If you should believe only what you see, then your nightmares should be your truest reality.
"Hurry up, Shreya. We will be late!"
I heard my mother shouting
at the top of her voice as I finally zipped the big fat bag and headed
downstairs where my family was already waiting.
It was almost after a year
that we were all going out together, though not somewhere far but still,
somewhere.
The fact that it was going
to be just a two-days outing didn’t keep me from having a heavy bag. Fashion
obsessed, they call me.
.
.
Asansol wasn't a new place
for us. Our extended family stayed there. Not that the place held something
fascinating, but anything away from Kolkata's heavy crowd was always a welcome
change for me.
"Come on now, you kids
get inside the car."
Dad ordered us and we
followed that earnestly as we got inside the white Scorpio waiting outside our
house.
Being in a joint family has
its own set of merits and demerits. For now, only the merits counted. The
utmost of which is enjoying with your cousins and siblings.
Although I am the only child
of my parents, I never felt alone. The reason is of course the bunch of trouble
makers in the name of cousins that I have at my place.
No, I am not complaining.
It's really fun to have them around. Especially, when you had to spend two days
away from town.
.
.
I tucked the headset of my
phone into my ears as I browsed through my playlist. Ayaan and Mishti left no
stones unturned to prove they were the youngest of all as they continued their
silly fights even in the running car.
"Hmph! No doubt they
are just 12 years old!"
I thought to myself.
.
.
Right next to me sat Ananya
Di.
She's my paternal uncle's
only daughter. A perfect synonym for geek.
There hadn't been a day in
my life where I had seen her without a book in her hand. It was like a
perpetual prop meant to stay with her forever. In other words, her true
soul mate.
She was good at heart, but
god knows what in words, for I hardly heard her talking. It was hard to tell
that all these years, we shared the same house! But given the strict ambiance
in my house, I never dared to question her about something even out of
curiosity. She was three years elder to me, in her final year of graduation.
Moreover, I was complacent mingling with the younger kids in the house, so
anything else didn't really appear needful to me.
.
.
"Huh!"
I sighed as I heard the
constant chitter chatter of my family members, simultaneously looking at the
passing objects from the glass windows as our car sped.
Still browsing through the
playlist, my finger finally halted on a desirable song. Sparing a second I took
another glance of the atmosphere around me..
Talkative family, Violent
kids, Nerdy elder cousin, carefree driver and then Me..
I pouted as I concluded how
jobless I was and hence, without a second thought I tapped on the precious song
from my playlist, finally falling oblivious to my surrounding as the loud
volume occupied my senses entirely.
But in the back of my mind,
one thing was still ringing.
".. It's gonna be a
long, long day.."
.
.
.
"Unbelievable"
I gritted through my teeth
as I heard my mother say the words which I started resenting since the past 24
hours!
"Get ready. We are
going to visit Kaka and Kaki."
For heaven's sake, it had
been a day that we reached Asansol and the entire time was utilized only for
visiting a pool of relatives!
It was my mistake to think
that adventure would be a part of this trip because all it was turning out to
be was Relatives- Reconnecting- Programme.
I mean, seriously, what the
hell is Facebook for?
But there was no point in
arguing with my mother. She would corner me in no time bringing the Ananya
Di se kuch seekho phrase! Thus, there was no point in initiating a battle
which was already a lost one for me!
Having no other choice, I
went to the washroom to dress up for the day.
.
.
Since the past 24 hours the
only thing that had appeared worthwhile to me was when we all went for dinner
to a Dhaba the previous night.
Other than that, it was only
about visiting some or the other relatives.
In that boring set of
affairs, another thing worth mentioning was Ananya Di exchanging some words
with me. Although the words only revolved around subjects like 'How are your
studies going on?' and 'When are your classes resuming?,' I consider
those more than expected considering her communication graph with me ever since
the beginning of time.
Clutching my hair into a
tight bun, I grabbed my cell phone and proceeded with my family (now including
added members from Asansol) to visit a new sea of Chachas and Chachis who
unfortunately happened to share the same bloodline as me. Err.. Vice-Versa.
.
.
.
'Don't be so judgemental'
For some reason the quote
rang in my mind as I walked through the premises of R.N. Buildings where we
were supposed to meet our relatives.
