Read the First part of Sound Of her steps by Anuran Chatterji here
Darika stood at the open door of her house. She had just returned from the office when the doorbell rang.
It was a woman around Darika’s age. She was shorter in height and looked as if she hadn’t had a decent meal or slept in a while. The woman was carrying a black tote bag out of which peeked the corner of a framed photograph and she was also carrying a purse. She stood looking at Darika as if struggling to speak the intended words in her mind, torn between emotions that were only known to her.
Darika did not know her; she patiently waited for the woman to speak. But when she didn’t for a while Darika uttered the first words exchanged between them.
“Do you need something?” Darika asked
The woman’s lips parted but before she spoke, she took out the photo frame from the bag and showed the photo to Darika, then she spoke, “My name is Gayathri and this is the photograph of my grandmother when she was a small girl and along with her is the rest of her family.”
Darika looked at the black and white photo, there were three young children, one of them being the grandmother of this Gayathri. There were also two men and two women in the picture, presumably couples.
Darika looked at Gayathri with a confused expression and Gayathri spoke again, “The house behind them in the photograph is this house, your house. They used to live here, and when they moved from here, they sold the house. My grandmother was quite attached to this house.”
Darika looked at the photograph once more and it was certainly this house, the partially hidden house number plate revealed the last two digits which were the same. There had been intensive renovation done to the house, so the first few glances wouldn’t have helped to notice it as the same house.
Darika once again looked at Gayathri and said, “So, do you want to come inside and take a look at the house? Although much of it has changed from the house in the photograph so it will be hard to find any resemblance with what you know about it.”
Gayathri paused for a second and looked down at the photograph, then she looked up and said, “Will it be okay if I stayed here for a day or two?”
“Stay?” said Darika in a surprised tone, “I can show you around and you can come again if you want, but why would you want to stay here?”
“My grandmother… she is here. I need to speak to her,” said Gayathri, her tone had become heavier and her expression had turned completely blank
“I live here so I can assure you that your grandmother is not here,” responded Darika
Gayathri’s gaze became sharper, “It is not something you would understand”
“Is she missing?” Darika asked not being able to make sense of what Gayathri was trying to say
“She passed away two years ago. You have to understand I was very close to her. The Kapoors who have also lived in this neighbourhood for a long time were well-acquainted with my grandmother and her family. Mrs Kapoor told me, she saw grandmother on the terrace here,” said Gayathri
“Since your grandmother has passed away, are you saying your grandmother’s ghost is here?”
“….I need to talk to her,” said Gayathri elongating the words in a pressed tone
“Look I am really sorry that your grandmother passed away, but you need to get hold of the reality, she is not here or anywhere, she is gone,” said Darika and she closed the gates not intending to move forward with the conversation. Gayathri did not ring the bell again and Darika walked to the window and pushed the curtain aside slightly to see if Gayathri was still standing. She was still there and she was looking at Darika as if she knew Darika would try to check. Darika immediately closed the curtain and ran upstairs to the balcony from where she could see the porch, she readied her smartphone to take pictures of the woman, but she had left, there was no one there now.
Later at dinner Darika decided to tell her parents and others in the house about it just in case Gayathri came back later.
“The poor girl must have been very attached to her grandmother. Maybe she needs someone to talk to,” said Darika’s mother, Mrs Jaitly
“What I don’t understand is why did the Kapoors say something so insensitive to the girl,” said Mr Jaitly
Everyone remained silent and then Darika’s aunt spoke.
“It can also be true. The Kapoor’s may have seen someone. I mean these things do happen”
“Our family has been living here for more than twenty-five years. If there was anything of that nature here, then we would have found some signs,” said Mr Jaitly
“Now, don’t overthink it. Overthinking is what makes such things a reality. It is just a misunderstanding I am sure,” said Darika’s uncle
That night Darika had trouble sleeping, she could not forget the expression on Gayathri’s face. Darika had seen people longing for their departed family or friends, but not in this manner. Gayathri truly believed her grandmother was in the house. The face of the little girl in the photograph came to Darika’s mind and she got up as she thought she heard footsteps coming from the terrace.
‘You are overthinking it. Let go of it,’ thought Darika as she cleared her head and thought about her family, friends and her work at the office, all that she usually did.
Darika got up from the bed and walked out of her room, she walked out on the balcony to relax her mind in the silence of the night. Everything was fine except for a figure standing in the middle of the road in front of Darika’s house. It was Gayathri and she was not looking at Darika, but at someone on the terrace and her gaze did not move. Darika looked up to see who it was but there was no one there but she did hear some footsteps walking away and when she had turned back, Gayathri was gone.
The next morning Darika did not tell anyone about the occurrence at night. Mr Jaitly went up to the terrace every morning to water the potted plants and do yoga, there was nothing unusual.
Darika got ready for the office, left in her car after having breakfast, she could still feel the heaviness due to lack of sleep. As she approached the row of houses, one of them belonging to the Kapoor family, she decided to exchange a few words with Mr and Mrs Kapoor before leaving for work.
“I am sorry dear, we don’t know any woman with this name and haven’t made any claims of seeing anyone up on the terrace of your house to anyone,” explained Mrs Kapoor
“My father had known the previous owners but I have neither met them or have any form of contact with them,” said Mr Kapoor, “It’s surprising that this woman claimed to know us. I would suggest you inform the police just as a precaution, you never know.”
Darika thought going to the police made sense after what she had experienced and after discussion with her family decided to go ahead with it in the evening. The inspector Mr Dikshit listened to all that had happened, he sent a sub-inspector to talk to Mr and Mrs Kapoor. The police investigated the matter and confirmed that a woman matching Gayathri’s appearance had been seen in the area, however they could not find her and neither trace where she was living.
“I would suggest installing security cameras,” said Mr Dikshit to Mr Jaitly on smartphone
Security cameras were installed and more than two months had passed and Darika did not see Gayathri since that night but unlike the rest of the family she wasn’t able to forget her, after all she was the only one who had seen her.
On her way back home one evening with her neighbourhood passing by as usual, Darika thought she saw someone who looked like Gayathri walking by on the sidewalk. Darika’s throat felt dry, she immediately stopped the car to confirm and when she looked back, something or someone slammed against the driver’s seat door of the car, it was Gayathri. Her face was full of rage as she screamed and banged her hands against the roof of the car as she was unable to open the locked door.
“You do not understand,” she screamed, “I need to see her or the worst might happen”
Darika sat frozen on her seat trying to reach for her phone but at the same time afraid of what would happen if Gayathri was able to open the door. The people passing stood surprised and confused, some took video of the incident. One man slowly approached Gayathri and asked her to calm down.
Gayathri looked around and saw the people who had gathered there and she ran away. No one pursued her
Darika calmed herself and got out of the car. She took the videos of Gayathri from the people who stood there and returned home.
Later the police came by to take the videos as evidence and talk to Darika. As the police left, and the people of the family looked worried, Darika had this feeling that things might have taken a turn for the worse.
To be continued…
Stay tuned for part 1
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 