted to comfort him.

“So then, who was giving me food all these days? I thought Rekha or Sarpanch sahib was giving me food. Is that you or do you know who he was?” he asked to Rekha. She was silent and was evaluating the answer, she should give to Tejas. “How can I give you food, when I was not here and how can Sarpanch sahib would give you food when he is not living in this house?” she explained.

“There is definitely something going on here and you need to tell me before I go mad” Tejas raised his voice. He felt weak from inside, he thought “How can I be so much weak, as if I have not taken food from a long time” he thought. He started to realize what was happening.

He holed Rekha’s arms and asked her to explain, about what was happening in this village. His eyes showed the eagerness of knowing the whole thing.

“Go back to your place, this is the best thing you can do to help and save your life and don’t trust anyone here” Rekha said quietly

Tejas could remember, the same words he heard from someone also, now his eagerness grew a lot and he wanted to know why people are telling him the same thing again and again.

He turned to Rekha and said, “OK I will go back, but not without knowing what is happening here? And you have to tell me?” Tejas was pressing the same thing again and again.

Helplessly Rekha agreed to tell him the history of the house and the village, she sat near him on the same cot and started telling him, “This village is cursed from a long time and who so ever comes to this village eighter gets mad or gives his life. People here live a dual life and they are not aware of it. So, you will feel a lot of contradictions in their talk. There were lot of accidents of people seeing a white shadow sitting on the edges of the well in the backside of the farm and many of them have thought that the shadow was seeing to them with moist eyes. It is when; people started becoming mad and often ran to give them their lives…”

Tejas was listening very carefully to the story. He also had seen that shadow many times and had thought to go to the well.

“The history of this village goes back 25 yrs back. This village was a happiest place and people here were joyful and playful. There were hardly any fights that have happened in this village and nearby villages used to give examples of the unity to each other. That was the time, when this village was not so much connected with the city. People used to go to city once in 2 – 3 months. People have seen the most of their good days in that period. Our Sarpanch sahib was a very good man. He used to treat the villagers as a part of his family. His family was also attached with the villagers and villagers also loved and respected them a lot. The royal family would attend each and every festival and functions of the villagers and same with the villagers. Our Sarpanch sahib always encouraged education and development of the people and the village. He always wanted that every boy and girl should get the same education and for this he planned money, transport and all other facilities.” Rekha’s face suddenly turned pale.

“Then it all started, our prosperity came in the eyes of our neighbor villages and they started envying us for that. They used to come and create some or other kind of issues to disturb our smooth flow. They used to often do mischievous things with the village girls and would bit up the boys in the night. When Sarpanch sahib was informed about this, he was very angree and told everyone in the village, not to be out after 8 PM, till this issue is solved. Sarpanch sahib’s family consisted of a girl, who was studying in the city. She used to visit the village in her holidays. Sarpanch realized the urgency of the situation and passed a message to his daughter in the city, telling her not to come to village now. But unfortunately, she already left for the village when her hostel received this message..” Tears suddenly started coming out from Rekha’s eyes.

“I still remember, it was around 10 PM, when her bus dropped her outside the village, because of the situation getting worse, people refrained from going out on streets in the night. She was surprised to see, the deadness of the village. But she didn’t bother to ask anyone on this. She took his bag and started walking. She looked at her watch and it was clicking 12:00 AM. She didn’t realize that, she has spent 2 hours walking in this deserted village. She was scared to death inside and started running towards her house. She finally reached the house and knocked the door. No one opened the door in first couple of knocks, fear filled her heart. This is something, which has never happened to her in the past and she was not able to understand the reason of it. She thought, people might be asleep and so they might not be able to hear the knocks. She started to bang the door loudly and then Sarpanch opened the door. Seeing his daughter standing on the door steps shocked him and same way made him angree. He let his daughter come inside the house and closed and locked the door. He questioned her that even after giving the message, why did she come? She looked at him and said that she didn’t receive any message or probably the message would have come to the hostel after she left the hostel…” Rekha paused a little.

Tejas was noting some questions in his mind, to ask her after she completes.