For unknown factors, the
anguish in my mind abruptly seemed to fade away as the isolated ambiance of
that area intrigued me, the cold winds hitting me constantly, creating a new
wave of reaction in me as I felt a sudden shiver in my body despite it being
the hot summer month of May.
"Wow! This is so
beautiful. Secluded, windy and pleasant."
One of my aunts stated while
the others replied and nodded affirmatively in approval.
For a change, I couldn't
deny the statement either. The place was far from the main city and hence, it
was bound to be secluded. But the magnificent essence of the place was
certainly undeniable.
It was indeed beautiful.
Soothing.
Pleasant.
But weird too.
I don't know why at that
point the last adjective clicked my mind, but some how it just did.
.
.
I could see from a distance
there were many buildings still under construction. All of them were mostly
8-storeyed. The lush green surroundings just added to the charm of the place.
.
"..It's so nice, na?"
To my surprise, I found
Ananya di addressing her question tag to me. Normally, she would just keep to
herself and therefore, I considered it to be a real pleasant surprise that she
had initiated a conversation by herself.
Or maybe it was just the
magic of the place!
"Yup.. It's too
good."
I replied with a smile while
our parents ushered us to Block E- where the estranged Chacha-Chachi resided.
Once again it was back to
square one!
Same old family talks with
the usual "Oh! You were so small when I saw you last" coming in
regular intervals from people who were so alienated to me.
I mean for heaven's sake, we
are living beings! We are supposed to grow not shrink as time passes!
So, how the hell can I stay small forever in their version of when they saw me
last?
Well, nothing made sense but
one had to be an expert in the field of endurance when it came to dealing with
relatives, I believe!
.
.
"Yeah, Yeah. Many flats
are under construction here."
"The place is really
nice."
"So spacious, so
open.."
"We have booked one of
the flats there. It's under construction. The promoter is Mr. Pal.
Remember?"
.. And the chitter chatter
of our family and extended family went on for what it seemed like forever.
Taking a deep breath, I
glanced at my wrist watch.
4.25 pm
It had already been
approximately forty minutes that we came to this place and it already started
spiraling out of my bearing limits.
I bit my lower lip as I
swapped the screen of my phone, playing and toggling with random keys,
struggling hard to kill the boredom when suddenly I discovered I wasn't the
only one being adversely affected by the boring family talk!
Right beside me, I found
Ananya di playing some silly game on her cell phone which undoubtedly didn't
appeal her even a bit. For a change, I couldn't see any novel in her hand.
A satisfactory smile tugging
at the corner of my lips, I asked, "Getting bored di?"
I predicted she would answer
me with a straight No, but today she was hell bent on surprising me at
every step.
.
"Umm.. Yes. Kind
of."
She replied, still hitting
random keys on her cell phone playing that hell knows what absurd game!
There was a moment of
silence again between us. For this time, I was headstrong that I wouldn't ask her
anything else. I wasn't always buying the monosyllables that she threw to me. I
was about to turn away and resume the pointless activity on my cell
phone when suddenly she asked me, "Let's roam outside!"
That came as a package of
thunderbolt to me if not anything less.
There was a certain
enthusiasm in her voice which ignited the adventurous side in me and without
any second thought I immediately replied to her with a Yes.
She reciprocated the smile
and stood up in the next second and I followed her like a typical younger
sister.
.
.
"Maa, we both are going
outside."
She said to her mother while
some pairs of eyes stared at us as if we both were convicted of some issue!
"Where Beta?"
My aunt asked her back,
stuffing the hot samosas into her mouth simultaneously.
"We will just roam in
the complex Maa. Not to worry."
Ananya di replied casually
while her mother took another bite of the samosa in her hand.
"Okay. But don't go far
and take your cell phone."
She uttered incoherently,
thanks to her samosa filled mouth.
"Yeah, yeah.
Sure," replied Di in a hurried tone, while we both started wearing our
shoes.
.
.
I looked at my mother once
before stepping out of the house and she was as usual busy talking to her
sister in law. In any case, if Ananya Di's mom had no problem in us going out,
there could be no way that my mother would have any problem.
.
"Yes, of course. We
will also go downstairs in sometime. There's a satsang at 5.30 pm."
I heard the vague words spoken
by someone in the house as my mind was totally away from their discussion.
Tightening the laces of my converse, I followed Ananya Di and headed towards
the Elevator.
"Phew thank god."
I murmured softly, thanking
my stars for sparing me out of the suffocation that I was going through seconds
ago and I heard Ananya Di chuckle at my remark!
I couldn't control a chuckle
in return either as without any further delay, I pressed the Ground floor
button on the number board.
.
.
.
Fresh Air.
I breathed a sigh of relief
as we stepped out of the building and walked through the huge campus that was
surrounded by tall trees, small gardens.
The suffocation was simply
gone in the blink of an eye and it was the soothing atmosphere once again! I
quickly took a snapshot of the beautiful flowers from my phone's camera while
we continued walking.
There were small kids
playing cricket, some feet away from us.
The whole place was a newly
created one and it was completely evident in the infrastructure and the
ambiance there.
What surprised me the most
was I could not feel the sun's heat at all! Perhaps, it was because of the
greenery all around, but for some odd reason the winds were exceptionally cold.
Tossing away my pool of
thoughts, I began humming a beyonce song when Ananya Di cut me in the middle of
the melody as she said, "I like such places. So calm. No disturbance at
all."
.
.
For a second, I didn't know
what to reply. But mustering up some dare, I finally answered back, "Yeah.
It's good for the studious people. No one to disturb so people can come up with
good theories and discoveries."
I added a chuckle at the end
of my sentence to maintain a light humor and avoid getting her offended under
any case.
But once again contradicting
my estimated words, she gave a completely different answer.
"No, no. Not all that.
I meant it's so peaceful at the same time so adventurous. So many things to
discover. So isolated.."
She spoke straightaway, as I
looked at her, astonished.
However absurd it may sound,
but today was the first time I properly got to know how her accent was!
For she never spoke so much
previously. At least not to me.
.
.
"True that."
I replied after a period of
brief silence, both of us continuing with our walk.
.
"Hey! Let us go
there.."
She said in a tone of
excitement while I followed the tip of her index finger to figure out which
place she was referring to.
To my surprise, she pointed
towards the set of the tall 8-storeyed under construction buildings that I had
taken a glimpse of when we came to this place an hour back.
"There?!"
I replied instantaneously
making the exclamation evident in my tone while I stared at her, amused.
"Yeah.. Come on!"
She answered back
enthusiastically, hitting me with back to back surprises, though on a positive
note, but still totally unexpected.
I always loved exploring new
places. It was a type of adventure for me.
Just that due to extreme
restrictions I couldn't exercise those hobbies well.
However, today I had no
barriers and under any circumstance, Ananya Di was the in-charge. So even if
someone had to get the scolding, it would be her.
I acted reasonable as we
proceeded towards the path that led to those under construction buildings.
For a formal addition, I
asked her, "Mom dad won't scold na?"
As if I really cared! But
it's good to be on the safer side.
"No Shreya. Worry not.
We will come back in some time. They won't know."
She replied positively.
Whoa! I never knew she was
an adventure lover. Al these years I thought her to be the genius geek but she
turned out to be a genius in hiding too. She was so casual about not letting
out parents know where we were going, it coaxed me to wonder what else did she
hide from them!
Controlling the typical evil
grin of being the younger sister slash Detective, I accompanied her as we
walked through the isolated path towards the buildings.
.
Those buildings were a
little far from where our relatives lived. It took us a fast seven minutes walk
to reach that area and if I considered the previous place to be cold and
soothing, this was on the alternative cold
and eerie.
Eerie,
because of the emptiness that the place possessed.
With no soul around us, we
both stared at the extreme height of one of the buildings, till the 8th floor.
The cold winds continued to play around us while the tall trees swayed in
uneven directions due to the forceful winds.
For a strange reason, I felt
reluctant to continue with my adventurous mindset and couldn’t come to terms
with what I thought I was feeling!
.
.
“What are we waiting for?!
Let’s go!”
Di almost shouted in
excitement while I raked my fingers through my hair, still having second
thoughts.
Well, those second thoughts
couldn’t develop any further as in the next second Ananya Di grabbed my hand
and pulled me along with her inside one of the buildings.
