Posted on by Aranyascope

The Spirited Seltos

Nikhil Wagle, a software engineer with a multinational company was posted to Ranchi to set up the systems at their new office. Alone, in the city, he tried to explore the nearby places but the tantrums of the autorickshaw drivers was a big put off for him. Last weekend, when he went to Patratu Valley, the autorickshaw driver, literally ripped him by charging 3000 rupees for the trip. He thought of buying a second-hand car for himself and asked Sunil, the driver of his boss to keep an eye for a good, trouble-free car at a reasonable price.

It was a Saturday, Nikhil, made a sandwich and coffee for breakfast… seated on the balcony of his 8th floor apartment enjoying the pre-monsoon shower when Sunil called up…

“Sir, I have found a car, in fact an SUV for you, it is about two years old, in good condition. The owner is ready to sell at a very reasonable, dirt-cheap price. But I must tell you, I heard some funny things about the vehicle.”

“You are confusing me, Sunil, you said it’s a good car at a reasonable price and also something funny about the car. What so funny? And what kind of car or SUV is it?”

“Sir, it’s a Kia Seltos, two years old, almost showroom condition but it’s the second owner who wants to sell. The rumour is that the vehicle gets possessed by spirits after sunset.”

“How is that possible? The rumour must have been spread by some jealous neighbours to deter buyers. When can I see the car?”

“if you are free, we can visit the seller in the evening, say around 5 o’clock, I will pick you up.”

“Okay, I will wait for you.”

In the evening, Sunil, as promised came in his Bullet 350 bike to pick-up Nikhil at his Chanakyapuri residence. He offered a spare helmet to Nikhil and said, “We have to go to Abhishek Singh’s home in Kanke, about 20 km from here. He is into timber trading and also has a resort in Dalton Ganj.”

It took some time to locate the house of Abhishek Singh, situated near the Greenview Enclave, it was a sprawling house, built on a 1000-yard plot, clearly showcasing the wealth of the owner. The maroon-coloured Kia Seltos was parked right in front of the house, it looked brand new, without any scratch or dent, a rarity for the city, especially after two years. Sunil rang the bell and they waited.

A man, slightly older than Nikhil came out to greet them…

“Namaskar, I am Abhijit, you must have come to see my father. Have you come to buy this car?” the young man pointed to the Seltos and asked.

“Yes, can we check the car, I mean the interior and the engine?”

“Why not? I will fetch the keys for you. But do it before the sun sets.”

Abhijit went inside to get the keys and with him came his father, Avinash Singh.

“Are you sure, you want to buy this car even after hearing the strange stories about it. And I must confess, the car does act funny, and at times even scarily.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, there must be some technical issue with the engine which can be rectified. Now, tell me how much are you expecting, you know, I am a salaried employee with limited resources.”

Abhishek’s phone buzzed and he answered, after a few yes and no, he turned towards Nikhil and Sunil and spoke, “That was my mother, she admonished me for not inviting you guys inside. Please come inside to have some refreshment and discuss further.”

The deal was finalised over a sumptuous spread of snacks prepared by Jolly Devi, wife of Avinash Singh. Nikhil thought five lakh rupees for the almost new Kia Seltos is a steal and offered to pay five thousand as advance but Avinash refused saying, “Some other people have done that earlier, but never came back to complete the deal. I don’t want to collect money like that, if you are serious, please come back tomorrow with the full amount and take the car. I have all the papers ready, just have to put your name at the appropriate places.”

“Some friends are waiting for me, please excuse me, I have to go now.” Abhishek apologised and took leave. Shortly, there was a sound of engine starting followed by revving up of the accelerator and a car zooming off at a high speed.

“These youngsters are too adventurous; I have told Abhishek so many times to not drive rashly but he doesn’t listen to me.” Avinash spoke resignedly.

Nikhil’s mobile buzzed and he answered, the conversation was short, he answered in monosyllables and ended the call. He turned to Avinash and said, “That was from my boss in Bengaluru, I have been called to there on urgent meeting. I have to take the earliest flight tomorrow. Can you wait till I come back from Bengaluru?”

“Look, as I told you, some people came to check on it and left saying they would come back, but never showed up ever again. So, I can’t promise you anything. If tomorrow someone shows up with the money, I will surely sell it to them.”

Nikhil checked his purse again and said, “I have about five thousand rupees with me right now which I can give you as advance.”

“No, I don’t want any advance but the full value.”

“In that case, I will write a cheque in your favour and give it to Sunil. He will come back tomorrow, you can handover the vehicle to him. We will complete the paperwork once I am back.”

Avinash agreed to the proposal and they took leave from him. When they came out, the Kia Seltos was nowhere to be seen, they thought Abhishek might have taken it out one last time before his father disposes the vehicle. Coming back to his apartment, Nikhil handed over the cheque to Sunil with express instruction to bring the car and park at his assigned parking slot.

Nikhil’s engagement in Bengaluru got extended to five days in which time he received a single message from Sunil that he has taken the delivery of the vehicle from Avinash. He had tried to call Sunil but there was no response from the other side. Nikhil was irritated for this unresponsive nature of Sunil.  

