The two days pass by quickly enough,
and 5th April arrived…
It’s the morning of 5th
April. We’ll have to be very careful not to get caught by those men. There’s a
possibility that they could bring arms, but will they? That would invite big
trouble to them as The Park is a defence colony. Still all four of us plan to
bring sticks, bats whatever- just in case we need them. We also keep a torch,
which could be handy in case we are unable to use our phones.
Who knows what danger lied ahead
for the four of us, and what mystery would be unfolded tonight at the Gunpowder
House. Yet we were determined to see the end of it and know what those men were
after.
Time crawls past like a tired snail
for the rest of the morning. Evening finally arrives, and the sun starts
sinking…. The sky is getting darker…Our anxiety increases as well. I do a
conference call with Anuraag and Siddharth, and tell them to keep their cycles
near our school, so that they are not seen. We would meet there at 8:00 P.M.
At around 8:00 P.M., I and Srijan
arrive near the school. I look at my watch worriedly. Anuraag and Siddharth
hadn’t arrived by then. But no, there they were- racing down at top speed!!
We hide our cycles near the open
ground outside the school and walk briskly towards the Gunpowder House. By any
means, we have to reach before those men, so that we can hide appropriately.
The Park Guest House is only a 2 minutes’ walk from the school, and on reaching
there, we have a quick glance at the annex of the Gunpowder House.
Not a soul in sight. The place is
dark, sinister and super-quiet as usual. I tell Anuraag to go to the Riverside
Park first and wait for the men to arrive. Then he would text us about which of
the two routes they were coming from and he would take the other route to the
Gunpowder House and join us.
We wish him luck and part ways.
After reaching the premises of the Gunpowder House, we scan the area and it
seems nobody was there before us. I close the backyard gate behind me carefully.
I hide besides the Phansi Ghar, while Siddharth positions
himself near the conical warehouse used for storing gunpowder. Srijan lies in
the open lawn just behind the Gunpowder House, and scatters some leaves near
him. I check my inbox, if there’s any message from Anuraag, making sure that
the screen’s brightness is low enough. I only hope Anuraag is safe there.
Fifteen minutes pass… Fifteen
awfully long minutes… mosquitoes were biting and we start doubting if those men
would ever come back. Suddenly a beep sound. I open my cellphone and read the
message from Anuraag.
“Two boats approaching the Riverside… ”
And within a couple of minutes,
another series of messages from Anuraag.
“Boats arrived…”
“Five men taking left turn towards GPH…”
“Be careful… I am on my way.”
“Hurry
up, man.”- I reply.
I whistle and signal Srijan and Siddharth to be ready.
Gosh! We better get ready… They
would be there anytime soon… I look up at the night sky… In the dim moonlight, I
wonder what would happen tonight at 9 P.M.
For a split second, I get an eerie
feeling that someone just entered the backyard. I’m alerted by, I don’t know, a
dry leaf getting crushed or maybe just a change in the air currents. I close my
eyes and listen carefully. I feel a slight shift in the rather rhythmic sounds
accompanying the area. Quick footsteps follow and I distinctly hear the sound
of dry leaves getting crushed. The sound stops and then it’s all quiet. Very
quiet…
Thoughts race down my mind… So they
didn’t use the backyard gate and instead came from the front side! But there
Srijan was hidden, and with the least amount of cover. Anuraag had told that
the men were coming from the backside, so why the sound from the lawn?
Unless, unless someone else was
behind this too!
Shit! I hope Srijan doesn’t get
caught. Then in a minute, a loud creaking sound makes me nearly jump and drop
my torch. The men had arrived!
So what was that noise before?
Doesn’t matter now, ‘cause we can’t just escape now.
I quietly crouch further into the
dense bushes and hide myself well. The men take some steps, turn right and then
enter the annex of the Gunpowder House. I can barely make out their location as
they were using low intensity torches. Again, the same scraping sound I and
Srijan heard few days back.
All of a sudden, baring few street
lights everything blacks out. I check my watch. It’s 9 P.M. sharp. Complete
darkness… I think of turning the torch on, but that could make matters worse so
I abandon that idea. I strain my eyes to see what was happening, but nothing
except the occasional scraping and hammering sound could be heard.
