The Other Side: Dare To Visit Alone? Read online

seemed to be running at a decent pace and I didn't want to speed up

  for fear of knocking him over.

  About ten minutes later, the old man stopped near a huge

  haveli amidst wild weeds and broken stones. I halted the car and

  got down after taking the emergency medical kit with me. Lavanya

  grudgingly followed suit. I had never been to this side of the

  country before. In the distance, I could see a few huts and dense

  shrubbery. The first thing I felt was that there was no light around. I

  say 'felt' because I was keeping an eye on the old man who was near

  the huge door. Lavanya wrapped an arm around mine despite her

  anger. I could tell she didn't like the place. Standing beneath the

  round moon, the haveli was huge, almost cutting out the moon

  from where we were standing with a sloping tiled roof; the paint

  had peeled off with the passage of time and that was pretty much all

  that one could make out in the absence of light.

  The old man pushed open the door. I thought it would creak

  but strangely enough it opened silently, almost as if the house was

  expecting visitors.

  The house, like the street outside, was devoid of any flare but I

  could tell that it was old, judging it by the little moonlight that

  crept in from the open door. Lavanya tightened her grip on my arm

  and with my free hand, I assured her of my presence. The old man

  looked towards me and pointed at the stairs. With renewed vigor,

  he jumped on the staircase and I thought he almost sailed over the

  wide stairs in his anxiety, reaching the upper level in a flash. We

  went a little slow, almost feeling each stair creak beneath our feet.

  The house gave me a feeling of being shadowed. I tried to zoom in

  on all sides but the darkness didn't help my cause.

  “Nikhil, I don't like the feel of this place. Please, let's leave,”

  Lavanya's voice quivered.

  “Ssshh, we'll be done soon and then we'll leave,” I promised

  and helped her over the last of the stairs.

  The old man led us inside a small room on the extreme left. It

  was much darker here and I bumped into something hard the

  moment I stepped aside to make way for Lavanya. It was a wooden

  cupboard.

  Suddenly the room was filled with a yellow fiery light and I

  blinked accepting the warm glow with a smile. The old man had lit

  a lantern and was holding it up for me while standing near what seemed like a cot. And there lying over a moth-eaten mattress on the cot was my patient. If I had thought the man 'old' then I didn't know what term to use for the lady lying on the cot. She seemed ancient, almost a hundred years old, her body shivering under her wrinkled skin.

  She was clearly ill; eyes open in a semi-conscious state, the whites showing, mumbling incoherently. I took a seat on the cot itself near her torso, feeling her pulse. Almost immediately, I pulled my hand away. Her body was boiling hot and she wasn't even sweating. I checked her forehead with the back of my hand. The fever had reached her brain.

  “Did she vomit? Motions or something?” I asked the old man, who stared at me blankly.

  “I haven't seen such a case before,” I whispered to Lavanya, who had knelt down by my side.

  The old lady had to be hospitalised; there was no doubt about that. But I wasn't sure if she would make it out of the house in her condition. I closed my eyes and thought about it for a second. I had to treat her immediately and if she showed some positive response, we could shift her to the hospital. Yes, that seemed to be the only feasible option.

  “Lavanya, quick, my kit. Yes, the stethoscope too…” The needle easily pierced the wrinkled skin as I injected the serum into the old lady's body. She didn't show any acknowledgement of the fact.

  “We have to get her body temperature down. I doubt there will be ice packs here, we'll have to use cloth and water,” I said.

  The old man did not react but I noticed there was a pitcher of water in a corner of the room. I poured some water in a vessel lying nearby. There was nothing around which I could use as a spare cloth. Sensing my thoughts, Lavanya tore her dupatta and handed it over to me. For a moment I looked at her, not knowing what to say. Then she smiled.

  She took the piece of cloth from my hand, soaked it in the water and placed it on the old lady's burning forehead. I opened the windows of the room to let fresh air circulate inside.

