Jay thrashed his fingers across the strings of his bass guitar, the basis notes reverberating through the dimly lit club. The crowd pulsated with energy, their bodies moving in sync with the relentless rhythm of the music. As a member of the hard rock band "Mrityu," Jay was no stranger to the stage, but tonight, something felt different.
Unbeknownst to him, two figures sat in the shadowy corner of the club, their eyes fixed on Jay. Sharanya, with her piercing gaze and Prithvi, with his stoic demeanor, watched intently as Jay unleashed his raw talent upon the unsuspecting audience.
"He's the one," Sharanya whispered, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of sound.
Prithvi nodded in agreement, his gaze unwavering. "Yes, he possesses the potential we seek. We must approach him before it's too late."
Meanwhile, Jay's fingers danced across the fretboard with practiced precision, each note carrying a piece of his soul. Little did he know that his fate was about to take an unexpected turn.
After their performance, Jay returned to his apartment. As he sifted through the pile of mail on the kitchen table, his eyes fell upon a mysterious package addressed to him. Intrigued, he tore open the package to find a mobile phone and an address written on a piece of paper.
Jay read that paper carefully. He looked at the address. It was of a University in Kalpa village in Himachal Pradesh. He switched on the mobile phone and as soon as the mobile phone booted he saw he recieved a text on it. It read, "You have been seeking truth all your life Jay, do you want to know the truth? If you do, meet us at the address you have recieved. Keep the phone handy."
Jay didn't know what to do, but the opportunity of knowing the truth aas a hard one to pass. He put the contents of package back in the package and kept it in his cupboard. He then went to the coffee machine to make himself a coffee. His room was littered with esoteric books. He had developed interest in the esoteric even since he had a particular out of body experience last year and he wanted to know the causes of it. He had just finished his Bachelor's in Zoology. He wanted to be a primatologist but since the experience he had, he had given up on the idea to study further. His band played in cafes and bars of Indraprastha City and he was living in the moment at the present. His band consisted of Bhavesh who was a DJ and Keyboardist, Vasu who was the guitarist, Aman who was the Drummer, and Ali who was the vocalist and him who was the bassist. The band earned enough to support a meagre living through all his band members except him had day jobs to support themselves.
Jay started packing, the band would've to hire and external bassist, but he knew in his heart that this thing, whatever it was, was more important than the band. It was Saturday today and Kalpa was 250 kilometre away from Indraprastha City. It was Friday today and if he starts early morning tomorrow he would be able to reach Kalpa by afternoon.
He went to the coffee machine and made himself another cup of coffee. He had kept his clothes in his rucksack and was making a note of things he would need on the trip. There wasn't much. Clothes, phone, especially the phone he had received today and his wallet. He was packed and ready to go. He opened his cupboard and took out the package. He kept the piece of paper which has the address in his wallet and kept the phone he had received in the package on the table. He then took out his own phone and messaged his bandmates and a few other people that he had to go out of town for a very important work.
He lay down on the bed and wondered what the message was all about. He had already lost all hopes in humanity and it doesn't seem real that someone who had no incentive from him would try to contact him. Maybe they he was profitable to them in some manner, maybe there was some incentive to them in contacting him. Thinking all these things he drifted into sleep.
He woke up at six in the morning freshened up, took a bath and then took his rucksack and helmet and got out of the apartment. He locked his apartment, and took the stairs to the parking where his bike was parked. His bike was a cafe racer that he valued a lot. He started the engine and took off on his journey.
He rode non stop for four and half hours though the speed was not much it did not take him much time and he enjoyed the ride and seeing the terrain changing from plains to mountainous. He had reached Kalpa. Kalpa was full of forests and he realised that the university he had the address to lied deep inside mountainous jungles. He stopped at a roadside stall to have a tea. Where he talked to the locals about the university. The university students and staff came to Kalpa bazaar to do their shopping and the university contributed a lot to the economy of Kalpa village.
