“Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.”
¯ Cormac McCarthy
POSSESSION
“ Ayushee, come inside now. It's getting dark,” the woman in the blue sari shouted standing in the verandah. “Coming Mamma,” the little girl replied, her ponytails swaying.
“Sweetheart, it's time to sleep. Papa will be very angry if you don't come in now. You can play in the garden tomorrow,” her mother said in a child-like voice, stirring sugar inside the glass of milk.
“Uff, all right,” Ayushee said, getting up.
“I'll see you tomorrow,” she added looking towards the banyan tree nearby. She walked towards her mother, regarding her with a somewhat annoying look.
“Whom were you talking to?” her mother asked.
“My friend, Smita,” Ayushee replied and rushed inside the house, grabbing the glass of milk from her mother's hands.
Mrs. Bajaj, the seven year old's mother stared into the darkness surrounding the banyan tree. The hollow darkness glared back at her. There was no one there.
It was their second week in the new home. Mr. Bajaj had taken up a job that required him to come down to Mahabaleshwar where the company's new plant had been set up. He couldn't have left his wife and two kids behind and had decided to take them along. It had been difficult finding a proper place to stay in the hillside haven and after a lot of discussions and negotiations with various agents, they had zeroed in on this.
It was quite a big place with multiple rooms across two levels and a private terrace with a sloping tiled roof. The house was built over three decades back yet the cream walls inside seemed unscathed, welcoming the new occupants with its shine. Mr. Bajaj got his own private workplace in a room downstairs and his wife in turn had ample place to move around while doing the household work unlike their previous place. The kids too seemed excited to have their own bedroom upstairs.
The rent too wasn't on the higher side and Mrs. Bajaj felt that they had at last found their dream home. Mr. Bajaj's HRA would take care of the expenses and with the money saved, she was sure they could undertake that elusive tour to Europe that she had been promised by her husband on their wedding night.
The only puzzling thing was the eagerness of the estate agent to please them no end when they had come to check on the property the very first time.
“Best place, Mr. Bajaj. I say don't look any further. Perfect scenic location, greenery all around and the school is pretty close. This one will fit your budget too,” the agent had stated smoothly in his best possible pitching voice. As the discussion went on, he had even gone as far as waving off the deposit, provided they paid their rent on time. He had also volunteered to provide people to help them set-up at no extra cost.
The Other Side
221 “Who lived here before us?” she had asked when they were just about to finalise.
For a brief moment, she had seen that uncertain look in the agent's eyes, a wave of uncertainty reflecting in them. But soon he had put on his smiling mannerisms back and started rambling again.
“It has been locked up for quite a long time after that incident… people were skeptical about moving in here but don't you worry… this is the best one for you…”
“What incident, Mr. Shirke?” she had questioned, leaning in to latch onto his words.
“Well, I'll be very honest as I don't like to keep my clients in the dark. I'm here only to satisfy them and provide the best services at…”
“Please tell us the incident.”
“Sure. There was this family that lived here, three decades back. Male-dominated and primitive, kept to themselves mostly. When the woman of the house gave birth to a girl, she was beaten up and abused by her in-laws. After five or six years when the woman could not bear any more children, they started torturing her and the child. Unable to take it any further, it is said she ended her life by jumping in a well that lies in the woods yonder. A fortnight later, it is said the in-laws killed the child by hanging her from the banyan tree…”
“Oh God!” Mrs. Bajaj had gasped.
“… and since then people don't want to live here,” Shirke had added.
“And what happened to the murderers?” Mrs. Bajaj had enquired.
“No one knows. Within a year, they vacated the property without any valid reason and sold it off to someone else. From that time till now, this house has been in the focus of a lot of property deals but no one has come to live here. They come to know about that one-off incident and decide against it,” Shirke had answered, his smile going off again.
“God, this doesn't sound good,” Mrs. Bajaj had turned to look at her till then silent husband.