28 year old Rishi was listening to songs on his Walkman with earphones in his ears. He loved music. These days every Sunday was spent like this, recently he had bought a new Walkman. Sometimes he used to hum songs too. His voice was also decent. Rishi’s attention was diverted with a knock on the door. He kept his Walkman aside and moved towards the door. Opening the door, he saw Ankit standing in front.
Rishi and Ankit were together since childhood, he met in a Math’s coaching when he was in 7th class. Today both were busy in their own work. Rishi was a graphics designer and Ankit was a supervisor of a hotel chain. The good thing about both was that both had jobs in their city Noida.
Rishi: Come inside Ankit.
Ankit entered Rishi’s house taking off his shoes. Rishi: Looking at Ankit’s hand – “Hey, what is this in your hand?” Before Ankit could say anything, Rishi fired another question. What have you brought for me? Ankit (smiling): I know you die reading books, this is for me. While coming here, I found Prabhat uncle’s novel shop on the way, so I bought one. But if you want to read it, you can take it? Ankit said teasingly. Rishi: I don’t want to read it, but I will definitely see it, he said almost snatching the novel from Ankit’s hands. It seems to be a story of an old house written in it. Ankit: I just saw the cover photo and read the 2-4 pages in between and took it, you know how much I like novels. Well forget all that, I have come to tell you that next Saturday my college friend Venkat is coming from Hyderabad to Noida to visit his uncle for 2 days. After that they have a trip maybe to Nepal? He wants to meet us. He was asking about you too. He has invited both of us to meet tomorrow in the evening, is that okay?
Rishi: Yes, why not? My work gets over by 4 pm so we will go after that. Where has he asked us to meet, by the way?
Ankit: Near his uncle’s house, in Aapoorti Mall.
Rishi: Ok, tell him we will meet tomorrow at 5 pm!
Ankit: Ok.
Then both of them chatted more, since Rishi’s parents were not at home at that time, Rishi made tea and served it to Ankit with biscuits and both of them enjoyed biscuits and tea.
Masala chai is something else, Ankit said while sipping tea. Then both of them talked for a while and Ankit went to his place. Rishi closed the door again with a sound of ‘Dapp!!’.
5 pm that evening: Rishi, Ankit and Venkat greet each other warmly. This was the first time they were meeting after college. They spent almost 3 hours roaming around the mall and nearby areas. Venkat also told both of them about his plan to go to Nepal which they were going to next Sunday and invited both of them as well. One thing that was 100% common between Rishi and Ankit was that both of them loved to travel. Both of them said yes to Venkat. Since Venkat was from Hyderabad and was also coming to Noida for the first time, Rishi and Ankit together showed him some specialties of that place and fed him famous local dishes. Looking at Venkat’s face, it could be said that he liked her.
After that Venkat went to his uncle’s house and Rishi started his old Yamaha RX-100 bike which belonged to his father and came back to his house after dropping Ankit at his house.
The next day Rishi booked two tickets from Gorakhpur to Kathmandu for the next Sunday. Both Ankit and Rishi were expert players in making plans. On the other hand, Venkat and his uncle’s family did not have much idea about making plans, so Venkat had told both of them to also find good places in Kathmandu and nearby areas from their side. The map for the whole week had to be prepared.
After their work, Ankit and Rishi sat down at night and spent the next 3-4 days preparing the plan for the trip. By Friday everything was ready. Now all that was needed was to pack the luggage and leave by train from Noida to Gorakhpur at 7 am on Sunday so that they could catch the flight to Kathmandu [NEPAL] from Gorakhpur[INDIA].
Sunday:
Everyone got together and sat in the train. The train started moving. …Chuk-chuk … [the sound of the train kept getting louder]
It was the month of September, the weather was becoming pleasant. Looking out of the train, Ankit took out the novel from his bag which he had bought and started reading. The rest of the people were busy talking among themselves. Ankit also used to jump in between. Venkat had come with his uncle, aunt and their younger son Srinivas. Uncle was not talking much but aunt had engaged Rishi and Ankit in her conversation. The conversation continued and then we reached Gorakhpur. Everyone got down from the train and went towards the airport by bus as the flight was in the next 4 hours.
