This is a story narrated by my
father. This incident happened a long time back, when he was posted in the Hill
Section of Assam. He says….
After
passing my medical degree, I was posted in a place called Ditackchara. I packed
a small suitcase, bade goodbye to my mother in Calcutta and started my journey
towards the unknown and unheard of destination. The month was July. It was a
very long journey. I had to change trains, cross the Brahmaputra River on a
steamer, take the hill section train to arrive at Ditackchara Station.
It was a small station, with hills all around.
The station master welcomed me and called out to somebody named “Ranjan”. A frail
young man came inside the station master’s room. He was wearing frayed clothes
but his eyes were very bright and sparkling with intelligence. The station
master told me that there was a small health unit about 1 km away, where Ranjan
will take me. I was the only doctor who had to serve the small hill station and
at least 25 villages around it. It had started to drizzle and I was feeling
very lost and lonely in the unfamiliar surroundings. The hills all around
seemed to close in on me and I could not breathe properly. Suddenly Ranjan
said, “Come Doctor babu, I will take you to your house.”
The house was
an old colonial style bungalow, made of wood. It was atop a small hillock,
surrounded by tall trees. As we started climbing, he mentioned casually that I
should not go out at night and I should sleep with the lantern well-lit. I did
not show any interest to his uttering.
Ranjan
prepared food for me and took his leave, saying that he would come the next
morning. I sat in the verandah after my dinner. An owl was hooting from far. There
was an unusual silence all around. I decided to sleep early, as there was
nothing to do. My bedroom was very big and the bed was in the middle of the
room. Near the door of the bathroom, there was a dressing table with a huge
mirror. As I entered the room, I had a feeling that somebody was looking at me
through the mirror, then I said to myself that I was imagining things.
I must have
dozed off as soon as I lay down and slept for quite some time as I was tired
after my long journey. I was suddenly awakened by the sound of a gunshot. The
light of the lantern had become dim. I felt that somebody was standing near the
foot of my bed and was staring at me. I wanted to scream but no sound came out.
Then I felt that a very cold presence was coming near me. I could feel the
frozen breath. I felt that there was a heavy pressure on my chest and I started
to lose consciousness. I called out my mother’s name and everything went black.
I could
feel that somebody was shaking me. I opened my eyes and found that Ranjan was
trying to wake me up. I remembered last night’s incident and got up
immediately. Ranjan told me that I was lucky to have escaped unhurt. It seems long
ago a doctor of the armed forces used to stay in this bungalow. He had been
very depressed, as he was denied leave to go and meet his family in London. One
day he sat in front of the dressing table and shot himself with his pistol. Even
now, people can hear a gunshot every year on 11th July, on his death
anniversary.
-x-
