Holi ke
rang...
Was it because of
some dye in the Holi colour or was it something to do with that wash of pinkish
light I had walked through?? But my life wasn’t the same again…
Though I wasn’t keen
on playing with colours, couldn’t escape the traditional Holi revelry of Navy
Nagar. My brother-in-law, Commander by rank but a doctor, head of INHS Ashwini,
was given respect in a traditional way, a kind of leftover ritual from Raj era.
Everyone put a respectful tilak on his forehead which he reciprocated. But I,
the honoured brother-in-law, had no such respect extended. I ended up in
a drum full of coloured water. In fact virtually drowned in it when they
dumped me into it, head first.
The next day being a
Sunday I went for a late night show. An old Kishore Kumar movie. It was those
times before the advent of Multiplexes and small screens, and the ‘Malls’ were
yet to make their entry and poke holes into our wallets.
After the movie I
went to fresh up and coming out found the usher in the process of pulling the shutter
down and I had to run out before he did.
After that ear
shattering noise of the shutter rolling and crashing down, it was ‘mind
shattering’ silence in that narrow side passageway one normally exited to in
most cinemas which connected to smaller unlit alleyways behind them that mostly
doubled as a free parking lot for the people coming to the movie. This one
stretched nearly half a mile before it joined the main road. Buildings on both
sides had its rear gates opening into it and next to such gates were garbage
bins overflowing with stale household litters and full of huge grunting rodents
which even chased the cats away. So I walked exactly through the middle of the
road. And then it dawned on me, the road was absolutely empty and very
dark…
Conscious of being
alone and the city’s reputation, and singing ‘khoobsoorat hasinaa,
jaane jaan jaane man, rang jiske labon ka, dhoondhta hai chaman…’ just
to keep me company, I stepped up my pace to reach the main road as soon as
possible. ‘tu nahin, tu nahin who haseen to sanam, koi aur hi to
hai...’ and then, I heard footsteps behind. So I wasn’t alone after
all. Comforted, I looked behind. There were two of them and from the way they
were walking, I became a bit apprehensive and very casually crossed the narrow
lane and walked towards an area awash with a pinkish light. I heard their
footsteps and looked behind; they were also crossing the lane.
I reached the wash of
pinkish light in the hope that someone’s rear door may still be open and found
it wasn’t. I started speeding as I crossed that lighted area, almost jogged
forward and nearing the main road felt the footsteps wasn’t following anymore.
I slowed down and looked behind. Standing beyond the light were those two with
a curious and confused look. Ok, they weren’t following me at all and, now,
probably wondering what this silly guy is running away from.
Thank God, I thought,
and walked towards the station and was in time to catch the 12:35 local and was
home in half an hour. I freshened up and changed and went to bed in the
comforting feeling that, tomorrow being a Sunday, I don’t have to wake up
before 8.00 am when the milkman arrived. Just before 8.00 I woke up and,
humming another song from yesterday’s movie ‘mere mehboob qayaamat
hogi, aaj ruswa teri galiyon se mohobbat hogi…’ went to brush my
teeth. I switched on the mirror lamp, and…almost jumped out of my skin, if
there was any skin.
What I saw in the
mirror was nothing, just nothing. No face or hand or…
Alarmed, the brush
fell off my hand. I looked again, nothing… an empty mirror with just my
favorite Warli mural reflecting silently behind. As I kept staring in
shock, the doorbell chimed. I turned around, picked up the bottle from the
kitchen, and opened the door and extended my hand holding the empty bottle
towards the milk man.
To my surprise I
found the milkman bending and peeping inside and he shouted; “saab doodh”.
Annoyed, I said “Abey
udhar kya dekh raha hai, kal ka bhang utra nahi kya??”
I don’t know what
happened then. The milk bottle fell from the boys hand and crashed to the
floor, glass and milk splattered all over the landing and as I was watching
that, the milkman took off like an arrow and all I could hear was his receding
footsteps.
Now I was really
nervous. Have I become invisible?? I went back and looked in the full length
mirror on the dressing table. Nothing, not even the night pants I was wearing
could be seen, in fact I could actually see through me, not even my own shadow
blocking the view behind. So is this what happens when one is invisible?
After the added chore
of cleaning up the staircase landing, I went to shave and, to my utter dismay,
was unable to. Finally taking a wash without actually able to see whether
I had soap suds left on my body. I dressed up without seeing because as soon as
I wore pants or shirt or socks, they too became invisible. Nothing visible once
it was on me, not even talcum powder. Phew!! How can I live like this?
Aghast, I decided to
take a trip to Navy Nagar, back to my sister’s. Jeejaji, brother-in-law, may be
able to help.
Deciding to go by
public transport and not use my scooter, lest I created mayhem on the street
with a scooter without a rider. The police may even use their guns to shoot
down the ghost rider, if so, will the bullet just pass through me?. No!! I
didn’t want to experiment with that, so I took a walk to the local station.
At the ticket counter
I was the fourth in line and as soon as the man in front got his ticket, the
guy behind me extended his hand through me and said ‘VT return’ as if I wasn’t
even there. Wow!! Why should I buy a ticket as no one could see me anyway.
So I just boarded the next train to VT and walked out to the bus station to
board a bus to Navy Nagar.
I sat down pondering
what really happened the previous night after that movie. More people boarded
the bus, and I couldn't believe it, an old lady looked at me and sat on my
lap. My lap, for god’s sake??? I just stood up and decided to travel all the
way to my destination, standing. The conductor didn’t even look at me.
I walked the last
mile or so to my sister’s house and rang the bell. She opened the door, but I
waited quietly. She looked left and right, finding no one, started closing the
door when I pushed the door open and walked inside. She shouted ‘kaun hai’
loudly enough for jeejaji to come running out. Finding no one at the door and
the mysterious look on my sister’s face he asked what was that all about.
Then I spoke;
‘jeejaji, its me’. He asked; ‘is that you Ken?’ I said yes and went on to
narrate everything that had happened since yesterday.
He went inside,
rummaged thru his bags and came out with a contraption that he connected to the
plug point and switched it on, and, like a torch, focused it on me.
There I was, glowing
in that ultraviolet glory. Jeejaji laughed out so loudly that even my sister,
still not out of the shock, couldn’t stop herself from laughing. I joined their
laugh a bit sheepishly but with relief.
Jeejaji described the
event as once in a lifetime aberration, when a particular type of pigment got synthesized
and which absorbed all kinds of light. So, in a way, that made me invisible
which should normally wear off in a couple of days by the bright sunlight. His
use of ultraviolet light that normally did not deflect light back had made me
glow.
Wonder was that what
made those two goons so confused…?? Was the colours used by the sailors mixed
with some cloak-and-dagger stuff of the navy, some kind of ‘Stealth Warfare’
item???
Oh!! And how was I
able to see through me in the mirror??
DISCLAIMER: The
invisibilty dye is a product of the fertile mind of the writer and is not to be
linked to any similar item or product of the navy, if it exists.
.............................Ken Featherlite.............................
