Alice in Realityland #9 (Part II)

 

Blood drained from their faces. Anto flashed the torch in the direction, but couldn’t find anyone.  Shivering, they looked into the jewellery box once again. But before they felt the excitement once again, Alice felt a tap on her shoulder. A deep voice reverberated in the empty room. It asked in a very serious tone “What is that you both have with you?” This time the light of Anto’s torch caught the face of the speaker and he collapsed. Alice was rooted to the spot in fear. It was a tall lean man, with long stubbled face, dishevelled hair and shabby clothes. “I… I hope he is ok… I’ll… I’ll get some water and candles. Don’t… Do not leave.” Alice felt a tinge of nervousness in the seemingly stern voice. Shuddering, she nodded in assent.

The feel of the cold water on his face brought Anto back to consciousness. He saw Alice and tried smiling. But as soon as he saw the stranger he let out a scream. Luckily, Alice covered his mouth so that only a muffled noise escaped, not loud enough to draw the attention of the gatekeeper.

“Anto… This is Clint. He lives here,” informed Alice.

Clint gave a faint smile but was diffident to meet his eyes. He appeared nervous and his hands shivered slightly. After an awkwardly long pause he added “Why don’t you both… both come to my room… where you can sit for a while?”

Anto was very hesitant but Alice convinced him to stay. She was curious to know more about Clint. “Why is Clint living alone here and since he is living here... why does the house look uninhabited? Doesn’t the gatekeeper know about his existence? Is he a criminal??”A hundred other questions were swirling through her mind and she felt a bit dizzy. However, they entered his room which was at the other end of the house. A servant’s quarters next to the kitchen, the room was smaller and clean unlike the rest of the house. He gestured them to sit on the bed but was hesitant to meet their gaze. Apart from the single cot there was a chair and a table with a candelabrum with three holders in a corner. On the other corner there was a stool on which was kept two plates and a mug. Clint sat on the chair.

After sometime Clint fretfully asked, looking at them for a few seconds and then quickly staring at the floor “Why… Why did you both come here? What… What is that you have in your hands?”

“We came here to find this” replied Anto uneasily, pointing at the jewelry box in Alice’s hands.  “Actually it began with this” added Alice showing the pendant to him. Slowly and anxiously he stepped forward to have a closer look at it.

“Oh …This is familiar. Isn’t …isn’t that my Elisabeth’s locket? The one that her father gave her before his death?”  enquired Clint with a sudden sparkle in his eyes. “She… she had told me all about it. She had described it to me in detail once. But how did you find it?”

Totally confused Alice and Anto gaped at each other.  Anto, then narrated how his Uncle got this locket, a detail even Alice had forgotten to ask. “Actually this locket was brought to my Uncle by the undertaker Thoma. He is in charge of the upkeep of the Dutch Cemetery. He said that he found this there and was willing to give it to my uncle in exchange of some money. My uncle took it immediately realizing its antique value.” He also narrated all the details of their exploration.

After a short silence Alice said, “Clint… from the way you spoke of Elisabeth she seems like a close friend yours. But … but from what we investigated we thought she was someone who lived in Calico in the late eighteenth century… It doesn’t seem to make any sense.”

Although, still shy to even to look at them, Clint replied gazing at the locket in Alice’s hands. “In…in a way you can call Elisabeth my friend. In fact, she is the only one who talks to me these days. Although I cannot see her, I can hear her in my head. She has told me everything about her life, her family, her life in the orphanage, her lover and even her death.”

 Alice and Anto couldn’t hide the mixed expression of surprise and fear on their faces. Clint continued, “Now don’t think I’m mad… As a kid I had this capacity to hear voices in my head. But my parents thought that it was just my imagination. As I grew older the voices became louder and clearer. At first it was fun to listen to what they had to say. But later it became much more than I could bear. I couldn’t sleep. I started to scream out loud during the nights. My cries scared the children in the neighbourhood. My parents were alarmed and the neighbours started complaining. They even shouted at my parents asking them to take me to a mental asylum.” Tears started to roll down the worn face of Clint who seemed young and old at the same time. Alice couldn’t figure out how old he was.

“My…my father, totally upset, brought me here because he did not want the whole world to look at me as if I were a madman. He had been the gatekeeper of this place since I was a kid. He knew that under his watch no one will come here to bother me. This place has been quite creepy from the past, so nobody really ventures to get in. And my cries have added to spookiness of this place. Many people think that there is a ghost.” said Clint with a smile on his face, at last willing to look at them in their eyes.

“So by what you said… you mean you can really hear Elisabeth Wilhelmina?” questioned Anto. “Yes” replied Clint to their amazement. “She is a really good soul. She always keeps telling me that the key to my soul is here. I could never really understand what she meant. She had told me that she had a beautiful pendant gifted to her by her father and that it has been missing for a while. She was asking me to find it for her and with it her father’s favourite secret to which this was the key. She wanted me to find it before anybody did.”

“Since I don’t get out of this place, I haven’t been able to do it for her. I am really grateful to you both for finding it.” Clint began to sob. Alice and Anto felt sorry for him. They excused themselves and discussed something in secret. They then went back to the room and persuaded Clint to go out with them. Clint reluctantly agreed and the three of them got out through a secret gate in the wall which was covered in creepers. It was Clint who told them about it. Clint’s face was pale and anxious as he mounted the carriage of Anto’s bicycle. He remained silent. After riding for five minutes they reached the Dutch Cemetery beside the beach.

The gate as was padlocked. So they climbed across it and started to search for Elisabeth’s grave. It was one on the corner facing the west. Clint was overwhelmed.  Anto took Clint’s hand and kept the pendant in his palm. Alice took the other hand and placed the ring in it. They both nodded their heads at Clint. His eyes welled up as he looked at them dazed. After a while, he dropped the two pieces of jewelry into the grave through a small crack in it. He quivered and then began to weep.

Alice and Anto moved towards the gate allowing Clint to gain his composure. While walking Alice wiped away the tears on her face with the tip of her shirt. She felt like she could almost hear Elisabeth speaking enthusiastically to Clint, happy for bringing the two precious gifts to her finally.

“It’s sad how the world treats Clint, isn’t it Anto? Things would be so different be if people really got to know each other and what they are going through… right?” she commented thoughtfully to Anto. They decided to visit Clint every Saturday without fail. Alice asked Anto to take Clint to the beach. She promised to join them in a moment and hurried away on the bicycle. Soon she returned to the spot where they were seated quietly watching the sea. She handed Clint something wrapped like a gift. It was a  book and a pen. “This is for you to write down everything the voices in your head tell you” said Alice. Clint smiled at her. There was an element of surprise and gratitude in his eyes.  The three of them smiled at each other and it lingered on as they watched the sun set, deep in thought.

Alice in Realityland #9 (Part I)

“Tap, tap, tap”, Alice heard three knocks on the gate and understood who it was without even looking out of the living room window. She knew that a message would be dropped into the post-box next. She was also sure that it was not the postman. It might be a new adventure that she had been waiting for a long time this summer. She ran out and took the piece of paper from the post-box which read, “I have found something exciting! Meet me at my Uncle’s Antique shop at 11.30 sharp”. It was a message from Anto.

Alice and Anto became friends when Anto moved into the house next to Alice’s, two years back. A few months younger to Alice, Anto too was starting his seventh grade the next academic year. At first, Alice was reluctant to accept him as a friend, although he was keen on her becoming his. She was afraid that Anto would report to her parents about her solo trips on her bicycle to the outskirts of the sleepy colonial town of Calico, as she had strict orders from home not to gallivant. But to her surprise, this skinny boy with long curly hair and thick glasses turned out to be just the friend the tomboy Alice was looking for - adventurous, a bit geeky and not interested in hanging around the popular girls from the convent school nearby where Alice studied.

“But, how will I convince mom that I need to go out right now? She was quite stern when she said that I shouldn’t venture out today as Rachel was coming from the college hostel to spend her summer at home. Mmm… She will definitely forbid me… What will I do?” soliloquized Alice prancing across her room for a few minutes. Suddenly she heard the doorbell. From the conversation that ensued she assumed that it was the elderly Aunt Sibyl from next door. While mom and aunt were exchanging news, Alice whispered in her mom’s ear “I’ll be back soon” and stealthily sped away, even before her mom could respond.

