Caputo Effect

Laila was a woman who loved antiquities. Her tony Gurgaon apartment was filled with vintage items, from furniture to decorative items. She would often visit garage sales and flea markets over the weekends in search of unique finds.

One sunny Saturday morning, Laila was browsing through the usual handicraft junk in Banjara Market when she spotted an old, ornate mirror tucked away in the corner. Laila couldn't resist the temptation and asked the seller for the price.

"2000 Rupees Madam," said the old gypsy. Laila hesitated for a moment- the price seemed unbelievably low. Her trained eyes could make out that it was a genuine antique, from the way the lead was coated on it and the imperfections at the edges. She decided to buy it anyhow and handed the seller the cash.

Once Laila got the mirror home, she placed it in her bedroom, where it reflected the sunlight and brightened up the entire room. Laila was so pleased with her purchase that she decided to snap a picture of it and post it on Instagram.

As she looked at the photo she had just taken, she noticed something strange. Her reflection looked different. Her hair was styled differently, and her makeup was more dramatic than she remembered. She shrugged it off, thinking it must have been a trick of the light.

Days went by, and Laila couldn't help but notice that her reflection in the mirror seemed to change every time she looked at it. Laila became more and more fascinated with the mirror, and she started looking at it for longer periods each day.

One evening, as Laila was getting ready to go out, she stood in front of the mirror, admiring her outfit. As she looked at her reflection, she noticed that her eyes were a different colon. They were a bright blue, instead of her usual brown. Laila was taken aback by the change, but she couldn't help but admire the beauty of her new eyes. She decided to wear blue contacts to match her reflection and headed out to meet her friends.

When Laila got home that night, she couldn't wait to take off her contacts and relax in front of the mirror. As she looked at her reflection, she noticed that her eyes were still blue, even though she had taken out her contacts. She had never experienced anything like this before, and she didn't know what to do.

Laila started to avoid the mirror, but she couldn't resist the temptation to look at it every once in a while. She was fascinated by the changes that she saw in her reflection, even though they scared her.

One night, as Laila was getting ready for bed, she looked into the mirror and saw her reflection looking back at her, but it wasn't her reflection. It was someone else's face, a face that she didn't recognize. Laila was terrified. She turned away from the mirror and ran to her bed, trying to calm down.

The next morning, Laila woke up to find that her reflection in the mirror was still the same. She couldn't shake off the feeling that someone else was looking back at her, and it made her uneasy.

She brought down the mirror and carefully examined it. There was a small brass plate behind it riveted to the frame. She had somehow missed it the last time- probably because it was blackened with age. She got some dishwash powder and scrubbed the plate. It said in an archaic English font “Kethrali State, 1917”

Laila was intrigued. She Googled “Kethrali State” and discovered that it had been a tiny princely state somewhere in Southern Rajasthan during the British Raj. Apparently in 1920, the entire Royal family had been found mysteriously dead in their mansion. There had been no signs of scuffle, injury or any other unnatural causes. What intrigued her was the 14 year old Princess Roopmati, the daughter of the Raja and his third wife, who was a European. Neither the princess nor her body were ever found. The British Police Superintendent had apparently closed the case after hitting a dead end even after 2 years of investigations.

Laila's research only fuelled her curiosity about the mirror. She became obsessed with it, spending hours every day staring at her ever-changing reflections. As the days went on, Laila started to notice something even stranger. Her reflections seemed to be interacting with her. Sometimes her reflection would smile back at her when she smiled, or nod when she nodded. It was as if there was a sentient being on the other side of the mirror, mimicking her every move.

She now just couldn't resist the lure of the mirror, despite its dangers. She started spending more and more time in front of it, talking to her reflection and trying to understand what was happening. But as Laila continued to experiment with the mirror, she realized that its power was not without consequences. Every time she used it, she felt weaker and more drained. Her body seemed to be aging at a rapid pace, and she knew that she was playing with fire.

Laila tried to stay away from the mirror, but it was too late -- she couldn't resist its pull. One night, as she was staring into the mirror, she felt a sudden pain in her chest. She looked down and saw that her body was covered in wrinkles, her skin sagging and old.

As her vision faded, Laila saw something move in the reflection. The blurred face had changed to that of a young girl- dressed in an old fashioned traditional dress, hands reaching out towards her, beckoning her to come closer and then, everything went dark.

 “Wake up Laila! Wake up!” said a distant voice. Laila groggily opened her eyes. She was in some kind of hospital. The worried face of Alisha, her best friend looked down upon her. “What happened to me? Where am I?” said Laila.

“You are in the hospital” said Alisha. “When you didn’t pick up your phone for a whole day I came looking for you. I found you lying semi-conscious babbling about some Princess or something…..”.

“What is the matter with me Doctor?” asked Laila to the Doctor attending her. “It is baffling – all your parameters are normal, but I’m writing out a referral to the Psychiatrist just to be on the safe side, considering the fact that your friend told me you were in a strange state when she found you” said the Doctor.

Dr Sawant, the psychiatrist heard Laila out patiently about all that she had to say –including her encounters with the old mirror. “It seems to be a case of the Caputo effect” declared the old bespectacled shrink. “If you keep staring at a mirror in dim light it leads to bizarre illusions. Your face warps, turns into something else.”

Seeing Laila’s stricken face he continued in a kind tone “Don’t worry. I’m writing down some meds for you. You should be fine in a while. Just eat well and sleep well…and yes, avoid that mirror for a while.”

Alisha dropped her off to her apartment. “Laila, do you want me to stay?” she asked in a worried tone.

“No Alisha, I’m fine. Just need a good night’s sleep. Thank you for everything anyways” replied Laila hugging Alisha and then waved her goodbye.

She switched on the lights and decided to hit the bed right away. It had been a long and traumatic day. But before finally retiring for the night, curiosity got the better of her and she decided to look into the mirror once. She looked at the mirror in the corner.

Her heart leapt!! 

The reflection in the figure was not her again. “I must be hallucinating—what did he call it—Caputo Effect” she thought. “I must get rid of this mirror first thing tomorrow” she muttered to herself and switched off the light and turned towards her bed.

She heard a low voice from behind her in a thick Rajasthani accent - it sounded like that of a young girl-- “They didn’t believe me either…and called me mad!!”

Alisha had to get the police to break down the door of Laila flat, which was bolted from the inside, when her friend did not respond to any of her calls for two days nor did she respond to the banging of the door for over one hour. Surprisingly, everything was absolutely placid inside the house, but Laila was nowhere to be seen. Finally Alisha and the cops decided to leave. As she was switching off the lights, Alisha noticed the old mirror on one corner of the bedroom.

She instinctively tried to straighten her hair – but froze – why did her reflection look like Laila? She disbelievingly rubbed her eyes and looked again- it was very much her own face looking back this time. She shrugged and quickly switched off the lights and went out of the house as the policeman secured the door with a seal.