The echo of light

Mini stood with her hands on her hips in her new house staring at the mess around her.  The movers had deposited her little boxes at the doorstep as instructed by her. She always unpacked them herself.

It was her fourth rental in Pune. All her earlier ones had been apartments, and she was tired of living out of those cubby holes that she was forced to share with unfriendly flat mates. Therefore, she had jumped at the offer when her broker mentioned that a row house was available on rent. It had been her long cherished dream to live in a bungalow. Moreover, she needed the extra space for Bruno, the fawn-coloured boisterous mongrel she had adopted from the animal care centre where she had volunteered. In her eagerness to move in, she had said yes without even looking at the house properly.

“But it needs a bit of repairs” the broker had said with an unsure smile.

“That’s ok” Mini had said shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly “I can manage that.” If there was anything she had inherited from her father, it was his innate ability to fix almost anything in the world. Like him, Mini was a natural at fixing repairs around the house. She had always been proud of herself for that and had often amazed her friends with her nimble fingers. However, the challenge that lay in front of her now was sure to put a dent in that pride.

The house, she had been told was almost 20 years old and had changed hand thrice. When the pandemic struck the world, its last tenant absconded without paying the rent. The current owner, who lived out of the country, was unable to travel and the house remained locked up since two years. Once the lockdown regulations relaxed, the broker, on the instructions of the owner, had somehow managed to change the lock and put it up for rent.

It was a two-storeyed structure with a small patch of greenery in front. A huge pomegranate tree in front of its gate cast a lovely shade in front and seemed to provide a breather from the harsh Pune sun. Mini had fallen in love with it at first sight. However, that was before she had opened the lock and looked inside.

The hall was an elongated space, comprising of the dining area and a kitchen. It was small but sufficient for her needs. It led onto a backyard. It was here that Mini stood now staring at the devastation that glared back at her.

A huge deodar tree sprang up from one corner of the yard. Its roots, old and gnarled, in its bid to claim the ground which once belonged to it, pushed through the tiles that covered them leading to huge cracks on its surface. The fissures revealed the deep dark earth beneath. The wired nets that had once upon a time been installed to act as a boundary wall around the yard, lay torn and tattered with huge gaping holes at several places. The ground, at places was filled with dry deodar leaves that was almost ankle deep. Mini was sure, it would take her a whole weekend to clean up this mess. She also needed to get the flooring done before she could start using that space.

Mini sighed as Bruno tugged on his leash raring to go chasing after the geckos that lay sprawled on the tree trunk staring back at him with their round beady eyes. His nose was twitching excitedly as he picked up numerous exciting smells in the new place. Mini let him loose to explore and moved upstairs to inspect the bedrooms.

There were two rooms on the floor above. Sun filtered into one making it glow in its pristine light. Mini decided to make that her bedroom. The other one was slightly dank but had a lovely slanting ceiling. She would make that her work room.

She folded her sleeves and got down to work, scrubbing, cleaning, and dusting out the cobwebs. It was almost afternoon by the time Mini lay down exhausted on the mattress, the sole piece of furniture that she owned, watching Bruno gobble up his bowl of Pedigree. She was too tired to make anything for herself. She tickled Bruno on the head as he looked up at her with eyes that were the colour of liquid chocolate. It was his eyes that had melted her heart when she first saw him and decided to bring him home.

“You like the house Bruno boy?” she asked smiling at him lovingly. Bruno gave a quick wag of his tail and a short yelp as an affirmation before returning to his food.

“I do too” said Mini sighing as she looked around “But this place needs a lot of work.” She felt her eyes closing and a big yawn escaped her. She decided to allow herself a few moments of rest before starting on her next round of cleaning. She could feel Bruno nuzzling close to her before settling down. She lay her arms over his soft furry body to pat him gently before drifting off into a tired sleep.

She sat up realising she had been dreaming.
“What a weird dream” she said laughing at herself. Mini was always a rational person and never believed in premonitions and superstitions. The dream therefore surprised her. It was so vivid, and the voice was so clear that it still rang in her ears.

Mini shook her head dismissing the thought as a silly thing and got up to make some tea. As she sipped on the steaming cup, she quickly made a list of things she would need for the house. Once done she put Bruno on the leash and walked out on her shopping spree.

