The Great Downpour

Chapter III

Chapter III

Sundeep was in the thick of football action when his friend Yash waved to him from the sidelines. Yash had his hand up in the air and was holding a mobile phone and gesturing to him.

Sundeep, a.k.a. Sunny to his friends, was a half-back in the college football team, and he was currently training for an upcoming league encounter between St. Martin’s Engineering College and his own institution next Sunday. He steadied the ball with his foot and gave it a kick that sent it past the forwards on the opposite side and deep into mock “enemy” territory. He took a deep breath and then looked back at Yash who seemed a bit frantic by now.

What is it? He gestured with his hands.

Yash practically ran into the field, shouting, “It’s for you. It’s your mom. She says it is urgent!”

“Oh …wait, I’ll answer her,” said Sunny as he reached out for the instrument.

Sundeep Mishra was the only son in a brood of six siblings, and the onus of family matters usually fell on his head whenever his father was indisposed – as he was now. His father suffered from a neurological condition in which attacks of paralysis affecting the left side of his body came on every now and then; these always disappeared with treatment, but left some residual weakness each time. Over the last several months, his father’s condition had deteriorated and the attacks came almost weekly. Anticipating news about his father, Sunny clicked the “Answer” button on the phone.

“Beta, is that you?” His mother sounded panicky.

“Yes, mom, what’s the matter? Is papa …?”

“No, no, your father is fine. The problem is that your sister Seeta …”

“Seeta? What happened to her?”

Seeta was a year younger than him and studied in the IInd year in Commerce at the St. Aloysius College. Sundeep loved her more than his own life. Frightening thoughts raced through his mind in that one instant. His hand gripped the phone hard and sweat appeared on his brow.

“She … you know she had gone to my father’s place at Gwalior two days ago … my dad called up yesterday evening to tell me that she would be leaving Gwalior today morning and arriving in Jabalpur latest by 10 a.m.”

“So … what … I mean …isn’t she home yet?”

His mother could be heard sobbing.

“No beta, she isn’t. I called Gwalior, and daddy told me she has already left today morning, but it is now 5 o’clock in the evening and she hasn’t reached here yet. I even tried her mobile, but all I am getting is a voice message. I don’t know what to do …”

“Okay, mom. Let me see. Isn’t it possible that she has gone to some friend’s place or something? I mean, if anything bad had happened, would the mobile have been still working? Had she been … I mean … sorry mom, but had she been kidnapped or killed or something, wouldn’t the criminal have carried away her mobile? After all, she has the costliest, latest mobile with her always, doesn’t she?”

His mother stayed quiet as he finished. Obviously, she hadn’t thought along this direction, thought Sunny to himself. He continued, “Don’t worry mom, I’ll be home soon, and I promise that if she hasn’t come home by 6 p.m., we’ll both do something about it.”

Although he sounded logical and confident to his mother, he felt anything but. His mind was screaming to think rationally, but his heart was already thudding against his chest. I hope she is all right, God.

He excused himself from the practice after speaking to the Coach and went into the changing rooms to wash himself. Within ten minutes, he was out in street clothes. He ran to the parking area for two wheelers and was on his TVS Victor and on the way home in the blink of an eye.

Seeta has always been the impetuous one. He drove fast but carefully and arrived home just as his mother emerged from the house with a big smile on her face.

“Hey mom, what happened? Why are you so happy?” He asked, as he disembarked from his bike.

“Seeta … beta, she is just fine. She called up a few moments ago … apologized for the voice mail setting on her mobile … she is stuck on the way due to a major road-block …I am so relieved!" said Sunny’s mom breathlessly.

Sundeep hugged his mother and wiped away the few tears that glistened on her cheeks. His other sisters too emerged from within the house.

“Hi Arti, Reena, Swati, Vimal! How are ya’ll?”

His sisters all surrounded him and covered him with their love and kisses.

Sundeep had never felt as happy as he did then.

Shortly, he finished his dinner and retired to his own room. While emptying the bag, he came across a copy of the Picnic circular. He read it with interest. With my interest in paranormal phenomena, maybe I will experience something unusual in the jungle, he thought to himself. Maybe even see ghosts. Now wouldn’t that be something?

He checked in on his father, who seemed all right. Just as he had begun to again worry about Seeta, the doorbell rang.

Seeta came in looking not too fresh or good. She was, as she put it, “bone-tired”. His mother and he set about doing whatever was needed to turn Seeta in as soon as possible.

“You know, bhaiya, the road-block was almost five kilometers long …”

“Nanaji and nani have sent you their love …”

“This beautiful exhibition that I saw in the Gwalior Fort …”

“It was amazing, bhaiya. I can’t believe our guide when he said that 2000 horsemen had tried to scale the wall and had failed …”

Her stories continued well past bedtime, but finally, Seeta fell asleep at 11 p.m.

It’ll be back to college from tomorrow as usual, you silly thing!

So thinking, Sundeep left Seeta’s bedside and went back to his room to sleep. The last thought in his mind was about his name and photograph in the papers all over the world.

“Indian Youth finally proves the existence of ghosts” read the headline in the Washington Post. The New York Times said, “Sundeep M. from India corroborates the prevalence of the Spirit”. The Guardian was a bit non-committal. “Do ghosts really exist? Indian Arts student seems to think YES.”

Sundeep tossed and turned to clearly read the headlines from The Times, London: “India’s Sundeep mocked by the scientific community. Ghost discovery a hoax, says the British Paranormal Society.”

He sat up in bed. He wiped the sweat off his face as he realized that it had all been a dream. He turned back to his side and went back to sleep.