by Sutapa Basu
‘Look!’ He was looking down. I leaned over to see what was exciting him. A shadow, much longer than the actual spoon was cast on the floor. By moving the spoon, the shadow altered from an elongated pointer to a short grey splotch. My head buzzed and crackled like speakers with a bad connection!
The finger…was nothing more than a shadow appearing like a finger! And it pointed to the place that Dadu had hidden his prize…so simple yet so whimsical.
I contemplated the boy who was still playing with the spoon and light. How was it that just when I am stumped, he arrives? As if he is a veritable diviner steering me in the right direction…to the kernel…to the goal. Who is he?
‘Last time, I didn’t get your name. Could you please say it once more for me?’ I asked, gently.
He cocked his head listening…whether to me or something else, I couldn’t tell. Then, dropping the spoon on the floor, he shot like an arrow…out of the door. I jumped off the bed and rushed after him. However, just like all the earlier times, he was gone. I shook my head and came back to the sheets of paper rustling on the bed. I was on a sugar high as I lay back. Tomorrow is the day! With this key, I will unlock the scarab’s secrets.
Cool, evening breezes blew away the heat as I tripped downstairs looking for Lokkhi mashi. I had become addicted to her sweet teas. I found her carrying the earthen stove heaped with red-hot embers into the kitchen. I settled on the low stool nearby. ‘Didi, I cooked a non-spicy dish for your lunch today, but you went out again to swallow that shop garbage. It will make you sick,’ she declared.
‘Sorry, Lokkhi mashi. I will eat at home today…but no chillies, right?’
‘No chillies, all right,’ said the woman, her face lighting up.
‘And now, how about a nice, hot cup of tea?’ I mimicked her tone and she laughed loudly. Though I was now confident about unmasking the mystery of the mansion I could not help feeling antsy about the other unveiled secrets of Sarkar Bari . As I watched her filling a saucepan with water and milk, my intuition said Lokkhi mashi’s earlier giveaways hid more conundrums…which could possibly more stunning than the Egyptian treasure. I tried to gauge how much of her trust had I earned. Basically, she seemed mortally afraid of the Rahas and that was the real obstacle.
I decided to catch the bull by its horns. ‘Lokkhi mashi, are you afraid of the Rahas?’
Her terrified look at the open door, as if they were right there, confirmed my conjecture. Obviously! In her mind, they are the masters…they pay her, they decide her future here now that my grandfather was dead. I must remove those delusions.
‘Lokkhi mashi, do you know who owns Sarkar Bari, now?’ I asked her.
Another fearful glance, now at me, accompanied by a nod and a whisper. ‘You do, Annadidi.’
‘Yes, Lokkhi mashi. My brother, Robin and me. It is we who decide who works, who stays at Sarkar Bari and who does not. Only people loyal to the Sarkars…to us will work for us…not those loyal to the Rahas,’ I said in a low but firm tone.
‘Na, Didi, na…I have always been loyal to your family. Believe me. I served Karta Babu and Ginni Ma, never the Raha father and son. And now, I am your housekeeper…not theirs,’ she said, putting her palm together in abject supplication. I loathed rebuking this good woman but there was no other way to erase her dread of the crooked duo. I had to know what else lay within Sarkar Bari’s bosom.
‘Look, Lokkhi mashi, I suspect Kedarnath Raha has never been as attached as you have been to my family even though Dadu must have paid him a good salary. Now it is I who will give salaries and also pay for everything this mansion needs.’ To make good my claim, I took out a few rupees from my wallet and placed them on the ground near her feet.
The woman looked up at me with tears in her eyes. ‘Didi, I swear on my Bultu’s head that I have served your family in good faith. Ginni Ma…’ She held up folded palms to the forehead. ‘…was always good to me. Ashish Babu was like my own son.’
‘I know. I know,’ I concurred, ‘Yet there have been tragedies in this mansion. Was Kedarnath Raha responsible for them?’
She lowered her head, whispering, ‘Partly….’
‘Oh! Then who was wholly guilty,’ I asked, frowning. Lokkhi mashi rubbed a spot on the floor, hesitant to respond. ‘Lokkhi mashi, tell me,’ I exhorted.
Her whisper was hardly audible. ‘Karta Babu….’
‘Dadu?’ I was shocked despite being inured to his knavery. ‘Lokkhi mashi, you have to tell me everything,’ I charged her.
For a while, she was quiet. Then she went to the corner of the kitchen. Foraging out a few potatoes and a thin green gourd from a basket, she returned to her seat. Bringing out a long iron blade cleaved to a wooden pedestal, she steadied the pedestal under a bent knee and began to peel the potatoes on the blade. I watched her with concern. Had I had miscalculated and muzzled her totally? However, she belied my fears and began to speak.
‘Didi, you are young and unmarried, but you own Sarkar Bari now. It is only right that you should know the truth about your grandfather. Ginni Ma, Ashish Babu, Biren Babu and even Kona…,’ she swallowed, as if saying it out aloud hurt her. ‘…were victims of your dadu’s tyranny.’
I moved my stool to face her. Mellow light from the lowering sun filled the kitchen as the spell of her words wrapped around me.
‘Karta Babu wanted her…,’ she murmured.
‘Whom?’
‘Kona…even while Ginni Ma, who was like the devi, lived in this mansion…was its true mistress.’
‘But that was not proper,’ I retorted. Not only a crook, but he also cheated on his wife?
‘Exactly. Biren Babu advised him, argued with him but Karta Babu would not listen. And that Kedarnath Babu…he encouraged Karta Babu.’
‘Why? Kona was his sister,’ I said.
‘Because Karta Babu had paid him for his sister.’ Pimped his own sister! The rascal!
‘What about Kona? Didn’t she resist?’
‘That was the funny part. It surprised me but she was quite content with the arrangement. She strutted about the mansion in silks and ornaments…probably given by Karta Babu. She would order me around as if I was her servant. All this in plain sight of Ginni Ma and Ashish Babu.’
‘Oh no!’
‘Ginni Ma was humiliated by the goings on but she did not say a word to Karta Babu. Instead, she took to her bed and Ashish Babu…’
‘What did Dad do? He must have been a teenager then.’
‘He was devastated. He used to study in the chilekotha…’
‘His room on the roof…the attic.’
Lokkhi mashi nodded. ‘Ashish Babu was Ginni Ma’s golden boy. He loved his mother dearly. Seeing her suffer the indignities was unbearable for him.’
‘He must have felt helpless…,’ I added, thinking of the young boy who could do nothing to fight the situation.
‘He must have. Ashish Babu spent more and more time with his books in the chilekotha. He refused to come down…did not want see his father’s face or his mother’s desolation, I think.’
That is why Dad did not return… How could he come back to a home as ravaged as this?
‘Karta Babu went about the affair with Kona with no thought for the people around him.’
‘How long did this go on?’
‘As long as such things go on…until he tired of Kona.’
‘Oh! And then?’
‘Her brother packed her off to the village apparently to get her married.’
‘And Dadu?’
She scoffed. ‘Like all men…he sought his pleasures elsewhere, but Sarkar Bari was ruined. Ashish Babu’s departure had fatally struck Ginni Ma down. Karta Babu would be out on tours or jaunts while Biren Babu was busy working. I was the only one caring for Ginni Ma as she slipped away each day.’
‘That is tragic...’ Just as tragic as the situation of a young man adrift in a strange city in another country bereft of family and friends. He fell in love with Mum because she must have been an anchor fo
r him.
‘More was to happen…,’ declared Lakkhi mashi, slicing the potato with vehemence.
‘Oh!’
‘Kedarnath Raha got married and when his wife began to expect their child, Kona returned.’
Eagerly, I looked at the woman’s face. ‘Did she go back to being Dadu’s mistress?’
‘Oh no! She came back a widow…with a ten-year old son in tow. But…’
‘But…?’
‘Her son…I am sure he was Karta Babu’s son…’
‘What?’
‘It was plain to me…eyes…so much like your father’s…big, brown…and his smile. I should know…I had brought him up.’
Hirendranath Sarkar seemed to have all the sinful attributes…crookery, cruelty, deceit, immorality… Is this what Birendadu was referring to? Being his brother…he may have taken an oath to save not only Dadu but the Sarkar family from public shame.
‘Did anyone else notice it?’
‘Who else was there, Didi? By then the extended family had gone. Karta Babu was the ultimate master of Sarkar Bari…even Biren Babu stayed away for days. Probably, he had given up trying to rein in his brother. I went about my work quietly and kept away from Kona and Kedarnath Babu’s family. But her boy would follow me around like a shadow. I did not have the heart to shoo him away. Whenever Karta Babu saw him, he would shout at the poor child.’ She shook her head.
Why hate all children because you could not keep your own son’s love?
‘And then?’
‘One day, the boy went missing!’
‘Missing? How?’
‘All day he had been playing with pebbles in my room. He was hiding from Karta Babu who was home. But when Kona called him for dinner that night, he could not be found. We searched everywhere…inside the mansion and the streets outside but he was lost. Kona was hysterical, blaming herself.’
‘Why did she blame herself?’
‘The boy used to wear round his neck a gold chain with a small talisman on it. Kedarnath Babu had warned Kona that putting gold on a child was tempting the goons. When the child could not be found, she assumed he had been kidnapped for the gold chain.’
‘Didn’t Mr Raha go to the police?’
‘Hmmm… Who would hear him? Police only listen to complaints of the rich and important people. He was neither.’
‘So the boy vanished…just like that?’ I was aghast.
‘That was not all. Biren Babu left home that night without telling anybody.’
How did Birendadu renouncing his home link to the missing child? This was becoming more twisted than a spider’s web.
‘And Kedarnath Babu moved out of Sarkar Bari with his family and Kona,’ continued Lokkhi mashi.
‘Why did they leave?’
‘I am not sure, but it was fishy… Kedarnath Babu going away so suddenly.’
‘What made you think that?’
‘Kona came to see me the morning they left. She was nervous. When I pressed her, she revealed that she had seen her sister-in-law stuffing bundles of currency notes into a suitcase. When she had inquired, the woman declared that it was money from her dowry…but Kona knew that she had brought no dowry… Kedarnath Babu had always grumbled about it.’
‘Where do you think the money came from?’
Lokkhi mashi shrugged silently.
Hmmm… This Raha was no less immoral than his master. If he could sell his sister, did he sell his nephew? I shook my head…it was an appalling thought, but such unimaginable atrocities had been revealed that I could believe anything…the fancy Raha villa came to my mind.
I chewed silently on the secrets that I had wrested out as Lokkhi mashi went about cooking the curry. I even tried to roll out some rotis making her chuckle at my efforts. The bonhomie that I had wanted between us had come about, yet I sensed not all the mysteries had been uncovered. Maybe tomorrow…my experiment will….
I smiled at her round face shining in the lamp light. Outside, young voices announced it was story time.
17.
‘Didi! Didi! Get up, Didi!’ Slams and shouts blasted the soft cocoon of sleep. It had taken time for my adrenaline to cool last night. I had lain in bed listening to the mansion’s grunts for long.
‘Uhhh…’ I squinted through half-open lids. Then stumbling unsteadily to the door, I unbolted it. Lokkhi mashi came in with tea. ‘It is hot. Sip carefully. Don’t burn your tongue.’ She walked over to the windows and pulled aside the curtains. Bright, yellow light spilled into the room updating me with the significance of the day.
I frowned. ‘What time is it?’
‘Nearly ten,’ replied the housekeeper. Oh no! Hardly a couple of hours....
‘That is late. I have to get ready,’ I exclaimed. It took me a few minutes to freshen up while gulping down the sweet, hot tea.
Fortified by a few more cuppas, I was ready to work out Dadu’s riddle on ground. My only concern was Gonuda popping up before I closed my pursuit.
The stately neem stood in the corner, a verdant marquee its cap. My eyes skimmed the patio, to assure myself the space had no other foliage. That proved the tree of the riddle and the circle in the diagram indicated the neem. Shading my eyes, I tilted my head at the burning orb. My phone showed 10:52 am and it was on an upwards curve. The neem cast an uneven grey blob around the trunk. I studied the tree from all angles but could not detect a single part that could throw a pointed shadow. Patience, I told myself.