  With Lavanya's help, I hoisted up the old woman into a semi-sleeping position and popped a paracetomol into her mouth. She involuntarily gulped it down with the water. We made her lie down again and a few minutes later, I checked her temperature again. The fever was still there but I could tell it had lessened than what it was before.

  Around that time, the old man brought two bowls of tea. I was surprised when he patted me on the back and handed me a bowl. I had never seen him leave the room but then I might have missed doing so as I concentrated on treating his better half. I took a small sip from the bowl, something I had never done before.

  Lavanya had just put down her bowl when the old woman stirred and moaned softly. I gulped down the remaining tea and handed the cup to Lavanya who kept it beside hers near the leg of the cot.

  “Tai, can you hear me? How're you feeling now?” I said bending over to check on her. Behind me, Lavanya did the same.

  And with surprising suddenness, the old woman opened her eyes wide. I almost jumped out of my skin as she looked at me, surveying me from head to toe before smiling softly.

  “How're you feeling now?” I repeated a little louder, wondering whether she too was hard of hearing like her husband.

  “Thank you, beta,” she finally replied.

  I looked at Lavanya. She was smiling at me with tears in her eyes. It was difficult to believe that the medicine had taken effect in such a short while. I placed my hand on the old woman's forehead.Her skin was cold to touch. Almost icy. I attributed the fact to the cloth-water treatment and the open windows. The old

  The Other Side

  39

  woman turned to the old man and nodded. I could see the man's eyes were watery. He walked upto me and was about to fall in my feet when I held him.

  “No, no. What are you doing?”

  “You saved my wife, you saved me.”

  It was the first time I heard him speak something else though it

  was on similar lines to what we had been hearing so far from his mouth. I patted him on the shoulder.

  “We do our work, Tau. The rest we leave it to him,” I said pointing skywards and the old man nodded, running a hand over my head.

  “We'll take your leave, Tau. Here, I've written some medicines for Tai. Do get them first thing in the morning,” I said.

  The old lady was about to say something when I thought that they may not have the money to buy the drugs even though they were residing in a haveli, I was sure he was only the poor caretaker of the property.

  “Here keep this,” I said, placing a five hundred-rupee note in the old man's hand. He was not willing to grip it but I was adamant and stuffed the note in the pocket of his kurta.

  “Lavanya, come!” I said to my wife, who folded her hands looking at the old couple in a respectable gesture.

  “How can we allow you to go like this?” the old woman shouted. We turned to look at her climbing down from the cot and walking towards us.

  “You're like my beta and she, my bahu. How can we allow our bahu to leave empty-handed when she is visiting our place for the first time?”

  “No Tai, we don't need any fees. I was just in the vicinity…”

  “Who's giving you any fees? I want to give some shagun to my beautiful bahu here,” she said moving towards the wooden cupboard. The old man smiled in the background and walke
d to join his wife. The old lady soon came towards us with something in her folded palms.

  She took Lavanya's hands and dropped two little earrings into her palms. Lavanya gasped. I noticed the minute detailing of the piece of jewelry in my wife's hands. It surely seemed to be an exquisite artwork from a bygone era.

  “But… but these are gold ornaments. We can't take them,”

  Lavanya said, looking at me.

  “They're the only thing we can give you,” the old lady said,

  patting my wife's cheek.

  “We don't need anything, Tai. Your blessings are more than

  enough for both of us,” I interrupted.

  “Consider this a blessing. We insist that you keep it as a token

  of our appreciation,” the old lady replied, placing her palms on top

  of Lavanya's. The earrings glittered, drowning the glow of the

  pendant on Lavanya's neck.

  “Take it. You make a perfect couple. God bless you!” the old

  lady said.

  “Thank you,” we said in unison as I sensed my cheeks burn. I

  quickly pulled out my visiting card and handed it to the old man. “If there's any complication again, you can reach me here. I am

  available at the town hospital from 10 AM to 9 PM,” I said.

