DAY ONE!!

Everybody remembers their childhood for the fun and innocence. Durga too was glancing through her childhood album. Turning the photos one by one she was smiling reminiscing her good old days. However when she turned the page one more time.. her smile faded. She looked at the photo and a flashback surfaced in front of her eyes. She remembered the night with precision because it was her first harrowing experience with the mankind. She was in her incarnation as Shaila and was 13 years old back then. Shaila and her best friend Laxmi were having a fantastic time watching the caravans of their favorite deity. The air had a festive vibe.. DJ units exploding with devotional remixes and people colored in gulal dancing to it. It was Ganesh Visarjan and all the local communities displayed their Ganesh Idols to the public for a final worship. The idols were lined up in trucks back to back and men and women were dancing their hearts out. One half of the street was colored in pink while the other half was buzzing with worshippers and vehicles alike. Shaila and her best friend Laxmi decided to sneak into one of the caravans where some women and children were already dancing. This was their first time to dance in a mob and in no time were colored in the gulal as rest of the girls were already. Shaila had always loved dancing and so she and Laxmi grooved to every beat of the songs that played. A few minutes later when the caravan moved a few meters ahead.. a man tapped Shaila's shoulder. Shaila looked around in puzzle. A man probably in his late twenties was standing in front of her. He was not known to her so she asked "Yes?" The man whose face was colored in gulal but whose eyes were big and penetrating looked at her.. smiled and held up a watch saying "You probably dropped your watch" Shaila looked at it and at her empty wrist and realized it was indeed her watch. It's band was broken but the kind person gave both the pieces to her. She took it from him and said smilingly, "Yes. It is.. it might have fallen off when I was dancing.. Thankyou so much" The gentleman said Welcome and went into the crowd making him untraceable. Shaila was so thankful to the man..as it was a precious watch for her which her mother had gifted her a few years ago. She kept the broken watch in her hand since she was wearing a salwar kameez with dupatta and it had no pockets. She and Laxmi continued to dance.

Fifteen minutes later.. Laxmi signaled something to Shaila. Shaila didn't understand the sign so she asked what happened. Laxmi said "Shaila.. the man who gave you the watch is staring at you continuously.. I saw him a multiple times randomly and all the time he was not looking anywhere else but just you.. And now also he's standing behind your back a few meters away.. not dancing just standing and looking at you" Shaila thought it was a joke and so didn't consider the comment seriously.. thinking it might just be a mere coincidence and nothing else.. She wanted to confirm it herself though. She didn't turn back immediately but displayed as if she's dancing and casually looking around.. Amongst the crowd she saw those two eyes gawking at her... The man was the same person who had given her the watch but this time he did not have a smile on his face but a dead serious look... Shaila turned around and she said to Laxmi "Yes I noticed.. Let's ignore him.. It might as well be a coincidence". Laxmi nodded though she was sure something was not right. The caravan moved even further and this time Shaila saw the man right in front of her a few meters away in the crowd still staring at her. She told Laxmi and Laxmi said "I know. I think he is following us!" Few minutes ago the person who seemed to be a gentleman now appeared to be a threat. Shaila and Laxmi as 13 year olds didn't know what to do. So they decided to confirm even more whether the man was actually following them. Also they had the benefit of the crowd ensuring that no harm will be done to them in public amongst hundreds of people. Shaila and Laxmi decided to stoop and run from there and go backwards to another caravan. Seeing an opportunity they stooped and escaped and went into another caravan. To their horror.. the man came searching towards them and on seeing them stood again silently and stared at them.

At this point Shaila and Laxmi were freaked out and their fascinating night was slowly turning into a dreadful one. Shaila got scared but they had to do something. So she told Laxmi to sneak out again and go into a shop of their family friends. They both escaped again at the right opportunity. Shaila looked back at the man and could never forget his watchful searching eyes!! They entered the shop and told the shop owner everything about it. The shop owner told them to stay inside the shop and let them call their parents who were down the road. They both started crying over the phone while the owner calmed them down and stood at the entrance of the shop as if to check whether he is able to find the man or probably as a barricade to hide them from him. On hearing what has happened their parents were awfully worried and came to the shop in no time. Shaila hugged her mother sobbing while Laxmi too clinged on to her mother. Shaila left the shop with her parents and though her home was just around the corner.. she was scared to walk down the road thinking what if the stalker is still watching her and following her. He might as well know her house now. Shaila ran towards her building and felt safe once she was in the premises. She looked back to see if that person was still following but could not see clearly in the poorly lit streets. She cried a lot at her home that day. It was her first freaky experience of the mankind. Fast forward to the current day. Shaila now as Durga again who is 26 years old still gets the jitters and goosebumps thinking of the man... thinking of the eyes that haunted her for so many days. Every year for the past 12 years every member of the family steps out of the house during Visarjan except for Durga..This year too for Ganpati Visarjan Durga won't step out of her house fearing that the stalker might still be there looking out for her!!