.
.
With only two flats on each floor, the building comprised of a huge corridor at every floor.
Still dressed in bricks and
cement, the fresh smell and being an under construction aspect of the
surrounding was totally evident in the air.
It was so dark inside.
As if the place was
completely deprived of sunlight. Maybe, any sort of light.
Or perhaps the tall trees
guarded the sun for that matter.
Whatever it was, something
was so uncanny about that place. I just couldn’t figure out what!
.
“It seems like we are some
ghost hunters in a haunted building.”
I joked in a soft voice as
we climbed the steep stairs of the 2nd floor of the building. My
voice echoed as I spoke and so did Ananya Di’s as she replied with a light
laugh and cautiously climbed the stairs towards the next floor.
Life’s indeed full of surprises.
Sometimes, we are so judgmental that we tend to forget that there can be
multiple dimensions to a single thing. Here, all these years I called Ananya Di
names, believing her to be an only-limited-to-studies
edition, but today she turned out to be a savior as she helped me escape from a
type of mess called Family Drama.
I considered it to be a baby
step towards a budding bonding between both of us.
Little did I know life was
waiting with yet another surprise for me at the very next moment!
Enjoying the new found
bonding, I took the next step after Di and we both finally stood still as we
reached the Fourth Floor.
My eyes grew wide as I
stared at the walls semi coated with white paint, making the letters marked on
it more prominent.
“What the hell!”
I muttered to myself in
disbelief as I looked frantically at all the walls in that floor.
A
A
A
A
A
A
Everywhere!
It seemed as if someone had
marked the entire walls on that floor with some black substance, making the
letter ‘A’ relevant in every way
possible!
Someone, in the state of
anger and vengeance.
Perplexed and worried, I
looked at Ananya di, looking for an answer but she seemed to be equally
confused like me. The difference was that she found it confusing on a positive
note for her.
“..It’s-“
She was about to say
something when a sudden jolt shocked us both. Within a fraction of second, I
could feel tremors as the entire floor shook at an uneven pace without any
forewarning, making us stumble as Di held my hand tightly, preventing me from
falling down the narrow staircase.
A shiver ran down my spine
as I clutched her hand tightly, my mind clouded with fear and uncertainty.
Was this an Earthquake?
.
.
If this was, then we had to
run out of here immediately!
But to my surprise, as I
sighted outside the window for a brief second, I could see everything around
standing still. No movement at all! The trees, the other buildings, everything.
How could this be possible?
My mind gave me no answer as
I struggled to stand still, still holding onto my sister who was herself
getting unbalanced due to the constant shakes.
Giving up on any further
thoughts, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Di! Please Let’s go!! This is
getting scary!”
I anticipated her to not
waste any time further in words and get down ASAP but no, she did exactly the
opposite!
“What? Are you mad? This is
such a discovery! This place must be truly haunted! Come on, let’s explore this
place some more! Let’s record a video!”
She replied without a pause
as if hypnotized by some unknown aura of that uncanny place.
It felt as if time was
ticking out and she was getting drowned into a magnetic pool that made her so
rigid that she kept on strengthening her hold on me, begging me to stay with
her.
.
.
My breathing became uneven
as my mind and body urged me to get out of that deadly sight.
And that was it.
Having my pleas and requests
go unnoticed by her, I finally gave up as I forcefully pulled out my hand from
her grip and shouted as loudly as I could, “Do whatever you want! I’m going
out!!”
I don’t know whether my
words had any impact on her.
But at that point, those
were all that I could utter!
.
Not wasting another minute,
I turned away from her, hurriedly running downstairs, being cautious of the
steep stairs at the same time as I felt like running for my life, stepping down
the fourth floor.
All the thought processes
were blocked in my mind as that time the only goal set in my mind was: The Exit
Door.
I had to get out of there.
I thought about myself, I
did.
I liked adventure, but that
wasn’t on the verge of risking my life.
But why was it so hard for
Ananya Di to understand?
.
.
“Forget it”
I spoke to myself running
like a prisoner set free as I finally found the ray of hope, reaching the ground
floor and hurriedly stepped out of the building at a rapid pace.
It was like an all time run
for life!