Everyone reached Kathmandu at 6:30 in the evening. They had already reserved a hotel. Reaching the hotel directly, they rested that day, everyone was tired after the journey.
Next day:
After getting up early in the morning, everyone left for Kathmandu tour. First they visited Pashupatinath temple, then Namo Buddha and Boudhanath stupa, then Thamel market in the evening. Similarly, in the next 5 days, they covered other important places like Durbar Square, Taudaha Lake, Langtang National Park, Jagannath Temple and White Monastery.
Fifth day: Rishi was still not satisfied, but now there were no places left in Kathmandu to go with everyone. He wanted to go trekking but trekking with family was difficult. So, a thought of doing something adventurous came to his mind that he still has 1 1/2 – 2 days left. Why not visit Sindhuligarhi which falls between Kathmandu and Janakpur. But Venkat’s family was tired of travelling continuously, and his aunt’s leg was also paining, so they refused to go anywhere else and agreed to rest.
When Rishi made the plan, Ankit and Venkat also liked it. What will we get by wasting 2 days, we should go, Rishi said. Another friend of Rishi had already gone to Sindhuligarhi, so Rishi had some idea about that place. All three of them put their point in front of uncle and said that he will come in 2 days, you guys rest in the hotel here, room service will take care of everything. Uncle agreed. In about 2 hours, all three of them rented two bikes and left for Sindhuligarhi from Kathmandu. This distance was about 3 hours.
There were mountains all around. There were green trees and bushes on both sides of the road, and butterflies flying in between. Rishi and Ankit were riding their bike, enjoying the cool breeze on their faces. Venkat was sitting behind Ankit.
The destination was now very close and since it was almost evening, the three decided to stay in a guest house somewhere. Both of them stopped their rented bike at a tea stall and while enjoying hot tea made of pure cow milk in this cold, they asked the same tea seller about any guest house nearby!
The tea seller said, yes, you will find some guest houses to stay here in this hilly area. If you take a cut from the side road and go a little further, you will find many guest houses. Tourists keep coming here in this season, so they are able to make a living from them. The rest of the people do not have any source of much income in the nearby areas. Ankit said while eating a slice of omelets, “Well, at least our coming will benefit someone!” After talking some more, the three took the adjacent road where the tea vendor had said about the guest house and started driving their bikes in that direction. After walking for about 5-7 minutes, they saw 2-3 guest houses together. They parked their bikes aside and went to all the guest houses one by one. But nothing worked out anywhere. Everyone thought the rent was too high.Â
Then someone told the three of them to go a little further ahead and they would get a cheaper accommodation there. They also have bikes so there would be no problem. Everyone liked this idea. After walking for about 15-20 minutes, they saw a nice building like the ones built near mountains. It did not look like a guest house by any standards, but let’s accept it. The house was nice. Everyone thought of going inside and asking. A middle aged woman was sitting in the courtyard of the house, weaving some kind of cloth. She must have been around 45-48 years old. Looking at these three, the woman asked, what do you want?
Rishi: Yes, we are looking for a cheap room to stay, just for 2 days. Can you tell us where we can get it? Other guest houses are asking for more money from us.
On this, the woman said: Hmm… you can pay whatever amount you want but this is my house, not a guest house, so I have some rules. If you like it, then it is fine, otherwise you all can leave from here. It is time for my dinner, tell me quickly. Saying this, she got up from her place and started going inside. It seemed that the woman did not want to give those three much time to think or was she in a hurry?
They liked the woman’s proposal. Rishi (laughing): Anyway, it is a matter of 2 days, what kind of labour will she make us do? We will settle for cheap.
Before the woman could close the door of the house, Rishi quickly said yes to her in a loud voice.
The woman said smilingly, then you all come inside!
Both of them parked their bikes inside and went to the inner room and started freshening up.
The house was quite big from inside, but it did not look like that from outside. There were huge oak trees nearby which were giving a completely different view to the hilly area.
By now it was 8 o’clock in the night. The woman introduced herself while placing food for the three on the dining table.
