The Room on the Roof

" Come on! This side.. Yaah keep it here, slowly....slowly ", said my Mother directing the coolies to keep the boxes in the living room. And my father was busy unboxing them . The living room was crammed with boxes, there was no space to even sit. " Ahh! It'll take the whole day to set the house " my mother sighed dusting the ceiling. We had shifted to our new house in Siliguri.

It was a 3 bhk flat. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 puja room, a big spacious dining hall, a kitchen and a room at the roof.This was the third time in the past two years that we were shifting. We had become accustomed to changing houses. Papa's work was such that every year we got transfered to a different city. I studied in 6th standard then. I had become sick of changing schools. Barely I had adjusted in my previous school that I had to leave it. Ours is a nuclear family. I lived along with my Maa and papa. We lived on the 1st floor and our landlord lived in the ground floor. He was an old man in his late 70's. I used to call him Dadu. He occupied only one room and the rest were given for rent. He lived alone. He had two sons but they resided out of the town. 

Our new house was damnably beautiful and much bigger than our previous one. The rooms were very spacious and well lit. The architect of the house was very elegant and eye catchy. There was a small balcony too which became my favourite spot in the entire house as it had a swing. I used to spend hours sitting on the swing gazing at the starry sky, watching the setting sun, counting the migrating birds, watching the passer-by.

Everything was fine but there was one thing fishy about that house.The room on the roof always remained locked. The place owner did not give us the keys of that room. On being asked by he told that the room was once haunted, some evil forces had captured it years ago. And after lots of puja and recitations they had drove the spirits away. But since then he had locked that room and never stepped into it thereafter. Though now there were no more spirits and even the previous renters also didn't make any complain but still he preferred to keep that room locked for safety purposes . 

Now you must be wondering, why we chose to live in that house inspite of all this. Let me tell you, before shifting my Papa had already enquired about it from the neighbours and the family who previously resided there. And none of them spoke anything against it. In fact everyone praised the house and said the owner was a very kind hearted person. Morever the main reason behind choosing that house was that my school was at a walking distance from there. 

Everything was going perfectly fine but the thought of opening that room and discovering what was inside kept tempting me. Now I was in search of those keys so that I could open the room and unveil the mystery behind it. My mind was not ready to accept that it was haunted, it said that there must be definitely something mysterious hidden over there. May be gold coins or maybe a hidden treasure, it could be anything as they show in the movies. My fancy thoughts kept me engrossed day and night. I couldn't share all this to my parents as they would definitely not let me do anything. Now I had to solve the enigma all by myself. 

One day when Mom and Dad both were at work, I came home from school in the name of sick leave. That day I had decided to excute my plan. I went ground floor to Dadu's room, he was sitting on a chair reading newspaper. I told him that I was getting bored at home so I had come. He told me to sit. After a while I pretended to be hungry and said that I wanted to eat patties from the nearby shop. Dadu was such a kind person, he told me to sit and went to the shop to buy patties. As soon as he left, I began hunting for the keys. I searched almost everywhere in the room. Then my eyes fell upon the drawer. There were a number of keys kept in the drawer but only one among them had a key ring attached to it, that too a very beautiful one made of sea shell. I don't know how but my sixth sense told me " this is the one you're searching for ". Without wasting a second I grabbed it ,closed the drawer and went upstairs. I was so hell excited that I didn't even wait for Dadu to return. 

On reaching the terrace, I closed my eyes and taking a deep breath put the key into the key hole and fastened it. The lock opened. My happiness had no bounds. I pushed the gate to discover the mysterious room. The floors of the room were marbeled. The pattern of which was very unique and praise worthy. The walls were painted in two colours. There was a large sized window almost the size of a small door where one could sit and even sleep comfortably. Since it was locked for long, cobwebs were hanging everywhere. And the most beautiful part was the ceiling, it had a gigantic and enormously beautiful chandelier( jhoomar) hanging. I had seen such chandelier only in movies. Seeing the chandelier I couldn't resist my desire to see it lighted. I found the switchboard and turned it on. 

The beauty of the room captivated me. I was dumbstruck and gazing idiotically at every corner of the room in amaze. The room looked no less than a palace. It was almost double of the rooms downstairs. The room was fully packed with furnitures like dressing table, bed, sofa set, Almirah, cupboard, antique dining set. All bathed in dust and none of them in proper condition. The glass of the cupboard was broken and I could see a shiny material behind it. I grew curious. I was damn sure it would be none other than the treasure. Thankfully it wasn't locked, I opened the cupboard . But what I saw got me down in dumps. There was nothing but a bundle of Kanjeevaram sarees, a sindur box, a mirror and comb, conch shell bangles, alta and almost every other cosmetic item a women needs. "Whom does all this belongs to? Is there really a ghost living here? " were my thoughts. I got very scared. I was afraid of my own shadow. It scared the living daylights out of me! I banged the cupboard door and ran out of the room in fright. I went downstairs. 

My mom had already arrived by then. Seeing my numb face she got scared. And asked me what had happened. I explained her every little thing. She got mad at me and scorned me badly even beat me for my mischief. But more than anger she was scared for me because I had disobeyed the orders of the owner and got into room which was haunted . I had myself invited the trouble. She decided to tell everything to Dadu. 

She dragged me downstairs to Dadu's room. I was frightened as well as embarrassed for my deed. She told Dadu everything and expressed her concerns for me. " Don't worry nothing will happen to your daughter and there is no ghost in that room.. I had lied to you " Dadu said with grief in his voice. " What! " my mom exclaimed in surprise. Then Dadu told us the whole story behind the room at the roof. 

Dadu and his wife used to live in that beautiful house. They both loved each other very much. They had no one expect one another. Their sons had married and lived in other towns. They never came to see their old parents, last time they came at the rites of their mother. She passed 5 years ago due to illness. Dadu tried a lot but couldn't save her life, he couldn't gather sufficient money for her treatment and his ungrateful sons did not give a single penny. After her death, Dadu's only support was gone. He went into depression, he even plead his sons to take him along with them but they refused. He had grown old and was no more in a condition to work. So to fill his stomach and to bear the charges of doctor in old age he put the whole house for rent. But he didn't sell the room at the roof as it was very dear to him. He had many memories attached to it. It used to be their room. They had spent years together in that room. He kept it locked because he wanted that even if he enters the room years after he would find it in the same condition as he had left . Nothing would be altered. He would still smell her presence in the room. He had preserved the furniture and all her belongings as her last memories. These things were dear to him more than his own life. He had told his sons to take the furniture along with them but they denied calling it as " waste". And so he had to cook the story of the room being haunted so that he could keep his memories safely.

Dadu broke into tears as he narrated the story of his life. I noticed his failed attempt to gulp back his sobs. Tears rolled down his cheeks. My mother tried to console him. I etched towards him and wiped his tears then placed the key in his hands and asked pardon. He gave a weak smile and embraced me. 

After that day, I had developed an attachment with Dadu. Whenever I was free I went to him, we spent time together. We used to go for walks. Sometimes we invited him for dinner. He had become like our family. 

After two years Papa got transferred to Dehradun and we had to leave that house. We had been used to changing houses and it was not a big deal but that house had emotionally bound us. It was very difficult to bid adieu but we had to do. Even when we went Dehradun, I remained in touch with Dadu through phone.

 It has been 10 years now but still if I go Siliguri, I never forget to pay a visit to him. He has grown older but the memories we shared are still fresh and alive. 

SOME MEMORIES NEVER FADE. WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE BECOMES A MEMORY, THAT MEMORY BECOMES A TREASURE