The winter had arrived and the wind unsuccessfully pushed against the closed window. Mrs Kapoor watched the wind move the branches of the trees from inside the house while feeding porridge to Darsh who had begun to walk, run and speak but hadn’t quite developed an appetite yet. Mrs Kapoor did it with a smile every day just like she had done with her other two children, her son Ansh and daughter Saanvi when they were younger.
Mrs Kapoor smiled as she asked Darsh to open his mouth for the next spoon of porridge and just then the sound of someone falling echoed and vibrated through the house and both Mrs Kapoor and Darsh looked up the stairs.
“You stay here and finish the porridge,” said Mrs Kapoor to Darsh, keeping the bowl on the table in front of him and then rushed up the stairs and found Ansh lying on the intermediate landing between two fleets of stairs. Mrs Kapoor bent down to him, there was no blood, no movement, no sound. She looked up the stairs and saw Saanvi standing at the end with a blank expression and Saanvi walked away as if nothing had happened.
Ansh was taken to the hospital but everyone already knew what they didn’t want to accept. Arrangements of funeral were made, relatives, neighbours and friends came and they went away after everything was over. The house fell silent.
One evening Mrs Kapoor sat in the balcony with Darsh in her arms, staring blankly at the sky. Mr Kapoor walked to them.
“It was my manager’s phone call. I am needed at the office; I will have to rejoin from tomorrow.”
Mrs Kapoor looked up at Mr Kapoor’s face, “I want to move away with my son. He is not safe with them in the house.”
Mr Kapoor removed his spectacles and rubbed his eyes, “Saanvi is our daughter too, and she is just a child, she needs help, you want to abandon her?”
“She pushed Ansh down the stairs Rudra and you heard what she said ‘he broke grandma’s favourite flower vase’. Her grandma, your mother thinks this was just an accident, but it wasn’t.
Saanvi has been behaving this way for a long time and everyone except me thought it was just some childishness; she had hurt Ansh countless times and each time it was about grandma; we even took Saanvi to that child psychologist. We did all we could. I am sorry to say this but I didn’t feel comfortable with your mother, it’s like there is always some darkness in her and I feel it in Saanvi too.
When I hear the footsteps of your mother, I fear for Darsh’s life because Saanvi is always following her around. I don’t want to lose him too. We need to move from this house away from them,” said Mrs Kapoor, tears falling down her eyes.
Mr Kapoor sat down on an empty chair and looked at Darsh for a while and said, “All right we will move for a while and return when you feel better.”
A week later on a Sunday, Saanvi stood at the porch of the house holding her grandmother’s hand. Her mother wouldn’t look at her as she sat in the car with Darsh who smiled and waved at Saanvi and grandma. Mr Kapoor closed the trunk of the car and paused to look at his mother and daughter, confused whether to talk to them or just go away, he chose the latter. The car disappeared on the bend of the road.
“Where are they going grandma?” asked Saanvi
“I don’t know, but we are also going from here, said grandma as she smiled at Saanvi, “So where do you want to go?”
“Can we go to the mountains?” Saanvi asked with a smile, she had already forgotten about her parents and brother leaving and her Ansh not being part of their lives anymore.
“Mountains would be nice,” smiled grandma and the two of them walked inside and closed the door.
The time went by and many things occurred and many didn’t and that is how everything reached the present where Mr and Mrs Kidambi were having dinner. It was Mrs Kidambi’s birthday. They had no children of their own, but were happy with their bond and the life they had.
“This egg fried rice is really good. Where did you get it from?” asked Mrs Kidambi
“You know Nikhil, my friend, right?”
“By know I know and remember all of them, I am not to starting forget yet,” smiled Mrs Kidambi who had turned 65
“His niece has opened a restaurant. He used to tell me she is great at cooking and she went ahead with her passion. This is egg fried rice is from her restaurant,” said Mr Kidambi
“Nice. Ask Nikhil to tell his niece that I really loved the food, it made my birthday special,” said Mrs Kidambi
Their conversation was interrupted by breaking of glass on the floor above.
“If it is that mischievous kid Purav throwing stones again, I am going to take the matter straight to his parents and I am not going to be polite,” said Mr Kidambi getting up and going up the stairs.
Mrs Kidambi picked up her phone to reply to some birthday messages sent to her, when she heard the sound of something falling against the floor above.
“Naveen..?” Mrs Kidambi called for her husband but no reply came back. She got up and walked to the staircase and called for her husband again and found silence again.
Mrs Kidambi started climbing the stairs and when she was halfway there, the lights went off and Mrs Kidambi’s right hand tightened on the handle of the staircase. A pair of feet rushed towards her and before she could respond in any manner an eternal silence took over.
A few days later in the morning Darika sat looking at the piece of paper that had slipped out of the newspaper. Someone named Prisha had asked Darika to contact her through her mail address, she had written she could help Darika in the situation.
