That afternoon,Mohan picked up the bunch of keys of their old bungalow at Khopoli, some 100km away from his Mumbai residence. He took along some bedsheets, a dozen whiskey glasses, three full bottles of Yellow Label whiskey, a couple of bottles of Smirnoff vodka, a dozen of cool drinks with icebox, salted cashew nuts, cheese boxes, cucumber,a drum of mineral water and a few sets of playing cards.
With all goodies arranged in the back seat of his car,Mohan along withhis domestic help Dagadudrove fast and reached Khopoli much before sunset. Following the landmarks given by the seniors, he reached the top of the hill where the old decrepit bungalow stood gracefully amidst big tamarind andbanyan trees.
Mohan parked the car near the bungalow and along with Dagadu unlocked the big wooden door that had been untouched for decades. The screeching sound of the door made Dagadu feel a bit eerie.However, they entered the bungalow. Adjacent to the door was a big wooden cabinet made out of teak wood.On display, were someold designs prevalent some hundred years ago. Above the cabinet, hung an antler skull on the wall.
Mohan and Dagadustarted with cleaning the living room. They also made arrangements for a group of 8-10 persons who were to arrive at around 8 pm.
“Today we are celebrating Prabhakar kaka’s son, Sandeep, getting a Ph.D. in space technology. Next month,he will be joining NASA in the US. So, all eight cousinsare having a party in our grandfather’s bungalow. Everyone talksabout this place a lot but none of us had ever visited this bungalow. We boys were busy with our jobs and never found the time to come here. This seemed like the right opportunity to enjoy the grandeur of this wonderful bungalow that is located in such a secluded place,” Mohan told Dagadu.
“Good you came with me. We could make it liveable even if it was for just one night,”
As planned around 8pm, Mohan’s brothers — Shashikant, Ramesh,Rohit, Akshay — and the rest arrived along with Sandeep. They brought with them sumptuous home-cooked food, ice-cream slabs and much more.
After a lot of commotion, they quickly settled down and started a game of cards, while slowly sipping drinks of their choice. They all squatted on sheets spread on the ground. There was soft music too in the background. Around 11pm, Dagadu went inside to make arrangements for dinnerclosing the main entrance door.
The youngsters were chatting and busy discussing topics of all kinds. The effect of the drinks had started setting in. The entire atmosphere had turned cheerful and carefree.
Around midnight, everyone heard a knock. Tok Tok Tok. It took everyone by surprise. “Who the hell had come to the bungalow at this odd hour?”
Dagadu rushed toanswer the door. However, he could not see anyone in the dark outside. He peeped out and looked around but found none. Dagadu returned inside, closing the door behind him. “Nobody,” he declared, and continued making arrangements for the dinner.
About 10-15 minutes later, they again heard the knock— Tok Tok Tok. This time, Mohan did not wait for Dagadu and himself opened the door. This time too, there was no one. Mohan also checked but there was no one. He came back after closing the door. “I wonder who is playing the mischief and for what?” Mohan said.
The rounds of drinks and the cards continued.
But 10-12 minutes laterthey heard the knock again — Tok Tok Tok.
This time,three or four of the cousins together rushed outside to catch the mischief monger. But there was nobody. They evenrushed into the area nearby,hoping to get hold of the culprit. However, there was no movement at all. Everything was still. There were only big shadows of the trees. Surprised and shocked, they wondered who could it be.
The cousins returned to the bungalowbut shut the door without bolting it. And instead of resuming their card games, they stood behind the door two on each side. They had decided to find out who it was.
The rest of the brothers continued with their merrymaking. The loud talking and commotion went on.
A few minutes later, they heardthe knock again. All fourcousins threw open the door instantly and rushed outside but no one was to be seen. They even flashed their torches on the trees nearby but there was no movement at all. They waited holding on to their breath.
“Again, no one to be seen.”
“What could it be?”
“Could it be a ghost?” Dagadu doubtfully asked.
The word ‘ghost’ terrified all of them. All the cousins, who till that moment had claimed to be brave,at once returned to the room and quietly closed the door.
Although Dagadu was ready with the dinner, no one had the appetite to eat anything. They sat close to each other and Mohan started chanting Ram Raksha, mantras that are believed to protect one from evil. The mysterious knock-knocks had knocked off the ‘heavenly state’ the cousins were in afterthe few rounds of alcohol. They were now ratherhorrified.
They spent the next few hours anxiously and as soon as the dawn broke the cousins gathered their belongings, locked up the bungalow, got into their cars, and started their journey back home.
Back in the bungalow, on the rear side of the antler skull,a houselizard had been struggling since midnight to gulp down a cockroach that had to be too big for its mouth. Stuck in the lizard’s mouth, the cockroach was still half alive. It tried to flutterits wings and escape as the lizard opened its mouth once again. And in itsdesperation to holdonto the cockroach in its mouth, the lizard hit its tail hard on the wooden panel — Tok. Tok. Tok.
