C5 FEAR AND SURPRISE

A little later I reached Green Park, paid the fare to the Auto driver, and started walking towards my building. I was feeling a little intoxicated. As I walked up the stairs, and reached my room, I found that the room was locked. My mind was filled with anxiety. This was the first time Aarav had left the room. The room keys that Bahadur had given to me were also inside the room. I thought of enquiring in the office – maybe he had left the keys there.

I slowly walked down the stairs and reached office. There, a man with receding hairline, wearing thick Kurta Pajama was sitting on a chair. I sensed that this man must be Mr. Sharma, the owner of this building. I tried to control myself so that he might not sense that I was drunk. This was my first meeting with him and I didn’t want him to see me in a tipsy condition. I nodded my head and greeted him.

I was very surprised at the first sentence he said – “Do you want a room?”

I couldn’t understand why he had asked me this question. I had been staying here for the past one month. I smiled and told him that I had been living in this building for a month.

“Oh, ok. I didn’t know, that’s why I asked if you needed a room. By the way, what’s your name”, he asked.

“Avinash Sharma”, I replied.

“Avinash Sharma? But so far as I know, nobody with this name lives here.” He started looking in the files.

“Son, Your name doesn’t appear in this File.” he said.

When I heard this, I suddenly recalled that Bahadur had not put my Form in any File.

“Sir, Bahadur had not kept my Form in any File. When I had asked him, he had mentioned that he would take the Form to your house and get it signed. Maybe he forgot.” I said.

“He always does stupid things when he is drunk. Anyways, how can I help you?” he said.

“Yes Sir. Actually, it seems my room partner has gone out somewhere. His phone is also coming switched off. Now when I went to the room, I found it locked. I thought maybe he has left the keys here. Or maybe if you have an extra set of keys of the room…” I requested.

“No son. I have been here since morning, but no one has left any keys. By the way, what is your room number?” he tried to be helpful.

“Room number 22” I said.

Hearing the room number, his eyes became wide.

“What??? You are staying in room number 22?” he looked surprised.

“Yes”, I said, “But why do you look worried?”

“There is a reason. I have not given that room to anybody in the last seven years. What was the name of your room partner?” he asked.

“Aarav”, I said.

On hearing this name, he immediately got up from the chair. I could not understand why the name had made him so tense.

“What happened, Sir?”

In a heavy voice he said “How is it possible?”

“What is not possible? What can’t happen?” I was confused.

“The boy you are talking about, died seven years back in that very room. And you are saying that he is your room partner.”

I found this very weird. I thought that it was I who had drinks, but this old man is talking as if he was drunk.

“What are you saying? I have not come here to listen to some horror story. There is a limit to a joke.” I was getting upset.

“I am not joking. I am telling you the truth, son. Do you have his phone number?” he said soberly.

“Yes, I have his number, but it has been coming off since evening.” I said.

He took out a file from a pile of old files, and pulled out a Form, which was of Aarav.

On seeing Aarav’s photo on the Form, I said, “Yes, same person. He is the one who stays with me.”

As I saw the form, my eyes fell on the phone number mentioned on the Form. I checked it with the number in my phone. They were same. Now I was convinced that either this old man was joking with me, or he had actually gone senile.

“See, this Form has the same number, which is also in my phone. Now do you believe that I am not lying? If you have any extra keys of that room, please give it to me, or else I will wait here.” I said irritatingly. “But please stop telling me these nonsense stories. I know you are trying to frighten me.“

“I am not trying to frighten you. What I said is truth. This boy died 7 years back.” he said with a glum face.

Now I was really angry. I lost my temper, “Have you lost your mind? Why are you talking like a mad person? A boy has been living with me for the last one month, and you are telling me that he died 7 years back? Today morning when I left for my office, he was in my room. You should be ashamed of making a joke of this.”

A little shaken, he shouted and called Bahadur, who had returned from his home after a month’s holiday, a couple of day’s back.

As soon as Bahadur saw me and Mr. Sharma together, his face turned white. His facial expressions reflected that his cheating had been exposed. Mr. Sharma walked up to him and giving a tight slap on his face, said “How dare you even think of giving this room on rent without asking me?”

Bahadur just stood with his head bent. Among the three of us, the person who was totally clueless, was me. I wondered what the two of them were up to. I was almost sure that they had both gone mad… or maybe I couldn’t understand anything as I was drunk.

Mr. Sharma again shouted at him “Why did you give the room keys to him without asking me?”