On Friday evening, Nikhil arrived back in Ranchi and was excited to take the Seltos out for a spin, before going to his apartment, he went to the parking to check and was shocked to find the empty space. He became furious and immediately called Sunil…the phone kept ringing but no one answered. He then called up his boss to check if he has sent out Sunil somewhere…

“Hello, Ranjan Sir, just wanted to check if you have sent Sunil out of town, had some work with him.”

“Hi Nikhil, welcome back. No, I haven’t sent him anywhere. In fact, since Monday evening when he dropped me home, he hasn’t showed up for work. He’s not answering his phone too… I am thinking of sacking him if he shows up now.”

Nikhil then called up Avinash who confirmed that Sunil had given him the cheque and taken the delivery of the vehicle on Monday evening. The conversations made Nikhil worried, he decided to get the address of Sunil and check him out, maybe he’s not well, he thought.

In the morning, Avinash called Nikhil, “Nikhil, please come over to my place to complete the paperwork. The vehicle is still in my name and if anything, untoward happens, it will badly impact me.”

“Avinash Ji, I am trying to locate Sunil and the vehicle and I will come as soon as possible.”

It took some effort to cajole his colleague in HR to reach office on a off-day to dig out the address of Sunil and by the time Nikhil reached the residence of Sunil in Tikratoli it was late afternoon. His father informed that Sunil had left on Monday evening saying that he has to attend some business in Kanke but hasn’t returned. They were not worried because he had done such irresponsible act previously too. But since Nikhil presented himself and narrated the business that Sunil had in Kanke, they became worried and decided to lodge a missing person at the police station.

Nikhil left them to do what they wanted to do and went over to Kanke to meet Avinash.

“I am telling you, something must have happened to Sunil. By the time he took the vehicle it was getting dark. I told him to take it in the morning or afternoon during day time but he was adamant that you wanted the vehicle at your home when come back.”

“But where he would have taken it?”

“Who knows? He might have sold it to some uncouth dealers at a higher price…”

Nikhil, finished the paperwork and gave a undertaking to Avinash that henceforth he was responsible for the vehicle. Avinash advised him to lodge a police complaint as well for the missing Seltos.

It was late when he came out, Abhishek met him at the gate and suggested, “You won’t get any transport from here at this hour, let me drop you at the highway, you will be able to flag down any autorickshaw going towards the city.”

Nikhil was getting restless, it was almost half hour and not a single autorickshaw had shown up on the road, it was getting dark on this new moon night. He began cursing Sunil and finally himself for wanting to buy the maroon Seltos.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a car came with great speed and applied hard brake to stop in front of Nikhil. It was Seltos but in the darkness, the maroon colour looked black. Sunil was at wheel and someone with a hoodie was sitting on the passenger side.

“Get in Sir, quickly. It’s really very nice car, very peppy with lots of zing. I will drop you to your home.”

In a hypnotic spell, Nikhil got into the rear seat. Once the vehicle started moving, he asked irritatingly, “Where did you take my car? I told you to park it at my residence. Why didn’t you do that?”

“Have patience Sir, it’s a long story, I will tell you once we stop.”

Sunil, without any further talk, pressed on the accelerator and the speedometer kept climbing… crossing the speed limit of 120 kmph, the in-built sensor started screaming. Nikhil shouted at the top of his voice, “Slow down Sunil, you will kill all of us. This is my car and I command you to stop immediately. Stop…stop…”

“Who says this is your car? This is my car and Sunil won’t stop.” The man with a hoodie turned towards Nikhil and spoke in a hushed tone.

Nikhil froze in the rear seat of the Seltos, under the hoodie, a skeleton was talking to him. Nikhil stammered as he meekly spoke to Sunil, “W…who is this man? W…where did you p..pick him up?”

“Sir, he is the owner of this car, Dr. Chowdhury.”

Nikhil was scared sweating profusely; he kept pleading with Sunil to stop the vehicle but Sunil kept increasing the speed further to 150 kmph. Nikhil watched in horror, a dump of sand or mud covering half the road ahead and from behind it a cyclist appeared suddenly. Sunil had to apply the brake and taking the advantage of the slow speed, Nikhil opened the door and rolled on to the sand dump. He rolled on for few laps before hitting the hard surface of the road and passed out.

When Nikhil opened his eyes, he was in a hospital bed surrounded by his office colleague besides the doctor and nurse. He tried to speak but nothing comprehensive came out.

“Relax, Nikhil, we are happy that you are alive, it will take couple of days rest to completely heal. It is heartening to know that there are good Samaritans exists amongst us, a doctor of this hospital returning from Bokaro, found you on the Taimara Ghati (NH33) and brought you here. You were in coma for three days.” Dr. Judhajit announced.

A week later, Nikhil, still in bandages, was sitting with few of his colleague and his brother who had come from Jamshedpur when Avinash joined them with his son, Abhishek.

“Nikhil, you had a lucky escape that day but your friend Sunil wasn’t so lucky. We came to know from police that a badly mutilated body was recovered on the day after Sunil took away the Seltos from us, from very close to the spot where you were found. The police also found the mangled remains of the maroon-coloured Kia Seltos in a ditch some 20-25 meters from there.”