“Soon after the whole village got the news of her coming to the village, everyone was now concerned about her safety and well being. Everyone in the village would tell her, not to go out on the streets after 8 PM because things are still not in control. She would think and laugh on these talks and would wade off thinking that she came in that night and nothing happened to her. One day already passed after she came to the village and things were smooth. But the worst part was waiting to begin, somehow the news spread to the neighbor villages about her coming to the village. I still remember it was Wednesday evening 4 PM; she was taking up a walk near the well, when she saw some people on the banks of the river. She was excited to see, what they were doing and hence she went to meet them and to see what they were doing. There were some 4 -5 boys playing, drinking and catching fishes. She could realize that those boys were not from her village, then how come they are here? The boys saw her coming and started to talk something seeing her” Rekha’s expression changed to fear and pain, but she continued

Tejas was seeing all the changes on her face, but didn’t ask about her. He was so interested in the story that he didn’t want to break the harmony of storytelling.

“She asked about those boys from where they are and what they are doing here in this village. One from the group sad that they recently came from the city, to explore some beautiful villages, they found this place interesting and so they were camping here. She found the whole idea interesting and asked them if she can join them. Without much hesitate they agreed and told her that they will be going to lookout the forest and whether she is interested in coming with them. She thought of something and agreed. There was a small boat standing on the banks of the river and they climbed the boat and one of them helped her also to climb. The boat started to move away from the bank and was going towards the other bank. In no time they reached the other bank. The bank was same as the other one, but surrounded with dense forest. They told her that they are going inside and she can come, if she is not afraid.  She thought that she is not afraid, living alone in a city then why should she be afraid. She readily agreed on the offer and went inside the forest...” Rekha turned her face at once and started to cry.

“What Happened? And why are you crying? Tejas asked confused. Rekha realized that Tejas was looking at her and she cleaned her face. Her eyes were still red.

“After walking few steps, the boys saw each other. It was some sort of signal, which they are giving to each other. Suddenly, two of them started to walk slowly and reached back of her. One of the boys pushed her from behind and she fell on the ground and her head hit a stone on the ground and darkness came in front of her eyes. The last she could see was an image of someone coming close to her and they were shouting “Raghu”. Raghu was the son of a farmer, who used to work for Sarpanch. She never met Raghu in person, but often heard his name from his father. His father would always appreciate him for his intelligence and smartness. It started getting night, when she got her consciousness back. She didn’t know, what has happened to her, but she felt a sort of pain and some blood strains in the down portion of her dress. She holded back the cry as it would make those people aware that she is awake. After reaching the other bank, she realized that she was taken to the well and was dropped on the edges of the well. The boys, who carried her back, left her on the well and were going to her house. She at once sensed the danger and started to shout. The farm was very big and the well was at one end of the land. People, who worked there, were planning to leave. She shouted at the top of her voice and didn’t find anyone reacting to her call. She had no option, but to stand up and start walking towards the house. When she came at the middle of the land, people saw her and ran towards her. Seeing people coming she gave up and fall down. People came near her and started asking her who did this to her? She was not in a condition of telling anything, but accidently “Raghu” came out of her mouth” Rekha’s face started as she continued the story.

“The farmers couldn’t believe what they heard just now. They couldn’t believe that someone from this village could do anything. One from the group said others to take her to her house and then think what needs to be done to Raghu. They started to link, all the incidences happening with other village girls with him. They carried her to her house and knocked the door. To everyone’s surprise, on one opened the door. They called Sarpanch sahib, but helpless. Then one from the group came forward to give a big blow on the door and with his pressure, the door automatically opened. The house was dark from inside, which was causing difficulty for them to see anything inside. They again called Sarpanch sahib, but no sound, then they started calling vahini sahib (In Marathi, people call sister as “vahini), but still no voice. Now they started feeling something bad has happened. One from the group of farmers was carrying a match box. He at once lit a match stick and what they saw threw them back. Pool of blood was all over the floor and they could see 2 bodies lying in that pool of blood. Someone killed Sarpanch sahib by hitting on his head and vahini sahib, by cutting her throat. The whole scean was very gruesome. They kept her in the veranda, she could realize that there is something happened and started walking towards the group of farmers. Farmers were clueless, whether to let her see this in this condition or not, but she was stubborn and forced herself inside and stopped numbed. “Rekha looked at Tejas. She saw tears coming out of his eyes, and seeing this she gave a small smile. She touched his cheeks with her fingers. Tejas felt her fingers are very cold, colder than normal human body, but he didn’t have any botheration to it.

