There was a time in my life when I used to be a proud atheist. Now I do consider myself somewhere between agnostic and theist. Let me clarify lest you misunderstand me, I am not talking about belief in god-'theism', but belief in devil theism. I used to be sure that devil does not exist. Now I am not so sure.
The incident which changed my outlook happened on a rainy night on a highway. The car I was driving broke down. It was my friends car and I had borrowed it for the purposes of sending-off my sister to the airport. I dropped her successfully and I had just started on my return journey when my car broke down. The car just won't start. It was past midnight and I was some 5 kilometers from the airport and not sure how many more from any other civilized place. It was raining heavily for it was month of May in Bangalore and it always rains heavily at that time of the year.
I saw a tea-stall nearby and the temptation of hot tea could not be resisted. By the time I reached there I had already regretted my decision, I was getting drenched. I knew what 'bone wet' is that day. I had the audacity of not getting either an umbrella or an jacket with me while getting into the car. I had just ordered and recieved the hot tea when an SUV with blaring death metal came to a halt near by. I got more curious as a girl in early twenties wearing tight jeans and a sleeveless top got down. I noticed she had couple of piercings on her face, and I started wondering whether she could have more elsewhere.
I must have been shivering, because she looked at me and asked whether it was my car which had broken down. When I answered in affirmative, she offered me to drop to nearest garage or anywhere else I wanted. I refused. I was sure that my friend Kaushal will pick me up. After all it was his car and he had left it un-serviced car. I tried calling him many times, but he refused to pickup. 'Not sure whether he sleeps or hibernates every night' I cursed. I was then forced to accept the offer from the girl.
She called her self Shri and the name which never got elaborated further. The moment in the car, she offered me a cigarate and started driving in her fashion. It seems fast was her fashion and so was ignoring all the traffic lights. I started regretting the second time. It was 25 km drive before we come into the city before I could hope for any alternative transportation. Just then she lowered the volume of whatever metal she was playing and started chatting with me.
After 15 minutes of chat, I realised that she was a sweet girl. Very contradictory to her looks in fact. Only after we reached within the city limits did I realise that I did not even notice the many kilometers we had passed. I saw a taxi nearby and asked her to stop. Before getting down she asked my mobile number. Hopes rose in my heart and I gave it to her happily. But then the balloon of hope burst when she flatly refused to share her number. ' I will call you if I want to. You need not call me' She said, once again sweetly.
I reached Kaushal's house. As expected, when I found him he was sleeping and his mobile was still showing many missed calls. I cursed him a lot about the car. Told him how I got drenched in the torrential down pour and had to hail a taxi from a dark corner. I carefully glazed over tryst with Shri. By the time I cooled down, I had offered Kaushal to go with him to pick up the car. He refused. It seems his insurance covers tow anywhere in Karnataka. He just needed the exact location.
Next day morning I woke up late. And the first thing I checked was whether I had any missed calls. Although I do this regularly, I was especially excited today. From that moment onwards my heart skipped a beat every time my phone rang. It skipped a beat even when somebody else's phone rang and had a similar ring tone. By evening I was getting anxious of Shri's call. Next day I began to despair. By the third day I had become philosophical. She wont call, I consoled myself. After all, I am neither handsome, nor rich.
But then I was in luck. She called me. Call lasted exactly 30 seconds. Her only words 'Meet me today, same place, same time. Okay?' 'Okay' I said. She cut the call. I immediately checked the number she had called from. It was a land line. I called back. Some guy picked up. I asked for Shri. 'This is a public phone Saaar. No Shri here'. A dead end.
I went to the place where I was stuck a few days ago and the place where I was supposed to meet her. I was there 15 minutes early. The place was deserted. Only the shop owner was busy closing down the business and a old man smoking bidi. What was he doing at this time of the night I was not sure. He seemed least interested in me, and I ordered for a tea and started my wait.
'I know you. You went with devil the other night' The bidi guy was talking to me. I tried to ignore him but he continued. He must be drunk I thought.
'She is coming back today. She will kill you.' I was still trying my best to ignore him but he seemed coherent. Then he came near me:
'You don't believe me. There was an accident a year ago. At the same spot. She was daughter of a big politician. She had a big fight with her father as he was trying to get her married for his profit. Family alliance they say. But she flatly refused. While she was driving down this road soon after the fight, she was hit by a truck. Spot dead. People say her father killed her. But I am sure the boy to whom her marraige had got fixed killed her. His ego was hurt by her refusal. That day onwards, she roams around. She is looking for somebody. And once she finds him, she will kill him.' I was getting curious. Her secretive behaviour was fitting in.