“Who is Dr. Chowdhury?” Nikhil asked.

“Dr. Chowdhury was the first owner of that vehicle. About six months ago, while returning from Bokaro, on the same highway, he had a cardiac arrest, the driver took him to the nearest hospital but he was already dead. His daughter sold the car to me but it seems the spirit of Dr. Chowdhury did not leave the Kia Seltos.”

Abhishek took out an envelope from his bag and gave it to his father. “Nikhil, please accept this cheque of five lakh rupees that you gave me for the car. Since, the car registration wasn’t transferred to you, technically, it is still my car and I have received the police report and filed it with the insurance company for total loss. I am relieved, now that the vehicle is destroyed, no one else will ever get hurt.”

Nikhil took the cheque and said, “I will give this to Sunil’s father, he died for no fault of his.”  

Posted on by Aranyascope

The Diary of Anama (the Unknown)

Our dedicated rag buyer (mainly old newspaper, magazine, glass bottles and old utensils) comes every quarter to pickup from our home. Sometimes, he brings some old books which if I like, buy them from him. Last week when he came, he had an old leather folder diary amongst the books. I was intrigued and bought it from him, hoping to get a refill and polish the leather to make it new.

In the evening, I took out the diary, the first page just had the name of the owner, Sanjeev, no surname, no address or contact details. The pages had lost some color turning them off-white… the initial pages turned out to be regular entries of the day’s events, nothing exciting. There were few blank pages and then a story unfolded as I read on…

Tuesday March 17

Today, out of the blue, I received a letter from grandpa-2 (my father’s uncle). Two years ago, he suddenly left home in search of his son who had gone missing during a college excursion. He did not inform anyone at home about his or my cousin’s whereabouts and we assumed the worst has happened to both of them. Now, this letter from him puzzled me…

“Dear Sanjeev,

By the time you receive this letter, I may not be alive anymore. If you can, please come immediately to Narottampur. You have to take the train to Dhanbad, then by bus to Shikarpur and from there you can take the rickshaw to Onkarnath Ashram at Narottampur. Please ask anyone in the Ashram for the house of Govindram, they will direct you. Yes, people here know me by that name only. In case I die before meeting you, please do my final rites at home.

Love and blessings

Grandpa-2”      

Wednesday March 18

The whole affair of grandpa-2 is very confusing… living under a pseudo name at a far away place like Narottampur in the ashram of some Onkarnath… I don’t know what to make of this.

Thursday March 19

I took the overnight train to Dhanbad, just told my parents that I am going out for three days on office work.

Friday March 20

I reached Narottampur in the afternoon. The place looked more like a large village rather than a town, sparsely populated with houses standing randomly in the distance. A passerby directed me to the Onkarnath Ashram, a barricaded large plot with a temple and few quarters for the inmates. I found a priest inside the temple and asked him about Govindram’s house.

“Where are you coming from?” the priest asked with a look of bewilderment.

“Kolkata”

“You have come from far to Narottampur to meet Govindram, what’s the matter?”

“Something special, you won’t understand.”

“Govindram doesn’t meet anyone. Moreover, the house where he lives is not good, it has bad reputation. We don’t go anywhere near it. You shouldn’t go there, if you take my advice.”

“I have to go.”

The priest was not impressed, reluctantly he directed him to Govindram’s house, “Go straight, after you cross the pond on your left, you can see his house next to it.”

I followed the direction and soon could see a single storey dilapidated structure by the pond. Getting closer, I could see wild shrubs and grass growing all over the place. There was a narrow path leading to the building and followed it to reach the house. The door was wide open, I looked inside to find a middle-aged man preparing lunch. “Does Govindram Ji live here?” I asked.

The man looked at me with astonishment, then excitedly asked, “Are you the grandson of Sahib?”

“Yes, I have come to meet my grandpa.” I didn’t know who the Sahib is but guessed he is my grandpa-2.

“Please come inside, Sahib is not too well.”

I followed him to an inner room, a large cot occupying most of the space and a skeletal figure lying on it. Even though he was in complete disarray, I could recognise my grandpa-2.  His eyes lit up when he saw me and he tried to sit up but couldn’t… I rushed forward to hold him. He took my hands in his and said, “I am glad you could make it on time. I have been waiting for you.”

“What happened to you grandpa? Tomorrow, I am taking you to Kolkata for treatment.”

“I am not going anywhere. Now that you are here, I can die peacefully.”

“How did you land up here in Narottampur?”

Grandpa-2 was in visible discomfort, he slowly took out a notebook kept under his pillow and handing it over to me said, “I have written down everything in this notebook, you will know all the details once you read it. You must follow the instructions… Sitaram will help you. The devil will try to stop you. But don’t be scared, the god will help you.”

Before he could say anything more, a bout of cough stopped him. He again tried to sit up with great difficulty, I helped him sit and asked Sitaram to get a glass of water. He took a sip from the glass and looked at me, his eyes had lost all colors, he started shivering and that moment shouted, “There, he is…he has come to claim my body. Run, run away…”

Grandpa’s held tilted on its side, body gave away, I checked the non-existent pulse.