Once outside, I bent down automatically,
my heart thudding unevenly, a slight pain taking over my chest due to an
undecided and unexpected escape scene that kept flashing in my mind without any
gaps.
I looked at the building
from outside where I was trapped minutes ago and how peculiar it was that it
displayed no sign of any shaking or disturbance.
.
But Ananya Di was still in
there!
What the hell was she doing?
Had she lost her mind?
Wasn’t she afraid of being there alone?
Was she so brave to face anything and everything?
The questions created a
whirlpool in my mind, giving me jitters of something Unknown!
.
.
Giving a break to my
dilemma, I screamed as loud as I could,
“Di!!!!”
.
.
No reply came my way.
.
The sun was almost
disappearing into the endless horizon and my heart kept racing having no
answers coming my way.
Should I get inside?
A part of me raised that
question, but I was too scared to face that terror all over again!
“Ananya Di!!!”
I shouted once again, but
once again disappointment greeted me.
.
Fed up with everything, I
motioned towards my relatives’ complex, afraid of what I was going to answer to
my family if they asked me about Di’s whereabouts.
I covered the seven minutes
walk distance in five minutes, playing random party songs from my phone on loud
speaker mode to confide my fears within me and not let it show.
.
.
I closed my eyes and exhaled
as I finally reached the familiar complex where the kids were still playing and
to my surprise, I also found my cousins Ayaan and Mishti playing with the other
kids.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say
that it felt like victory seeing the two known faces after a series of uncanny
sequences that I underwent just sometime back!
Stopping the loud music, I
ran up to my younger cousins doing absolutely nothing but pulling their cheeks
and hugging them, just to subside my fear and forget the anxiety of whatever had
happened with me some time ago.
As my heartbeat finally
appeared to return to its normal rate, I glanced at my wrist watch.
5.21 pm
“Darn it!”
I gritted helplessly as I
prayed fervently in my mind, hoping for Di to return, the vague words of Satsang at 5.30 pm still echoing at the
back of my mind.
.
My eyes grew wide as I could
sense the approaching steps of our family members from the opposite direction,
as their voices seemed so near to my ears.
I began to palpitate, my
brain not working for any excuses to put forward for justifying Di’s absence,
when suddenly God seemed to answer my prayers.
.
My fingers curled into
fists, I looked at my right side as I saw her approaching.
Ananya Di.
There she was!
.
One part of me felt like
abusing her for putting me into such a trouble that I grew panicky regarding
what to tell our parents!
The other part of me was
just happy that she was back!
.
And for some reason, the
second part was more dominant.
As she came closer to me, I
just wanted to run and hug her, but all of my happiness vanished in a second as
she neared me and said in a voice barely audible, “You left me, right?”
.
.
A strange tinge of guilt
overshadowed all my emotions while I stared at her innocent face, helplessly
trying hard to justify what I did, but I just couldn’t.
Was she right?
Was I that selfish, that I
just left her there?
.
But I was scared.
And I had asked her to run
with me, but she was all enthralled by the haunted essence of that place.
Was that really my fault?
I struggled hard to reason
with her words but I observed keenly that her face displayed absolutely no sign
of emotion! She was totally blank.
Was she scared too?
Was she badly affected?
Oh! How I wished to have
found those answers but by the time I mustered up some courage to ask her
something, our family and relatives were already surrounding us. The never
ending talks taking over the atmosphere, we all proceeded towards the small
club within the complex where the said satsang
was going to be held.
.
.
I sat with my mother and she
sat with hers.
There was a peculiar tension
in the atmosphere, the magnitude of which only I could feel.
There was so much to know,
so much to say, but nothing appeared appropriate.
She was sitting some feet
away from me, certainly in my reach but she appeared to be so engrossed in the
function that she was totally oblivious to my presence.
How could this be possible?
One minute, she was all
jovial and friendly and now, she was herself again!
The silent spectator.
Was she really hurt by my
deeds?
Was I supposed to say sorry
to her?
.. I had no idea what the
reality was.
.
.
It was 7.30 pm in the
evening and we were getting ready to depart for Kolkata.
I couldn’t believe the two
days were already over, but much to my surprise I had this sudden urge for
getting back home at the earliest.
