CHAPTER - 7

[ Vijaygarh ]

Akash didn’t know for how long he was standing there as he had no sense of time and how could he have that as by God’s grace he was still alive after what he had seen.He was startled by the howling of another wolf and when he turned his head on that direction,he found that a black wolf was howling facing the moon and alongwith him,some other wolves joined the chorus,who cannot be seen.Akash felt that something was rolling down his head and when he touched that,he realized he was sweating.He again turned his head towards the paranormal scene,which he had just visualized and he was shocked to find that there was nothing,no lotus were glittering in the river and the girl also vanished.He was watching everything,hiding behind a banyan tree and now he leaned his back on the tree getting extremely scared and muttered,”Ye sab jhut hai,abhi abhi maine jo dekha hai,vo sab jhut hai.Main na koi bohot daraavna sapna dekha raha hu.Relax Akash relax!!Its all a dream,a nightmare!!”He searched his pockets for his mobile as his torch too went off and everything was pitch black in front of him.When he took out his mobile he was unable to hold it properly since his hands were shaking and he too realized that his clothes were wet which was due to heavily sweating and his hands turned ice cold even in this extremely hot weather.When he checked his phone he found that it too went off.He felt like throwing the mobile off but he could not and said,”Jab waqt kharaab hota hai na tab sab kuch khilaaf ho jaata hai.”Suddenly,he found that the fade white light of the moon was slowly changing its colour.He closed his eyes thinking what he might be going to see now and slowly looked upwards and found that the moon was changing its colour and so was its light.Solwly it turned into complete red and Akash saw that the girl who he saw just a few minutes ago,was standing over a hilltop stretching her hands towards the moon wearing a blood red royal traditional costume and jewelleries and her hair was flying in the air.He recognized her to be that girl since he was able to see a side of her face when she was walking over the river.A number of black wolves were surrounding her and sitting in a queue.Akash’s breath caught inside his throat as he was watching the scene.Suddenly,breaking the paranormal environment and the silence of night into pieces like glass,Akash’s phone rang.Out of extreme fear,Akash was about to scream but when he looked towards the hilltop,he found that the wolves were looking at him and the face of the girl,which he just saw sometime ago,slowly started turning ghastly.The girl’s face turned into a face full of scar,her eyes turned into blood red as she looked at Akash.Akash wanted to run but he felt as if his legs were jammed.The ghost’s hands started stretching by its own and Akash was almost 100 feet away from her and her hands almost reached a feet away from him.Akash closed his eyes and gathered all the strength he had in his body and used that to run.Akash started running as fast as he could and so the ghost too stretched her arms with equal speed.Akash almost reached a point from where he could see the main road out of the forest but suddenly his feet banged with a rock and he fall down and was hit on his head.He grabbed his head with his hands and turned towards the ghost whose hands almost reached half a feet away from his neck.The ghost was about to grab his neck when suddenly the ghost had an ear piercing scream and everything suddenly disappeared into dark.Akash was shocked to see all these but he didn’t have the strength to react on it since his head was spinning and the dark environment started fading away and he fall unconscious in the forest.