She was in for a rude shock as she stepped out of the gates of her housing society. The streets were crowded with youngsters hanging around in pubs and roadside cafes enjoying their Saturday evening. The more serious shoppers lined up outside the grocery stores and vegetable vendors haggling for the right price. The narrow lane in front of her house had been converted into an impromptu parking lot. It was a feat navigating through the minimum space left between two cars. Sometimes even that space would be crammed with a two-wheeler forcing the pedestrian to retrace their steps and find another meandering route. The lane led onto a stretch of road that finally connected the highway.

What was earlier a simple locality street had become a major thoroughfare with cars honking, bikes screeching and autorickshaws wheezing past you with no traffic lights to stop them in their race to reach the highway first.

Bruno created another problem. He bared his fangs at the numerous strays who had made the lane their home and who resented the entry of a new entrant. They barked wickedly at Bruno who strained on his leash gnashing his teeth and growling dangerously.

Ignoring these distractions, Mini walked ahead dragging Bruno along who complied unhappily, disappointed at having to let go of a good fight. She completed her shopping amidst the pandemonium and heaved a sigh of relief as she turned into the gates of her society.

“Hello!”

Mini turned around to notice a woman sitting on a stone bench beneath a huge mango tree within the Society precincts.

She was surprised she had not noticed her as she entered since she was busy in managing her bags and Bruno.

“Hello” said Mini smiling at the lady.

“You must be the new tenant at Number 17” she said.

Mini nodded looking at the woman. She seemed to be around 50-55 years of age with a round homely face. Her eyes were small and kindly. She had a small mouth and stubby nose. Her greying hairs were parted in the middle and pulled back into a neat bun. She sat with her legs crossed on the bench. Her voice was soft and filled with a warmth that made Mini like her. 

“I am Asha. You can call me Asha Tai” she said twinkling her eyes at Mini “I live in Number 1” she said pointing to the house behind her.

Mini had noticed the house when she had moved in that morning. It was a corner bungalow and was slightly bigger than Mini’s. It had a large L-shaped garden that went all around the house. There were lots of twinkling lights and chairs spread out in the garden in front of the house. It all made the house look quite inviting.  Now the owner only helped in adding to that. 

“Oh! Nice to meet you. I am Mini. I moved in today” she said smiling politely.

“I know. I saw you. I could not come over earlier. I see you did some grocery shopping.” Asha tai said looking pointedly at Mini’s bags. “Hope you got what you wanted.”

“Yes” said Mini shrugging casually.

“Let me know if you need anything” said Asha tai smiling at Mini. Then she moved closer to Mini and repeated lowering her voice “Anything.”

She looked strangely at Mini. Her face was still and her body terse. It was as if she was waiting for Mini to tell her something. Mini wondered what? It made her feel a bit uneasy.

“Of course!” she said politely before quickly moving towards her house.

All the way down to the end of the row as Mini walked towards her house, she could feel the elder woman’s eyes boring down on her back. Just as she turned into her gate, Mini could not help but look back to make sure. She realised she was right. The woman was indeed staring at her. Mini smiled back and waved her hand. Asha tai too smiled and waved back. It all seemed quite natural but Mini could feel a cold shiver and wondered if it was only because of the nip in the air.

---

The next day was a Sunday and Mini sat staring at the backyard with a cup of coffee wondering where to start. Finally, she pursed her lips and got up to work with a broom. She decided to clean the leaves first and swept them together into a pile before collecting them in a garbage bag. Bruno, thinking she had joined in his game began yelping with joy and jumped around scattering the leaves. Mini shouted at him to stop it but he seemed to be too excited to listen. Finally, exhausted with his enthusiasm, Mini had to tether him to the tree. Disappointed Bruno sat looking at her with his head tilted to one side and his ears perked up. His tail, however, never stopped thumping.

Mini swept up all the leaves and stuffed them in the garbage bags securing the mouth tightly. She got to work with the wired mesh. She dismantled the older torn ones and took out the new roll of mesh she had got from the market yesterday. She secured the mesh with nails on the metal frames. She looked around satisfied with her handiwork. The place already looked cleaner. With the leaves removed it also looked more spacious and just right for a small party she was planning. It was just the flooring which needed work.