But then I had a plan of my own. After her phone call I had talked to Kaushik about the incident with Shri (finally). We discussed at length on how to track her down. Plans ranged from hiring a detective agency to bribing RTO official to get the vehicle registeration details. But we finally decided to trust a device which broadcasts its location every 2 minutes. He is a geek in such things, and he downloaded the application on my spare phone. I just had to just slip the phone in her car and then we could trace her sitting in comforts of our home. I would miss this expensive phone, but then I was getting desparate. Plan A was simple. I was supposed to try and find out more about her. But if I could not get more information about her, then the phone-tracking was to be our plan B.
But now the old man had started giving me tips on how to recognise the devil.
'Check her legs: Devils dont have legs, they have hooves. And they dont blink. You have to be careful. Her nails will be large but retractable. Dont allow her to touch you with those. You will be dead before you know.' He was getting excited.
In order to cool him down and get rid of him, I told him that I knew this girl since child hood and she was not the devil he was talking about. Just then Shri arrived in car, she opened the passenger door without even saying hi. I got into the car, quickly so as to avoid any further of old man's non-sense. But the moment car started moving I could see him running behind the car. There was fear in his eyes, his hand were flailing. As if he was trying to stop me.
My heart skipped another beat, but for a different reason. This time I was afraid. There was a seed of doubt which the old man had succeeded in planting. I tried to see her legs. But she was wearing a long skirt today, almost covering not only her legs but also the controls of the car. She was also wearing dark sunglasses. And I was not sure how to ask her whether her nails were retractable without sounding foolish. So I kept the 'devil' thoughts aside for some time.
Today she said she wants to take me to a coffee house which had live band playing tonight. She still drove like crazy. At the same time she was composed. She coolly asked me about my interests and then we spoke at length about the french writers of the french revolution era. It was supposed to be my major and she knew almost as much as I knew. I was impressed. She also liked painting and during day time she was a fashion designer, she told.
I was totally engrossed in her talk that I forgot about the plan B till the last moment. We went to the cafe. Then to an icecream shop. Then to top it all, Biryani palace. I never knew Bangalore had so much night life. I was enjoying her company. But she was still being cautious. Most of the talk was about me and hardly anything about her. I had slipped my spare mobile between the seat cushions before I got out. Then I tried desparately for plan A. She still refused to share her number. But she promised to call me back. And she drove away.
I went back home, woke up Kaushal and started tracking. The mobile went all the way around the city and then stopped for almost half an hour. When we checked the location it was the city railway station. We spent next 4 hours tracking it. But it never came to rest more than few minutes. Finally out of desparation I decided to track the vehicle down. I borrowed Kaushal's car again and followed the signal. It was to be another disappointment as the signal was being emanated by an Auto. When we stopped the auto and started searching in the back seat, the auto driver called me by my name. I was shocked, but then he gave me a packet on which my name was clearly spelled. He said a lady had given him this packet and told him that I will come searching for it. He was confused how, but then had not dared to open it. Where did she meet the auto driver? A few blocks from where she had dropped me.
This was getting scary. I hardly could sleep for next few days when I got a call. This time again it was a thirty second call from another public phone booth and I was asked to meet at the same place, same time the very same day. I was confused. But inspite of Kaushal trying to desist me from the mission, my curiosity won over my fear. I reached the place.
This time the place was totally deserted. I was half expecting the old man to be there and reassure him that I am still alive. But neither he nor any body else were to be found. I had reached just in time and was expecting Shri anytime soon. While my eyes were searching for trace of Shri's car on the road, I heard a female voice:
'You are being duped, I can see it in your eyes', I was scared. The lady in white kurta was standing some way off. She had beautiful eyes, but there was something haunting about them too.
'You are being duped just like I was duped. He ran away with Her getting rid of me. A devil I call him now.' The word triggered something in my mind. I turned to ask her something, but she had disappeared. I thought she must have hid behind the shop because at the same moment Shri arrived in the car. Just as I was getting in I noticed that the lady must have been standing in a ditch, but there were no human foot prints there. And I knew why she had that haunting look. Her beautiful eyes were missing the natural blinking. I started sweating. This time fear gripped me. I regretted for third time.
Today Shri wanted to show me something special, something different. I assumed this would be about art or literature on which we had common interests. I was excited and almost forgot the incident near the tea stall. She took me near a stadium and through the gate into it. She asked me to sit down on one of the spectator seats. The whole stadium was dark and empty. I could see shapes in the shadow everywhere. The fear started creeping on me.
