The Man Unheard

I jumped out of bed at midnight when I had a frightening dream. I was at my boarding school at Dehradun when this incident took place with me a few years back. My friend Meera was my roommate and my senior too. Without disturbing her, I left the room and went out to the hostel ground to take a stroll.

I had already heard quite a few true stories about teachers and students witnessing ghosts and spirits in the school premises late at night. However, I never believed in such superstitious beliefs and so ignoring all the warnings I went out with a torch in my hand.

After about twenty minutes of walking, I reached a tree where I sat down on a bench next to it. From there I could see someone approaching me with a lamp. He seemed to be the school's gardener Ramchand. I thought that he must be coming to enquire of me for why I was out of the dormitory so late at night.

Hence, I immediately got up and moved to the hostel, but surprisingly the man came right behind me and called on me, "Wait. Who's there?" in a mysterious voice. I was astonished that a man about a few meters away from me was just behind within a few moments. However, trying not to overthink I gave him the required assurance and led my way back to the hostel. He was not among any of those school staff whom I had known, as he was in his uniform at midnight with his name on the badge on his uniform: 'Sarat Bose'.

The next morning I went and asked Mr. Suxena, the oldest teacher of our school, about the man I met last night saying I heard his name from one of my seniors as I had no interest in being suspended. Even he was amazed and said, "Strange, to my best knowledge Sarat Bose was the gardener in our school long back when I was new here. I have been teaching here for more than forty years and according to what my memory tells me we got the news of him being stabbed in the ground that same year when I had joined the school, 1971."

I was astounded by what I heard, which threw me into deep thought. To date, I have no account of whom I met that night and who is Sarat Bose!