Mini looked at the cracked floor tiles and realised it would be hard work. She was still wondering how to go about it when a bark from Bruno made her look up. Bored with being tied down, he had started his own little scavenger hunt and had identified a squirrel in one of the numerous hollows in the tree. The poor animal had scampered to the top branches far out of Bruno’s reach and was looking at him from there while Bruno was standing erect resting his front paws on the tree trunk and barking his head off.

Mini was about to hush him when her eyes fell on something shiny on the floor next to where Bruno stood. She walked over and bent down to look at it. It was a small key. It must have fallen off from the tree hollow.

She picked it up to look at it closely. It was slightly rusted and dusty. The head was an elaborate structure and had three arches joined together forming the Clubs symbol she had seen on card packs, a long cylindrical stem ending at the tip with an intricate design of ridges and notches to form the bitting.

In a flash she remembered the dream she had yesterday afternoon. She had completely forgotten all about it.

Wasn’t it about a key too?

Yes! somebody was asking her to find a key and here she was with one.

 Was this the same key? Was it a message? Was she being asked to do something?

Mini shook her head in disbelief. What was wrong with her? She never believed in all this before.

She took the key inside and made herself another cup of coffee. She wiped the key clean and sat staring at it. Was it merely a coincidence or was there some other meaning to this?

Her doorbell rang and Mini opened it to find a woman standing outside.  She looked to be the same age as Mini. She held a covered plate in her hand as she smiled at Mini.

“Good Morning” she said brightly “I am Sarita your neighbour at Number 23” she said pointing directly to the bungalow opposite Mini. “I thought I would get you some breakfast” she said uncovering the plate to reveal a plate of deliciously hot appams and a bowl of coconut chutney.

“Oh thank you! Please come in” said Mini realising she had forgotten all about breakfast and silently thanked God for useful neighbours.

“All settled in?” asked Saritha looking around inquisitively.

Well almost” said Mini smiling politely.

“Have you met any of the others yet?” asked Sarita casually.

“The others?” asked Mini curiously.

“The other neighbours” said Sarita “Well there aren’t too many of us here. Most of the bungalows are empty. There is just us, Mr.Singh next to us, Asha tai at Number 1 and now you” she said smiling sweetly.

“Yes, I did meet Asha tai yesterday” said Mini.

“Oh, you did?” said Sarita “And what did you think?”

“Think what?” asked Mini surprised.

“Didn’t you find her a bit strange?” she asked lowering her voice and moving closer to Mini.

“Well…” said Mini not sure whether she should tell Sarita about what she felt yesterday about the lady.

“I tell you. She is a bit weird. There have been rumours that she does things” said Sarita lowering her voice to almost a whisper.

“Things? what things?” asked Mini.

“Well…you know…she holds seances to talk to dead people” said Sarita her eyes widening with excitement at being able to share the gossip.

“What? You actually believe in all this mumbo jumbo?” said Mini with disbelief.

“That is exactly what Arun calls it” said Sarita disappointed with Mini’s disinterest.

“Arun?” asked Mini curiously.

“My husband” said Sarita “tell you what? Let’s meet for dinner one day at our place. Let me fix a date and I will let you know.”

“Sure” said Mini smiling at Sarita’s childish excitement.

Once Sarita left, Mini thought about what she had told her about Asha tai. Though she never believed in all these, there was something different about the woman. She had felt it herself. Then her eyes fell on the key lying on the table where she had left it. A thought slowly surfaced in her mind like the foam on top of the boiling milk. Mini shook her head and pushed it out before it spilled over. She knew she was tired and hungry and hence her mind was weakening. She moved towards the kitchen for Sarita’s hot appams before anything else distracted her.

---

The sky was the colour of molten lead. The clouds enhanced its gloominess further by creating a grey façade that lay sprawled across its wide expanse. Mini was standing beneath it and atop a mountain looking down into the valley that lay sleeping below. It was a sheer drop and she felt dizzy as she looked down. Suddenly she turned at the sound of a voice.

“Mini” it called out to her with an urgency.

“Did you find the key?” it was more a plea than a question. The tone was filled with a pathos that was hard to avoid.