“Grandpa is dead. Please call some neighbour for the last rites.” I told Sitaram.

“No one will come, you and I will have to do the cremation. We will cremate him on the banks of the pond only. I will go and get the necessary items from the market. You stay with him.”

I took out some money and gave them to Sitaram. I was feeling bad and frustrated… I couldn’t save my grandpa-2, I wanted to take him back with me but failed. I sat there grieving. Suddenly, my eyes caught the sight of the notebook that grandpa-2 had given me, awhile ago. I opened it. There is no mention of any date or year but I could make out that grandpa-2 had been writing for quite some time. The style of writing is like a diary without dates.

Today is the Friday, I have come to Gopalpur in search of my son, Sushant. Some acquaintance in Dhanbad informed that a young boy of Sushant’s description has been seen in the vicinity of the ashram of a tantrik near the river, next to the cremation ground. On the other side of the river is the forest, no residential quarters in the vicinity.

As I reached the ashram, the tantrik shouted, “Come here, I know who you are looking for, he is with me only.”  

I sat at the feet of the tantrik crying, “Where’s my son Sushant, please tell me…take me to him, I want to see him right now.”

The tantrik ruffled my hair and soothingly said, “You have come from far, take rest now, I will take you to him at night.”

I could barely wait for the nightfall and visited the tantrik as soon as it became dark. “Please take me to my son, wherever he is” I requested the tantrik.

The tantrik looked at me with burning eyes that put shiver down my spine. The tantrik did not utter any word but signalled me to follow him. We reached behind the ashram where a dome shaped structure lay abandoned. The tantrik unlocked the door and asked me to enter. No lights were there so I switched on my torch. I saw a staircase going down to the basement, the tantrik commanded me to go down to the basement.

The basement room wasn’t too big, a trident has been placed in the middle of the room and large wooden trunk lay by the wall. The tantrik asked me to open the trunk.

As soon as I lifted the lid of the trunk, a putrid smell hit my nostrils. What’s inside? I focused the torch inside the trunk and let out a cry. Sushant is lying inside like a stone sculpture as if in a deep slumber. I tried to touch him, lift him out of the trunk but the tantrik stopped me, “Don’t touch him.”

The tantrik closed the lid of the trunk. I cried out, “Please, I won’t go anywhere without my son.”

The tantrik spoke softly, “Sushant is no longer yours or mine, he has gone to another world.”

“Then why have you kept his body in this trunk?” I asked defiantly.

“Come up with me, I will explain.” The tantrik said.

We came up and sat down on the porch of the tantrik’s hut. We were sitting facing each other, his eyes were burning from the smoke of the cannabis. He took few quick puffs of the cannabis and started speaking, “When I found your son, he was in a very bad shape, running high fever and unconscious under the Ashoka tree.”

“How did he reach here?”

“I don’t know, maybe he was going somewhere else but got lost. I was coming from the cremation ground when I saw him and brought him here. I tried to save him but he passed away after three days. Before he died, he called out for you.”

“When did he die?”

“About a fortnight ago. I knew, you will come looking for him. That’s why I have kept his body in the basement. It is because of my occult powers that his body hasn’t decomposed yet.”

I was finding it difficult to believe the tantrik but before I could say anything, he said, “You rest now, I have to go the cremation ground for the rituals. I will see you in the morning.”

I sat there alone, the thoughts of Sushant kept haunting me. The approaching footsteps on the dry leaves broke my reverie, I looked up to find the disciple of the tantrik, Shivratan coming my way. He had brought food for me. He looked afraid, he checked the surrounding to be sure there was no else, then whispered, “Please run away from here now, immediately. The spirits of the netherworld will swoop down any moment now.”

“My son is here, I can’t leave him behind.”

“Who is your son?”

“Sushant, he is in the basement of the dome room behind the ashram.”

“Oh my God, that kid is your son? You will hear him cry for help, very soon.”

“But, he is dead.”

Shivratan, visibly shaken, again looked around and spoke in a low voice, “The tantrik, through his occult powers have kept his soul inside the body. The soul is trying to release but can’t and that’s why it cries for help every night.”

“But the tantrik said that he has kept him there for me.”

“Lies. If you can, please release his soul from the body.”

There was footstep approaching us, Shivratan got up saying, “Don’t say a word to the tantrik otherwise he will kill me and keep my soul in the trunk.”

Shivratan left in a hurry; I sat there alone again. Suddenly, I heard someone crying in the distance. It was a cry of extreme pain. I came out and walked towards the crying sound… it stopped as suddenly as it had started. I could hear the winds and the sound of waves hitting the shore. I came back. The day’s events and the exhaustion were too much, I found a cot inside the hut and crashed on it.

I felt Sushant is standing in front of me, his body is crumpling in pain. The face is white, devoid of color, the eyes begging for mercy. He spoke but I couldn’t make out what, I felt his pain and screamed aloud. I woke up and found myself alone sitting on the cot.

In the morning, I told the tantrik, “I want to cremate my son’s remains.”

The tantrik looked at me gravely for sometime then said, “I will bring him back to life.”

I understood that the tantrik has some ulterior motive, he won’t allow me to cremate my son. He will keep the body in the basement for his occult practice.