Shri told me that she is not what she seems. And I had to know the truth today. She took out her hands from the pockets where she was keeping it since the time we got down. She removed the sunglasses and looked at me. And it flashed: She was staring straight at me, without blinking. With lot of effort I looked down at her palms. She had grown long finger nails within matter of minutes.
I have not run so fast in my life. I was nearly at the gate, when I turned back and saw. She was standing there staring at me. Then suddenly somebody shouted 'Lights!!!!!!!!!' and the whole stadium lit up. Kaushal was standing in one corner, smiling. So was the old man from the tea stall. But this time he was not smoking bidi, rather he seemed to be the director of the cameras which were focussed on me for the time being. Who else would sit under an umbrella in the dark and in the middle of the night?
Then it all dawned on me, I had bragged in front of Kaushal few days back that I don't believe in Devils and will not be afraid even if one were to come in front of me. This was Kaushal's way of getting back at me. Now things started falling in place. Kaushal's car breaks down (he must have arranged for it somehow), kaushal did not pick up the phone, the tracking idea given by Kaushal fails. He had even tutored Shri had pre-knowledge of studying about my major history and my hobbies. kaushal was always in control of the whole thing.
This was a result of a competition for an idea to start a new kind of reality show. And Shri was nothing but an actor. IPL was scoring badly with TRP of some channels and they were desperately trying out anything to win back audience. This idea was given by Kaushal, and I was an unsuspecting actor in the game. I congratulated the director on the role of the old man. I told him that he had nearly succeeded in sowing the seeds of doubt. And the final act done by the lady today at the tea stall was brilliant, I told him. But he seemed lost. He did not have anybody at the site today.
While we were discussing who it was, one of the crew member rushed towards us with a copy of the evening news paper. The Girls photo was printed in large size and news said it was a suspected murder case near the airport of a girl. I was sure I had met the same girl near the tea stall. Few hours AFTER the murder.
Smiles vanished from the faces of the crew. The show was wound up, never to be broadcasted. The producers were not interested in negative publicity if something untoward happened. Thus I lost my chance of 2 minutes to fame. Kaushal lost his chance of becoming a quick-millionaire.
But I was in for another surprise. In my pocket I found a chit: 'Shri: Phone number 98XXX-XXXXX'. Ofcourse X's were real, I blocked it here.
The incident which changed my outlook happened on a rainy night on a highway. The car I was driving broke down. It was my friends car and I had borrowed it for the purposes of sending-off my sister to the airport. I dropped her successfully and I had just started on my return journey when my car broke down. The car just won't start. It was past midnight and I was some 5 kilometers from the airport and not sure how many more from any other civilized place. It was raining heavily for it was month of May in Bangalore and it always rains heavily at that time of the year.
I saw a tea-stall nearby and the temptation of hot tea could not be resisted. By the time I reached there I had already regretted my decision, I was getting drenched. I knew what 'bone wet' is that day. I had the audacity of not getting either an umbrella or an jacket with me while getting into the car. I had just ordered and recieved the hot tea when an SUV with blaring death metal came to a halt near by. I got more curious as a girl in early twenties wearing tight jeans and a sleeveless top got down. I noticed she had couple of piercings on her face, and I started wondering whether she could have more elsewhere.
I must have been shivering, because she looked at me and asked whether it was my car which had broken down. When I answered in affirmative, she offered me to drop to nearest garage or anywhere else I wanted. I refused. I was sure that my friend Kaushal will pick me up. After all it was his car and he had left it un-serviced car. I tried calling him many times, but he refused to pickup. 'Not sure whether he sleeps or hibernates every night' I cursed. I was then forced to accept the offer from the girl.
She called her self Shri and the name which never got elaborated further. The moment in the car, she offered me a cigarate and started driving in her fashion. It seems fast was her fashion and so was ignoring all the traffic lights. I started regretting the second time. It was 25 km drive before we come into the city before I could hope for any alternative transportation. Just then she lowered the volume of whatever metal she was playing and started chatting with me.
After 15 minutes of chat, I realised that she was a sweet girl. Very contradictory to her looks in fact. Only after we reached within the city limits did I realise that I did not even notice the many kilometers we had passed. I saw a taxi nearby and asked her to stop. Before getting down she asked my mobile number. Hopes rose in my heart and I gave it to her happily. But then the balloon of hope burst when she flatly refused to share her number. ' I will call you if I want to. You need not call me' She said, once again sweetly.
I reached Kaushal's house. As expected, when I found him he was sleeping and his mobile was still showing many missed calls. I cursed him a lot about the car. Told him how I got drenched in the torrential down pour and had to hail a taxi from a dark corner. I carefully glazed over tryst with Shri. By the time I cooled down, I had offered Kaushal to go with him to pick up the car. He refused. It seems his insurance covers tow anywhere in Karnataka. He just needed the exact location.
