That Week in April

Let me tell you about a strange incident that happened about two weeks ago, in a rather peaceful Park Defence Colony, Ishapore during the lockdown period. Read on to find what happened...


It was the summer of 2020. Everyone was locked down in their homes, and there was not much respite from the heat. Nothing to do and the days were just not passing. This certainly was not a good year…

"Dada kokhon jabo bayre?"- my cousin Srijan asked. He had been pestering me this entire week just because I had told him that I would show him around The Park colony- especially the historical Gun Powder House dating back to 1791, the majestic Ganges and also the mansion like quarters built

 

by the British. Historical places and such old stuff intrigued him deeply, so he had come over to Ishapore for the summer. But who could know the consequences of the pandemic beforehand...

"We'll go today after it's dark"- I told him. No one would be there on the streets and I would show him a couple of places quickly.

So around 6, I took him on my bicycle and went out. Srijan kept clicking pictures while sitting on the backseat of my bicycle- he was probably excited to go out after so many days. 

My old school friends Anuraag and Siddharth join in outside our school as planned- they were getting bored as well. The evening air was refreshing. We slowly cycled towards the Shooting Club and then decided to show him our school first. But no, Srijan was hell bent on seeing the Gunpowder House first. Anuraag said-“Let’s go through the road beside the lake and the DSC Mandir.

“Okay, so be it”- I agreed.

We started cycling towards the Mandir. The road looked deserted, except for the guards patrolling the area. We took a left turn and I pointed towards the front and said-“Look straight, Srijan. Straight away is the Riverside Park. Let's go there, you will love the sight.”       

  

          

“But I wanna see the Gunpowder House first”- was his stubborn reply.

“I wonder how you can be so annoying at times, you know…”- I said. He giggled, and we kept going straight.

When we nearly reached the backyard of the Gunpowder House, it was dark, and for the bare exception of the dim streetlight, nothing much could be seen. Srijan insisted to go inside, so reluctantly we stopped and parked our cycles.

We opened the backyard gate slowly, but it creaked so loudly that it made us jump to our feet. A camp of bats flied just above us.

“This place surely is sinister...”- Siddharth said fearfully.

“Let it pass, man…”- Anuraag said. He added-“Am I seeing something wrong?”

“Why?”-I asked…  

         

Anuraag quietly pointed towards the dark entrance to the Phansi Ghar. We all closely observed what he was pointing to. A group of few men were smoking inside and talking in whispers. In the lights of their cigarettes, we could  see their masked faces. They didn’t seem like residents of the colony and I thought of giving them a good hearing about what they were doing there.

 Just as I was about to creep inside, Siddharth shouted. I turned to see what happened. No, he was alright. It was, perhaps, a snake that had just passed by Siddharth. 

Anyway, the noise brought the attention of the men smoking and they came out hurriedly. Before I could ask them anything, three of them ran towards the Gunpowder House and we couldn’t see them anymore. But the fourth man who was left behind, kept frantically searching for something on the ground. Then he too fled in the same direction. It all happened so fast and unexpectedly that by the time I shouted-“Hey!”, they were all gone.

 “It’s no use, they have all gone”-Anuraag said.

I turned towards Siddharth, who was still scared about the snake. “What if it bit me? What if it was poisonous?”-he kept saying. I reassured him-“It’s gone, bro..Don’t you worry now.”

 I told Srijan- who was busy clicking photographs in night mode, to stay with Siddharth while I and Anuraag went to check what the last man was searching for. Perhaps, it was a liquor bottle they were drinking from. We peeped into the Phansi Ghar, but saw nothing but absolute darkness.

Turning our flashlights on, we had a quick look but there was surprisingly no liquor bottle. Strange! What were those men doing then?

“Let’s call it a day. Enough thrill already”- Siddharth said. We all agreed to this point, and even Srijan nodded. We took our bicycles and showed Srijan the Riverside Park. “Amazing, it’s amazing”-he says. We waited for some time outside the park while he took some photographs.

