The haunting at Kausani ...concluding part

As we completed our dinner , we slowly and quietly started walking towards our room .We were not talking to each other. At least I did not have the guts to do so, because honestly speaking I was scared . As we walked to our room , I was looking at the slope downhill . All I could see was darkness and some light shimmering from the bushes .They were like eyes , watching me , watching us . I got this dreaded feeling that we were being trailed . I wanted to walk fast to my room, because I had this weird feeling that something was moving towards us , very fast .Something from behind the bushes . I shouted out to Shumana , “ Shums run!!!!!!”

“What???,” she said . “ I said run !!!!!” And like preys hunted by an unknown predator , we started running towards the door . Shumana was the first one to get in . I shut the door behind me, and bolted it . We were both gasping for breath . She stared at me with a puzzled look in her eyes and said , “Why????”. She was still panting . I just shrugged my shoulder and crashed on the bed behind me . I was staring at the blades of the fan in my room , old sharp blades. I was thinking why ? Why was this happening ? I looked at Shumana and asked her , “ Baby ,did we do the wise thing by staying here ?” I could see clouds of doubt in her eyes for the first time . “ I don’t know Abhi!!!. I just don’t know what to believe . I cant feel it , but the fear in your eyes is so real . Its so real that I just cant think rationally .” And then we heard something …!!!!

“ Did your hear it Shums ???” The bathroom . Someone or something was inside the bathroom . “ There was this surge of real fear in my heart . I actually heard something and this was not a figment of my imagination . And Shumana heard it too . I just raised my legs from the ground and sat on the bed . I looked at Shumana and gestured her to do the same . But the braver one needed further proof .She wanted to explore the bathroom . “ Abhi , I need to go in .” I was shocked . “What ???…Go in and do what , you daft girl !!!! Did you not hear the sound in the bathroom .I am sure its inside the bathroom.”

Shumana looked in my eyes .In the face of this nightmarish scene inacted in front of my eyes , she was immensely calm . She did not say anything . She just smiled and walked towards the bathroom. As she moved closer , she turned around and gave me yet another glimpse of her candyfloss smile that had set my heart aflutter so many times . But then suddenly , the realization dawned on me . Was this the last that I will see of her ? Is this the end ? God , what am I doing ? I should stop her !!!! And before I could react she entered the bathroom . I was frozen to my bed and could not move . As she walked in the bathroom , I felt a surge of horror in my heart.

Bammmm!!!!!! As soon as she walked inside the bathroom ,the door shut violently behind her . O my God!!!! What the hell was that ? I was petrified at the sound of the door shutting behind her . The sound was loud and unnatural , as if someone had shut the door behind her forcibly . But I just could not understand what to do . With immense effort ,I got up and stepped on the ground which was freezing . My legs were shaking and my spine was shivering .I just had lost control over my body . My mouth was open with slight froth bursting out of the sides of my mouth . I thought that my jaws had frozen .I knew that I could not shout if I wanted to .It was that kind of feeling . As I walked towards the bathroom , I thought , “ Should I run out of the room to call the caretaker or should I break open the door of the bathroom . But what if something is waiting for us outside the room .What if both of us perish ,one in the bathroom and the other one , that is me on the verandah of my room . I decided to break open the bathroom . Good idea , I thought .

I knocked , rather it was more like banging , but not forceful enough ,since my hands were trembling and had gone numb by then . “ Shumana , are you ok ?” I asked with fear in my eyes and my voice trembling . There was a pause , but then what I heard was the most scariest sound I had ever heard in my life ….

I heard muffles …I heard the muffled sound of someone from inside ..” Hello ,” I asked again . The sound repeated itself . As if someone was trying to say something , but someone else had his or her hand on her mouth ……The thought was horrifying !!!! It was Shumana and someone had clasped her mouth with its hand . I could feel the fear traveling from my spine to my head . I thought I would faint . The very thought of Shumana in trouble was horrifying . I started banging on the door . The sound of the muffled sound increased . “O my God” I said …Is someone trying so suffocate her . My banging on the door of the bathroom grew harder . I was frantic. There were tears in my eyes . Of horror !!!! And of the fear of losing the woman I love so much ….

“ Shumana ,please open the door for Gods sake , I cried . The tears wont stop flowing and I was becoming desperate . My knees were getting weaker and I thought that I was about to fall . But just then like that , the door opened ……

Shumana was standing there , with a confused look in her eyes. Her mouth was swollen like a la Hanuman . She had Listerine mouth wash in her mouth and she was looking at me and was wondering what the confusion was all about . She spat out the Listerine and said , “What????” I had understood by then . It was the Listerine in her mouth and hence the muffled sound and response to my frantic calls from outside . I wanted to laugh at the entire situation , but my bladder was about to burst .I knew that if I did not pee , I would end up wetting my trousers , after a long time in my life .

“ Please just stand outside the door and don’t let it shut .I wanna pee” I told Shumana . “You wanna pee in front of me “, she asked . “Yeah”, I said . “Unless you wanna discover me dead in exactly two minutes while the door gets shut behind me .” Well , with embarrassment writ all over her face and a light pinch of disgust , she held the door , as I let it flow ." Wat a relief.............

After peeing ,there was a miraculous change in me . I was not that afraid anymore . We came and sat on our bed . I could think clearly now . What had happened here, I thought . Thoughts were just flashing through my mind and the puzzle in my mind was getting solved with rapid speed . I looked at Shumana and said , “ I think , I know what happened here , Shums. The rape of the pregnant woman ,her spirit , the brutal strangulation of the chowkidaar . Something trying to suffocate me or atleast trying to convey something ,its all coming to me now .” I wanted to go to the nearest police station for further confirmation , but there was a long night before us .

“ Shums , can we go to the police station tomorrow ?” The concern in my eyes convinced Shumana that my request was a genuine one and that I really had to go there. “We will ,” she said . “ But before that , I need you and me to think of the most purest thought in our lives . Something that is common to us . something that can never go wrong for both of us.” Without blinking , we knew what it was .

You would be surprised that Mili was still not born then . But even before her birth, she was the most beautiful and purest thing in our lives . I had met Shumana in 1992 , first year of college and one thing about long courtships is that you end up naming your children .I guess lots of couples do that .We did that too and we got our MiLI too and yes Babush was the bonus !!!!!J

Mili was with us since we fell in love . And she came to our rescue even then . We slept off . Actually we did not realize when we had dozed off . We woke up the next morning to a beautiful dawn and pristine sunshine flowing through our window ,which we had forgot to shut .

As we checked out , we drove to the police station .The station in charge was overwhelmed to receive us ,since he was big fan of BBC short wave Hindi Service ,which I was a part of .


And then the confirmation ….The police of the area believed that the woman , the pregnant woman, was raped and strangulated by the previous chowkidaar and the police could not find proof to connect him to the murder . He went scot-free , but not for long . He was found strangulated , a few months later with horror bulging out of his eyes . Justice I thought ..But what the station in charge told me next is something I still can never let go ....

The pregnant woman was raped and murdered in the one of the rooms of the Daak bangalow ….the one we were staying in …….