Next day morning I woke up late. And the first thing I checked was whether I had any missed calls. Although I do this regularly, I was especially excited today. From that moment onwards my heart skipped a beat every time my phone rang. It skipped a beat even when somebody else's phone rang and had a similar ring tone. By evening I was getting anxious of Shri's call. Next day I began to despair. By the third day I had become philosophical. She wont call, I consoled myself. After all, I am neither handsome, nor rich.
But then I was in luck. She called me. Call lasted exactly 30 seconds. Her only words 'Meet me today, same place, same time. Okay?' 'Okay' I said. She cut the call. I immediately checked the number she had called from. It was a land line. I called back. Some guy picked up. I asked for Shri. 'This is a public phone Saaar. No Shri here'. A dead end.
I went to the place where I was stuck a few days ago and the place where I was supposed to meet her. I was there 15 minutes early. The place was deserted. Only the shop owner was busy closing down the business and a old man smoking bidi. What was he doing at this time of the night I was not sure. He seemed least interested in me, and I ordered for a tea and started my wait.
'I know you. You went with devil the other night' The bidi guy was talking to me. I tried to ignore him but he continued. He must be drunk I thought.
'She is coming back today. She will kill you.' I was still trying my best to ignore him but he seemed coherent. Then he came near me:
'You don't believe me. There was an accident a year ago. At the same spot. She was daughter of a big politician. She had a big fight with her father as he was trying to get her married for his profit. Family alliance they say. But she flatly refused. While she was driving down this road soon after the fight, she was hit by a truck. Spot dead. People say her father killed her. But I am sure the boy to whom her marraige had got fixed killed her. His ego was hurt by her refusal. That day onwards, she roams around. She is looking for somebody. And once she finds him, she will kill him.' I was getting curious. Her secretive behaviour was fitting in.
But then I had a plan of my own. After her phone call I had talked to Kaushik about the incident with Shri (finally). We discussed at length on how to track her down. Plans ranged from hiring a detective agency to bribing RTO official to get the vehicle registeration details. But we finally decided to trust a device which broadcasts its location every 2 minutes. He is a geek in such things, and he downloaded the application on my spare phone. I just had to just slip the phone in her car and then we could trace her sitting in comforts of our home. I would miss this expensive phone, but then I was getting desparate. Plan A was simple. I was supposed to try and find out more about her. But if I could not get more information about her, then the phone-tracking was to be our plan B.
But now the old man had started giving me tips on how to recognise the devil.
'Check her legs: Devils dont have legs, they have hooves. And they dont blink. You have to be careful. Her nails will be large but retractable. Dont allow her to touch you with those. You will be dead before you know.' He was getting excited.
In order to cool him down and get rid of him, I told him that I knew this girl since child hood and she was not the devil he was talking about. Just then Shri arrived in car, she opened the passenger door without even saying hi. I got into the car, quickly so as to avoid any further of old man's non-sense. But the moment car started moving I could see him running behind the car. There was fear in his eyes, his hand were flailing. As if he was trying to stop me.
My heart skipped another beat, but for a different reason. This time I was afraid. There was a seed of doubt which the old man had succeeded in planting. I tried to see her legs. But she was wearing a long skirt today, almost covering not only her legs but also the controls of the car. She was also wearing dark sunglasses. And I was not sure how to ask her whether her nails were retractable without sounding foolish. So I kept the 'devil' thoughts aside for some time.
Today she said she wants to take me to a coffee house which had live band playing tonight. She still drove like crazy. At the same time she was composed. She coolly asked me about my interests and then we spoke at length about the french writers of the french revolution era. It was supposed to be my major and she knew almost as much as I knew. I was impressed. She also liked painting and during day time she was a fashion designer, she told.
I was totally engrossed in her talk that I forgot about the plan B till the last moment. We went to the cafe. Then to an icecream shop. Then to top it all, Biryani palace. I never knew Bangalore had so much night life. I was enjoying her company. But she was still being cautious. Most of the talk was about me and hardly anything about her. I had slipped my spare mobile between the seat cushions before I got out. Then I tried desparately for plan A. She still refused to share her number. But she promised to call me back. And she drove away.