  “If it's something serious or the fever relapses, give me a call at this number and I'll try my best to make it here,” I added in a

  The Other Side

  41 whisper. The old man nodded and joined his hands to thank me again.

  The first thing I did after coming out from the haveli was turn towards Lavanya and hug her tight. She was surprised at first, but hugged me back.

  “I'm really sorry, Lavanya. I know this is not the anniversary you would have imagined in your dreams. All that I want to say is that I love you and I always will,” I said looking into her eyes.

  “Nikhil, it's alright, honey,” she whispered, placing her head on my shoulder.

  “Come on, you must be hungry. We'll make a quick trip to the dhaba,” I suggested.

  “Nikhil, it's alright. Let's go home. I'll make us some noodles,” Lavanya replied.

  “Are you sure?” I asked, hoping I had not missed any intended causticity.

  Lavanya nodded and with a coy smile, she gave me a peck on the cheek.

  “Noodles in candlelight!” I said, under my breath before we got into the car.

  A couple of days later I was called to inspect a patient some four kilometers away from the hospital. It was a case of flu due to which the child had weakened. I gave him a shot, wrote down some medicines and was on my way back within half an hour.

  Driving ahead, I came across the same wrong turn we had taken that night. I thought about the elderly couple and wondered if it would be a good idea to check on them unannounced. It would be nice to see them again and I decided to drive towards the old house. I reached the place some fifteen minutes later aided by the afternoon light. The surrounding no longer seemed menacing under the sun. The gates of the haveli were shut and I could just about make out the large worn lock on the hinges. I parked the car outside and alighted. At a distance, I could see a few locals squatting beneath a tree, some with beedis in their hands and some with a glass of tea. They seemed to be sharing a light moment when I walked up to interrupt their banter.

  “Excuse me, can you tell me where the occupants of that haveli are? I mean the old couple who live there,” I said, bowing down so that they could hear me.

  The echoing laughter died down and the men looked at each other in an odd manner. One turned to me and asked, “Which old couple are you talking about?”

  “I'm a doctor from the town hospital. A couple of nights back an old Tau wearing a dhotikurta had brought me here to treat his wife after halting my car on the narrow road. The old lady was suffering from strong fever but recovered soon after I gave her an injection along with a paracetamol. I just wanted to check on her again but the gates seemed to be shut today,” I said, pointing towards the house.

  The men surveyed me for a moment. The one sitting in the middle of the gathering frowned and stood up. He was old with a turban on his head. He wore large specs and had a white curling moustache. I could tell he was the Sarpanch, the village headman.

  “Babu, those gates have stayed shut for the past eighty years,” he said, taking a puff from his beedi.

  The Other Side

  43 “Wh… What? What do you mean?” I stuttered.

  “No one lives in that accursed place for the past eighty years,” he stated again.

  “Of course that can't be possible. I came here a couple of nights back. I saw the old couple, my wife was with me, and I treated the old lady…” I blabbered.

  “Sometimes our eyes play tricks on us, some very fine tricks,” he said in a low tone.

  “No, that can't be. I am not lying. The old man indeed stopped my car, asked me to save his wife…”

  Suddenly all the men in the group got up on their feet and eyed each other nervously almost like I had spoken something that they were dreading. They mumbled something in the local dialect of which I could just catch a few odd phrases.

  The old man who had been talking to me came near and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “You lived a night when history repeated itself, it seems,” he whispered.

  “Huh?”

  “Almost a century ago, this house was occupied by the Thakur and his family. They had two faithful servants, man and wife it is said. Ramcharan was the caretaker of the house while his wife, Pushpadevi helped with the cooking, cleaning and washing,” the headman stopped to stare at the haveli.