Woman: My name is Dolma, I live here alone. It has been almost 20 years since my husband died. Sometimes travelers like you come here while roaming around, so I lighten my mind by talking a little. This house belongs to my husband’s ancestors, after his death I take care of it. Saying this, she removed her hair wig and kept it on the table lying nearby.
The three were shocked to see this, the woman’s hair had completely fallen off and a little change was visible in her appearance too.
Seeing their confused state, Dolma said, “Don’t worry, my hair had fallen a long time ago due to an illness, so now I wear a wig.”
One more thing, if you want to eat here, you will get food only at 8 pm, if you delay, you will not get anything. And don’t go out too late at night, sometimes wild animals also roam around here at night. After saying this, she started eating hot mutton and rice kept on the table and asked them to eat too.
Everyone had dinner, although non-veg was their favorite food, but they did not like that food much. The food was probably a bit raw and then everyone went to their respective rooms.
Around 11:30 pm:
Rishi: Hey friend, today the whole day was wasted. We did not even roam anywhere.
Ankit: Yes brother, you are right. Don’t know how much we will be able to roam tomorrow?
Venkat, who was sitting silent till now, said, “Why don’t we go out and roam around at least?” I have heard that good non-veg food is available here in the hills. Ankit also said with a frown, yes-yes let’s go out somewhere, I wonder what kind of food this old lady has fed us? Everyone immediately agreed to this, they did not want to waste this time. Although Dolma had told them not to go out at night, there is a danger of wild animals, but they ignored this and decided to go out.
The cold winds outside had now become strong and along with the sound of those winds, the sound of some animal or bird (possibly an owl) was also coming. The view of the sky was looking amazing in this cold mountain night. The moon was spreading its light beautifully. Enjoying this calm and beautiful view, all three slowly took out their bikes and headed towards the outside. They were also feeling like eating something good because they did not like Dolma’s food. Venkat said if you see a Dhaba, tell us, we will eat something there.
After walking a little further, they found a Dhaba. They stopped and ate a hilly dish called Sekuwa (non-veg), rice and potato tama. After eating, expressions of satisfaction could be seen on the faces of all three.
Now at the Dhaba, Venkat was paying for the food, and was converting some Indian Rupees into Nepali currency (any shop owner in Nepal converts Nepali currency to the equivalent of Indian currency, there is no need to go to the currency exchange). Meanwhile, Rishi and Ankit start their bikes.
After a few minutes, Venkat is seen coming back towards them. He sits behind Ankit again without uttering a single word and both the bikes start moving. Rarely one or two vehicles were seen moving on the road, there were no pedestrians. After roaming the bikes around for about an hour, they thought that they had seen the night view on the hills and now they should go back to the guest house. After having a full meal and the cool breeze falling on their faces, their eyes had started getting heavy. They had now reached a distance of about 5-6 KM from the guest house. The bikes were moving slowly because bikes cannot move fast at night in the hilly area. Then Rishi saw an 8-year-old child standing alone near an oak tree. He drew Ankit’s attention towards that child.
Rishi (pointing): Hey Ankit, look there near the tree. It looks like a child. Look..!! How can someone be alone here so late in the night? That too a child?
Ankit (turning his head to the other side): Yes, it looks like some shape, let’s see it from a little closer. Maybe he got lost?
Both of them took their bikes near a tree, on reaching there they saw that a piece of cloth was hanging from the branch of the tree, no one was there.
The three looked at each other and left smiling. The fog in the atmosphere was increasing, showing the way was also becoming a problem. The bike was moving forward. After some time Ankit realized that the air in the rear wheel of his bike was a little less because a little pressure was being felt in the rear part. Ankit thought that maybe the bike has got punctured? He asked Venkat to bend down and take a look at the wheel, Venkat did not answer. Ankit then asked Venkat to look down. Venkat again did not say anything. On this Ankit slowed down his speed to stop the bike and asked Rishi to stop as well. As soon as Ankit tried to get down from the bike looking back, he did not find Venkat behind the seat. Now both Ankit and Rishi were left breathless.