The miserable face of Sushant kept haunting me. I decided to bring out his body and cremate it somehow. Shivratan realised my determination and came to me as soon as the tantrik went to the river for bathing, “You can’t do anything during the day. Once the tantrik goes to the cremation ground for the rituals, we will bring out the body and cremate it.”

“If he gets to know that you helped me, he will kill you.” I warned him.

“I will run away before he realises it.” Shavratan assured me.

 The day passed stressfully for I didn’t know what to expect when Shivratan and I attempt to cremate my son. By evening the tension was palpable, I couldn’t sit anymore; I went out to the river front to calm my nerves. I saw the tantrik walk out from the ashram heading towards the cremation ground. I walked back to the ashram to find Shivratan waiting for me. He had managed to steal the key to the dome room. We silently went to there and Shivratan unlocked the door. He was visibly afraid so I asked him stay out of sight and went down to retrieve my son’s mortal remains.

I opened the lid of the trunk, Sushant looked same as I had seen him yesterday. With some effort I pulled him out and lifted him on my shoulder ready to go up the stairs. Just then I froze at the sight of the tantrik standing at the top. His fiery eyes were ready to burn me to ashes. He jumped down and shoved me down to the ground. He picked up the body of Sushant and climbing the stairs said, “I am taking him with me, I will lock you up here for eternity.”

At that moment, the idea of revenge is all that I could think of… I picked up the trident and stabbed the tantrik with humongous strength. He fell down the stairs to his death. I lifted up the mortal remains of my son which started to decompose rapidly. The occult powers of the tantrik was not working anymore. Shivratan, probably had ran away seeing the tantrik, so I carried my son’s body to the riverfront and arranging the wood, lit the pyre.

I thought of returning home but realised that I have committed a murder… what if the police comes after me there… the family name would tarnish. In the wee hours, I left Gopalpur getting into the first train that came on the platform. I had no clue where I am heading but when the train stopped at the Dhanbad station I got down there along with few other sanyasis. We walked through the day and reached Shikarpur in the evening. We took shelter at an abandoned house the zamindar. We had a frugal dinner and slept on the veranda.

I don’t know what time it was when I felt a sudden storm swept over me. Instantly I woke up and saw the tantrik standing a few feet away looking at me with bloodshot eyes, ready to burn me to ashes. I screamed, when my fellow sanyasis came, the tantrik had disappeared. I realized, the tantrik even after death will not leave me.

Next day along with the sanyasis, I came here at the Onkarnath Ashram. As soon as I retired for the bed, the tantrik started harassing me, I couldn’t sleep a wink throughout the night.

I left the ashram as morning broke, no point in involving others in my fight with the tantrik. I wandered around the town till I found this abandoned house. I decided to stay put there fending off the nefarious intents of the tantrik. I can’t explain in words, how I have lived for so long despite the daily harassment by the dead tantrik. People around got to know that I deal with the spirits and started avoiding me. Only Sitaram stayed on with me taking care maybe because I had taken care of him when he was down with small pox and the villagers had thrown him out from the village. I brought him here and looked after him till he was healthy again. Now, he is stays with me all day and goes back to his home at night. Every night, the tantrik comes to room to scare me to death, harassing me… I know my death is imminent… only then I will be free from the tentacles of the tantrik, perhaps.

The tantrik will use all his might to capture my soul and convert me into a zombie, Sitaram can’t resist him. I pray to God to save my soul.

There was nothing more in the notebook. I waited for the return of Sitaram with the items required for the last rites of my grandpa-2. It was getting dark with clouds forming in the distant horizon. I realized, a thunderstorm is more than a possibility.

Sitaram came with the items along with a young man, “He is Divakar, I brought him to help us.”

“Let’s hurry before the thunderstorm strikes.” I urged them.

By the time the pyre was set and we brought the body of grandpa-2, the thunderstorm lashed the surrounding with fury, heavy rain poured down incessantly. There was no option but wait for the rain to stop. I was feeling scared, I kept a firm hold of grandpa’s hand. I had a feeling that some unknown force was trying loosen my grip. The intensity of the storm was getting stronger instead of relenting. The sky was lighting up frequently with lightening strikes. Suddenly, I felt movement of grandpa’s body…  it’s moving away… I shouted, “Sitaram, some unknown force is pulling away grandpa.”

Sitaram dived on grandpa’s body to stop it from sliding away. The movement stopped immediately. The intensity of rain increased; the raindrops hit us like multiple needles piercing the body but we stayed put. The weather became unusually chill for a summer month, we were shivering. The rain relented after almost an hour. We set up the pyre again and placed the body of grandpa-2 on it, set it to fire. A sudden gust of wind doused the fire, we lit it again. The fire engulfed the pyre with fury.

Suddenly, there was a deafening screeching shout, some unseen force started throwing the burning logs from the pyre in the water. We shrunk in terror unable to move. We lost the sense of time. A sound of something rolling on the ground shook us from our numbness, grandpa’s body was rolling down to the river. I jumped over the burning pyre ignoring the flames and stopped the body from going into the watery grave. Sitaram and I lifted the half burnt muddy body of grandpa on to the pyre.