                                                                                                Next day,Akash felt a chill of pain in his head as he woke up.Grabbing his head with his fingers,he slowly opened his eyes but instead of the ceilings of his room in the guest house,he found the ceilings to be a bit different.He looked here and there and finally got to know that he was not in his room but somewhere else.He slowly got up and then a man entered in the room where Akash was there with a bowl containing some medicine.The man forwarded the bowl and said,”Ye lijiye davaai pee lijiye aapki chot thik ho jaayegi.”Akash was confused and asked,”Ye main kaha hu?Ye mera room to nehi lagta hai?Mujhe yaha kaun lekar aaya?”The man replied,”Aap jungle mein pare huye miley the aur hum aapko yaha lekar aaye hai.Dariye mat aap masjid mein hai aur ye peer baba ka karma hai.Yaha aap bilkul mehfus hai.”Akash asked,”Par aapko kaise pata chala ke main jungle mein tha?”The man smiled and replied,”Hume kaha se pata chalta?Hume hamaare peer baba ne bataya aur hum aapko dhundhne jungle pohoch gaye.”Akash said,”This peer baba is really freaking me out!!Ab unko kaise pata chala ke main jungle mein tha?”The man laughed and replied,”Ab ye to aap unhise hi puch lijiye.Vo thore hi der mein yaha aa rahe hai.Abhi to aap filhaal ye davaai le lijiye.”Akash took the bowl from his hand and emptied it but could not intake it properly and threw out a bit of it as it was very bitter.The man left and after sometime,the peer baba entered into that room and on seeing him,Akash said,”Aaj main aapse sachchi mein kuch nehi puchunga kyuki jawaab mein aap vohi gol mol baate karenge jo mere dimaag mein bilkul bhi nehi ghusne waala.”The peer baba laughed and replied,”Tere dimaag mein bohot saare sawaal hai mujhe pata hai par unme se do sawaalo ka jawaab main zarur dunga.Tera pehla sawaal ye hai na ke tune jo dekha kya vo sach tha ya sapna?To iska jawaab ye hai ke vo sapna nehi tha,vo sach tha.Tune wakaayi mein us rooh ko dekha hai.Vo har kisiko nehi dikhti hai aur jisko dikhti hai vo zinda nehi bachta hai.Vaise aajtak usne kisi begunaah ki jaan nehi li hai.”Akash was confused and asked,”To phir agar us scholar ko usne nehi maara to phir vo kaise mara?”The peer baba replied,”Policewaala main nehi tu hai,vo to tujhe pata lagaana hoga na.Ha ab tera dusra sawaal ke tu kaise bacha,iska jawaab main tujhe bataaunga nehi par dikhaaunga zarur.”The peer baba asked Akash to open his shirt and Akash was confused and irritated at first but then he opened the shirt and then the peer baba pointed at a symbol on Akash’s arm and it was a symbol of trident of Lord Shiva and the peer baba said,”Ye nishaan dekh raha hai isine tujhe bachaya hai.”Akash replied,”Ye to mera birthmark hai,janam se hi hai ye.”The peer baba replied,”Teri ma tere janam se pehle shiv ki puja karti thi na,tu shiv ka prasad hai apni ma ke liye isiliye tere baazu mein ye nishaan hai aur isine teri jaan bachaayi hai.”Akash put on his T shirt and then slowly got up to leave and then thanked peer baba and said,”Mujhe nehi pata ke aapko main kaise mila aur main janna bhi nehi chahta par aapne jo mujhe bachaya uske liye aapka bohot bohot shukriya.”Akash was about to leave,when the peer baba stopped him and said,”Tujhe pata hai kal raat ko chaand ka rang laal kyu hua?Vo ek begunaah ke khoon se laal hua hai aur vo begunaah jiska khoon bohot jald mahal ke itihaas ko phir se laal karne waala hai uske saath bhi tu bohot jald rubaru hone waala hai.”Akash was surprised and asked,”Aapko pata hai ke kal raat ko chaand ka rang laal ho gaya tha?”The peer baba looked outside the window and said,”Har poonam ki raat ko Vijaygarh ke aasmaan ka chaand laal ho jaata hai.Ye kisiko nehi dikhta hai par allah ke karam ke vajah se uske is bande ko ye dikhaai deta hai aur tujhe isiliye dikhaai diya hai kyuki tere paas tere bhagwaan ka aashirwaad hai aur isliye bhi kyuki tu maseeha hai.”Akash asked,”Aapne to kaha tha ke usne aajtak kisi begunaah ki jaan nehi li hai to phir vo meri jaan kyu lena chahti hai?”The peer baba gave deep sigh and replied,”Vo apna qahar sirf mahal waalo par barsaati hai,vo apne badle ke vajah se andhi ho gayi hai.Isiliye vo mahal ke rajgharaane ke bahaar kisi bhi insaan ko kuch nehi karti hai aur rahi baat teri,meri tarah usko bhi pata hai ke ab uska qahar jispar parne waala hai,uske aagey tu dhaal bankar khara hai aur tujhe vo apne raaste se isiliye hataana chahti hai.”Akash was impatient with Peer baba’s replies in riddles and he asked,”Aap mujhe sab saaf saaf batate kyu nehi hai ke ye kya raaz hai?”The peer baba turned towards him and raised his finger on Akash’s face and said,”Waqt se pehle aajtak na kuch hua hai aur naahi kabhi hoga.Sahi waqt par tujhe sab pata chal jaayega.”Akash was greatly disappointed and understood that standing there will be a complete waste of time and so he decided to leave.After Akash left from there,the peer baba prayed to lord for Akash’s safety and well being.