  “Post his youngest son's sudden death, the Thakur's health started failing and in a year or so, he too passed away. His offspring had by then tasted the moods of the emerging urban life and decided to shift to the city, leaving Ramcharan and Pushpadevi to fend for themselves and take care of the place with meager wages. Ramcharan chose to stay back as he could not desert his malik's estate on account of the years he had served the Thakur family. The sense of duty however could not save them.

  “It is said that one night, Pushpadevi developed some strange sort of fever and Ramcharan ran from house to house in the village seeking help. When no one from this village helped him, he ran to the other village taking the route from the jungle but there too no one was ready to sacrifice their night's sleep to look after the old lady. Hours later, when Ramcharan came back alone and defeated with the hope of some miracle, he was greeted with the gruesome sight of flies zooming in and out of his wife's gaping mouth on the cot. He called out to her many times but a dead person doesn't speak. Lying on the foot of that cot, Ramcharan too breathed his last on the same night. And since then, the events of that night replay themselves every year. Ramcharan's spirit searches for someone who will save his wife. His shouts can be heard in the jungle and in the narrow lanes… but you said you managed to treat her, didn't you?” the old man looked at me.

  “Y… yes, I did treat her and she seemed fine and blessed us,” I mumbled.

  “God bless you, babu. You have granted them peace in their death. The poor souls just needed some care and affection. Ramcharan wanted his voice to be heard, his wife needed some love…”

  “What the hell are you talking? I treated the old lady with my own hands, the old man brought tea for us, I gave them medicines and money…”

  The old man in front of me nodded as if he understood my turmoil perfectly.

  The Other Side

  45

  “Would you like to go in and check the place yourself?” the old man proposed.

  “How?” I gestured towards the locked gate.

  “Sampathlal,” the old man shouted and a young man in his twenties stepped ahead from the group.

  “Take the babu inside the haveli. Let him have a look around,” the old man said.

  Sampathlal had an alarming look in his eyes, almost fearful but the old man's eyes seemed reassuring
.

  “Come babu!” Sampathlal said and I hesitatingly followed him. He took me towards the back of the house. A portion of the wall seemed to have collapsed and was covered by a large boulder.

  With my help, he pushed the boulder to one side revealing a four feet wide gap in the wall. I had to squeeze in after Sampathlal and I found myself in a backyard, full of weeds and prickly gravel.

  We climbed inside the house through a broken window, as I had not expected an open door to greet us. I was getting quite apprehensive as I climbed the stairs and the young man followed me silently. From the inside the place was pretty much the same as I recollected the glimpses in the dark from that night. It seemed pretty much messy with bat droppings strewn around and rodents drifting in and out of rooms. We negotiated layers of cobwebs while climbing the stairs; dirt that I was sure did not exist until a couple of nights ago. I sneezed a couple of times as the dust made its way into my nose. The silence in the house seemed to taunt my steps.

  The moment I entered the room on the extreme left I coughed involuntarily as Sampathlal stood outside, watching me intently but refusing to step in. Sunlight filtered through the windows as I walked inside to see the same wooden cupboard. My fingers left their prints on the wood as the entire thing was covered in a sheet of grey.

  I walked upto the cot, imagining the old lady lying down there breathing what could have been her last intake of oxygen, recollecting the old man watching me with expecting eyes from a corner of the room. My feet touched something as I took a step ahead. Two bowls lay at my feet, one had some liquid remaining at the bottom and the other had light lipstick marks. I froze.

  A gentle wind swept into the room, sending specks of dust and a small sheet of paper flying in my face. I caught the thing and read out the medicines I had prescribed to the old lady. I rechecked the date to confirm it. Around the same time, out of the corner of my eyes I saw the five hundred-rupee note along with the visiting card stuck behind held in its place at the foot of the cot.

  I read out my own name from the visiting card, hoping it was someone else, almost willing for a plausible explanation. For some reason, I moved towards the old cupboard and opened it slowly, ignoring the creaking sound. And there in front of me, lay a small jewelery box that had once contained the gold earrings that were so exquisitely crafted, almost like they were from a bygone era.