With folded hands, Bahadur said “Forgive me Sir. Because of my habit of alcohol, I am under a lot of debt. Since you never ask me about that room, I thought I will give this room on rent, and with that money I will repay my loan. I never thought that one day my lies would get caught.”

“Do you know what this boy is telling me? That Aarav is also living with him in that room. The person who had died 7 years ago.” Mr. Sharma said.

Hearing this, Bahadur said “How is this possible Sir? He died many years ago.”

Now this was crossing all limits of my patience. I could not see myself being treated like a fool, and shouted “Stop making me an ass by telling me these ghost stories. Do you think I am mad? If you don’t believe me, come to my room. But stop this drama now. Enough of it.”

For a while, both of them kept looking at each other. Then all three of us started walking towards my room. I lead with Mr. Sharma and Bahadur following me. On reaching the room, Mr. Sharma asked Bahadur to break the lock, but he was too frightened. His cowardice further angered me. Pushing him aside, I said “Your drinking habit has made you lose your senses. Get aside, I will break it myself.”

I looked around, and found an old iron rod lying in a corner. I picked the rod and broke the lock in one stroke. As soon as I opened the door, my eyes widened. The room was full of cobwebs and there was dust everywhere in the room. The only things lying in the room were my two bags, fully packed, and a cup in a corner, with a red mark on it. On the wall, at several places, “I love you Aarav” was written in red color. The room appeared as if it had actually been closed for 7 years. I couldn’t believe if what I was seeing was a dream, or reality. For the past one month I had been living in this room, and when I had left in the morning, everything was ok. Aarav was also there. Suddenly everything looked like a fantasy.

Sharma ji put his hand on my shoulder and said “Son, pick up your bags and come to my office. “ As he left, Bahadur also rushed with him, out of fear.

I was still standing there, looking at the room. I could not understand anything. I slowly picked my bags and came down to office. Sharma ji was still sitting tense. On seeing me, he folded his hands and said “Son, I have a request to make. Whatever has happened with you, please don’t tell anything to anyone outside. Else all other occupants will also leave out of fear. This building is my sole source of income. If you want, I will give you another room. You can stay here as long as you want. I won’t charge you anything. But, please don’t tell these things to anyone.”

Sharma ji was offering me a free stay. It was not a bad offer at all. But I had decided to leave the city. Only I knew how badly I was shaken from inside. I shivered at the thought that I had been living with a ghost for the past one month.

I told Sharma ji, “Do you think that any person who has had the experience that I had, would ever stay in this building? I am leaving this city today itself. My body has become numb. And you are asking me to stay in this building? But, you please don’t take any tension. I won’t tell anyone anything about this event, because it is not your fault. But before leaving, I want to know one thing. It is very difficult for me to believe that Aarav died 7 years ago. And the person who had been living with me for the last one month was his soul. Whoever he was, he became my good friend. I want to know everything that you know about Aarav. I want to know how he died.”

“Son, if you really want to know everything, you should read the Novel written by him, the one he wrote immediately before dying. You will know everything about him.”

Sharma ji’s statement further increased my curiosity. Without a second’s delay, I asked “What is the name of the Novel?”

“The beginning of my end”, he said.

Hearing the name of the Novel, I almost lost my senses. This was the same Novel about which some boys were talking about in a hotel, the other day. At that time I didn’t know that I was living with the ghost of the writer of that Novel. It seemed that Aarav was trying to communicate something to me. Or he wanted that I should read that Novel. After all that had happened, even if he had not wanted me to read the Novel, I would still have read it.

Sharma ji once again offered me to stay in the building. But I didn’t have the courage. So I refused the offer and decided to return to my home town. Sharma ji returned to me the rent I had paid, and said “Keep it son. All this has happened because of Bahadur. I will deduct this money from his salary. You please don’t tell anyone about all this.”

I smiled and said “I wont take this money. And you also don’t deduct any money from Bahadur’s salary. I don’t know why Aarav’s spirit had called me here. Maybe I will get the answer after I have read his Novel. And, you don’t worry at all. I will not tell anyone anything. And I also won’t ever return to this place. I will take your leave now.”

As I left the office, I found Bahadur standing outside with folded hands. Perhaps he had heard our talk. He took both the bags from my hands and came out to see me off in the Auto. As I sat in the Auto, he said, “Please forgive me”.

I smiled and said, “It’s ok.”

For one last time, I looked at the Sharma Building. I would never want to come back here - ever. I asked the Auto-driver to take me to the New Delhi Railway Station.