A tropical storm was blowing in full force. She
had always liked storms but something didn’t feel right about this one. The
lightning was so frequent that the sky looked a permanent blinding white. A
baby was crying somewhere, no, wait, that was the wind blowing through the
Eucalyptus trees. It was raining but not very hard. A dog, no, rather a few of
them were crying pitifully. But there was another sound, it rose quickly but
steadily. Soon within seconds it was the loudest sound of all – the sound of
the wind and the thunder were drowned by the deafening water waves crashing
against the banks.
Bewildered, Rani looked at her roommate Mads
wanting to wake her up. But she was up already. She had a strange look on her
face as she stared outside the window. Her eyes were vacant and her face white.
“They are out there, aren’t they?” she said in a hoarse tone.
“What? What are you talking about?”, Rani
rebuked her for saying out loud in precise words what she was feeling inside,
“Come help me close the window.”
But the window wouldn’t close. No matter how
hard they both tried to pull it shut, it just didn’t budge. Suddenly lightning
struck a Eucalyptus just outside the window and the rain-wet tree started burning.
A couple of seconds later the lightning struck again. A different tree this
time. A heart wrenching cry followed, most probably from the other side of the
lake.
“Let’s go out and see what others are doing?
Shall we?” Rani’s choked voice came out in gasps. They both jumped off their
beds and wrenched the door open. Rashmi stood outside looking pale.
“Did you hear it too? I was not sure whether
to wake you up or not. It sounds so silly to be afraid of a storm.” Rashmi was
alone in her room tonight, her roommate wouldn’t return till tomorrow.
The three of them went to the common room on
the third floor to find half the population of their first year hostel present
there. “Did you hear the woman cry?” few of them were discussing.
So they heard it, they heard it too. And they
too thought the cry was not normal. Rani proceeded gingerly to the closed
window. If she could only open the window once she would be able to see the
lake, she would be able to see why it was so loud tonight. This room provided a
magnificent view of the lake.
“Are you out of your mind? Don’t open the
window. Everyone is terrified here.” Mads shouted at her. She had taken refuge
at the furthest corner of the room on a low cane stool. But Rani had to see,
she had to see the lake. It must be a fascinating sight, she thought, given the
deafening sound of the waves. She ignored the next few feeble protests as well.
A few other girls, overcome by curiosity followed her. Rani pushed the window
open.
It was an amazing sight. Even more farfetched
than she had imagined. The lake looked nothing less than a vast sea. Huge white
foamy waves rose and fell and made a sound unbelievably loud. It was an eerie
sight, dangerous but somehow beautiful too. For everyone seemed to have been
hypnotized. No one moved, no one spoke.
And then it happened.
It was as if the nature turned off a switch. The
blinding white of the sky went black. Not gradually, instantly. And at that
very moment Rani felt an irresistible urge to visit the lake. Even though she
knew in her head that it was dangerous, insane even, but it was as if something
was pulling her, a bond so strong that she couldn’t ignore even if she wanted
to. She started retreating slowly from the window, quickly calculating the
easiest exit: the main gate will be locked. The rear gate will probably be
locked too. The roof, yes the roof, if she could go up to the roof and then
jump from there- yes that’s it.
“Where are you going?” Mads asked sceptically.
She hadn’t moved from her stool.
“Going back to sleep. I am feeling very
tired.” Rani murmured and walked out. She climbed the stairs to the roof,
climbed the stairs to the high water tank. As she stood swaying in the storm there,
happiness filled her. She could see pinpricks of lights glowed in the dark on
the other side of the lake. She could hear a faint sound of chanting between
the waves. A woman cried, there, again, a heart wrenching cry, asking out for
help. She must help her, but the lake was so beautiful, what could she do, how
could she leave it be? She took another step forward to the edge of the tank.
So beautiful, so beautiful, she must go, she must go to the lake, she mustn’t let
go of this opportunity now, she must jump, but the woman, she needed help, wasn’t
there anyone to help her? But she mustn’t think about her. The chant was
growing louder, or was it the lake receding? There wasn’t much time to waste. There
was a loud thud, a thump and then a splash. The unknown woman pleaded for help
once again. Rani jumped.
***
Years later, even today, when Rani thought
about it, she still shuddered. She had been found that night (thanks to Mads),
unconscious, miraculously unhurt except minor bruises and a deep cut along her left
brow and knee, probably due to the soft mud and rotting leaves bed. She couldn’t
explain why she was there and how she turned up there. All she remembered were
the woman crying for help and the chanting.
During her four years in college, teachers and students always maintained an almost imperceptible distance, for she caught them many times looking at her when they thought she didn’t know. Mads almost never left her alone, for Rani’s parents had requested so. Rani tried to convince herself that the day had never happened but the two burnt Eucalyptus continued to stand unperturbed and undisturbed by the many storms and rains that followed in the next four years as the omnipresent proof of the reality of the night. She visited the village on the other side of the lake many times, looking for an explanation. But when she asked questions, the villagers only looked at her with a strange scandalous stare but never talked. Love,
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Riot of Random