Suddenly, the sound stops… And there’s complete
silence. A dim light remains fixated on the last arch of the annex.
Out of curiosity, I move a couple
of feet forward. I could hear whispers in fast succession.
“Mil gaya!”- Someone exclaims and then a series of “Ssh” sounds.
I got puzzled. I couldn’t take it
anymore, so I crawl on the ground and start moving towards the sound. Only a
shovel doesn’t knock me off!!-I hope. Suddenly I hear crumbling of leaves ...They
were dead close to me! In the faint moonlight, I see two shadowy figures cross
me and take the left turn.
Oh my God! My face turns pale when
I realize that’s exactly where Srijan was hiding!
A loud thud, and then lots of
sounds and shrieks started. Sensing something was wrong, I and Siddharth rush
towards Srijan’s hiding spot with our flashlights on. Through the stream of light,
I see Srijan and a thin man next to him getting up from his fall.
Impulsively, I shout-“Catch him
guys!! Don’t let him escape at any cost!” Out of nowhere, the bright light
brings Anuraag in the field of view. He smacks a punch to the man and the man
tumbles down again. Anuraag rushes and holds him again. Both engage in a
fist-fight near the front gate.
At the same time, Siddharth
shouts-“Hey, they are escaping from there!”
I turn and focus my torch to where
Siddharth was pointing, and see the silhouettes of four men getting away from
the backyard gate. I make a dash for them, but three of them had already gone
outside. As bad luck would have it, the last man trips over something and falls
down. I jump over him and pin him down. In the meantime Siddharth and Srijan
arrive, and we manage to hold him firmly from escaping.
“It’s no use, the man got away.”-Anuraag says,
running short of breath. We surround the man and ask him what he and his group
were doing in a defence area. He trembled, and begged to leave him. He says-“Babu, hame jane do. Hamne kuch nahi kiya…”
I cut him off and ask-“Whom do you
work for? Jaldi bolo nahi to security aur police ko bulayenge.”
He shakily says-“Babu, ham boss ko kabhi nahi dekhe. Hame
unke ek assistant ne order diya tha ki yaha kuch important chiz khojkar Boss ke
pas lekar jana hain. Lekin mujhe jane dijiye, hamne kuch nahi kiya. Police mat
bulaiye...”
We take him near the annex, and ask
him to answer our questions fast.
“Aur yaha kya kar rahe the?”- I ask.
The man seems to have calmed down a
bit. He replies-“Iske pehle bhi aap logo
ne hame dekha tha. Us din bhi ham log ek box dhund rahe the. Tab pata nahi tha,
yeh upar mein chupa hua tha.”- pointing towards the arch, which was now
partly broken.
“Pehle ham logo ne zameen mein khoda tha. Badme pata chala ki zameen
mein nahi, shayad wo upar mein tha. Aaj assistant ne hame upar khojne ke liye
bola. Shayd usko malum tha ki box upar tha.”
“What’s in the box and where is it?”-
I ask impatiently.
The man said that he had no idea
about it’s contents as he had handed over the small box to the assistant, who
had fled away.
Anuraag recollects that he saw
something drop from the man’s hand when he was trying to catch hold of him. He
exclaims-“I think the box fell somewhere near the front gate when he was
fighting me. Let’s have a look.”
We take the man near the front gate
and all of us scout the area. Soon enough, we see a dusty box lying over some
bushes.
Anuraag picks it up and tries to
break it open, but it doesn’t. I warn him not to do so because whatever in it
could get damaged. He agrees, and we quickly decide to open it at home.
As for the man we caught, he seemed
innocent. We got the box. And calling the security would compel us to answer
lots of unwanted questions as we were roaming around too during the lockdown. Anuraag
tells me to leave him. I nod. We let him go, and he runs for dear life.
We briskly walk to the Riverside
Park, but there were no boats to be seen. They had all fled, and the last man
must have hidden himself somewhere in the colony.
On the way, I ask Anuraag how and
when he came back. He laughs and says-“I came from the front side, and there were
lots of bushes and dry leaves while I was trying to reach inside. I thought I
almost blew my cover. I only got to know that the men had arrived when there
was that creaking sound from the backside. And some time later, I heard Srijan
cry for help... That’s when I saw one of the men hurtling towards me. I tried my
best to catch hold of him. I punched him straight in the face and I thought he
was done for. I tried to hold him down but he managed to slip away.”