[ 3 Days later ]

Ananya and her family reached Delhi within 3 days and while earlier Ananya had plans for doing marriage shopping from Delhi,Uday instead asked her to shop from Jaipur,as it would be better since there are many old shops who prepare royal costumes.So Ananya decided to shop from Jaipur only and before leaving for India,she even asked Natasha too come as soon as possible.Natasha’s father had some business engagement so he and his wife could not come and so Natasha was send alone to India from where Ananya and her family received her.One the other side,at Vijaygarh,Akash still didn’t believe that whatever he had seen in that inauspicious night was true at all and he even discussed the same things with Neil,even he didn’t believe them and so he was quite sure that it was nothing but his imagination due to the stories he heard about the palace and the ghost.Since 3 days,Akash travelled around the forest and the palace but didn’t enter inside the palace.He took pictures from different angles and also travelled around the place and tried to gather as much information about the royal family as possible from the hotel manager but those information was of not very use.By that time,he received the news about the royal family being arriving within a day or two and so the guest house started vacating itself and so Akash also got ready to leave the guest house.In the reception,Akash paid for his stay and then took the address of Professor Shekhawat from the manager and then decided to shift there.He walked along and finally found the house of Professor Shekhawat and Akash was stunned to see that the house was nothing less than a palace and the design too was very old.He knocked at the door and one servant opened it and the man asked,”Tane kaun chahiye bhaiji?”Akash replied,”Ye jinka ghar hai vohi chahiye,Professor sahaab ghar par hai na?”The man nodded his head and asked the man to come in.He came inside and stood in the veranda when a middle aged man almost of his father’s age came outside.Akash looked at him and joined his head and said,”Namaste mera naam Akash Saluja hai,main aapke Delhi university waale colleague aur dost Professor Vishwanath Saluja ka beta hu.”Vinay looked at him and then when Akash told about his father,he remembered him and said,”Ha ha mujhe yaad hai vo mere bohot achche dost hai.Aao aao beta andar aao.”Vinay took Akash with him inside and Akash gave his father’s letter to Vinay.Vinay asked Akash to sit and then read the letter comfortably and then returned the letter to Akash and said,”Hmm!!To tum yaha kuch dino pehle ke us murder mystery ko solve karne aaye ho.Achchi baat hai,main kisiko tumhaari asli pehchaan nehi bataaunga.Aaj se tum mere ghar mein raho koi problem nehi hai par ha tum jungle ke taraf mat jaana.”Akash remembered about the incidents in the jungle and said,”Actually...main us jungle mein jaakar aaya hu.”Vnay was shocked and he looked at Akash horrified and asked,”Kya tum jungle mein gaye the?”Akash,in a confused tone,replied,”Ha main jungle mein gaya tha aur jaane ke baad mere saath ek bohot ajeeb hadsa hua.Agar ajeeb bhi kahunga to bhi galat hoga,ek bhayaanak haadsa hua hai.Mujhe abhitak ye samajhme nehi aaya ke jo mere saath hua vo sach tha ya phir ek sapna tha.Mera dil meri aakho dekhe us purey haadse ko inkaar nehi kar pa raha hai par mera dimaag is baat ko manne ko tayyar nehi hai.”Vinay was curious to know about what happened with Akash and so he told Vinay everything and listening to that Vinay was boggled and after that Akash said,”Yehi nehi jabse main yaha aaya hu tabse hi mere saath ajeeb ajeeb baate ho rahi hai.Vo jo masjid waale peer baba hai na,vo kehte hai ke...”Vinay asked,”Kya kehte hai?”Akash swallowed the lump formed in his throat and replied,”Vo kehte hai ke main rakshak hu jo is mahal ko is shraap ke qahar se bachaayega.”Vinay looked