The night was giving away to the morning, in a while the dawn will break, suddenly Divakar shrieked in fear and pointed towards the pyre. What we saw was bone chilling… the burnt body of grandpa had risen from the pyre and walking towards the pond. I realised the scheming tantrik is trying to take the body of my grandpa. I was feeling helpless, with great courage I picked up a burning log and hit legs of my grandpa. The body crumpled with loud noise of breaking bones. With the help of Sitaram and Divakar, I pushed back the body on the pyre.

After a while, the dawn broke, grandpa’s body had become a pile of ash. I washed up the ashes, took a dip in the pond and felt relieved. Coming back home, I didn’t tell anyone about the unbelievable ordeal that I encountered. Who would have believed!!  

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Engine #913

By the time I reached the station gate, I saw the train leaving the platform. It’s a small station of a village where only passenger trains stop and the frequency is very low. I looked at my watch, it showed a little over 5 pm and the next train to Kolkata (Calcutta) is now expected around 8 pm, I have to kill 3 hours in this deserted place, its not only painful but boring as well with no one to talk and nothing to see except the open field across the platform with sparse vegetation. I had come on official work at the Panchayat Office of the cluster of villages few kilometres away. I would have reached on time but the Panchayat Head insisted on having lunch at his home and then the only transport of the village, a cycle rickshaw had a tyre puncture forcing me to walk the distance to the station. I was feeling a bit exhausted from the brisk walk and frustrated at missing the train.

I entered the platform, it’s small with a room/ office of the Station Master and a ticket counter on one side and the other side a large shade for the luggage/ parcels, in the centre of the platform are two benches for the waiting passengers to rest. I sat down on one of the benches and stared across the platform through the open field. I don’t know when and how long I had been dozing but was awakened by the voice, “Where do you want to go?” I looked up to find a middle-aged person in black coat and white trousers looking at me inquisitively, must be the Station Master and may have got interested looking at my urban dressing style. “Kolkata” I replied. “Oh, you missed the train, now the next one is expected at 8 pm” he spoke with concern. “You seem to be a city dweller, where did you visit?” he continued with his query. “I came to visit the Panchayat Office for a meeting with the Panchayat Head, Akhil Babu and he insisted on having lunch with him which delayed me otherwise I would have caught the train” I replied. “He is my maternal cousin, please come to office, we can talk and relax till your train comes. We are village people, hardly ever leave the station, and let alone visiting a city like Kolkata, please tell me about the city” the Station Master said with enthusiasm.

I followed him to his office; it was filled with old furniture and files and had a smell of dust all around. He pushed a chair towards me to sit, there was a bench near the wall for the visitors to sit. The Station Master, Binod Babu, sat on his chair which had seen better days, now it was missing one arm, but Binod Babu seemed comfortable. He took out a packet of Bidi, a indigenous smoking stick of tobacco rolled in tendu or temburni leaf and tied with a string or adhesive, and offered me. I declined as I am a non-smoker. “You, city dwellers prefer cigarette over the local bidi” Binod Babu observed. “No, no, I don’t smoke at all” I protested.

Binod Babu lit his Bidi and took a long puff releasing several rings of smoke and said, “I first had my Bidi while in school and father caught me…what a thrashing he gave me!! But, the habit continues till date. Oh, I almost forgot there’s some urgent work I have to attend. You relax here, I will join you soon.” I sat there and looked around, I couldn’t see any electricity connection in the room and it was getting darker as the evening progressed. After some time, Binod Babu came back with another person and apologised “Sorry, I kept you waiting for long”. Before I could respond, the person accompanying him spoke up, “I heard, you live in Kolkata… I had once gone there, some 20 years ago… had no road or location sense… wanted to visit Kalighat but ended up at Kolaghat.”

“Stop your Kolkata story, Abani. You have told us this story at least twenty times” Binod Babu snapped at the newcomer, Abani Babu.

“Please continue” I tried to put Abani Babu at ease but he gave a quick glance towards Binod Babu and said “Forget about me, let us hear about you and Kolkata”.  

As we were talking, a peon came in with a lantern and placed it on the table then asked, “Shall I get you some hot tea”?

“Yes, and also get some snacks as well” replied Binod Babu.

As the peon turned to go, another gentleman showed up at the door. “Please come in Narayan Babu” Binod Babu called enthusiastically. “Shall I get the snacks for 4 person then”? queried the peon.

“Isn’t that obvious” roared Binod Babu.

The person named Narayan Babu entered the room… he must be over sixty, slim and tall with darkish complexion. He looked at me and exclaimed, “I don’t think we have met before”. Before I could respond, Binod Babu introduced me and explained my predicament.

“So, you are from Kolkata, must be knowing the card game TwentyNine… there are four of us, perfect for the game. I have heard that people in Kolkata plays card game even while walking” Narayan Babu laughed heartily as others joined too.

Meanwhile, the peon came back with three cups of tea and four packets of Jhal Muri with Tele Bhaja (puffed rice preparation with pakoda) and placed the tray on the table. Narayan Babu picked up one packet of snacks while Binod Babu offered the tea to Abani Babu and me taking the third cup for himself. I felt little awkward and asked, “What about tea for Narayan Babu”?

