The Other Side: Dare To Visit Alone?

by Faraaz Kazi

  Ravi stirred and woke up in the morning but the previous night's dream was etched firm in his mind. He could recall every detail of the nightmare, not sparing even the minutest. He trembled uncontrollably, but could not decide whether it was from the extreme cold or from the after-effects of his ghastly unpleasant dream.

  “Rise and shine!” Vikram entered the room with a steaming cup of tea for him and immediately stopped in his tracks. “Hey dude, you don't look so good. Exhaustion? Cold? Or is it a touch of mountain sickness? I hope that you have been taking the Diamox tablets regularly?”

  “I am okay,” Ravi replied, “But I have been having some very bizarre dreams,” he admitted, going on to narrate his experiences.

  “Wow man! Are you having some kind of extra sensory perception? Maybe this is what actually happened years back. The skeletons found at the bottom, may be they were of those victims from the hailstorm and now you may be picking up those vibrations,” Vikram prophesized.

  “Whatever. Let's move,” Ravi mumbled.

  They started on the last part of their trek. The climb was steep and the snow hard. They climbed slowly, putting one foot in front of other. The air was sparse at such a height and they had to make frequent stops to regain their breaths. The climb took around two and half hours. The last part was the most difficult. The gradient was steep and they had to crawl along on all four limbs. They crossed the cusp and suddenly they could see the lake in all its pristine glory. The water shone inside a crater in the mountain with snow-covered peaks forming an impressive backdrop to its surreal beauty. Ravi stared at the vista, overwhelmed by its magnificence. He felt a strong sense of belonging, having been there before and having seen it all. He trembled again for reasons unknown. Yes, it was a replica, a replica of the image from his dreams.

  ‘This is it! The mystery lake of my dreams,’ he thought. Someone called his name and he realised that the other members of the team had trekked down the fifty meters to the edge of the lake and were calling him. Vikram had already discovered a few skulls and a bone on the edge of the lake above the black coloured rocks and the team was clustering around them, jabbering excitedly. Ravi could not share their enthusiasm as he joined them. He felt a deep sense of melancholy, of having lost something very personal and priceless on these icy slopes. He felt a strange compassion for the victims of the massive tragedy which must have occurred here hundreds of years back. While the others members of the team poked around, looking for more skeletons and posing for pictures, Ravi felt himself drawn towards the ridge on the opposite side of the lake. There was an indefinable feeling in his heart as he ascended up towards Junargali. The silence called out to him, pulling on his mind as he trudged ahead. He saw a large boulder and moved behind it. There, half buried in the snow, he found a skull. He felt a strong sense of empathy with the unknown person who had died on those icy slopes centuries back. He picked up the skull, dusted it with his hands and wondered what connection he possibly shared with it.

  “You are back!” He was startled to hear a deep voice. He turned around and was surprised to see a tall figure regarding him from a distance. He was dressed in robes and had a turban topped off with a huge ruby. Somehow he looked familiar and with a flash of intuition, Ravi realised that it was the man from his dreams. He wondered if he was hallucinating. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The man was still there and he appeared to be smiling at him.

  “My son! You are young and may not understand many things. Everything in this world has a purpose. That is why you had those dreams and came here. Dig deeper into the snow where you found that skull,” the man said. It appeared to Ravi that his lips did not move and Ravi blinked profusely.

  “What do you mean? I don't understand all this. Why do I get those dreams? Do I have a connection with this place? Who are you and what are you talking about?” Ravi was completely confused. He wondered if the lack of oxygen up here was playing tricks on his mind.

  “You will understand everything later. Please do what I am telling you. Hurry, there is not much time left,” the man spoke from within.

  Ravi found the command a bit strange but something deep inside him compelled him to obey. He discovered the shaft of a long bone and used it to dig through the snow.

  “Deeper, deeper!” urged the apparition. “There is not much time.”