a bit uncomfortable on hearing this and in a very serious tone he said,”Agar peer baba ne kaha hai to vo jhut nehi hoga.Ha hum pare likhe aaj ke zamaane ke log in sab baato ko nehi maante hai lekin is duniya mein aisi unexplained baate hai jisey aajtak koi samajh nehi paaya hai,jo science se bhi pare hai.Agar unhone kaha hai ke tum rakshak ho to tum hi rakshak ho aur is baat ka sabse bara saboot hai ke tum aadhi raat jungle se zinda waapas laute ho kyuki aajtak jo bhi jungle ke andar aadhi raat ke baad gaya hai vo waapas nehi aaya.”He then changed the topic and then smiled and said,”Khair!!Tum yaha aaye ho jaao jaakar fresh ho jaao aur khaana kha lo.Hamesha se main akele hi khaana khaata aaya hu achcha hua aaj table par akele bethna nehi parega.”Vinay asked one of his servant to give Akash a room and the servant picked up his luggage and asked him to follow him.But before leaving,Akash said,”Vaise ye sawaal maine kayio se puchne ki koshish ki hai par kisine mujhe nehi bataya yahatak ke peer baba se bhi pucha par unhone bhi kuch bhi nehi bataya.”Vinay asked,”Kaisa sawaal?”Akash asked,”Ye mahal ka raaz kya hai?Kaun hai vo aatma jiske baare mein sab bolte hai?Kis baat ke liye vo badla le rahi hai?”Vinay,with a fearing face,turned against him and asked,”Kya ye janna zaroori hai?”Akash just smiled and replied,”Agar sab kehte hai ke main rakshak hu,agar aapka bhi yehi manna hai ke main hi rakshak hu to mera to sabse pehla haq banta hai na ye janne ka ke mujhe Vijaygarh ki raksha kisse karni hai.”Vinay looked into Akash’s eyes and replied,”Abhi abhi aaye ho na,fikar mat karo,sahi waqt aane par main tumhe sab kuch bataaunga.”Akash nodded his head lightly and then left from there towards his room.

                                                                                             Next morning,Akash decided to visit the the local police station to check on the scholar’s post-mortem report.On getting there,no one paid any heeds to his words and so he asked that he wanted to meet the OC of that police station.Akash was sitting inside the OC’s cabin and the OC,on getting to know the reason of his visit there,made a face to him and then asked,”Bhaaya aap to patrakaar ho hum aapne post-mortem ka report kisliye dikhaaye?”Akash replied,”Dekhiye vo aadmi Delhi ka tha aur Delhi ka aadmi yaha aane ke baad ek bohot hi ajeeb tareeke se uski maut ho jaati hai to mera farz banta hai na ke main is baare mein jaanch partaal karu aur sachchai saamne laau.”The OC replied,”Dekho bhaaya ye police chowky hai,yaha hum aise hi kisiko koi bhi jaankaari na dete hai.Bas itna aapne main bata saku hu ke us aadmi ko Vijaygarh ke jungalo mein rehne waali ek khatarnaak churail ne maara hai.”Akash made a disgusting face and asked,”To aapne post-mortem report mein yehi likkha tha?Ke churail ne maar diya hai us aadmi ko?”The OC was irritated at Akash’s questioning and said,”Dekho bhaya tanne jo chaapno hai apne akhbaar mein chaap do ya apne TV mein dikha do.Manne koi fark na parego.Abhi aap jaaiye hume dhero kaam hote hai apni chowki beth kar yaha main aapke saath apna waqt barbaad kar sakta koni.”Akash thought that if he had to grab on the reports then he had to disclose his real identity to the OC otherwise,he would not be of any use.So he took out his actual ID card and showed it to the OC and he asked,”Yo ke hai?”Akash replied,”Meri asli pehchaan,socha tha jhuti identity se apna kaam chal jaayega par nehi isiliye main aapko apni asli identity card dikha raha hu.Aap chahe to isey verify kar sakte hai.Mujhe koi problem nehi hai.”The OC looked at the ID card with horrified expressions and then stood up and saluted Akash with shaky hands and in a trembling voice said,”Sorry sirji!!Boliye main aapke liye ke kar sakta hu.”Akash asked him to sit and in a buttery voice replied,”Nehi nehi aap aisa mat kijiye,aap bethiye aur bas