His Last Wish 3

Chapter 3

BIMLA

Satish was frightened in the beginning ... Where did the man go? What was happening? Why everyone is playing prank like this? He was very tired plus these incidents irritated him a lot. Anyway, he walked for a minute and came in front of his house. Yes, this was the place where he was born. So many memories flashed in front of his eyes. The childhood that was spent here was really beautiful.

Every day he would wake up early at 4 and go to the field with his brother after having tea and puffed rice. In those days, there was no system of having a toilet in the house so they had to go out to the field. Then they would come back and have breakfast. Then at 7 am, they would go to the village primary school, come back, have lunch and go out to play. At night, they would study, then have dinner and sleep.

The playing time was so much fun. Often they would run into other people's farm and steal mangoes, guavas and other fruits and eat. So many times they would get caught and get beaten up by dad. He still remembered that the moment they heard the other farmers coming they would go and stand in the dustbin so that father does not touch them. " Naughty kids... someday when I will not be there you will realise your mistakes", said dad.

Emotions overpower the human mind so deeply sometimes. As he looked up at the house, he saw it was just as he saw it when he left. Tears rolled down his eyes. Time flies so fast but some things are forever like this house. He started walking towards his house when he heard a loud sound... he felt as if something which was about to hit him landed right beside him as if attempted to hit him. The loud howling of wild dogs coupled with the screeching sound made by an owl made him skip a beat. He took out his mobile and unlocked it. The screen lit up to show that it was 11 at night.

He switched the mobile torch on and focused the light on the object lying beside him and immediately stepped aside when he almost fell. His eyes popped out in fear... " Huuuh... huuun... he... Hel... pppp", he started running towards the house. He just encountered a human skull.

                         

While he was running he heard a loud voice screaming, " Hoaaaa hooeaahhhhhhehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". He was terrified by the noise made by some beastly creature and fell down and hit his head against the ground. Shaking with fear he focused the light into the darkness again and saw a figure. The face was covered with unkempt hair, clothes were almost torn, the bleeding hands were holding a dead fish partly eaten probably raw, the hands and feet were black and covered with dust. It was a horrible sight. He almost shouted, " Aaaah aa... hah... haaah... h...hhhh". He controlled himself and somehow got up and started banging the door. " Bhaiya ... bhaiya... bhai... Yaaa." Soon someone switched on the light from inside and the door opened. "Are Satish ... what happened? Get inside fast," said his brother.

Suresh was overwhelmed to see Satish and hugged him tightly. He cried for a minute before releasing him. He made Satish sit in their living room. They had bought some new furniture a few years back. Ha sat on a chair. His brother told him that he started going to the city to sell their farm products. He also has started a side poultry farm business. Now they are living a little more comfortably than before. There was electricity now. Soon his wife and daughter came out to greet him.

As Suresh spoke Satish felt a little better. " Tell me ... what is going on in the village? Who was outside when I came?", asked Satish. Suresh and his wife exchanged a glance. Then as if everything was ok Suresh said, " Amm ... see ... you just came... I think you should get some sleep. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

                          

"Talk about what?", asked Satish startled by his brother's reply. " Bhaiya ... please have dinner and sleep. Tomorrow Guddi has to go to pathsala," replied his wife. "Ok ", Satish did not want to bother them much since he understood something was going on and he would soon find out.

                    

The next day, he woke up early and came to have tea. His brother was reading the newspaper. Satish came and sat beside him. The open corridor of his house gave way to the sunlight which lit the house. The entire morning view of village life was seen. Many people were going here and there for work. No pollution and fresh air. It was lovely. The natural beauty especially with the river banks nearby was quite pleasing.

                     

"So, did you sleep well last night?" asked Suresh. " Umm... bhaiya... actually... I wanted to ask you something... in fact, talk about it. I mean," told Satish. He was about to say something else when he heard some noise outside the house. When they looked out, a crowd of people had gathered nearby and they were saying something. The brothers went out and they came near the crowd to find out what was going on. They saw that in the centre was a woman crying very loudly and all the people around were cursing and abusing her.

                       

One of them said, "This cannot go on forever ... how much more will we tolerate? Yesterday again she came... we told you to take her to Kanthi baba... but you won't take her... why are you risking our lives like this... nobody can go out at night because of her. She is possessed... dont you understand, you foolish woman?" The lady was crying her heart out, " Please ... don't do anything to her... she needs treatment .. she is sick not possessed... please help her... Pleeeeese... pleeeese..."

                     

"Listen Sarju... now its crossing limits... this is the last warning... if any more animals go missing from the village then we will have to think of dealing with this situation differently. I hope you understand", said an elderly gentleman. Satish was quietly listening to the whole situation but was not understanding anything. The crowd soon dispersed and they came back too.

                         

"What's going on bhaiya? Please tell me... Why are they torturing that woman? What's wrong, please tell me? Who was that girl I saw last night? Are they talking about her?", said Satish very irritated by what he saw. " Sit down... let's talk", said Suresh. His wife was about to say something when he stopped her. She went inside almost weeping. "Listen Satish... there is something I have to tell you. Do you remember Champa?", said Suresh. A breeze of cold air ran down his spine. Yes! he remembers Champa.

                         

An array of painful thoughts crossed his mind. This was an incident from his childhood. Champa was the daughter of a farmer working near his father s farm. She was a lovely child but once in a while she would start behaving very strangely. She would start shaking, have chills with fever. Whenever she showed these symptoms an animal would disappear from the village.

                    

Some superstitious people thought that she was possessed by evil. Satish's father was very much against superstitions. He was educated and read many books. He knew this girl required treatment and had tried many times to convince her parents to take her to the doctor but all in vain. One day, when Satish and his brother were returning home they saw a crowd gathered around the old banyan tree near the river where Champa was found hanging.

                       

Police got involved but the case was closed saying that Champa committed suicide. This incident had really hurt his father. He had told him, "My son ... when you grow up, do something for these people. Always try to do justice whenever you get a chance." Since the time Satish had stepped into the village he was badly missing his dad. He knew that he always blamed his father for his mother's death but... he was an honest and brave man.

                             

"Yes.. but that was a long time back ... how does ... that relate to this??", asked Satish. After a few seconds silence, Suresh said, "Sarju ... the old lady that you saw has a daughter ... the one whom you saw last night ... is supposed to be possessed by the spirit of Champa."

                        

"What! Are you serious? Possession? Oh ... so now I got it... that girl had some serious mental illness and these people think she is possessed by Champa", Satish almost broke into a giggle but stopped. " Yes, not only that... they have told her mother to do something ... it seems the incident of stealing animals has started again. They are not letting to take her to the doctor and are demanding to show her to a Sadhu living nearby," said his brother.

                           

Suddenly it struck Satish and he asked, " What is her name? ". After another long silence, his brother said, " Bimla".