Suddenly, I spotted a fishing boat starting off and heading straight for the opposite bank.

Something was fishy indeed! A fishing boat at night, going straight for the opposite bank, that too during high tide. Hope it didn’t capsize.

Anuraag and Siddharth had to go home as their parents were worried. “We’ve got to go..” – they said. I nodded and waved them goodbye.

I looked at my watch. Gosh, it was 9:30 already! I took the other route- showing Srijan the front side of the Gunpowder House, the Park Guest House and then I raced down the main road at top speed back to home. We got a good hearing for sneaking out at night. 

At the dinner table, Dad reminded me that there were incidents of robbery near the riverside area. The robbers used to come by boat as the Riverside Park was unguarded. Recently, nothing as such had happened yet he told us to be careful and avoid going out during the lockdown. We nodded and ate our dinner rather quickly and hurried upstairs to my room.

Those men we saw back in the Phansi Ghar, they weren’t drinking. Which called upon the most basic question- What on earth were they doing there? Secondly, the fourth man was searching for something which he apparently didn’t find. What was he searching for? Where did they all disappear? And last, that fishing boat starting off from here when Srijan was taking photographs?

Did they all point to something, by any chance?

“Dada, something’s bothering you?”- Srijan asked.

“No, nothing as such. I was just thinking what that man was searching for, when the other three fled away. By the way, show me the photographs you took.”- I answered. 

Hopeless! None of the pictures were clear enough due to the low light, but I could just make out the boat in one of the pics. “Dada, I’m tired. I am heading off to my room. Tomorrow early morning, we can have another visit there and have a look, right?”- Srijan asked. I nodded and within a couple of minutes, I went to sleep too.

Next morning, I and Srijan sneaked out again. This time, I let him cycle while I sat in the backseat. I showed him our school, and told him about it’s picturesque location near the Ganges. I also told him about the fact that our Games Room housed the office of Governor-General Lord Cornwallis during his tenure at Ishapore. 

Srijan nodded and turned back towards me saying-“This place has seen a lot in the course of history. It’s fascinating.” Srijan remembered the routes pretty well, and I didn’t have to take the trouble of navigating the way.

We parked the bicycle outside the Phansi Ghar and looked around if someone was there already. No one... Everything was so quiet-just the rustling of leaves under our feet and the chirping of birds.

We separated out and searched for that “something” the fourth man was looking for. There was nothing as such, mostly dry leaves lying here and there. 

Quite by chance, a little further from the Phansi Ghar, my eyes fell on a piece of paper folded in half, stuck in a bush. I picked it up and took a quick glance. It seemed like a grocery list of sorts. I keep it in my pocket. We searched for a few minutes more, but found nothing else.

The sun was up, so we didn't waste much time and returned home. After eating breakfast, I tried to think what could be so important about this piece of paper. It seemed like a grocery bill with strange marks and points which made absolutely no sense.

I gave up after some time. Most likely, it was nothing to bother about, and I went downstairs and started helping in the household work. 

While dusting off things and stacking them in order, I got a Whatsapp message from Anuraag. “Let’s go for morning walks from tomorrow. No use sitting at home. We’ll call Siddharth too.” – it read. “Okay” was my instant reply.

That evening, I spent a little time fiddling with the chit of paper I found today. It was just a mess, line marks here and there which meant nothing. And, what were those numbers 50, 50 and 30 for? Irritated, I just put it into the drawer and simply tried to forget, which I eventually did after a couple of matches of Counter Strike with Srijan.

The next morning brought news of more infected cases and deaths. Boy, the situation is aggravating like anything- I wondered. 

The next few days were highly uneventful, barring the morning walks the four of us took. It became so impossible to stay at home that I and Srijan started going for evening walks too!

Until one evening…

                                                              --------X---------

Stay tuned for the next part, which will arrive shortly.