So that cleared it. I ask Srijan if
he was hurt. He only giggled and said-“Dada, it was great fun! I should be
awarded the M.V.P!”
We reach at home. And our faces
flush with excitement and exhilaration, to see the treasure inside. “Come
in, let’s break open the box now…I am bringing a tool or two from the garage.”
Anuraag says-“Whatever in it would
be priceless, I hope…”
“Less talk and more action!” I
burst out. “Just give it a whack and see.”
Srijan, Anuraag and Siddharth wait
in the living room while I bring a wrench. Without much effort, Anuraag breaks open the
box but to his dismay, it seems just a tarnished gold ring at first sight with
a tear-drop stone shaped over it.
Anuraag passes the ring to Srijan
and Siddharth. They have a quick look before passing it on to me. I polish the
ring and look at it through various angles.
The
ring was pretty heavy. It was beautifully crafted, with minute details all
across. It was an excellent example of fine craftsmanship, and the tear-drop
stone was covered with a two-layer design pattern all across it.
I notice a reddish tint on the
tear-drop stone. I toss the ring up in the air and catch it. It makes a
beautiful crimson arc halfway into it’s flight.
“No Anuraag, don’t be disappointed. This ring
is indeed special. Have a look again.”- I say, beaming with excitement.
I bring a steel knife and before
anyone is able to say anything, I try to scratch the tear-drop with it.
They
feel relieved on seeing that I hadn’t cut my finger. I tell everyone to have a
look at the ring.
“Not even a mark!”- Siddharth
exclaims.
“Yes, exactly. It is probably a
gemstone.”- I reply.
I draw out the sharp edge of the
knife across the tear-drop and scratch it again.
The ring fills the room with an
intense crimson colour and a red glow. It was as if the stone had come back to
life. I toss the ring up and all of us try to catch it, laughing our hearts
out. We finally succeeded!!
Dad comes on hearing the commotion
in the living room. He remains spellbound for a moment, then he takes the ring
and examines it carefully. Mom arrives too, and being excited to know the story
she brings some snacks and cold drinks for us and sits down to listen.
Dad asks all of us to sit down and
explain everything. He calls up Anuraag’s and Siddharth’s parents and tells
them not to worry about them as they were here.
“Where did you get this ring from? And this is
...it is probably ruby…a very rare one..”- pointing to the tear-drop.
We take turns explaining the
various events briefly, me adding some points when something’s left out.
Mom scolds me for risking our lives
in this adventure by not informing her and for taking my cousin Srijan.
“But all’s well that ends well,
isn’t it?”- Srijan comes to my rescue. “And it was great fun! I will never
forget this summer.”
“Well done kids!! Hmmm…But it hasn’t ended yet. Although you
all found this beautiful ring, this is Government Property, and we can’t keep
it. So let the right people handle this matter. I’ll call up Mr. Roy and the
police and inform them about this discovery so that they can take appropriate
actions”- saying this, Dad hands me the ring and goes outside to call Uncle
Roy.
“Dada, this looks so much like the Soul Stone.
And just when we find it, we have to hand it over. This is bad.”-Srijan
exclaims.
“Yeah, kudos to you. We wouldn’t
have found this if it were not for you.”- I say, realizing that our week-long
adventure was finally coming to an end.
“Mr. Roy will come tomorrow along
with the police. Please come to see the end of this adventure you all pulled
off, Siddharth and Anuraag.”- Dad says.
It’s already 11 P.M… I bid Anuraag
and Siddharth goodnight and tell them to come tomorrow in the morning. Back at
home, I spend the night explaining to Dad about various questions and doubts
regarding our adventure.
Next day, everything was full of
activity. Anuraag and Siddharth had already arrived. We were discussing about
various games, the online classes and just random stuff.
Uncle Roy, along with a policeman from the
local police station and one of his colleague from the Archaeological Survey
came at about 10. Uncle Roy has a quick chat with Dad, before meeting us.
