RADHA KA DHABA

''Wo Besudh Hokar Naach Rahi Thi'' exclaimed Sanjeev. On the Outskirts of Purulia (West Bengal) stands a Dilapidated dhaba outside a haunted railway station (Begunkodor). It was past 11'o clock in the night, Sanjeev along with his father were returning from the nearby town after selling their crops. The yield was not much so the income was a meager 3000 Rs with which they have to sustain the coming months in addition to buying of manure, seeds & fertilizers for the next harvest season.

Sanjeev's father Murari, stepped inside and asked for some water. A shrill voice greeted them & asked if they want something to eat. Sanjeev was hungry so he ordered some dal rice with boiled potato.

Suddenly Sanjeev saw a middle aged lady with a red saari drooling over and asking ''Aar kichu Lagbe babu'' (Do you want anything else). She was Radha, the owner of this eatery, her eyes were red as if she hasn't slept for nights. Sanjeev said ''Naa" & started having his meal.

Very few people came to this dhaba because it's believed that Radha is a witch & peculiar incidents were reported in and around the eatery in the last few years.

After finishing his meal, Sanjeev stood up to wash his hands but to his surprise, Radha was nowhere, it was a very dark outside and a dim yellow light flickered inside the dhaba. Sanjeev's father insisted Sanjeev to leave immediately, but Sanjeev wanted to pay for his food so he started waking towards the backyard, he can see a red hue from a distance.

Sanjeev removed the torn curtains & kept on walking, as if something was pulling him, Sanjeev's father kept on shouting, Udhar mat jao, but his voice faded away after a while.

Sanjeev, reached the backyard, and saw a well, around which there was a cot and Radha was dancing on top of that, Sanjeev was bemused seeing Radha. There was a single lantern around the well, fireflies hovering around Radha & she was dancing wildly, the rage she had in her eyes was horrifying.

All of a sudden, to my horror, She jumped into the well, my eyes popped out and a scream came out, AEIIIIIII ......

To my surprise, no splash sound was heard nor I could hear Radha's cry.

I peeped inside the well, it was very dark, but I could see some moving images. Suddenly I felt a push, and before I could react, I was falling deep inside the well.

A sudden stroke woke me up, but as soon as I opened my eyes, I screamed in horror, to see the face of that man. He had 3 noses & one eye in the middle, as if a beast straight from some fairy tale, Sanjeev remembers his grandma telling all kind of fairy tale stories in his childhood.

The man said ''Daro mat, yahan sab aise hi hain, tum yahan naye lagte ho, yeh Raja Yudhamanyu ki Rajdhani, panchal Desh Hai''.

The man said, his name is Bheema & that he is the son of the priest. I stood up & to my astonishment, I didn't believe what my eyes saw, A kingdom full of people with deformities. Some had their ears on the back of their head, a tongue hanging from the forehead, fingers in place of ears & the weirdest of all, a man with 6 vertically aligned eyes without neck. It was absolutely terrifying.

Bheema took me to his house & said, it's a curse of the queen which made them look like demons. Bheema said not to step out from the house as he can get into trouble. After some time, Bheema returned with a girl, and to my surprise, she was Radha, Bheema said she was his sister and the queen wanted to kill her because maharaj yudhmanyu wanted to marry Radha owing to her splendid beauty.

Radha was the ''Raajnartaki'' in maharaj Yudhmanyu's darbaar but she was thrown out by the queen after she came to know about Maharaj's intentions.

Radha was also a warrior, trained in sword fighting & Archery. She alone fought 10 dacoits whom the queen has sent to kill her.

I asked how come, Radha was looking normal & if the curse didn't affect her.

Radha smiled and pointed towards a man coming from a hideout bunker located below the house, Bheema bowed down with respect, & I came to know the man was Maharaj Yudhmanyu. Maharaj welcomed me to his kingdom & showed me a crystal necklace wrapped around Radha's neck to be her saviour from the curse. he also stated, that the queen was a merciless witch who killed all people loyal to him & wants to kill Radha at any cost. Maharaj Yudhmanyu also stated that Bheema's father (the priest) has told him once that a man from future will come & will be responsible for Queens death.

The Queen can only be killed if her hair is burnt to ashes & the ashes is to be consumed by me mixed with the water of a well situated inside the courtyard.

I was feeling, like I am not just watching a fairy tale but living it.

Sanjeev has learnt a lot about fertilizers and he had ammonium nitrate in his pocket which he bought during his last visit to the town.

After hearing that the plght of the merciless queen is in his hands, Sanjeev decided to plan for the kill. The Queen was extremely fond of his hair & she had 3 specific daasis taking care of her hair & coincidentally one of the daasi Vasantsena was in love with Bheema. She would be given specific instructions from Bheema to inform the queens whereabouts & also to allow a safe passage to Radha from where where she can shoot the arrow. Also vasantsena is to be advised that no one except the queen should be there at that time as the explosion could harm them as well.

Sanjeev Handed over the ammonium Nitrate to Radha & asked to smear the tip of the arrow with its paste & when the Queen would lay her hair down on the smoke emerging from the charcoal, aim at the charcoal from a long distance which would cause an explosion that will burn Queens hair to ashes.

Everything was planned but all of a sudden, the Queens soldiers came rushing into Bheema's house & a fierce battle raged. Maharaj Yudhamanyu & Bheema fought hard to save Radha but they were too many & Radha was captured & taken to the queen.

The Queen ordered Radha to be burnt alive. Before Maharaj or Bheema could arrive, Radha was set on fire by the queens soldiers, Radha tied the ammonium powder on her necklace & started running fiercely towards the queen, with fire engulfing her lower body it was a sight that nobody could forget. The soldiers dared not stop her as the fire blazed all throughout her body. She jumped & hugged the queen and a loud explosion filled the air with smoke. It was Radha's unconditional & undying love for Maharaj Yudhmanyu that she had the power in her burning legs to reach the queen.

Maharaj Yudhmanyu, Bheema & me reached the palace only to see burnt flesh & ashes. As instructed, I took the ashes in my hand & as I turned around to get water, I saw the same well into which I had fallen earlier. I took some water from the well & gulped the ashes. I saw the queen's remaining body turned into a corpse & then vanished in the air.

All of a sudden, I again felt a push & I was again falling into the well. When I woke up, I saw my father, smiling at me and asking, ''Kahan Chala Gaya tha''

I smiled & told, ''Ek adhuri kahani ko poora karne par nahi kar paaya''.

To this date, every night, Radha still dances in the Dhaba & waits for his Maharaja.