Mini could still not see who the voice belonged to but there was a strange element of magnetism in it that made her nod her head in affirmation inadvertently.

“You did!” the voice whispered with a jubilant sigh. The sky rang with a laughter that filled the air with a feeling of mirth and innocent joy. It spread its overpowering charm on the surrounding greyness and infused it with the spirit of spring. Its infectious nature included Mini in its fold, and she started laughing too.

Mini woke at the sound of her own laughter. She sat up on the bed. Bruno looked up with his ears cocked, at the foot of her bed where he lay, whining softly. He probably wondered what was wrong with his friend.

Mini looked at the clock to check the time. It was only 4.00 am in the morning.

What was happening? She wondered. Why was she getting these dreams and who was this woman? She took out the key and looked at it closely. It had become quite an intrigue now. Tormenting her with its innocuous look.

She pushed off the covers with a determination and got up. She had to search the house to find the lock for this key. She began her search with Bruno in her tow. He did not know what she was looking for, but any kind of activity excited him as he thought it was a game.

Mini tried the key on every cupboard, door and anything that had a space to insert it into. Nothing seemed to be working. It was a small house and there were not too many places where she could look.

After an hour of searching, Mini gave up.

Her mind was a wreck, and she needed some fresh air. She decided to take Bruno for a walk maybe it will clear her mind.

The two went out with Bruno tugging eagerly at his leash. This early adventure was unexpected which heightened his excitement. She met Asha tai at the gate plucking flowers.

 “Good Morning! Up so early?” she asked with her friendly smile.

Mini smiled at her distractedly. The same thought crept back into her mind at the sight of Asha tai. It nudged its way closer this time gradually taking a form. She stopped for a moment wondering if she should give in to its lure. 

“Is anything the matter Mini?” asked Asha tai looking at her closely with her small twinkling eyes.

Mini shook her head “Why do you say that?” she asked a bit irately.

Asha tai looked at her and smiled.

“I am sorry if I intruded. But please let me know if you need anything” she said repeating her offer. But this time it seemed more like an order than an offer of help. The eyes that looked deeply into Mini were serious and had a lot of unsaid meaning.

“I…don’t need…anything” said Mini hurriedly before she let Bruno drag her away. Once again, she felt Asha tai’s eyes staring at her as she turned the corner. But this time Mini did not look back. She was angry at herself for even allowing silly thoughts to creep into her mind.

---

A week went by without any more dreams. On Saturday evening, Sarita invited Mini for dinner. Sarita’s house was a piece of art. A full-time homemaker she had invested all her time, effort and creativity in to building a warm and loving nest. Unlike most of the other houses Mini had visited, this was not a clutter of fancy decoration thrown in randomly with no thought other than to brag. Sarita’s house was a lesson in aesthetics. Every colour was intelligently used to complement the other. It was an exquisite and artistic home and one that made you feel comfortable from the moment you stepped into it.

Arun, her husband, was a perfect gentleman. Polite and well-mannered he seemed to complement his wife perfectly. While she blabbered on, Arun was the silent listener. A perfect combination for a successful marriage, Mini thought to herself as she smiled secretly.

She had got them a beautiful candlestand she had picked up from the shopping mall near their house and was glad it matched the aesthetics in the house.

Sarita bustled around getting her something to drink and preparing the starters. They were strictly vegetarian and had apologised profusely to Mini for not being able to serve her anything other than soya that came the closest to chicken according to her. Mini laughed telling her she was perfectly okay with anything.

“Hope you are settling in well” asked Arun politely. “Please let us know if you need help.”

“Oh yes. Thank you so much” said Mini smiling at him.  He had a nice, pleasant face and a smile that reached his eyes making you feel you could trust him.

“I had to give Arun advanced notice about today’s dinner to keep him home. Ever since he has become the president of this Housing Society he is hardly home on weekends. Always running around making changes and implementing them.” said Saritha walking in with a plate of soya kababs.

“Well, somebody has to do that” said Arun justifying himself “How else will we maintain the society.”

“As if there are a whole lot of people to take note of that” said Sarita making a face.

“But at least we will…it is for our benefit too,” said Arun.

“How old is this Society?” asked Mini dipping her kabab in the home-made mint sauce.