Chapter 5: Who is Rekha? : Mystrious Identity

Tejas was thinking about the whole episode, which happened with him the whole day. He wanted to find some rationality in that, but didn’t seem to be fortunate.

He came out from the shower, drying his hairs. He yelled to himself, “What is happening? Why no one is telling me the truth? Someone says Rekha is there and someone says, no one called Rekha is there?”

He was furious on himself, for falling in this situation. He could have stayed away from this, minded his own business, doing something, for which he came in this village. There was no point, of being explorative.

“But how can anyone ignore the facts, people are not so mad to tell me all these” Tejas tried to explain himself. “How will I be able to get into the truth?” Tejas questioned himself.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t see that time flew like a flash of light. The dinner was going to come and it will be the best time, when he can ask the person about Rekha. He patiently waited for the boy to come. He couldn’t hold his anxiety and went out of the house to see the boy. It was still some time left for the boy to come and this fact made him more curious.

People outside his house started to go to their houses. The road started to become deserted. He wanted to see what happens after 8. He also wanted to find out where Rekha lived. He was sure that Rekha existed and want to make people see her existence. That can be only possible, if he was convinced, that she existed.

He made a mental note of going out of the house after 8 to have a check on the fact. While he was thinking all these things, suddenly he saw the boy running with a plate on his hand. He checked on his watch, it was ticking 7:30 PM. He took the plate from the boy and wanted to ask, what he was thinking from so long. But the boy ran at once, he got free from his responsibility. Tejas stood there for some time and returned back to his house.

It was almost 8:30 PM, tejas was about to finish his dinner. It took longer time from usual days, probably because there are lots of things running in his mind and his concentration was more in those things rather taking his dinner. He completed his meal by 9:15 PM. He washed his hands and came to his front window. Not a trace of human.

“Now is the time to trace the truth” Tejas told himself. He came out of his house on the road. The road was dimly lit with the street lamps and also with the other house’s lights. He was able to see every corner of the place. His heart was beating heavily, he thought of going back to his house and sleep but then he was wanted to reveal and announce himself as a winner.

“Which way to go??” He asked confusingly

Then he thought, let’s walk towards Sarpanch’s house. This is the only route, he was confident of. He passed across various type of houses some small and some big. The size of the house reveals the status of the family lived in that. At the end of the road, he could see a deserted house. The house was still standing, but it was half broken and burnt.

He was surprised thinking, what would have happened to this house and the people living in this house. The house was pretty good, literally beautiful, wanted to be lit with lights, wanted to look as normal. But the circumstances had made people abandon this place or death has taken them away from this place.

Tejas was thinking all these while standing near to this house. Suddenly he could sense a deep sadness in the air. Tejas cold feel some hidden force attractive enough to push him towards the house. He wanted to leave but couldn’t leave. His mind and his heart were not coming to a same conclusion. He turned from there with much effort and went near to the Sarpanch’s house. He was thinking of going there and greet him, but he didn’t want Sarpanch think that he is not obeying to his orders.

“It’s better to go back from here, there is nothing so suspicious here to which people are thinking in such way” Tejas thought. He wanted to laugh at himself, that he came into these people’s trap. He was about to leave Sarpanch’s house, he saw someone was standing in one of the top floor rooms. It was a clear picture that it was some female standing there and suddenly went inside. After sometime, he could see someone hanging in the same room.

Tejas couldn’t believe what he was seeing there. All his courage drop down and fear over powered his mind and heart. He was so much scared that he left that place and ran towards his house.

“Is everything fine in Sarpanch’s house?” Tejas thought, taking time to get normal. He thought that,” if something like this has happened in Sarpanch’s house then how come no noise is outside?”

With this thought we went to bed and slept at once.

The realization of finding the identity of Rekha was still running back in his mind and he understood that, her identity is the only possible way to understand the root of everything which was happening with this village.

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.