After tea, he got on the bike again and started for the university. It was a road through the forest. And after a ride of 15 minutes on mountain roads surrounded by forest he was able to reach the gates of the university. There were two guards at the gate. The guards looked at him and opened the gate. He entered the gate and saw a signboard with Administrative Block written on it, he turned his board towards the direction the board was pointing. He reached the Administrative Block, parked his bike in the parking and got off it and got into the building. He went to the reception and took out the piece of paper and showed it to the receptionist. She pointed him towards a room and asked him to make himself comfortable. Jay went inside the room. There was a couch and glass table and on the table there were a few magazines. On one side there was a fireplace and above the fireplace were kept two vases. He sat on the couch and picked a travel magazine and started sifting through it. Almost five minutes later a man and a woman entered the room. The man wore a leather jacket and a blue jeans. He had short hair and a trimmed beard. The woman had worn a kanjivaram saree and wore golden framed glasses.
"Hello Jay", the woman said.
"You play the guitar very well. I know you must be having a lot of questions but rest assured that all of your questions will be answered. We saw you in the club yesterday and you might have noticed us in the crowd. This is Prithvi" she looked at the man, "and I am Sharanya".
Jay hadn't had the chance of standing up yet. He got up and nodded to both of them.
"The Professor would like to see you in some time" Prithvi said.
"Here are the keys to your room in the guest house. I hope you will find it comfortable and according to your needs. You freshen up and we'll meet you when the professor is ready to meet you. Dinesh would guide you to the guest house." Prithvi held out a bunch of keys attached to a keyring which had Room Number 108 inscribed on it.
All three of them came out of the room and stood in the hall of Administrative Block. A Nepali man, stood there.
"Hello, Jay sir, I'm Dinesh."
"Kindly follow me."Dinesh said courteously.
Jay got out of the building with Dinesh. And Dinesh hopped on a bicycle which seemed to be the chief mode of transport within the university, parked near the bike of Jay. Jay got on the bike and followed Dinesh to the guesthouse. He entered the guesthouse with Dinesh and they climbed to the first floor where Jay's room was.
"Please make yourself comfortable. I'll come to get you when professor asks for you." Saying this, Dinesh gave a bow and left the room.
Jay glanced accross the room. There was a large glass window and a fireplace. There was a single bed with a table beside it which had a table lamp and a telephone. There was a study table and a chair with a few magazines and an electric kettle along with two mugs, a glass tumbler and a glass jug filled with water kept on the table. Dinesh had carried his luggage to the room. He sat on the bed and wondered what it was about. He then got up and pulled the curtains from the windows getting a breathtaking view of forest covered mountains. He didn't know what he had gotten himself to. When he was riding from IP City to Kalpa all he could think was what awaited him. He had recently finished his college, and had decided to not to study further. He had no goals at present and he lived from one gig to another with his band. Mom and dad before passing away had left him a lot of money but he seldom touched that money, and lived mostly on what he made by playing in the band. He has ancestral property in Rajasthan which was looked after by Chhote Baba and his office, his father's uncle. His father was landlord and a counsel to the erstwhile king of Rajpur. He had extended family in Rajasthan but after the accident in which his mother and father passed away he had only been there twice.
He had been reading a lot on occult and esoteric literture after what he felt after his parents death. He felt some strange things which he realised that wasn't only grief. He felt he could see himself in third person as if he could see himself from outside his body and he felt a burning sensation all over his body and in his eyes, palms and soles. He had searched his symptoms on the internet and came across a term called depersonalization, but the literature he found on the internet noted that it was caused due to extreme anxiety and he did not have anxiety but grief. He was sad on his parents death but that was loss and not anxiety. He never had to worry about finances as Nahar Baba and his office took care of everything related to his father's and his finances. Chhote baba had appointed Nahar Singh who was ten years elder to him and son of a faithful servant to family to manage finances and estates of Jay and Nahar was dutiful about his job. Jay's parents passed away when he was in his second year of college and it had been one and half years since. He had never been the same after his parents death. Grief and adding to that a strange sensation that made him feel that he was watching himself from outside his body didn't let him live in peace. He had read majority of occult and esoteric literture of the world by now and he had not got his answer for the strange restlessness he suffered with yet. And now when he recieved the package and was called to Kalpa, he couldn't say know to the opportunity that could answer his questions.
He didn't know who Professor was, but he seemed important the way everyone whom he had met in this university took his name with respect. He got up to make himself a cup of coffee and put water to boil in the electric kettle and emptied two coffee sachets, a sachet of creamer and a sachet of sugar in a cup. He prepared the coffee, took the steaming cup and sat on his bed thinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment