Haunted Minds

It was love at first sight. The single storied house, stood alone. Red slated roof, in contrast with the green ivy trailing down its length beckoned the passerby cheerily. Just the way i had envisaged my new house would look. Getting off from the car, i  walked down the driveway, admiring the small lawn, the feeling one got of being in the countryside, though one stood just a lane away from the main road. That was Banglore for you. Lovely homes, together but a discreet distance apart from each other. Coming from Mumbai, and its chawls, i was taken with the thought of having my own little bungalow, private, serene, above all quiet.

After the agent, going in for the kill, had shown me around the spacious hall, the small but cosy bedrooms on the first floor, i was ready to buy. The first person i called was Dad, in far away Kolkata. I may have earned my money, but my financial advisor was definitely my dad. " Be cautious, beta. " was his advise."Go check out your neighbours. If it is such a good buy, why is it on the market in the first place ? Is it the only vacant property around ?"

"Ah, dad. Must i go talk to total strangers ? I dont even know Kannada, at all."
"So what ? People know English, no ?!"

So, having got rid of the most- reluctant- to- leave, broker, i set off to the house next door. Standing outside, i realised that it had very high walls, which was strange, considering that most homes here had small fences merely around their periphery. As I rang the bell, a huge clang reverberated inside, accompanied by the furious barking of dogs. I started to retreat when a voice boomed from inside, " WHO is it ?" Startled, I replied, trying to get myself heard above the din the dogs were making, " Just a neighbour. "
"Wait !" commanded the voice. I could hear the sounds of bolts being dragged open. The door finally opened. Before me, eyeing me suspiciously, stood a small man. Dressed in pyjamas, though it was almost evening. Almost bald, a small ring of  mostly grey hair around his head, he must have been in his late sixties, at least.

"Well ?" He demanded in a surprisingly strong voice. "What do you want, young man ? "
" I was interested in the house next door, and just wanted some information, sir."
He eyed me for a minute or two. Suddenly, the door slammed shut. Literally on my face. I leapt back just in time, or my foot would have caught in the door.

Shaken, i turned to leave. "Don't buy it. If you value your life." The voice, much quieter now, came from within. The windows, I noticed were barricaded. In fact, every window in the houses nearby was barricaded, I noticed as I walked, slowly back to my car. It was back to my father again.

Most parents are paranoid about their children's safety. So was dad. But having been a policeman all his life, he never gave up on things without reasoning them out. I heard him out, then driving back to my hotel, I had a plan of action ready for the next day.

The broker stood trembling before me. He tried to speak bravely, but his voice quavered as he pleaded, "Sir, you get one of your friends, how can I...No! No! i cant, i won't ..."

" Look, Pandey. These are my terms. Take it and i'll up your commission by  one percent. Leave it and your house stays unsold. Come on, man ! " I urged him." Why don't you want to spend one night that too with me, in this house." Then I added slyly, " how do you expect me to stay here alone for the rest of my life then? Is it haunted or something ?"

Those were the magic words it seemed. Suddenly the man was a blubbering mass, clinging onto my feet, pleading with me to reconsider my decision. "I will show you other homes, much better than this one, sahab. I swear on my mother, I heard about it today only, or I wouldn't have brought you here. This house is haunted. Someone screams and cries from inside, so the neighbours say. A woman died. Murdered by her own son. That is why no one is ready to buy it. "

"Your mother is dead, right ? " I retorted. "No. your punishment then for lying to me, is that you will spend a night with me in this house, if I have to tie you up and drag you there. I am a policeman's son, you see. I  never give up  without investigating.

Maybe the words "Police" had something to do with it for he turned up at my hotel that evening. I took one look at him, then burst out laughing. He was dressed in a white dhoti, with a saffron shirt. Numerous   rudraksh, sundry other malas and threads were tied around his neck and wrists. "Arrey, Pandey you look like a pandit. Any ghost will be able to see you from far away, then what will happen to you. " As he turned white, I put a reassuring arm around him, "Come on then, don't be such a coward. Main hoon na ?"

Soon we were at the gates, Pandey with his eyes shut had to be led inside. Muttering various mantras under his breath, he led me into the hall. " Sir ji. We will sleep here only.  Look I have sleeping bags." I frowned then, agreed. The last thing I wanted was him running out on me.

The house was quite. From the garden, we could hear the sound of crickets. An aura of peace surrounded us. The disquiet lay within us. Every sound we heard had us alert. His eyes would immediatly dart to mine. He had slowly shifted his bedding so that we lay almost side by side. The watch I wore showed the time as eleven forty five. Slowly the conversation had run out between us. We lay, cold and shivering on the floor. Was this the craziest thing i had ever done ? You bet !

Surprisingly, he was the first to fall asleep. I tossed and turned. Then I started thinking about how I would do up the house if I lived in it. The ceilings would be pristine white. The walls an electric blue offset with white. "No. It used to be green. The ceiling was off white." Had I imagined it ? Or had I actually heard someone say it ? Nah. I was keyed up. That's what it was. Time to sleep. " No. Time for the yagna to begin." There it was again. Then it started. At first softly. Then slowly it started to reverberate in my mind.. "Om Namash Shivai....Om Namash Shivai...." My eyes snapped open. I reached out a hand, for the first time it was actually trembling, and grabbed Pandey. Only my hand touched thin air. Pandey, still sound asleep, and snoring was suspended. On the very same ceiling. I opened my mouth to scream. All that emerged was a strangled croak, " Pandey !" His eyes shot open, then arms and legs flailing wildly, he turned, and landed on the floor with a thump. Petrified, he scrambled to run. But discovered he couldn't move. "Join the yagna, Mantra padho ! " The voice rang and echoed all around us, growing in frenzy, until we both had our ears covered. While Pandey clutched me in a death grip, i took a hold on myself. " Meditate !" I could hear my dad's  voice commanding me. "Block it out, you can do it." Closing my eyes with a super human effort, i started retreating into the abscesses of my mind. I was a zen master. I had the strength. Soon there was nothing around me, but the vistas of my mind. Wave upon wave of serenity.

I must have been thus for a long time. When my eyes  opened, i could hear the chirping of the birds heralding dawn. Pandey must have fled a long time ago. What had happened with him, I would never know. I checked the ceiling just to make sure. With a heavy heart i made my way out, and home to the hotel. I knew what I needed to do. Pandey, when I located him, had his bags packed. He was going to his desh, he said, his haunted demeanour spoke loudly then his words. Nothing I could say convinced him to stay.

The Puja was held in the house early on Sunday. My dad and I were the sole participants. Even as the mantras were recited by him, we could feel a wave around us. One that exuded joy, exalted relief. As it was coming to an end. I heard a voice in my head. "Thank you. " It said. " Now I am free, Now! I can rejoin my mother, I owed this to her, her last wish on earth, before she died. Killed by me, when I had one of my fits.Killed by these cursed hands of mine. " I was now free too. To live in peace in this beautiful home. Pandey, visits me now and then, but never stays the night. I wonder why.

The Second Side.

She paced the room and fumed. "How dare she ! The bitch. Who the hell does she think she is, this.. this Katy Murthy !" Her blue grey eyes glinting dangerously, she glared at her publicist, who was bearing the brunt of her anger. " I recieve the Style Icon of the Year award, and she dares to criticise  my dress at that very function ! I, Karuna Kejriwal, look uncomfortable holding the trophy, I look dowdy ! How the hell did she get into that hall ! " She raged on, while the publicist mentally rolled her eyes, and stood fidgeting.. When she had finished she threw the offending newspaper on the chair, and subsided onto the sofa, still muttering the choicest epithets she could think of. No one had the right to criticise the topmost heroine of Bollywood after all, the leader of the pack, Queen of all she surveyed. Master, rather mistress of all she surveyed. Men droooled over her pictures, women copied her hairstyles, her clothes, even her body type for heaven's sake. The newbie journo had probably commited harakiri, by writing the article. "And burn that dress ! I never want to wear anything by that gay Roseus, ever again ! "

 The knock on the door distracted her from her tirade. Still seething she shouted, " Get lost whoever it is." The dooor opened , her beloved husband came in eyebrows raised. " Who is the unlucky person, who has offended my sweetheart ?" He asked in soothing tones. Seeing him, her eyes lit up. However angry she was, just his very presence was enough to calm her down. "Darling.. Just see the temerity of this... this bitch.." She regaled him with what had been written about her. He listened indulgently, then sat quiet. "Well ?" She demanded. "don't you have anything to say ?"  He sat on the sofa and gently pulled her onto his lap. " She was not wrong you know." Before she could react, he turned her face to his. "You are the prettiest woman i have ever met, I'm the luckiest guy on earth, but darling, that dress did not do you justice. I told you so, too before you left, but you were in such a tearing hurry, you hardly heard me !"

She sat silent mulling over what he had said. Then turning around she kissed him, and turned to leave the room. At the door she paused, turned, one regal eyebrow arched as she looked into his eyes," That may be so, but no one else is allowed to tell me so."

"Madam ! Madam !" The voice addressing her belonged to the security guard. " There is a woman at the gates. She says she is your fan, and won't leave until you meet her for a few minutes." She whirled around and retorted, " Kya, Bahadur ! Bhagao usey ! Aisey to kitne fans hain, sub ko milun, to shooting pe na jaun, kya?"

Before he could say much else she was gone. He turned to see the stricken face of the girl behind him. A steely glint replaced the angst as she looked at him, then hoisted her back pack in front and lowered it onto the floor. From it she took a blanket. "Bahar hi hoon. Kitne din tak nahi milengi. Raastey pe sona koi gunah to nahi na ?! " No matter what the security person said, she refused to budge from near the gates. Even threats of the police didn't work. Truth to say, Bahadur's efforts were also a little half hearted. She so reminded him of his daughter, he didn't have the heart to get her into trouble. That night he didn't sleep much as he sat guarding her.

