Aparna Subramanian

Drama

4.8  

Aparna Subramanian

Drama

The Cursed Building

The Cursed Building

7 mins
443


Vikram Ahuja was over the moon. He had just clinched a business deal with an international company. He exported food products to countries all over the world. His wife Aasha was a homemaker. The couple had a son Aniket aged 10 and a daughter Namita aged 7. 

Vikram had two elder brothers and three sisters. He was the youngest child of his parents, Ramakant and Pramila Devi. His parents lived with him in Pune. His siblings were married and settled in different parts of the country. 

Vikram decided to move into a posh locality after he started doing a roaring business.  


One day he came looking very excited. Aasha was preparing dinner for the family. 

He addressed all the members of his family. He said, "I am glad to inform you that I have decided to expand my business. I am going to open a new branch of my company in Mumbai.

We are going to settle there as soon as the kids finish their current academic year in Pune." 

The kids groaned miserably. They did not want to go to Mumbai. No one seemed enthusiastic over his announcement. Vikram was disappointed over the reaction of his family to his decision. He said, "It seems to me that none of you are happy with my decision. I will drop my business plans until I have your approval and support." Aasha saw his facial expressions. She didn't want him to get discouraged. She quickly responded, "Actually, we are so happy for you that we are speechless at the moment. We didn't know how to react when you surprised us with your good news. Please don't get upset over the children's reaction. They are too young to understand the necessity of moving to another city." She looked at her parents-in-law, who nodded in agreement. Vikram was beaming with pride. She turned towards her children. They still appeared to be sullen. She took them aside to mollify their resentment.

She convinced the children that they would be happier in Mumbai. She added, "Don't worry, kids. We are not going anywhere until next year. Maybe your father may drop his plan. Your father works very hard to keep us happy. Don't you think we should support him?" The children gave a weak smile. 

Vikram and his family put aside their differences to enjoy their dinner. 


Next day he received a call from a real estate agent in Mumbai. He told Vikram that he had found a perfect house for his family. The agent had sent him the photographs of the house. He had also mentioned the contact details of the present owner. Vikram called the house owner and held a detailed discussion with him. 

He was delighted when the owner offered to sell his three-bedroom apartment for 50 lakhs instead of 1crore rupees. He immediately told Aasha about the deal. His wife said, "I don't think that we should buy the house. Please investigate if there is any string attached to the shady deal. I don't want us to get into any trouble." Vikram was indignant after hearing her. He retorted sharply, "Don't waste your time in reading useless mystery novels. There is nothing shady about it. Perhaps, the owner wants to sell his house as early as possible to settle abroad. I have made up my mind to buy the house."  

Aasha didn't argue with him. She left the room to help their children with their homework. 

Vikram went to Mumbai and bought the house. 


Vikram and his family shifted to Mumbai after a year. Aasha entered the house. It was quite spacious and well furnished. However, she could feel a negative aura emanating from the apartment. It gave her goosebumps as she went around to inspect the rooms. Nobody liked the house except for Vikram. The building had two elevators with uninterrupted power and water supply.

The family quickly settled down. They got themselves acquainted with their neighbors. A couple of months were quite uneventful. 

Aasha was ready to shed her initial misgivings. Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived. It was their third month of residence in the new house. 

Vikram had a huge setback when the truck carrying his food products overturned near Mumbai-Pune highway. He had incurred a loss of two lakh rupees. This incident shook the entire family. The family had more trouble in store for them. A chain snatcher nicked off Aasha's gold chain after a month. She was on her way to pick the children from their school. 

A series of mishaps followed shortly. 

Vikram's daughter Namita fractured her ankle after she fell from her bicycle. Back to back hospitalization of his parents and son left him wondering about his decision. His ego prevented him from accepting his mistake. Aasha admonished him, "Your hasty decision to buy this house has ended in a disaster. I spoke to Mrs.Joshi, living on the first floor. She told me that this building is cursed. Mrs. Pande vacated her house after she lost her husband. Mrs.Tuljapurkar's son-in-law killed her daughter before committing suicide. Her husband died due to blood cancer. She passed away last month." "Stop it," pleaded Vikram with his hands on his ears, "I can't listen to these woeful stories. I am going to meet the previous owner and confront him." 


Vikram paid a visit to the previous owner, Sandeep Kumar. The latter welcomed him and offered him a cup of tea. Vikram said, "I am sorry to say that your house proved too costly for us. I have decided to move into a new locality. Why didn't you warn us about the curse placed in your building?" 

Sandeep sighed and continued, "I was planning to sell the house and settle in London. That is why I was prepared to sell my house at half the market price." Vikram requested him to take ownership of the cursed house and refund his money. Sandeep flatly refused and asked him to contact a real estate agent to sell it. Vikram was furious with himself for not listening to his wife. He shook hands with Sandeep and was about to leave. He saw a family portrait hanging on the wall.

Sandeep introduced his family to him. He showed him the photographs of his great grandfather. Sandeep told him that he had inherited the cursed land from him. 

Vikram wanted to know the reason behind the curse. He was unable to get any information from Sandeep. He went home with a heavy heart. He could not face his wife. He called her and said, "I am sorry to say that I have failed in my mission. That guy is not prepared to listen to me. I couldn't even extract the information relating to the curse of the building." Aasha replied, "Don't worry. I have managed to find out a great deal about this apartment. Mrs. Joshi said that this land was a graveyard. Sandeep Kumar had usurped the land using forged documents. He had dug up the graves and threw away the skeletons in a garbage bin. Stray dogs feasted upon them, inviting the wrath of the departed souls. They have cursed this building." 

Vikram listened to every word with rapt attention. He asked her, "How did Mrs.Joshi learn about this incident?" Aasha replied, "She is Sandeep's maternal aunt. She witnessed this horrific crime in person. Her husband made her swear to secrecy about her nephew."

Vikram asked her, "Why did she reveal this secret to you? How many people living in this building know about the story?"

Aasha answered, "She didn't tell anyone else about it. I told her about the problems we were facing after moving here. I asked her if she knew anything about the curse. She broke into sobs and poured out the entire story. She said that her guilty conscience had pricked her until her confession." 

Suddenly, they heard an ear-piercing scream. It was Vikram's mother. They rushed to her room and found her lying unconscious. Aasha sprinkled water on her face to revive her. Her mother-in-law slowly opened her eyes. Her face was white. She was trembling with fear. Aasha and Vikram helped her to get up. They made her sit on the couch. Aasha offered her a glass of water. She faced her son and said, "We should vacate this house as soon as possible. I just saw a ghost in my room. It was a lady with a child on her hips. She ran right through the wall and went away." Vikram and his wife were alarmed. They diverted her attention by chatting about Vikram's childhood days. 


Aasha looked forward to meeting Mrs.Joshi on the following day. She was disappointed when she heard about the latter's unfortunate demise. 

Mrs.Joshi appeared in her dream. She advised her to build a small Ram temple to ward off the evil spirits. Aasha and Vikram carried out her instructions. Their troubles finally ended. Jai Sri Ram.


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