Perhaps, I just needed some
time, some quality time to think about stuff properly in leisure. Adding to
that, I also wanted to talk to Ananya Di, but only when we reached home.
Having early meals in the
late evening, we headed towards the Car, all set to return home. That is when
we came to know that few of our relatives were also accompanying us to Kolkata
for a couple of days.
I was indifferent about the learnt
information and remained unaffected until our parents told us that we kids
could travel by the Open roof jeep, which would be driven by Chacha and rest of
the family members will be coming by the Scorpio.
At that minute, anything
suited me well.
I just wanted to get back
home. Nothing else.
.
“Yay! We will go by the Jeep
then!”
.
For a moment, I thought that
would be Mishti in her typical girly tone exclaiming her joy, but to my utter
surprise, it was Ananya Di.
To say I was shocked would
be an understatement.
Her behavior scared me to
the core.
Those mood swings.
Those fluctuations.
I couldn’t fathom anything
that was happening with me, around me since the past few hours.
Not saying anything further,
I sat inside the Jeep while Ananya Di, Ayaan, Mishti and my paternal uncle
followed and Chacha took the driver’s seat.
.
.
.
Two hours were gone, but I
couldn’t conclude anything significant or sensible.
With the two elders present
inside the vehicle, I couldn’t even dare to ask her anything.
Just when I tried to put
forward a topic to at least begin a conversation with her, she said in a weird
tone, “Chacha, please play some song na.”
.
.
“Sure, Ananya.”
The elderly man readily
agreed as he tuned into one of the radio stations and a loud, chic song started
playing.
My eyes seemed as if they
would pop out of their sockets as I saw Ananya Di swaying her hands and hair,
trying to match up with the rhythm of the song, much to Uncle’s dislike.
“What the hell is she doing?”
I mumbled to myself, totally
clueless about what was happening as to she was never like this before. She
could easily study the dislike in Uncle’s face but she appeared to be
completely unaffected by everything.
Uncle couldn’t say a single
word due to the estranged chacha’s presence and hence, I thought it was right
for me to intervene.
Grabbing one of her hands
with my right hand, I made her halt as she directly looked into my eyes
intensely, her face just appearing to be like my sister, but someone else from
within.
.
.
Clearing my throat, I
whispered as softly as I could so that I was audible only to her,
“Di! What are you doing?
Bade papa is getting angry.”
.
.
I thought maybe my words
could have poured some senses into her, but she ditched me once again as she
got herself free from my grip and replied back in an unusual tone,
“Don’t worry Shreya. No one
will recognize me from tomorrow.”
.
.
Her words sent a shiver down
my spine as I kept staring at her, willing to get some answers but she didn’t
even look at me even for once after that, just engrossed with her.
My calculation skills
betrayed me as I constantly made efforts to comprehend the situation and get
something out of her, but she wasn’t herself anymore.
The gravity of the situation
was getting deeper and deeper, but I just couldn’t do anything rather than wait
for Kolkata to arrive.
.
.
.
Home Sweet Home
I never knew the true
meaning of these words until today. I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally
entered my room, throwing my bags on the floor, as I lay on my bed.
I stared at the ceiling fan
trying to analyze the events one after another.
It had been such a long day.
The tedious journey.
The family drama.
The weird place.
The creepy atmosphere.
And then, Ananya Di.
.
.
Was that really an
earthquake?
If it was really an
earthquake, then why wasn’t there any damage?
Why was everything else
around so still and immobile?
What did those ‘A’ marks mean?
Who could draw such stuff?
And why?
.
.
My mind crossed thousands of
possibilities but none seemed vital to be a strong hold. I was exhausted. The
journey had already started taking over my health. Besides, there was no way I
could miss my early morning tuitions the next day. The tuitions were the only
place I could meet my boyfriend Vedant and if I didn’t make it tomorrow, then
he was going to taunt me for that forever.
I couldn’t risk that.
.
.
My mind, still not
completely out of the impact of heavy events wanted some rest, and so did my
body.
And some things were better
engraved in life, weren’t they?
Satiating the boundless
curiosity in my mind for the time being, I tried to relax my muscles as I
decreased the temperature of the Air Conditioner and within a few seconds,
everything around me turned black as the darkness took over and I fell into the
oblivion’s curse.