"Please madamji, aaj to aap kuch karen, she is not willing to leave from here without meeting you." Bahadur was pleading which was very rare for him, because he had handled many such depraved fans before. She looked at him bemusedly. Then nodded her head. Try as she did she couldn't erase the insult from her head. Maybe this was just what she needed. A doting fan's adoration to restore her equilibrium. "All right, bring her up. She's got ten minutes, please make that clear." When she looked up next, she saw a small petite girl standing before her. The ecstacy in her eyes, the trembling of her voice with sheer joy, made Karuna look indulgently at her as the fan tried to express how much she loved her. "Arrey, we are human too, you know. You are the one who makes me out to be superhuman. I'm just a girl. Just like you, said Karuna finally " As the ten minutes drew to a close, Karuna got up, obliged the fan with a photograph. On an impulse, she drew out a bag from her closet, signed it with a flourish, and handed it to her. The girl took it then retreated, almost as if from the presence of a goddess. "Thank you ma'am from the bottom of my heart. I love you and always will."

The next day, the page three papers had a huge caption : " Encounters of the third kind ! The day i met the  Icon of my heart Karuna ! By Katy Murthy.  What followed was a glowing description of the actor. How beautiful she really was indeed, how kind, modest and generous in real life. " Happy, darling ?" asked her amused husband as he saw her reading the papers. She turned, a beatific smile lighting up her beautiful face, making him catch his breath. "There are two sides to every person, yes ?" he said smiling back at her.

All For One, One for All.

The leopard crouched on the tree. His beautiful, tawny coat glistened as it caught the rays of the sun. The sleek cat lay on the branch, its sleek body stretched taut on the upper most branch of the sturdy neem. It's ears bristled, the stance became watchful, wary as it heard the faint voices in the distance. Patiently it waited.

" Bhaiya, lets not go further inside the forest. Baba warned us not to. I'll not look i promise. You go near that tree. No one is looking. " The scared ten year old, pulled at his elder brothers' hand. " Arrey, you are one big   scaredy cat. The only one around. Don't you want to be big and strong and bold like me ?" said the elder brother, all of sixteen himself, as he tugged at the little ones' hand. The bully of the mohalla, the elder was strongly built. A street fighter, he was not easily frightened. He was used to getting into scraps, often rescuing the younger from many a fight. But today, truth to say,  he was just a little scared himself. There had been sighting of a leopard, the bane of the slum dwellers, who lived on the periphery of the National Park. However he couldn't risk the pretty Kajal, from next door, seeing him as he squatted with the earthen 'lota' in his hand. Which was why he was pulling a reluctant Ramu, his brother with him. Even though he was the biggest coward of the slum. For who knew what lurked inside the forest. Their had been two instances of children being dragged away by leopards and he certainly didn't want to leave his back unprotected. Specially since it was getting on to sunset. "Chal Chhotu, " he cajoled. "I'll buy you one kurkure if you come just a little further in. "Kurkure !" The little fellow licked his lips. His all time favorite treat. But... He just wasn't sure, What if a leopard was hiding somewhere near ? He looked around him. Then picked up a thick branch that was lying nearby. "There. That's better. Let's go now."

The two brothers ventured deeper into the undergrowth. Both wary, yet as is the human wont, quite convinced of their invincibility. "Bus. This is enough." said the elder, after they had pushed their way in a bit further. I'm doing my work, you turn around. " So saying the boy went in a little more and squatted with relief beneath a big neem tree.

Thoughts of the promised snack swirling around in his head, Ramu whirled the branch around. "Hah. Haaah" he yelled, pretending he was the ninja warrior, he had seen on the neighbours' television. "Shut up ! Can't you be quiet " Hissed Shyamu. "You want the leopard, to attack us ?" That quietened him for a while. Suddenly, instinctively, Shyamu looked up. Their eyes met. Even as his blood ran cold, he was up in a thrice. Leaping to grab his brother, he whirled. Too late. The big cat pounced. It would have landed on Chhotu, but savagely Shyamu pushed Ramu aside, and was thrown to the ground, as the cat went for his throat...

 The two brothers' staggered into their hut, followed by a crowd of people. They surrounded the boys, everyone talking at once. "Hato ! Hato !" screamed the father. " Kya Hua ? Koi doctor sahab ko bulao." The frantic father rushed to help his elder son to the bed. " Usko dekho pehle. Chhotu ko. Usne aaj meri jaan bachai hai. "

Later when both were bandaged and resting, the story was told. How the leopard had caught Shyamu by the throat. How the little ten year old, in a rush of adrenaline had been galvanised enough to scream his mightiest scream, and  pound the leopard with his branch, catching it in the eye. With a roar, the leopard had let go of Shyamu, and streaked back up the tree. Like a flash of lightening. Like it had never been there. Half dragging each other, half running they had made it back somehow to the boundary wall.

 Who was the bigger hero, who had saved whose life, were moot questions. For the two brothers, it was one for all, all for one.. It always had been.