Binod Babu and Abani Babu spoke together, “He won’t have tea. He’s scared of ghosts.”

“That’s strange… he won’t drink tea for fear of ghost”? I asked.

Abani Babu said, “That’s a funny story”.

“It’s not a story but true incident” Narayan Babu said with all seriousness.

“If you have no objections, please tell us about it… there’s still enough time before my train arrives”, I requested.

Abani Babu also joined in, “Don’t be angry Narayan, I was just joking… please tell us what happened”.

Narayan Babu relaxed a bit and relented…he looked out of the window in the darkness and began…

I am the witness to the incident that I am going to tell you, it happened many years ago during the British Raj/ Colonial Rule.

I have just started my job at the railways as an assistant in the engine room. It was a tough job of putting coal in the steam engine… sometimes we had to work continuously for 2-3 days at a stretch. We had to cook our own food, tea and sleep within the limited space inside the steam engine.

It was winter days when we were bringing a goods train full of tea leaves from Siliguri to Kolkata, the entire load was meant for Great Britain. There were four of us inside the engine room, the driver Maqbul Mian, a hefty six footer with matching body and strength, his co-driver, Ramratan Misra, almost reaching his retirement age and two coal feeder Poran Mondal and myself.

Narayan Babu helped himself with a mouthful of Jhal Muri and continued…

It was extremely cold night; we were shivering even with layers of warm clothes and the heat from the engine fire… I shivering uncontrollably, feeling sick, even sitting next to the engine furnace did not help. Maqbul saw that and said, “Why don’t you sleep for a while. I will manage the feeding. In fact, Ramratan Ji should also take a break”.

We found a corner to lie down and soon the vibration coupled with the noise of the engine helped us to get into a deep slumber. We woke up with a jolt as the train came to a stop. Maqbul confirmed that the signal is down indicating no passage. It was pitch dark outside and bone-chilling cold but nothing could be done, we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. In the pitch darkness the only lights came from the fireflies but the cold was making me sick again, probably a cup of tea can warm me up a bit. “Brother Poran, can you make some tea for us?” I requested.

Poran Mondal, probably just out of teenage, is jolly fellow and always ready to do any chores with a smile. He went to the pantry to boil the water and make tea. After a while declared that there’s no tea in the container, we have consumed the entire lot during the journey from Siliguri.

“We are carrying tea leaves in the wagons next to the engine” I spoke aloud.

“Right, you are” said Ramratan Ji “I will go and get some for us, I have seen one box is broken at the corner”.

 As Ramratan started to climb down, Poran joined him. Maqbul was uncomfortable with the whole idea and said, “I am worried about the inspector traveling in the guard room. He is not a good man and very vindictive. If he catches them, the situation can become very ugly”.

“But we are not stealing for money, only taking a little for our own consumption and that too from the spillage” I tried to reason with Maqbul.

“I know that but I am concerned about the train inspector, he is a devil incarnate,,, he won’t empathize” Maqbul replied still worried.

“He must be in deep sleep in the guard room” I tried to assure Maqbul as well as myself. Even I became a little worried about Ramratan Ji and Poran.

We went to the door to check but couldn’t see anything or anyone in the pitch darkness, maybe they are inside one the wagons. The fire in engine had dimmed so I fed coal into the furnace and sat near it to soak in some warmth of the engine heat.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside and a loud voice, “Who is there? Identify yourself.” The voice no doubt belongs to the train inspector, the devil. He must be hiding somewhere nearby… and caught Ramratan and Poran as soon as they came out from the wagon.

Maqbul tried to intervene but the three of them came inside the engine room, the inspector holding Ramratan Ji by the collar. “This man of yours was stealing tea from the wagon” he barked at Maqbul.

“I did not steal, only took a little quantity from the spillage on the floor” protested Ramratan Ji.

“Yes, we did not steal, Ramratan Ji is telling the truth.” Poran echoed.

“Ramratan Ji is telling the truth. He had only gone to take a little portion of the tea for our own use… it is very cold here and we had run out of our stock. Please let him go, next week his daughter is getting married and it would create many problems if you arrest him for this minor issue” Maqbul tried to reason with the inspector.

“Lie, you were stealing the tea” the inspector was adamant. We were scared, Ramratan Ji was shivering in panic and had lost colour.

Maqbul looked straight in the eyes of the inspector and said, “If someone wants to steal, will he take only a handful or the full box? You are unnecessarily suspecting us.”

“Taking a handful of tea or a wagon full of tea, makes no difference, both are act of stealing only. I will file the report as soon as we reach the next station” the inspector shouted back at Maqbul.

“I won’t ever go anywhere near the wagon, please pardon me this time” Ramratan Ji cried out.

“You should have thought about it before stealing, now let’s go” saying this the inspector pushed Ramratan Ji towards the door.

If the inspector really files the complaint, Ramratan Ji will not only lose his job but even get jailed as well. I pleaded with the inspector, “Let it go Sir, please have mercy on him… next week his daughter is getting married, it will be scandalous if you arrest him now”.