I went back home, woke up Kaushal and started tracking. The mobile went all the way around the city and then stopped for almost half an hour. When we checked the location it was the city railway station. We spent next 4 hours tracking it. But it never came to rest more than few minutes. Finally out of desparation I decided to track the vehicle down. I borrowed Kaushal's car again and followed the signal. It was to be another disappointment as the signal was being emanated by an Auto. When we stopped the auto and started searching in the back seat, the auto driver called me by my name. I was shocked, but then he gave me a packet on which my name was clearly spelled. He said a lady had given him this packet and told him that I will come searching for it. He was confused how, but then had not dared to open it. Where did she meet the auto driver? A few blocks from where she had dropped me.
This was getting scary. I hardly could sleep for next few days when I got a call. This time again it was a thirty second call from another public phone booth and I was asked to meet at the same place, same time the very same day. I was confused. But inspite of Kaushal trying to desist me from the mission, my curiosity won over my fear. I reached the place.
This time the place was totally deserted. I was half expecting the old man to be there and reassure him that I am still alive. But neither he nor any body else were to be found. I had reached just in time and was expecting Shri anytime soon. While my eyes were searching for trace of Shri's car on the road, I heard a female voice:
'You are being duped, I can see it in your eyes', I was scared. The lady in white kurta was standing some way off. She had beautiful eyes, but there was something haunting about them too.
'You are being duped just like I was duped. He ran away with Her getting rid of me. A devil I call him now.' The word triggered something in my mind. I turned to ask her something, but she had disappeared. I thought she must have hid behind the shop because at the same moment Shri arrived in the car. Just as I was getting in I noticed that the lady must have been standing in a ditch, but there were no human foot prints there. And I knew why she had that haunting look. Her beautiful eyes were missing the natural blinking. I started sweating. This time fear gripped me. I regretted for third time.
Today Shri wanted to show me something special, something different. I assumed this would be about art or literature on which we had common interests. I was excited and almost forgot the incident near the tea stall. She took me near a stadium and through the gate into it. She asked me to sit down on one of the spectator seats. The whole stadium was dark and empty. I could see shapes in the shadow everywhere. The fear started creeping on me.
Shri told me that she is not what she seems. And I had to know the truth today. She took out her hands from the pockets where she was keeping it since the time we got down. She removed the sunglasses and looked at me. And it flashed: She was staring straight at me, without blinking. With lot of effort I looked down at her palms. She had grown long finger nails within matter of minutes.
I have not run so fast in my life. I was nearly at the gate, when I turned back and saw. She was standing there staring at me. Then suddenly somebody shouted 'Lights!!!!!!!!!' and the whole stadium lit up. Kaushal was standing in one corner, smiling. So was the old man from the tea stall. But this time he was not smoking bidi, rather he seemed to be the director of the cameras which were focussed on me for the time being. Who else would sit under an umbrella in the dark and in the middle of the night?
Then it all dawned on me, I had bragged in front of Kaushal few days back that I don't believe in Devils and will not be afraid even if one were to come in front of me. This was Kaushal's way of getting back at me. Now things started falling in place. Kaushal's car breaks down (he must have arranged for it somehow), kaushal did not pick up the phone, the tracking idea given by Kaushal fails. He had even tutored Shri had pre-knowledge of studying about my major history and my hobbies. kaushal was always in control of the whole thing.
This was a result of a competition for an idea to start a new kind of reality show. And Shri was nothing but an actor. IPL was scoring badly with TRP of some channels and they were desperately trying out anything to win back audience. This idea was given by Kaushal, and I was an unsuspecting actor in the game. I congratulated the director on the role of the old man. I told him that he had nearly succeeded in sowing the seeds of doubt. And the final act done by the lady today at the tea stall was brilliant, I told him. But he seemed lost. He did not have anybody at the site today.
While we were discussing who it was, one of the crew member rushed towards us with a copy of the evening news paper. The Girls photo was printed in large size and news said it was a suspected murder case near the airport of a girl. I was sure I had met the same girl near the tea stall. Few hours AFTER the murder.
Smiles vanished from the faces of the crew. The show was wound up, never to be broadcasted. The producers were not interested in negative publicity if something untoward happened. Thus I lost my chance of 2 minutes to fame. Kaushal lost his chance of becoming a quick-millionaire.
But I was in for another surprise. In my pocket I found a chit: 'Shri: Phone number 98XXX-XXXXX'. Ofcourse X's were real, I blocked it here.
6 comments:
Amazing!!!
What are you doing in SXSX?
Antara thinks Rahul's reasonable thoughts are unreasonably good.
Rahul thanks Antara
totally gripping story.. I started reading for timepass while I was waiting for a conf call yesterday. I got delayed by 5 minutes :D. The point where I left reading it was when 'Rahul' reaches stadium and 'Shri' tells that 'she is not what she seems' ...LOL I just couldn't wait for the conf call to get over and finish the story.
Gripping!
nice one !!
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