“Sir, best place
sir, perfect place sir. That too for best price sir. Bhabhiji will be very happy
sir. Just take it sir without a second thought sir. Many people in line to buy
sir.” “That’s true but how come such a good bungalow is being sold at such a
cheap price?” “Leave the if’s and but’s sir. Just think that this was meant for
you…destiny sir.” Avi recalled the conversation he had with the vernacularly-accented
Mr.Mehta – the property agent. “Why on earth couldn’t it have occurred to me
then. Such a lovely place at lower than market rates; I should have followed my
instincts. How could I?” Avi kicked himself. He should have been more careful.
Avi and Nupur were
a newly-wed couple and wanted to move soon to a place they could call truly
theirs. The search for a place was on before their wedding. In fact not finding
a suitable place was one of the reasons their marriage was delayed. Finally Avi
caught a glimpse of an ad in the newspaper and immediately scheduled an
appointment with the agent. On seeing the place a voice in his head said “This
is it”. The place was very near to their offices and accessible to all the
necessary amenities. Located in a well-developed township it was all they could
ask for. “This has to be it. Nupur would be floored on seeing this.” Without wasting
a minute Avi went ahead with the booking using all the savings they had.
Avi and Nupur
moved into the house with all the plans to make the house their own in each and
every way – the furniture, curtains, upholstery, wall hangings; every detail
was planned. Sitting beside each other they could see the house the way they
wanted it. Suddenly they heard a knock on their door. “Who could it be at this
hour?” Nupur questioned. Avi saw through the peep hole but couldn’t see
anything. “Must be some mischievous kids of the locality”, Avi thought. “Let’s
go to bed, it’s been a tiring day plus we have office tomorrow.”
Just as they lay on their bed Nupur heard someone singing. The song was an old classic from a Hindi film and was meant for ghosts. Nupur was terrified. “Avi can you hear it too?” “Yes” was the reply. Avi searched around but couldn’t find anything. “This is too spooky for my liking. If someone is playing a prank he’s going to have it.” Suddenly Avi’s mobile rang. He reached out to it in his pocket but was shocked to see an incoming call from a number that read “Unknown”. Avi pressed the receive button and heard voice say, “Leave our house and go. You do not belong here. Leave now.” Avi hung up the call out of sheer fright with a chill running down his spine and sweat down his forehead. Avi and Nupur, holding each other with a prayer on their lips stayed guard the whole night and were witness to strange sounds and voices coming from different parts of their house. When morning broke Avi made a dash to meet the township incharge and apprised him of the happenings. “Which house did you say you stay in?” asked Mr. Ahluwalia. “A-369”. “What? A-369?” “Yes, is there a problem?” “Well Mr. Avi I’m sure you made a proper inquiry before purchasing the property.” “Why? What did I miss?” “A-369 has been lying vacant for all I know. The last family that stayed there didn’t last a week as they complained of hearing strange sounds, voices and people singing. It’s not that any unfortunate incident took place there but we suspect it’s the close proximity to the graveyard that’s the root of the problem. ” “What the bloody hell? Are you serious? You mean we have a ghost problem?” “I’m not sure sir, but it seems you do.” Avi tried contacting Mr.Mehta but it looked like he had disappeared from the face of the earth. His phone was switched off, office shut down and no one knew of his whereabouts. Friends and family suggested he should perform some puja’s to dispel the demons but that didn’t work. Having no money to move elsewhere and no solution in sight Avi and Nupur were and are stuck to this day with only the dreams they had and yes a few friends from the other side. Can you help them?