The inspector looked at me with a devilish smile and said, “He did not think about it while stealing, now he will have to pay for his sin. Let’s go, the guard has given signal to move”.

Ramratan Ji cried again and grabbed the leg of the inspector, “You are my lord, please forgive me, I will never do such thing again”.

We knew the inspector was trying to take Ramratan Ji to his room for handing him over to the police at the next station. We felt helpless in front of the satanic inspector. Meanwhile, the guard blew the whistle indicating the line is clear to move forward. Ramratan Ji looked at Maqbul and pleaded, “Please help me Maqbul bhai”.

In that moment, Maqbul’s eyes suddenly turned bright and he swiftly moved between the inspector and Ramratan Ji and spoke in a grave voice, “Let him go inspector, don’t ruin his life for a handful of tea leaves”.

The inspector was taken aback by the demeanor of Maqbul and took a step back letting go of Ramratan Ji. “If I let go of him it will affect my career, I had caught two thieves earlier and this case will ensure my promotion” the inspector blurted out.

“Scoundrel, just for the promotion, you are trying to ruin the life of an innocent person?” Maqbul shouted at the inspector.

Maqbul was shivering from excitement and rage but the inspector had regained his composer and said menacingly, “Move out from my way, I will have you all arrested for theft and obstructing a police officer”.

Maqbul’s face distorted with anger and he looked very different person at that time. I have heard that his ancestors were dreaded dacoits once upon a time but he had chosen a civilized way of life. But now, the old blood somehow had entered his bloodstream, he moved forward catching the inspector by his arms and lifted him up, “You want your promotion, I will give you the promotion”, he hissed into the face of the inspector.

Maqbul no more a human, he had turned into a demon now, we were scared and completely stunned into inaction. Maqbul dragged the inspector towards the furnace, the inspector was scared too and pleaded with Maqbul, “Okay, I won’t arrest him, let me go…I don’t want any promotion”.

“What are you doing, Maqbul?” cried Ramratan Ji.

“I am promoting the inspector to the next level” Maqbul hissed.

Before any of us could react, Maqbul lifted up the inspector like a toy and threw him in the furnace. All we heard was the deafening cry of the inspector followed by the urgent whistle of the guard asking us to start the engine. Maqbul simply fed more coal in the furnace to energize and pulled the lever to begin the journey as if nothing has happened. The swiftness of the event and the nonchalant demeanor of Maqbul had turned us into stone sculpture.

The rest of the journey is completely blurred from my memory… I don’t remember how I reached home the following day but by evening I had very high fever which lasted for a week. When I went to work after ten days, there was complete chaos at the station. No one is willing to take charge of the engine no. 913. I shuddered, this is the same engine we operated that fateful night. The driver named Gomes was standing nearby and I went to him to find about the issue, “What’s the problem, Gomes?”

He looked at me strangely and said, “There’s a ghost in that engine”.

“What are you saying? Have you seen it yourself?”

“The night before yesterday I drove it and two days before that Gopal was driving it back and he told me. I thought he consumes Ganja so may have hallucinated”.

“There must have been other people in the engine no. 913, did they see or hear anything?”

“Yes, they too heard.”

“What did you hear when you were driving it?”

Gomes looked at me blankly, evidently there was fear in his eyes. He pulled me, “Let’s go and sit there. I will tell you, my experience.”

We sat down on a bench next to the parcel room, Gomes lit up a cigarette, took a few puffs to calm his nerve and said, “I don’t believe in the existence of ghosts. I did not believe what Gopal told me either. That night we picked up the load and left Siliguri on time. As the evening progressed, the darkness enveloped, the atmosphere inside the engine room became heavy, I could find no reason for it but we all felt some discomfort. It was not just the chill but something more as if something is trying to strangle us, we were feeling breathless. Suddenly, the engine coughed and gave jerks, I thought there must be something on the track, so I applied the break but the engine did not stop, it kept going at the same speed”.

“What happened next?”

“As the engine accelerated, we could feel putrid smell of burning flesh coming from the furnace. It was suffocating, I started sweating even in that chilly night, I thought I will faint. The fire in the furnace was low so I fed coal in it, the furnace lit up instantly and there was a deafening cry of someone coming from the furnace. I couldn’t make out what the crying voice was saying but Ratul, my assistant heard someone saying ‘leave me please, I don’t want any promotion’. Fear of unknown was gripping me, making me turn into a statue unable to move an inch. Then suddenly something pushed me with a strong force and I fell to the floor. Ratul, my assistant too was lying next to me, his face drained of blood. The engine continued to run as if nothing has happened”.

Gomes took few more puffs and continued, “Somehow, we managed to bring the train here and narrated our experience but no one believed us. Yesterday, a new team took out the engine no.913, this morning they came back with two of their member in a critical health. Now, no one is ready to drive the engine no.913.”

“My mouth had become dry, unable to offer any words to Gomes, I left him there and came back home. Next day I resigned from my job at the railways and also gave up on tea.” Narain Babu concluded with a sigh.

There was a complete silence in the room for some time, then Binod Babu looked at his watch and said to me, “Let’s go, it’s time for your train to Kolkata”.