“About 20 years,” said Arun. “Even our house was a resale. We had to do a lot of renovations before we moved in 2 years back. We changed the entire layout and added few rooms.”

Mini nodded as she looked around. The house did have a different layout than hers. It looked more spacious. She appreciated the fact that they had done a good job.

“And sealed off some” said Sarita.
“What do you mean?” asked Mini with mild surprise.

“Well old houses have so many unnecessary nooks and corners, don’t they? They look interesting but totally useless in our context. So, I had them sealed off.” said Arun.

“Just imagine Mini” said Sarita with her eyes shining “It would have been so much fun to have one secret room that no one but you knew existed.”

“There you go off again in another one of your fantasies” said Arun looking at his wife with mock scorn.

Sarita made a face at him and got up to serve dinner.

Mini joined them at the table as her mind went over what she had heard. Secret rooms? Is it possible there could be one in her house as well? Maybe the key fits into one of those?

Soon after the desert and coffee she thanked her hosts for the lovely evening. She mentally made a note of calling them over in her housewarming party as she turned the key in her house to find Bruno looking at her with a guilty expression. His ears were pulled back and his eyes looked at her piteously.

“Now what have you been up to?” Mini asked looking at him angrily. She knew this look very well. It meant he had done some mischief somewhere and was putting this woebegone look in defence of that.

She looked around and then noticed the damage. The floor carpeting was peeling off at the corners and she had meant to get at them in some time. Bruno had decided to take it in his own hands or rather teeth and ripped off the whole thing revealing the floor beneath. Mini stared at the gaping tear in her living room in dismay.

“Oh Bruno! What have you done! Now this is going to take an entire morning for me to mend.” She said looking at him admonishingly.

She walked over to look at the damage. Bruno followed returning to what he was doing. He had obviously decided that by admitting his crime his repentance was complete and he could go back to more important business of digging up parts of the floor bare.

“Bruno stop!” ordered Mini angrily noticing what he was up to “What do you think you are doing?”

Bruno looked up at her entreatingly, whining softly as if to say, “Give me a moment I am in the middle of something and need to finish this.”

Mini looked at him curiously. What on earth was he digging up with such fervour. She moved closer and knelt beside him. She noticed that the spot where Bruno was digging was not cemented like the rest of the floor. It was softer earth. Bruno had dug out quite a bit of earth to reveal a large square board covering the surface like a lid. Mini thumped her hand against it and realised that it made a hollow sound. She dusted off the loose earth to find that it was a square lid covering a large square area. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed that the lid had a keyhole!

She sat back stunned for a while, before rushing upstairs to get the key. She inserted it. It did not turn. She inspected the keyhole closely to realise it was clogged with dirt. She poked around to clean it up and tried the key once again.

It turned!

Mini could feel her heart beat wildly against her chest. What was she going to find behind this lid? There was no handle attached to the lid which she could use to lift it. So, she got hold of a stick to wedge it in beneath the lid and applied pressure to lift it up.

It didn’t budge.

The mud had caked around it fixing it firmly in the ground. Mini used the stick to scrape out the accumulated mud. Slowly the mud started falling off the sides, loosening the lid. At last, she was able to lift the lid up. She flashed her torchlight into the dark cavern beneath and her eyes widened in disbelief.

There were stairs leading down.

“Oh My God!” She thought “Sarita was right. This house does have secret rooms!” She wondered where it led to. She knew she had to find out.

Asking Bruno to stay there she shone the torch down into the darkness beneath. Carefully she began climbing down the stairs. There was no support to hold on to, so she groped her way down and found herself in a large room. The light of the torch shone on the slimy and damp brick walls that were sheathed in blankets of wild creepers. Cobwebs hung like drapes across them. The room was empty and was reeking with a musty smell that almost suffocated Mini. She pressed her hands on her mouth and nose to block out the smell and that is when she heard the sound.

It seemed to come from somewhere far away. A deep moan as if someone was in great pain. At first Mini thought it must be the wind moving between channels. But then she realised, the room was windowless, and besides it had been a very sultry evening today with no breeze blowing.