Uncle Roy asks us-“Great job, the
four of you! It was a pleasant surprise to know that you found something I
couldn’t during my research over here. I always had an apprehension that there
are important historical artifacts and stuff hidden in and around the colony,
and of course- The Gunpowder House. Now then, before you explain your story, I
would like to have a look at the ring first.”
We hand over the ever glowing ring
to Uncle Roy. It takes him some time to register this surprise, before he asks
us to explain about our little adventure.
“Tuhin, I’m impatient to hear about
the entire adventure. Please go on..”
I take the lead in setting up the
atmosphere and explaining the turn of events.
As soon as I mention the word
“chit”, Srijan jumps up and exclaims-
“But Dada, that was just a grocery
bill!”
“Not just an ordinary bill…It had
lines and numberings all over it. It took me some time to deduce it, but I
finally succeeded. Have a look.”- I pause, showing the chit to Uncle Roy.
“Those three numbers 50, 30 and 50,”
pointing to the three numbers, “actually represent the approximate footsteps
denoting the distances from the annex to the three gates. That cross probably means
the gate is locked. That rectangular block is basically the annex.”
“And where exactly did you find
it?”- Uncle Roy asks.
“During our second encounter, I saw
a torch light hovering over the upper portions of the annex. Next day, I took
multiple photographs of the annex from various angles. I had a hunch that there
was something fishy about the annex.
Think about it. After all, when
there are poisonous snakes around, and you don’t want to come across one of
them, you should probably use the torch to check the ground near you.
So while I was scrolling through
the photographs, one of them caught my attention.” – And then I show the
photographs.
Everyone crowds around me, and
looks at the pictures.
“If you observe carefully, all the
arches in the annex have perfect symmetry except for the last one. It seemed as
if the arch covered with a secondary layer of bricks. This was the back side
view. When I went in through it and came out on the front side, I saw the
narrow pathway leading to the front gate.
And, some portion of the arch was
broken on the front side.”- I say.
“You didn’t tell us this, bro.”- I
hear Anuraag and Siddharth murmur.
“So that accounts for the place.
But as soon as you knew about this, why didn’t you dig out the ring before
them? Why wait for them and risk your lives?”- Uncle Roy asks.
“Well, we had the least idea of
what they were upto. And since we were more interested in finding out what happened,
we thought to hold back and watch.”- I reply.
“And what about the D’day? How did
you deduce the fact that were coming on 5th April?”- Uncle Roy asks
grimly.
“During our second encounter, I and Srijan
heard the man speaking to someone. He said something like- Ha saab, jagah
mark kar liye hain. Park wale to ghar mein
… diya jalainge…...
Judging by the words he spoke, it
seemed as if he was a marksman. So in a way, I was relieved. That we still had
one last shot at finding out what they were searching for.
Regarding the date when they would
arrive, I didn’t do anything much. That night, during dinner I watched the
news. That’s when I heard about switching off all lights on 5th
April and lighting diyas, candles etc.
It made sense that 5th
April was the best chance to sneak into the sinister place again.”- I reply.
“Sure it makes sense”, Uncle Roy
agrees. “That was smart of you to guess this.”
I take a glass of water and then resume
explaining the rest.
Just
as I finish, the police officer immediately asks me regarding those men.
“How
did they know about the ring? Who were they working for?”
Everyone
looks at me, but I put my head down in disappointment.
Uncle
Roy shares his thoughts-“Probably these guys are hired persons and their boss must be some antique
dealer or smuggler. It’s about a decade back when I was doing research on this
place… I did receive many calls enquiring about the reason of selecting this place.
Even I got a call from Mr. Subhash Kapoor- a renowned international antique dealer. I am pretty sure that the boss
of this gang must be an antique dealer. I suppose you boys have done a
wonderful work. Its now upto the Police Dept. to find out further truth.”
The
Police Officer nodded…… “Yeah, we will do that.”
“Uncle,
apart from the gemstone, is there anything unique about the ring, or let’s say-
it’s origin?”-Asks Siddharth.
“Just
look at the ring carefully…” - Uncle Roy replies calmly, while minutely
brushing the ring.
“I
can guess. See, the ring has two motifs sort of, just supporting the stone on
both the sides.