.
.
.
The mornings were always a
busy time at my place.
People going for work,
walks, tuitions, just that during the summer months the colleges and schools
were off, hence, a little less haste.
But in any case, tuitions
took over the place of school and college.
By the time I woke up,
Ananya Di had already left for her coaching.
“Nerd!”
I muttered to myself as I
sat on the breakfast table, munching some dry cornflakes out of joblessness.
.
.
Slowly recollecting
everything from the previous day, I thought to myself,
“Evening.”
“I will talk to her in the
evening.”
.
.
.
..
Tuitions were always a happy
place for me. Meeting with college buddies and utmost of all, Vedant. We had
been in a relationship for six months now. The fact that we are friends first
makes everything so much better between us.
There hadn’t been a single
thing that I kept from Vedant and today, I didn’t want to hide stuff about
Ananya di either.
But for some weird reason,
there was something that didn’t let me spill about this incident to anyone. I
felt as if even the walls could hear me if I thought about it loud.
I decided that I would speak
to Di first and then tell Vedant about it.
At that time, it certainly
appeared legit.
.
.
After the tuitions were
over, we headed to the mall to celebrate a birthday of a friend, followed by a
movie. Despite all the strict rules at my house, hanging out with friends was
something that my mother never had a problem with, for she knew them since a
very long time and I definitely considered myself lucky enough on that front.
.
.
I didn’t realize how the day
had passed.
Yesterday, it was so dark
and gloomy and today was so fast and happy.
One could never tell how one’s
life was going to be the next second!
.
.
Happy about today’s
happenings, I rang the door bell of my house, aiming for the next big step in
my mind: The talk with Ananya Di.
.
.
I was processing all the
questions in my mind when suddenly the door was opened and a deafening silence
greeted me.
I was taken aback as I
couldn’t hear the usual chitter-chatter and noise in the house that would be
audible every other day.
Slinging the bag on one side
of my shoulder, I entered while the maid closed the door behind me.
.
“Where is every one?”
I asked her, confused by the
sudden change in atmosphere of my own house.
.
“Don’t know baby ji, they
went in a hurry. Asked me to stay here as Ayaan and Mishti would be alone
otherwise.”
She replied casually,
genuinely not aware of the reality.
.
“Where are Ayaan and Mishti?”
I questioned, to which she
replied that they were upstairs.
.
I thanked her for being
there and asked her to go home as I was back now.
A strange feeling took over
me as I walked upstairs, an unusual wave of emotion hitting me at an unbeatable
pace.
Was everything fine?
Was everyone okay?
Why wasn’t Ananya Di back
yet?
It was already 8.00 pm.
.
.
I took out the cell phone
from my Jeans’ pocket, swapping the screen to dial my mother’s number when the
sudden ring of the landline halted my activity.
The loud ring of the
telephone echoed in the house while I ran towards it and picked up the
receiver.
“Hello?”
.
“Mom?”
.
“Where are you all?”
.
I asked at one go, without
any break as the silence from the other end hit my nerve painfully.
.
.
The ticking of the wall
clock appeared extremely loud to me as my breath sped up with every passing
second, my heart pounding out of my chest.
.
.
“Shreya-“
.
I could feel the salty ache
of tears forming at the back of my throat as a pool of water brimmed in my eyes
and my mother’s tearful, inconsolable voice broke down,
“An..Ananya is no more.”
..
.
.
It has been two years now.
So much has changed.
But the spoken words can
never be changed.
The words that still ring in
the back of my mind.
“You left me, right?”
“No one will recognize me
from tomorrow.”
.
.
That night my family members
were informed about an accident at Lenin Sarani, Kolkata, where a girl in her
early twenties was crushed over by a speeding Bolero.
Funny thing?
The girl was walking over
the footpath.
Of course, it was none other
than Ananya Di.
.
.
What had she meant when she
said no one will recognize her from tomorrow?
.
.
Did she know what was
coming?
Did she know she would be dead?
What was there in the Fourth
Floor?
Was she my Ananya Di, when
she came out of that building?
Was it my fault that I left
her there?
Will the mystery of that
place in Asansol ever unfold?
.
.
Even if I find the answers
to these questions, what’s the point?
It’s already too late.
***