mujhe us aadmi ki post-mortem report laakar de dijiye aur saath mein investigation report bhi.Mera kaam usise hi chal jaayega.”The OC immediately called on one of his constable and asked him to bring the scholar’s post-mortem report.When the report was brought,Akash checked on each and every details of it very minutely and then said,”Yahapar to likha hai ke unki maut cardiac arrest yaani heart attack se hui hai aur yaha to ye bhi likha hai ke vo heart patient bhi the kyuki aapne jo report banaya hai uske mutaabik uske guest house waale kamre se aap logo ko heart patients ki davaaiya bhi mili hai.”He angrily closed the post mortem report and then said to the OC,”Yaha saaf likha hua hai ke us aadmi ki maut dil ke daure se hui hai aur aap itne pare likhe aur ek policewaale hokar bajaaye iske ke in sab churailo waali abvaaho ko rokne ki koshish kare aap in sab ko baraava de rahe hai?”The OC joined his hands in front of Akash and said,”Isme maari koi galti na se sirji.Yaha to sab maante hai ke jungalo mein churail hai varna aap hi sochiye isko dil ka daura kyu parta.”Akash gave a fed up look and replied,”Dekhiye kaun kya manta hai aur jungalo mein churail hai ya nehi vo sab mujhe nehi pata hai par aap ek policewaale aapki zimmedaari banti hai ke aap apni duty nibhaaye waha churail hai ya nehi aapne khud to nehi dekha na?Aur phir reports mein saaf saaf likha hai vo dil ke mareez the to aisa bhi to ho sakta hai ke kisi cheez ko dekh kar vo dar gaye honge ya phir kisi aur vajah se unko heart attack hua ho.Aapko investigate karni chahiye thi!”Akash then got up from his seat and replied,”Aapki shakal dekh kar hi lag raha hai ke aap logo se kuch bhi nehi hoga isliye mujhe hi kuch karna parega.”He was about to leave but then stopped and warned the OC,”Mere aur aapke beech mein jo kuch bhi baat cheet hui hai aur meri asli pehchaan is kamre ke bahaar nehi jaani chahiye...varna mere tallukaat ministry mein bhi hai.Samajh rahe hai na aap?”The OC swallowed the lump formed in his throat and nodded his head obediently and Akash left from there with the OC leaving behind rubbing off his forehead with his handkerchief out of tension.

                                                                                          While Akash was coming out of the police station,he said to himself,”Iam sure us aadmi ne jungle mein kuch na kuch zarur dekha hoga,shaayad usdin raat ko jo maine dekha vo...Maine jitna dekha,shaayad usse aadha bhi nehi dekh paaya hoga dil ka mareez tha bichaara.Vo dekh kar to achche khaase aadmi ko heart attack aa jaayega vo bichaara to dil ka mareez tha.To kya sach mein jo kuch bhi maine dekha vo sach tha?”Akash brushed off his thoughts and then started walking again.A big car crossed him on the road and seeing that he was surprised and thought that might be some VIP had arrived.He again resumed walking and while he was walking on the road,completely lost about the incident that happened with him at night,he didn’t notice that another car was coming from behind him.The driver was continuously pressing horn but Akash didn’t notice that.At last when the car was an inch away from Akash,the driver pressed the horn loudly and finally Akash’s chain of thoughts were broken and he moved away from the road with a jerk and shock.The car stopped a few steps ahead and from that car,the car owner came out and the car owner was none other than Ananya herself.She came out of the car fuming with anger and stood in front of Akash putting her hand on her waist and looked at Akash in such a way as if she will eat him up now.Akash was stunned on seeing her not because he was seeing a girl but because he had never seen such a beautiful woman earlier in his life and he was looking at her with open mouth.Ananya angrily asked,”Aap raste mein dekh kar nehi chal sakte hai?Hamaare driver itne der se horn baja rahe the aur