Ankit (surprised): Where did Venkat go? We didn’t even stop the bike anywhere after eating at the eatery? How is this possible? Then he checked his rear wheel and it was fine. There was no puncture. Then why did I suddenly feel that the bike was heavy?
There was no answer to these questions at the moment. If you cut them, there would be no blood! Both had become completely numb. Both of them had tied Venkat to the ground. Â
Just then Rishi started the bike and said to Ankit, let’s go a little behind and see if he fell off the bike due to sleepiness? There was only a narrow path on that mountain, so there was no question of Venkat going on another path. After searching for Venkat for about 40 minutes, when he was not found, they thought of going to the guest house and telling this incident to Dolma. They moved ahead towards the guest house. But what is this? Both of them again saw the same tree on which a piece of cloth was seen just a while ago.
Ankit: Rishi, look at that tree again? We had left it behind, right?
Rishi (surprised): Yes, this seems to be the same tree.
But both of them did not give much importance to this matter and continued moving ahead. Because it was important to find Venkat. And they did not know much about this place. They wanted to reach the guest house as soon as possible.
Don’t know why the road seemed longer this time, the guest house was not coming even though they were very close. After moving ahead for 10 more minutes, the same tree was visible in front of them once again.
What was happening? The same tree was visible again and again! The guest house should have come by now. It seemed as if they were roaming in a loop and coming back to the same place again and again!
Both of them were feeling like crying now. They were feeling both regret and anger on their decision of coming to Sindhuligarhi. In which unlucky moment did the thought of coming here come to our mind. Rishi was feeling even more regret because this was the plan suggested by him. After roaming so much, the petrol in the bikes was also about to finish. They ran forward from there. After going a little further, what was feared happened, the petrol in the bikes finished. Both of them left the bike and started running on foot. They were running and falling down for some time, their condition had deteriorated. Their bodies felt like they could give up any moment. But when life is at stake, their legs don’t stop. ……
shhh….
swyi…..
Amidst the sound of some vehicles coming and going, a man was seen saying: Hey, look who are these two people lying on the road.
A crowd of people started gathering.
*** That dark night had passed. The rays of the sun were slowly spreading all around. The ground was covered with dew drops. Local people from the hills started coming and going on the road for their work.
Someone said: These travelers drink so much alcohol that they cannot digest it and fall on the road, huh!!
People tried to lift them up, after a lot of effort, both regained consciousness. Both were shivering with cold. People covered them with blankets and gave them tea to drink. After a while, when their minds started working, Rishi and Ankit told them that they had come to Nepal from India for a trip and had reached Sindhuligarhi yesterday evening. Then they went on telling the entire sequence of events one after the other without stopping, how a tea seller had shown them a way and then they went inside through that way and took a guest house.
After listening to them, people asked them to take them to the guest house where they were staying.
After reaching the guest house, as soon as Rishi and Ankit pointed towards the guest house, people were shocked.
A man who must have been around 50 years old said: This is not a guest house, this house has been lying vacant for 40 years. When I was a child, my mother used to tell me stories about this house. Here lived a middle aged woman named Dolma, whose husband had passed away a long time ago and she had only one child who also died one day by drowning in a well nearby. After that she started living alone, she had gone mad, she used to speak nonsense and keep pulling her own hair. The grief of her husband and child had probably brought her to this state. People say that she had also learnt some black magic, with the help of which she used to call her child and talk to his soul. We were strictly forbidden to come here and even if someone had to come, no one used to stay here. It is said that every time she had to talk to her child, at that time a man or woman would disappear from the neighborhood. They were sacrificed by that woman, only then she could call the soul of her child. We thought that since all this has been stopped for many years, maybe the soul of that lady has gone back.
On hearing this, Ankit and Rishi were shocked.
Rishi: What? The soul of the lady? But, that lady was alive, she had invited us to her house last night and had even fed us.
That man: What? Did you eat the food cooked by her?
Ankit and Rishi both nodded their heads in agreement. But now a different expression had come on that man’s face.
Seeing which both were stunned.
Ankit: What happened Uncle?