Alice mounted her purple bicycle and raced across the town to the antique shop. This was where Anto worked part time during summer and it was one of their favourite spots in town. They were fascinated by the various curios in the shop and loved to listen to the stories behind it from Anto’s uncle Thomas, a polyglot and the owner of the shop. Alice found Anto at the usual spot closely examining an old locket under the reading light with the magnifying glass. “Hey, have a look at this… as per this book on curios this locket is probably from the eighteenth century” said a very excited Anto. “Wow!” remarked Alice “ I love the jagged shape around the pendant… looks like a star… can you open it? And what is written on it? Elisabeth Wilhelmina ? And what about the other side? Does it have any inscription on it?”. “Yes” replied Anto “ Captain Weinsheimer… and yes you guessed right we can open it”. He opened it to reveal a vague sketch of a man on one side and the words “Dit is de sleutel tot mijn ziel”. “Who is this Captain Weinsheimer and what is his connection to Elisabeth? Father, brother or lover?” reflected Alice aloud. “Come let’s ask Uncle Thomas what this inscription inside means…”

“The key to my soul” said Anto’s old Uncle. “It is Dutch and so, probably, this belonged to Elisabeth Wilhelmina who must have been resident of Calico during the Dutch occupation. I think I have seen a book on Dutch History in the public library.You might be able to figure out who these people were if you check it up. From my understanding of antiques, such lockets with jagged ends sometimes work as a key to open a box.  Who knows if it will lead to a treasure?” added Uncle Thomas winking at them with a mischievous smile on his face. This sent a wave of excitement through Alice and Anto. They decided to solve the mystery behind this locket without further ado.

 They headed towards the public library which was a kilometre away but found it to be locked. “ Totally forgot that today is a Saturday! They close at 12.What shall we do now?” asked a disappointed Anto. “Don’t worry Anto, I think we will be able to find about Elisabeth and the Captain from a book I saw at the Bookshop” quipped Alice suddenly remembering a book on Dutch history she had come across once. This shop was at the end of the Rose street and Alice sometimes offered help there. It was owned by her classmate Titania’s family and therefore it would be okay to hang around and do some reference. They immediately steered towards the bookshop and caught hold of the tome on Dutch History in Calico. After flipping through the pages for some time they discovered that Captain Weinsheimer was actually the father of Elisabeth Wilhelmina Weinsheimer, one among the five children he had. When he passed away in 1790, his estate in this town was left in the name of Elisabeth and Johan Jacob, her brother. The kids, however, were shifted to the orphanage. There was also a picture of their estate given in the book.

 “Isn’t it the bungalow near the Bishop’s house?” asked Anto. “The place is quite eerie and the gatekeeper very hostile. He hates children. So getting permission to enter is out of question.”   “Anto, you are not as smart as you look. You are in fact stupid! Who is going to seek permission? We simply sneak in…duh!” declared Alice mockingly.  “I’ve also heard that people in the neighbourhood hear strange cries from the building and believe it to be haunted by some ghosts ” continued Anto in an apprehensive tone. After a few seconds of silence Alice added “And by the way do you really believe in ghosts?” to which Anto remained silent, swallowed his answer and tried to appear brave.  Although not very pleased with Alice’s comments they both headed towards the centuries old bungalow wheeling on their bicycle.

As expected the gatekeeper was out in the unkempt garden. They threw a stone at the gatekeeper’s old dog which was fast asleep on the front porch.  When the yelp of the dog sent the gatekeeper in its direction, they climbed across the wall and tried to tip toe into the house. But the back door was locked. They slowly walked along the side of the building where fortunately one of the French window’s with stained glass was open. They scrambled in through the window. As Anto had mentioned the whole place looked a bit eerie. It was covered in dust and there were cobwebs around. It was quite dark too. Alice felt her heart thumping fast. Where exactly are they going to find this box? pondered Alice.  Anto took out the pen torch from his pocket and they tried to navigate through the place. There was a passage which led to a larger room. The place was empty except for some portraits hanging on the walls. They went closer to examine when suddenly a bat darted their way and they both screamed aloud. They realised their mistake when they saw the gatekeeper flashing the torch inside through the window. They hid in a corner immediately. Once he left, they examined the portrait next to them. It was the portrait of the Weinsheimer family! Anto tried to take the portrait down so that the gatekeeper will not be able to see them examining it.

When Anto took it down Alice noticed a kind of an aperture in the wall. They inspected it closely. Although Anto was trembling with fear, he bravely extended his hand into the hole. Alice held his hand fearing if a snake or a spider would be hiding inside. But then let it go. At first he couldn’t feel anything except cold cement and dust. But as he extended further into the hole he felt a box like structure and pulled it out with great difficulty.  Then they cleaned the dust on it with Alice’s handkerchief.  “Get the pendant out Anto. I think today is indeed a lucky day”. Alice noticed that the box has a jagged depression where the locket of Elisabeth would fit like a glove.  Anto placed it onto the lock and it surprisingly clicked open. Excitingly they peered inside. There was an astoundingly beautiful handcrafted emerald ring surrounded by diamonds in it. On the top of the box was engraved “The key to my soul”. Suddenly a hand rested on Anto’s shoulder and they screamed out loud.

