I finished my work, essentially gathering market information about a bunch of products that were launched in the region. It entailed not just visiting the dealership but the local markets as well. The reports gathered so far has been very encouraging. The north Bihar markets have always favoured our products courtesy the sales team lead by the Regional Manager. I took the same taxi from Muzaffarpur to Patna that had brought me there from Raxaul. Though, the Regional Manager, Mr. Lal had invited me to have dinner with him, I had declined preferring to have it at the Hotel Pintu near the station. I have heard stories about this eatery from my mother; in the early 50’s my parents were living in Patna and many a evening, my father used pack food from this eatery for the family.

I forced the driver to come along with me to the restaurant for dinner, our last meal, a breakfast of Puri-Sabji and Chai at the Muzaffarpur dealer’s shop and now we were starving. The driver, Ranjit Kumar was vegetarian and I preferred vegetarian food while on tour, easy to digest. We had two kinds of sabji and dal tadka with tandoori rotis, a very satisfying meal, tasty as well. Ranjit dropped me near the platform, I paid him a healthy tip and told him to collect the fare from the office in the morning as Mr. Lal had instructed when the cab was booked for me.      

I headed for the first-class retiring room and found myself a nice sofa at the corner of the room. I settled down to read the book I was carrying, the train, Rajdhani Express to New Delhi wasn’t expected before midnight, enough time to finish the last 150 odd pages.

“Isn’t that Raman?”

I was startled by the booming voice and turned around to see Dipanjan Sir standing at the door of the retiring room with a small stroller, quite similar to mine. He was my boss in my previous organization, much older to me but a towering figure in the marketing field.

“Yes Sir. How are you? Frankly, I am surprised to see you here. Where have you been?” I replied.

Dipanjan Sinha came in and settled down on the single sofa chair and pulled out a cheroot from his jacket pocket, a luxury he indulged since the time I know him. He lit it up taking a long puff and blowing a series of smoky rings in the air.

“I came to attend the wedding of childhood friend’s son at the Govindpur village, 3,5-4 hours from Patna. It’s a small village nestled on the banks of Ganges.” He stopped to take another puff.

“How did the functions go? Did you enjoy the hospitality of your friend?” I poked him.

“Well, till yesterday morning, it was going fine, I was enjoying the pollution-free weather and fresh air of the village, the mobile network is practically non-existent, so no outside interference too but something happened last evening that changed everything.”

I smelled of a story more interesting than the fiction novel I was going to read… so poked him, “Please tell me your life altering story.”

“It’s not a story but fact” his voice boomed in the empty retiring room.

Dipanjan lit his cheroot again and took few quick puffs and began…

Shankar Singh Deo, my friend comes from an extremely wealthy zamindar family and was with me in St. Xavier school although. We became very good friends and were the opening batters of the school team. After school he went to Hindu College while I took English honours at St. Stephens and then did my masters at JNU. He became an IPS officer of Bihar Cadre. We kept touch with each other and met whenever possible. I was sceptical of visiting a village in Bihar but came because of his insistence.

Another few quick puffs…

The Govindpur Village is quite nice and even though small, on the banks of Ganges with large tracts of cultivated fields, very unlike the other villages of the state. Shankar’s palatial house situated right on the banks of the river is 3 stories high on a 10-acre plot with a swimming pool and a tennis court. A horse stable and a fleet of luxury cars, he’s ancestrally rich.  

I was given a warm welcome by Shankar’s family; he introduced me to his large extended family. He took me aside and said, “Sorry bro, as per customs, I can’t serve non-veg to you and as the state is under prohibition, can’t serve alcohol.” I winked at him and said, “I have enough stock of the latter, you can join me in my room.”

In the evening, the entire place, the lawns, the palatial house were lighted up beautifully. I could not help but notice that the top floor of the building was in complete darkness, maybe it was electrical malfunction, I thought. It was the Sangeet and Cocktail evening and I wondered what they are going to serve as cocktails!! My concern was soon answered when I was served a glass of coke with handsome pouring of Rum, my favorite drink. The evening was a grand success, the youngsters kept their dancing tempo with popular Bollywood songs. The vegetarian food was finger licking delicious and the spread was large. Something funny happened when I was having food, a young man came and discreetly put some fish fries on my plate before vanishing amongst the guests.

Maybe because of the exhaustion and/or the Rum intake, I had a sound dreamless sleep at night. The breakfast was laid at the lawns, the warm winter sun made the atmosphere very pleasant. I dug into the Dhuska with Aloo-Chana sabji following it with warm cup of black coffee. Sitting in the lawn, I noticed that the top floor of the building was not adorned with any lights at all, it was not electrical fault as I had thought. I was intrigued and sought an answer from Shankar’s nephew sitting on my table. He evaded any direct answer and suggested that I check with his uncle.

In the afternoon, after lunch, I finally caught hold of Shankar and asked him why the top floor of the building was not lighted. His face became grave, “Let’s not talk about it. We do not have any good memories about that floor. Nobody goes to that floor, it’s kind of abandoned. In fact, I am thinking of demolishing the structure there and keep it as open roof, may create a garden.”