It could be true or it could not be, but at this point any form of comforting words were momentary relief from what had become of her life. She opened the pages of the newspaper hoping to divert her mind with some entertainment or sports-based news, she ignored everything but her eyes couldn’t let go of the words they had caught in their sight, one of the words haunting her life. Gayathri had struck again; she had claimed the life of a couple. Naveen Kidambi and Divya Kidambi had become the latest victims in the series of murders that Gayathri had committed.
Darika folded the newspaper and threw it out of the window. She recalled the day she first met Gayathri, trying to recall if there were any signs of a psychotic serial killer in those eyes and wondering who was or is there outside on the terrace door.
Darika got up to go to her room when the doorbell rang, she opened the door to find a young man standing.
“Please…” said Darika
“I am sorry?” the young man responded
“No questions about Gayathri or how we are.. please.. things are bad as it is,” said Darika feeling the weight of everything that happened
“Oh..” said the young man thinking about what Darika had said and then he responded, “I am not a news reporter or a social media influencer. I am Mr and Mrs Kapoor’s son.”
“Darsh?” said Darika in a surprised tone, “Weren’t you working abroad? I heard Mr and Mrs Kapoor are with you there at the moment.”
“Yes, I was,” said Darsh, “but I came back, there are things that might need my attention. Can we talk in private somewhere? I want to tell you something very important.”
Darika and Darsh went to the study room of the house, Darsh greeted everyone he met in the house but was responded with a smile which was obviously forced.
Darsh and Darika sat on two empty chairs facing each other “I am here because this information that I have might help. This woman, Gayathri. She is my elder sister.” Darsh paused letting the information sink into Darika’s mind
“Sister.. as in…”
“As in, I am her brother, we have the same parents. The grandmother, she came looking for is also my grandmother,” said Daksh in an attempt to clear it out at once
“But.. I asked your parents about her, they said they did not know her..” said Darika
“.. and it is true, they don’t know any Gayathri, because Gayathri is actually Saanvi.. you have got the name wrong. My parents came to visit me abroad and during that time we came across that viral video of her, at first, we were doubtful but we then connected the dots,” explained Darsh and he also told Darika about what led to diversion in his family
Darika stayed silent for some time; she couldn’t decide what to make of it.
“Mr and Mrs Kapoor are here as well?” she asked
“Yes, they are at home,” replied Darsh
“… so you all.. sorry your parents left.. Saanvi and your grandmother and never came back?”
“We did come back after a while, but they were gone by then without any trace. They never picked calls or answered letters even when they were there. We couldn’t find them anywhere by any means. We came to stay in this area thinking maybe grandma would come here one day just like she always said she would but they had completely disappeared. We had.. you know thought the worst…”
“Gayat.. Saanvi believes your grandma has returned. That she is here in this house right now and for some reason I keep hearing those footsteps..” said Darika
“Footsteps?..” asked Darsh
“Yes, on the terrace in the middle of night.. only I can hear them”
Darsh stayed silent not understanding what to make of it
“So, we will tell all this to the police” said Darika
Darsh nodded, and later Darika and Darsh along with Darsh’s family went to the police to explain it to them.
“Now that we have names, things might be easier from here on. We might find a lead on where they were living and based on what evidence we find there, we might be able to determine what Saanvi is after,” said Mr Dikshit
As everyone was leaving from the police station, a woman who was previously talking to a policeman noticed Darika and walked over to her.
“You know her?” asked Darsh who had also noticed her approach
“No,” said Darika, “But I think I think she knows me.”
“Well if it isn’t the one who got attacked,” said the woman
“What? Who are you?” said Darika
“Did you get the slip I kept in the newspaper?” asked the woman
Darika recalled that she threw the slip away along with the newspaper, but she remembered the name because she had searched her out unsuccessfully, but not for help but rather due to suspicion.
“Prisha..”
“Correct”
“Give me one reason for not going back into the station telling Mr Dikshit about you sneaking around my house,” asked Darika in a serious tone
“My brother is also a policeman here. I am not some shady character even though I agree what I did raises suspicion. Listen to what I have to say first,” responded Prisha in a rushed tone
“But..” Darika began speaking but was cut off
“There is a Café named Coffee Junction here nearby. Find it online, meet me day after tomorrow at 4 pm there,” Prisha said as she rushed away towards a car waiting for her
“I feel I have heard or read her name somewhere,” said Darsh
“What do you think? Should I talk to her?” asked Darika
“Brother or not, she was talking to a policeman before, so she is known here. Yeah, let’s talk to her the day after tomorrow. I will come with you,” said Darsh and they headed home for the day as the sky slowly turned dark over a city where darkness was beginning to spread within
To be continued…
We shall meet again tomorrow in the new year 2025!
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 