aap??Aap behre hai kya?”Akash was still staring at her and seeing that Ananya waved her hand in front of his face and asked,”Hullo excuse me hum aapse baat kar rahe hai??Aap sun bhi rahe hai?”Akash came out of his dreamland and said,”Ha ha main sun raha hu.Iam...Iam really very sorry vo main kuch soch raha tha aur apne soch mein itna kho gaya tha ke mujhe dhyaan hi nehi raha.”Ananya said,”Aap jaise log na khud to raaste mein dhang se chal nehi sakte hai aur agar aaj aapko kuch ho jaata to police hume pakar kar le jaati.”Akash made a face and asked,”Main maafi maang raha hu na ab aur kya chahti hai aap?Per pakar lu aapke?”Ananya said,”Oho ek to chori upar se seena jori!!Marne ka agar itna shaukh chara hai na to yaha Vijaygarh mein bohot saare pahaariya hai kahi se bhi kood jaaiye.”Akash was stunned on seeing her attitude and so he too angrily replied,”Mariye aap jaakar madam aur mare mere dushman.Main maafi maang raha hu uske baad bhi aap mujhe suna rahi hai.Aap apne aap ko samajhti kya hai?Dikhne mein to pari likhi aur shareef khaandaan ki lagti hai.”Ananya stood straight and said,”Aap jaante nehi hai hum kaun hai?Aapko pata nehi hai aap kisse baat kar rahe hai?Hamaare ek baar kehne par aap Vijaygarh ke sarhado ke bahaar honge.”Akash looked at her from head to toe and said,”Baat to aise kar rahi hai ke jaise koi raja maharajao ke khaandaan se ho,par pata hai kya mujhe lagta hai ke aap ki paagal khaane se bhaag kar aayi hai.Vaise sahib hi hai,aap jaisi insaan ko apne ghar mein rakhne ka risk koi nehi lega.”Since Ananya was taking time,so Natasha and Parvati came out of the car and then walked towards Ananya and found her fighting with Akash.Ananya remained open mouthed on hearing him and asked,”Aapne hume paagal kaha?”Akash gave a mocking smile and asked,”Kyu zyaada izzat de di?”She was again about to reply him back but Parvati and Natasha came to her and stopped her and asked,”Bitiya ye tu ke kar rahi hai yaha khare khare?”Ananya replied,”Dekho na ma ye aadmi ek to beech sadak par chal raha tha to bajaaye iske ke apni galti mane ye ulta hume hi suna rahe hai.”Akash said to them,”Dekhiye maine inse maafi maangi hai par ye mujhe uljulool baate suna rahi hai.Aap inke dimaag ka ilaaj karwaaiye.”Ananya was fuming with anger but Natasha stopped her and said,”Ananya please chalo tayaji hamaara intezaar kar rahe honge.Unhone maafi maang li hai na chalo yaha se.”Akash said,”Ya please lekar jaaiye inhe.”Ananya before leaving warned Akash,”Agli baar agar miley na to main tumhe dekh lungi.”Akash made a face and said,”Milenge tab na mujhe to milna hi nehi hai.”Saying Akash started walking on his own way and Ananya too returned in his car.

                                                                                                 In the mosque,the peer baba,while praying to his Lord,suddenly opened his eyes with a huge smile and said,”Vo aa gayi!!Vo aa gayi Vijaygarh mein!!”One of his desciples who was sitting beside and praying asked,”Kaun aa gayi baba?”The peer baba replied,”Vajah aa gayi!!Vo vajah jiske vajah se hamaare maseeha ko us rooh ki qaid se is Vijaygarh ko azaad karaana hi parega.”The disciple asked,”Kaun hai vo baba?”The peer baba replied,”Vohi jiske paak khoon ke vajah se bohot jald is mahal aur Vijaygarh ke logo ko hamesha hamesha ke liye is rooh se nijaad milne waala hai.Vijaygarh ki hone waali waliahed (in this case the yuvraani) Shehzaadi Ananya Pratap Singh Rathore,yahake Ranaji ki ek lauti beti.”The disciple asked,”Par ye dono milenge kaise?”The peer baba looked upwards and then replied,”Vo dono mil chuke hai par unhe ye nehi pata ke ab unki raahe ek dusre ke saath hamesha ke liye jud chuki hai.Kyuki mazloom aur maseehe ki Jodi to allah ne pehle hi bana di hai bas ab dekhna ye hai ke allah unhe unki manzil ke taraf lekar kaise jaate hai.”The peer baba had a smile of content on his face.