  The bone struck something hard and Ravi prised the stone out of the snow. The ruby was the size of a pigeon's egg. Ravi held up and admired the shine as it glittered eerily in his hands and Ravi realised that it was similar to the one on the man's turban.

  “I had pledged to place this ruby at the feet of Nanda Devi but changed my mind at the last moment. That provoked the wrath of the Goddess and my whole entourage perished. Just take it down to the lake and immerse it in the waters. Be quick as there is very little time left,” the voiceless man ordered.

  “This seems to be priceless. Why should I do what you say?” Ravi asked, tightening his grip on the stone.

  The man's eyes blazed with sudden fury. “Avarice! It was the undoing of us and now it will be the end of you. Do what I say if you want to live.”

  Ravi stared at the dusky man and nodded. For some reason, he found he couldn't deny him. “Don't harm me. I'll do what you say,” he promised.

  “But I must to warn you. You are in grave danger. You must hurry and escape from here immediately after immersing the ruby. Otherwise you will perish here once again,” the man said.

  “What are you talking about? I don't understand,” Ravi said, grabbing his head.

  “There is hardly any time left. Offer the ruby to the Goddess. Then take your friends and run from here. Climb up the ledge and go down the other side. There is a cave beyond the ledge. Take shelter in it. Do not let history repeat itself. Seek shelter before it is too late.” And in a blink of an eye he was gone.

  Ravi stood there, perplexed! He touched his forehead and found drops of sweat gathering on his temple, almost turning to ice in the chill. Impossible, he thought! Then he decided to act. He turned back and started screaming at his friends. “Vikram, Sailesh, Ajay; come up here quick.”

  The others looked up, surprised. They saw Ravi beckoning from a distance.

  “Hey dude, what are you doing up there? And why are you shouting?” Vikram shouted back.

  Ravi realised that they would not listen to him. He rushed down the slope, sliding and slipping and managed to reach his friends in a few minutes, panting with exertion.

  “Hey dude, what's up? You look like you have seen a ghost,” Ajay said.

  “I believe I have. There was a guy up there. I have seen him earlier in my dreams. I believe he is one of those who perished in the hailstorm centuries back. He warned me. He wants us to get out of here immediately and take shelter in the cave beyond the ledge,” Ravi said in one-go.

  Vikram regarded him for a moment. “The guy is hallucinating. Mountain sickness. Lack of oxygen has got to him.”

  Ravi grabbed Vikram and shook him by his jacket. “I am perfectly okay. Just listen to me if you want to get out of here alive. He said that history is about to repeat itself. Move!”

  Vikram shook his head. “I am the team leader and I will not jeopardize this expedition by listening to your crazy ideas.” “But a storm is coming,” Ravi argued.

  “Cool down, dude. The weather is fine. We'll stay here for another thirty minutes and then start back. I am not climbing up that ledge again to look for some non-existent cave. We are tired and I believe you are imagining things,” Vikram maintained.

  “Listen, Vikram. This is not my imagination. I dreamed about this place long before coming here. Throughout the trek, I kept feeling that I had seen all this before. I told you about the dreams I have been having. I told you my dream about the hailstorm this very morning. I saw the man from my dreams just minutes back. He told me about the cave and the imminent storm. There's something behind all this. Let's get out of here. I thought you trusted me,” Ravi said.

  “Dude, d
on't you understand. I was just playing along. Your imagination is running riot.” Vikram said trying hard not to laugh.

  “Imagination! Do you think I dreamt up this as well?” Ravi fished the ruby out of his pocket.

  “Ahh… wow, where did you find that? It seems to be priceless. Here, show it to me.” And he held out his hand.

  Ravi thought for a moment, whirled around and rushed to the edge of the lake. Then he flung the ruby into the still waters and it disappeared into its mysterious depths with hardly a ripple.

  “Why did you do that? That was probably worth a fortune!” Vikram gave an anguished cry.