Uncle: You shouldn’t have eaten the food. How did you like the food?
Ankit: The food was very bad. That’s why we had gone out to eat.
Uncle: What was there to eat? Was there any non-veg dish?
Rishi: Yes, there was mutton and rice in the food. But it was a bit raw.
Uncle (holding his head): Oh God, you ate your own friend last night.
During this conversation, some people entered the house and found a mutilated body under the basin in the kitchen room. The body was not left to be seen. People ran outside shouting. When Ankit and Rishi went inside after hearing the noise of the people, they found that it was Venkat’s dead body. Nothing was visible from his face but his clothes and the ring on his hand were testifying that it was Venkat’s body.
Both of them started crying and considered themselves responsible for his death. What answer will they give to Venkat’s uncle after going back home? They had no answer!
The uncle standing nearby said: I know he was your friend. I am very sorry about this unfortunate incident. But that woman used to do the same thing earlier too. Whoever came near her house, she used to call them to her and after sacrificing them, she used to call the soul of her child and talk to him and you yourself went to her house in greed of low rent. That uncle further said, at that time as soon as the people of the neighborhood came to know about this, people tied her to the trunk of a tree and burnt her which is near the same well where her child died by drowning.
About 8-10 people were sacrificed, then her secret was revealed. Don’t know why this ill-fated woman has come back after dying? Rishi and Ankit started vomiting after hearing about the food that they had yesterday night, both of them vomited uncontrollably and their condition was getting worse. They wanted to go back to their home from there as soon as possible. They informed their home about this and also informed Venkat’s uncle. They took their luggage and wanted to go back to Kathmandu from where their returning flight was. Uncle said, I am also going there, there is a hospital near my wife’s place, you guys take some rest there and my wife will give you some medicine. Your health will improve and vomiting will also stop.
Saying this, he sat in Rishi’s bike and the bike moved forward. On the way, they saw the tree again from the night, uncle told them that this is the same tree to which the woman was tied and burnt and there was also a well nearby in which her small child had drowned and died. That well was now clearly visible during the day. They shuddered once again. After a while, they reached the hospital. Everyone got down from the bike and stepped inside the hospital. They got medicine, after taking which they got relief. Then Rishi’s eyes fell on a shop a little distance away which looked exactly like the shop where they had eaten tea and omelet while coming.
It was almost late afternoon now when Ankit looked outside and saw a shop. He then said to Rishi as,
Ankit: Rishi, is this the same shop where we had eaten omelet while coming here and from where we had asked for a place to stay?
Rishi said yes.
Hearing them, the uncle sitting nearby said, hey, this shop has been closed for years. This is Dolma’s husband’s shop which he used to run in his youth. This shop has been closed since his death. None of his relatives live here. It must have been some other shop where you people must have eaten.
After saying this, the uncle asked them to rest a little more and after saying goodbye, left for his work. Rishi and Ankit were not able to accept that this was not that shop. It was exactly the same shop. Their mind, surrounded by 100 questions, was still not working properly. They took out the water bottle from their bag and drank some water. While taking out the water bottle, the same novel fell out of Ankit’s bag on the ground, which he had bought from Prabhat uncle’s novel shop on the way to Rishi’s house. The novel had fallen upside down and while picking it up, the last page got opened. Ankit’s eyes fell on it.
The last sentences of that last page were written like this :
….. ” And then when Ankit turned to go back to his house, he saw a glimpse of a child standing with his mother knitting something like a cloth. Even after so many years of their death, that mother and son were sometimes seen by people. Their appearance was considered inauspicious and whoever saw the child and mother once never survived. After that day, people never saw Ankit and his childhood friend again. “
****** Story Ends !!! ******
“Did that novel have any hand in the incidents that happened with Rishi and Ankit? Did the owner of the tea stall intentionally guide them along a particular path to discover the guest house? Were both husband and wife playing this game together? What prompted the woman to return now as now she was already reunited with her child? Moreover, if Venkat had met his demise at Dolma’s house, who accompanied Rishi and Ankit during their night-time escapade? No one can tell the answer to all these questions now.”
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