Next, my inspection took in the chequered patio floor inch by inch. Going over each tile, I pulled out the moss and grass growing in crevices, digging with my nails. Systematically beginning with the row of tiles from the right side of the neem, I worked the periphery looking for a tile that moved or for any indication of a hole beneath. I continued to the next inner row and did not notice Lokkhi mashi until she spoke.
‘Use this instead of your fingers,’ she said, handing me a small, rusty trowel. She must have been observing my efforts. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, squatting down.
‘I am looking for a loose tile,’ I explained.
‘Why?’
Instead of replying, I asked, ‘Is there an underground room in the mansion?’
‘Underground? No…no. Why?’
I didn’t look at her. ‘No. Nothing. Just like that.’
‘Didi…,’ she began. Her tone had altered. I looked up at her. Her face displayed suppressed emotion. ‘If you tell me what you are looking for, I can help you. And…and…and I won’t tell anyone. I swear by Ma Kali,’ she whispered.
I looked down at an ant crawling over a pile of muddy grass. Can I trust her? After all, I will need help…I don’t know everything about this mansion, but she does. Earlier, she had been afraid of the Rahas, which was understandable. Other than that, she has been only motivated by her love for Dad.
‘I am looking for a door leading to a secret room,’ I divulged.
‘Secret room…?’ She mused, standing up and looking at the rows of doors along the lower galleries.
I followed her eyes. ‘What are in these rooms?’
‘Nothing. They have been empty, since the relatives left,’ she replied.
I looked at my phone. It was five minutes past one. My heart began to thud. I walked back to the tree trailed by a perplexed Lokkhi mashi.
The tree stood, unmoving…just as it said in the riddle. I looked down at the ground. … the dark oval is a little bigger but no other alteration…nothing poking outwards.
My heart sank…maybe I had not been able to correctly figure out the riddle. What did I miss? But the drawing…it was of this patio… Desperately, I looked around…the galleries ran along all four blocks, each with locked rooms except the one Lokkhi mashi occupied. Still wondering where I had gone wrong, I looked down at the floor and I sucked in my breath, sharply!
Something was happening to the shadow. Its round shape was bulging slightly. I looked up at the sun. When I next looked down, the bulge had elongated on one side. I knelt on the
floor watching it closely. Lokkhi mashi also hunched down with a puzzled expression, trying to gauge what was I observing. Gradually, the distension began to grow, get longer, jutting out. I took a few steps backwards to find out what on the treetop was throwing this singularly thin shadow, but I could see no pole or branch that explained it.
When the arrow-like shadow stopped lengthening, I looked to where it was pointing. I was disconcerted for there was nothing specific in that region. I began taking deliberate steps from the point of the arrow. Walking in a straight line, I reached a narrow, open space diagonally opposite the tree. This was the area between two blocks that met at right angles. I was at a loss. Nothing around other than an open green patch. Could the grass be covering a hole in the ground?
I stamped my feet all over the grass and weeds followed by the curious housekeeper. But nothing indicated holes dug out and refilled. I scrutinised the corner of the high wall, blackened with age, that bounded the Sarkar Bari estate. It formed a corner here just as it did at the other three points. Only difference was this part of the wall had a small shed appended to it. The bulwark was one of the shed’s shorter walls. The other three walls were of rough, unfinished brick with a rusty tin roof covering them.
I marched back to the tree trying to get a perspective of the spot. ‘What is that?’ I asked Lokkhi mashi, pointing to the shed.
‘Coal shed,’ she replied. As I shook my head, she elaborated, ‘…coal for the kitchen unuun is stored there.’
‘Okay…,’ I murmured, looking back at it.
And there he was!
The boy was sitting cross legged on the edge of the gallery. ‘Hey you! What are you doing there?’ I called out.
Lokkhi mashi turned to me. ‘Didi? Who are you speaking with?’
‘There! There!’ I pointed to the boy.
‘Where? Who?’ asked the woman. Irritated, I turned to look at her, but the woman was staring at the exact same spot where the boy was sitting.