  “Don't talk about things you don't understand. We are all in danger. Will you listen to me and get out of here!”Ravi shouted in anger.

  Vikram considered the request for a moment. “Okay dude, I'll listen to you this once. But I still think you are hallucinating. Guys, that is all. Let's scramble!”

  They all followed Ravi as he led them up the steep slope. By the time they reached the rock where Ravi had seen the turbaned man, the weather turned treacherous. The sun vanished behind a thick bank of clouds. The clouds descended low and almost occluded the slope they were clambering on. The icy winds howled and screamed and almost blew them off the slope. They went down on all fours and scrambled towards the ledge. As they rounded the crest, the wind had assumed blizzard proportions with the snow coming down. They looked around wildly, trying to find some kind of shelter but there was none. Ravi could see the vague outline of the turbaned man through the falling snow. He shouted to others, “There he is! I think he is trying to show us the way.”

  They all peered anxiously but could not see anyone. “I think we are all going to perish like the many before us who have trekked to this cursed place,”Vikram said in despair.

  “I can see him. Follow me!” Ravi ignored him, assuming command and leading the others down the slope. They grabbed each other and half walked, half slipped down the ridge. Ravi could still see the vague outline of the turbaned man as he guided them to the place where the mountainside rose in a sheer cliff of snow. The man pointed to a concealed opening behind a rocky outcrop and Ravi led the others to it. They found a small cave opening three feet above the ground. It was just big enough for a man to crawl in. It had started to snow harder and Ravi climbed in, flashing his torch. The opening widened out to form a large cave and he slithered in, thankful to be out of the wind and the snow. Others followed. The temperature inside the cave was just a bit higher than that outside but minus the wind and the snow it seemed cozy and all of them tried to catch their breaths. As they made themselves comfortable, Ravi asked the others, “Didn't you see the man who led us here?”

  Vikram shook his head adamantly. “There was nobody. But how the hell did you know about the existence of this cave?”

  “I did not know about the cave. That person led us here. I am sure somebody besides me must have seen him,” Ravi said.

  In response, everyone looked at him in a weird manner and then looked at each other feeling puzzled. They waited in the cave for the blizzard to cease and six hours later made their way back to Bhagwabasa, glad to be alive. This time no one made fun of Ravi.

  “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.

  “Come on, Pooja. We live in the twenty-first century. It all happened in
the past. We cannot let some sick folks' past determine our future… and just look at this place. I don't think we'll find a better place to stay even for double the price,” Mr. Bajaj had reasoned.

  And slowly she was getting used to the new home. The fresh air seemed to be healthy for her family and the space seemed comfortable. So she locked her apprehensions and went about the household chores, enjoying the feel of their new home.

  Her memory would irritate her at times. Mr. Bajaj knew about her forgetfulness before their wedding and still teased her about it at times. Here too, she would blank out remembering whether she had switched off the lights or shut the door and even if she was sure, she had, she would find the lights in various rooms at their glimmering best and the doors completely ajar as if someone had just walked inside. The other day she had come down running from the terrace after she had smelt gas emanating from the kitchen. She had wondered how she could have left the gas knob the other way when she had it ingrained in her subconscious to switch off the gas after using it every time. Her irritation would be further fuelled by her incomplete slumber. Proper sleep was difficult to find even on the soft pillow. Mrs. Bajaj would twist and turn in the bed, dreams escaping her mind as she counted sheep in a semi-conscious state.

  The other night she was awoken by a couple of knocks on their bedroom door. She had opened the door as Mr. Bajaj snored, to find little Ajit standing there, rubbing his eyes with small clenched fists.

  “Mamma, didi is not allowing me to sleep. She's playing with her friend, creating too much noise,” Ajit said in his meek, innocent voice.

  “Friend? What friend?” Mrs. Bajaj asked.

  Ajit just shrugged his little shoulders and twisted his lower lip. “Don't know what's with this girl these days. Come with me,”