She moved around the room wondering where the sound could be coming from. Then with time the sound seemed to come closer and gradually turned into a sob. It was a painful plea of a child interspersed with long deep breaths heightening the pathos in the cry. Mini could feel a chill flowing down her veins. She did not believe in ghosts. So, who could be sobbing here at this hour? Moreover, there was nobody there. This was a single chamber, and it did not lead on to any other rooms too. So, the possibility of anybody being in any other room too was negated.

Then Mini froze as she heard her name in the darkness.

“Mini”

The voice broke through the silence like a bullet. It was just a whisper. But its anguish was evident. Mini realised now that it was the same voice she had heard earlier, but now she knew it belonged to a child and not a woman. Mini stood rooted to the ground.

“Mini” the voice broke out again “Help me Mini.” The last few words ending in a tired sigh as if emitting from a parched throat.

“Who…who… are you?” Mini asked weakly. “Why can’t I see you?” beads of sweat lined her forehead, her lips felt dry, and her hands felt clammy as she rolled them into tight fists “where are you?”

“The key, Mini…did you get the key?”

“I … I do… I have the key” said Mini fumbling in her pocket.

She held it out in her open palm. A boisterous laughter rang out as soon as she did that. It was so sudden that Mini started and dropped the key.

As soon as it touched the floor a draft blew in from nowhere and dragged it away.  Mini held her breath as her eyes followed its movement and suddenly froze.

She was still holding her torch in front of her. It was in the fast-ebbing light of the torch that she saw it.

Just before her where the Deodar roots had reached into the ground there hung a rickety thin silhouette shrouded in a dark cloth. As the waft blew in from somewhere, the shroud lifted and Mini saw the most grotesque face staring back at her, its eyes bulging out and its broad forehead stark white, its face bearing an uncanny look with a lopsided grin.

The last thing Mini remembered were the words uttered with a thankful sigh,

“You found the key Mini!”

---

Mini woke up with a splitting headache. She squinted her eyes trying to get up.

“Take it easy now…don’t rush dear.”

Mini looked up to see Asha tai sitting beside her. She pressed down a cool damp towel on her head.  It made her feel better and Mini closed her eyes trying to relax.

“Where am I?” she asked weakly.

“In my house” said Asha tai in her soothing tone. “The police are there at your place. Arun is attending to them. Sarita was here all this while. I sent her home to take some rest.”

“How did you all….?” said Mini still not able to get her bearings.

“You need to thank Bruno for that. He brought the house down with his barking. We all came over and found you unconscious in the basement” said Asha tai.

“What happened? I was down there, and all sorts of strange things were happening. I thought I was dreaming. Was I really?” she asked looking at Asha tai fervently.

“What do you think Mini? Do you believe you were dreaming?” asked the elder woman looking at her with twinkling eyes.

Mini looked at her for some time and then slowly shook her head.

“It was all real…I know it was real…but who was she? How does she know me?”

Asha tai sighed and got up to change the water.

“She came to me the day before you arrived here.” She said coming back to sit beside Mini.

“Afroza. That’s what she said her name was. When she was 14, her mother eloped with another man and her father, afraid that she might do the same someday, kept her locked up in an underground room. He would hide the key in the trunk of the Deodar tree. She was forced to live in that state for 10 years, without light, without air and no human interaction. Desperate for freedom she took her own life. Her father afraid that people might find out about her, sealed the room and fled too.”

“Oh my god! And nobody got to know about it?” said Mini stunned.

Asha tai sighed “Well they know now. Better late than never. I hope they find the father and punish him severely for this gruesome crime.”

“But…I don’t understand…why did she choose me?” asked Mini with a confused look.

“We cannot hope to explain everything that happens in the world Mini. There are some things that are best left as is.” said Asha tai smiling.

“Poor girl” said Mini sadly “She must have been in so much pain.”

Asha tai nodded.

“Afroza” she uttered the name softly “Do you know what it means – the quintessence of fire, Light and look at the irony of it all. She was forced to perish in darkness.”

Mini sank back into the pillow as exhaustion claimed her yet again. As she closed her eyes a childish voice whispered close to her

“You found me Mini!”

Mini smiled in her sleep as a warm boisterous laughter rang around her. She knew the owner of this laugh had reached eternal peace and was now glowing with an eternal light that no one can snatch away from her ever again.