It symbolizes the head of a tiger.”-says the ASI Officer and
continues.
“Mr. Roy, you may recollect that in 2014, a gold ring was auctioned in
London and was sold ten times more than the estimate. The ring belonged to Tipu
Sultan and it was inscribed with the name of the Hindu God ‘RAM’ in Devnagari
script. This ring also has similar motifs of tiger head just beside the gems.”
“You
mean…You mean to say, this ring belonged to Tipu Sultan!”- says Uncle Roy,
exclaiming.
“But
then how did it come to Ishapore from Mysore?” asks Anuraag in utter surprise.
“I
guess, on defeating Tipu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore War… Lord Cornwallis and his East India
Company received huge sum of wealth and money, as per the Treaty of Srirangpatnam
as a War cost settlement in 1792, mostly in the form of gems and jewellery.
Few
of them were kept by Lord Cornwallis as personal treasures- a symbol of his big
victory in India. You all know that Lord Cornwallis had an office here at
Ishapore just 100 meters from the place where this ring was found.
As it was
his personal treasure, he probably carried it with him most of the time. And
obviously, he wouldn’t hide his prized treasures himself for no reason. So that
leaves behind one option.. That his close associates, or persons working under
him had stolen it. If not stolen, they might have got it in a misplaced
condition. Nevertheless, the British were ruthless, and the consequences could
be terrible.
Therefore, the ring was safely hidden somewhere that dint attract
much attention- The Gunpowder House.
But
whoever hid it, didn’t dare to retrieve it due to fear of being caught. But the
story must have been passed on, generations after generation about something
being hidden there.
And
perhaps, this story was heard by many, including artifact collectors.”-says
Uncle Roy.
“Yes,
that seems the most logical explanation.”- nods the ASI officer.
After
our hour- long interactive conversation, we eat the tasty snacks that Mom had
made. Time to time we look at the ring again, and marvel at it’s intricate
design and the ever-glowing ruby.
“Uncle,
wouldn’t this ring fetch a handsome amount of money?”-Srijan asks curiously.
“See
Srijan, money is not everything that matters. It’s more about the history the
ring carries with itself. Imagine it being a ray of hope for Tipu Sultan during
his brave battles. India has a rich history, and this is a small part of it.”-
Uncle replies.
“And
the tear drop, it’s made of ruby, right?”- Anuraag asks.
“Most
likely, it is ruby…Look at how it shines, even after two hundred years. Two
hundred years, and it still dazzles with that red glow…”
The
police officer looks at his watch and says-“Mr.Roy, I think it’s getting late.
We should visit the site now.”
Uncle
Roy replies hastily-“Oh yes, yes. I totally forgot about the time. Tuhin, I
think we must get going.”
“Uncle,
should we accompany you?”- I ask.
“Relax, you all have done a lot
already. I’m well acquainted of the Gunpowder House. And by the way, you
explained it so well, I won’t have any trouble at all. You guys had a rough night
yesterday. You should rather have some rest. We will manage everything. And
don’t forget, the lockdown is still going on!”- Uncle says with a hearty laugh.
We laugh too, and Srijan giggles.
“So goodbye boys, for now!”- He
says, moving towards the car.
Before
getting into the car, Uncle Roy turns and tells us-
“Well done boys! And Srijan,
a remarkable feat you pulled off! You know, Tuhin, the colony you are living in
right now- that itself is more than two centuries old. Even this bungalow is
115 years old. You never know, you might find something historically invaluable
right over the ground you stand now. So next time, I’m counting on you guys to
find something interesting again…”
The car zooms ahead, and we watch
it take the left turn towards the Gunpowder House. To the place where we pulled
off an amazing adventure and one we won’t forget anytime soon.
Eventually, the four of us get over
it. We learn to keep ourselves busy at home. And playing CSGO occasionally. We
stay at home, have video calls and have fun recollecting how accidentally we
found the ring. We nearly forgot we were in lockdown!!
------X-----
Special thanks to my college buddy Sourashis who supported me!
Thanks for reading the entire story. I am very excited about this story and I hope whoever reads it likes it too. Please comment, so that I get your most precious thoughts and valuable suggestions on this story.
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