But why? I insisted.

“Well, if you really want to know, my grandfather was murdered in his own bedroom on that floor by his cousin. My father was studying in college in Patna and only family member present was my grandmother and aunt. My grandfather’s cousin announced that he died of heart failure took over the reigns of the zamindari. But it was short-lived as within a months’ time he fell down from the roof and died. Some says that he committed suicide while others say that my grandfather’s spirit pushed him to his death. Whatever it is, my father decided to leave that floor as vacant, once a week in the daylight, the floor is cleaned up to maintain the sanctity.”

Can we have a look at the place? I insisted again.

Shankar called for the keys to the floor and we walked up the stairs to the third floor. The floor was only half constructed, the rest is open roof. The constructed area has a large hall for meeting visitors and holding parties, two large bedrooms with attached bathrooms with dresser and a pantry large enough to be classified as kitchen. I liked the place and the daredevil bug inside me woke up smelling adventure. I told him that I wanted to spend the night in that room before leaving the place. Shankar tried to dissuade me but I was adamant. I moved my belongings to the room that was once occupied by Shankar’s grandfather and where he was allegedly murdered.

After the wedding ceremonies were over and most guests have departed, I went to Shankar and his wife to congratulate them take their leave. “Please think it over, Dipanjan. Although, I do not believe in paranormal but that floor has been lying abandoned for decades, there could be snakes or some poisonous insects coming out at night. Moreover, there’s no electrical connection in that floor, you will have to rely on your torch and the lanterns. I have arranged for few lanterns to light up the floor as much possible but still there are pockets of darkness.” Shankar tried a last bit effort to stop me but I ignored and climbed up to the third floor. The place seemed different from the afternoon visit; the lanterns placed at different places created a light n shadow play. I was tired after the day’s activity, it was past midnight, I took my medicines and slept.

I woke up by the sound of someone walking with a stick in the hall. I checked my watch which said it was 4:30 am. Who could it be? I wondered. I got out of the bed lighting the torch given by Shankar and went to check the hall. An old man in dressing gown was walking up and down the hall with the help of a stick. He stopped looking at me and apologised, “Sorry, I woke you up.”

“No, it’s okay but who are you and what are you doing here? I was told that no one lives on this floor.” I replied with askance.

“Actually, I live here only but Shankar doesn’t know about my existence.” He replied mystically.

“Okay, why don’t you come in the bedroom and relax? The bed is big enough for both of us.”

The old man followed me to the bedroom at sat at one corner of the bed. “I can’t sleep at night, why don’t you go back to sleep?” he said not looking at me.

I don’t know why but I said, “I think you have a story to tell. I am all ears, tell me.”

The old man turned towards me, in the light of the lantern, I could see it was drained of colors, almost chalk white, the eyes have gone into cavity, overall, the man was skeleton thin. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “Will you believe what I tell you?”

Why not?

“I am the grandfather of Shankar. This floor was my living quarter as well as office where I used to meet people during the day for business and have parties with friends in the evening. I had created a flourishing zamindari besides businesses from timber trade to mining.” He stopped to take breath and then continued.

“One day, my cousin came to me asking for shelter. He had become bankrupt in speculative business and sought refuge with me. I could not refuse and took him in. I engaged him in the administration of the zamindari alongside the manager of the estate. I was happy that he enjoyed the work and there was no rivalry between him and the manager. Almost a year had past and everything seemed settled when suddenly I fell ill and was bedridden. The doctor, a close friend, one day when there was nobody in the room, told me that my cousin along with the manager was conspiring to kill me and take over the zamindari and the businesses. I was aghast and decided to confront my cousin immediately. I got the opportunity when he came to see me in the evening. I told him that I know about the conspiracy he has been hatching and he should leave the estate immediately or else I will throw him out in the morning. Moreover, if he showed up again, he will be killed and no one will get to see his body. My cousin first denied the conspiracy then got aggressive physically assaulting me. I was weak due to my illness; he strangled me with his bare hands. I died.” He stopped.

I was shocked by his incredulous story which was writ on my face. The old man smiled and said, “I see, you don’t believe me. Let me show you how he killed me.”

Saying so, the old man started strangling himself, his tongue came out, the eyes started bulging out from the socket. I felt dizzy and tried to stop him but couldn’t. I lost my senses and collapsed on the bed. I don’t know how long I was senseless but when I opened my eyes, I saw Shankar and others are looking at me with concern.

Dipanjan Sinha stopped and lit up his cheroot once more and just then the loudspeaker announced the imminent arrival of the Rajdhani Express. I picked up my bag and rushed towards the platform stopping at the door for Dipanjan to join me.

“Hurry up Sir” I said and turned to look at him. The empty room looked back at me.

Epilogue

I was sure that I had a dream sitting on the sofa at the first-class retiring room of Patna Junction Station. In the days to follow, I got extremely busy with financial and business year ending followed by the annual sales and marketing conference.

Then one day, I met my brother at the club and he asked, “Do you know Dipanjan Sinha, your ex-boss, is no more. He died of cardiac arrest in a remote village of Bihar.”

I was stunned, no words came out of me.