To be continued...

Alice in Realityland #8

After a lot of deliberation, Alice decided to do it. She had a brand new bottle of ink beside her. As per what her friend Emily had told her, one will die if one drinks ink. Alice had seen girls in her school screaming out loud and crying if a drop of ink happened to stain their lips. So Emily must be serious.

Lately, Alice has been feeling quite left out. Her mother was getting angry with her for every little thing. Mom was too consumed with Rachel as her board exams were approaching. Besides, Alice was not allowed to go anywhere without Rachel. She had no friends around and her cousins were all staying quite afar. She suddenly felt that her life was unimportant to the people around her. She should by all means carry out her plan. She would definitely miss those yummy chocolates her father brought from abroad and from now on Rachel would have it for herself. It doesn’t matter. She should not deter.

Alice sneaked the bottle out of the room when mom and Rachel were busy and went to the terrace. Quite unexpectedly the lessons she learnt in her catechism classes flashed into her mind - she remembered her teacher's words "ending one’s life will lead one’s soul to the fires of hell where you will be roasted eternally!". But that was a risk she was willing to take. It was better than leading such an unwanted life.

*Without much ado she consumed the whole bottle in one go, went to the living room and lay on the sofa waiting for death. Although she could hear everything happening around her initially, she slowly slipped into a peaceful state. This must be what it is to die thought Alice, only to be woken up by her mother half an hour later. “Why are your lips all blue Alice?” asked her mother. “It’s because I’m dying mom… I drank a whole bottle of ink …” replied Alice melodramatically. “If that’s the case, for your kind information young lady, you are not going to die!” replied her exasperated mother. “ Any way, since you drank the ink, go get dressed, let's go to the doctor and get a check-up, just to make sure that you haven’t damaged your liver and kidney” added mom trying to muffle her laughter.“Oh God, how I wish I could disappear into thin air” muttered a totally embarrassed Alice on her way to get dressed. She could hear mom’s and Rachel’s laughter reverberating in the air.

* Do not try this at home!

Alice in Realityland #7

“ What madam? You don’t drive??”. This is maybe the nine hundredth time she had to answer in the negative and it was getting way too embarrassing. Alice decided that she had to do something about it. She knew that the world saw her in a different light - young, confident and capable career woman; but deep down she was still the li’l Alice who gripped Rachel tight while crossing the road. 

One fine morning she announced that she was going to get a bicycle. Everyone around her laughed out loud. “A bicycle Alice?? Are you crazy? Wouldn’t learning how to drive a car be far more useful to you than getting a bicycle ?”. Even her little one giggled as if her mom was acting weird. But Alice was adamant, and she did get the bicycle on that very day despite all protests. There was no one who could deter her.

This was not Alice’s first time riding a bicycle. Although she had learned to balance way back in her pre- teens she didn’t have much experience riding one in her  teenage or later. She had always been happy on the carriage of Rachel’s bicycle. While an irritated Rachel rode, li’l Alice sang out loud happily.

Riding in her 30’s, thus was a totally new experience for Alice. She befriended her new bicycle and decided to take it slow, one pedal at a time. She noticed that riding slow, just like going fast, can be thrilling as well. It opens your eyes to things you might overlook while on an Uber ride. It taught her that the city was not just about the hideous wart like structures which suffocates but had beautiful green patches which lets you breathe. 

The unhurried pace taught her that riding a bike was like steering through life. It’s about keeping the balance and moving forward. There might be difficult uphills which test the strength of your legs but it will always be followed by quite exhilarating downhill rides. There might be humps and gutters which are wearying but somehow you have to look straight, pedal and move on.

Alice learnt that to calculate and negotiate, with the pedestrians and other varied vehicles that hurried by, is a skill which can be earned through experience . You might feel insignificant on your sluggish two- wheeler , but it will teach you to be patient and always give you the best view from the margins. 

She was quite surprised by the revelations she gained during the unrushed activity and the li’l Alice inside her wondered if Rachel would have ever thought of these aspects when she was proudly whizzing around the town on her red bicycle.Alice  realised that getting  the bicycle was the best decision she had made and holding on to the handlebars she smiled at the world around her.

Summer

I kept it under the lid,

tight and safe;

silent effervescence, water- trapped

in a green bottle with a blue marble .

A summer child’s longing eyes on the codd-neck,

lining the old man’s box- shack, 

after cricket on a sweltering afternoon;

déjà vu.

The bottle pops and explodes,

fizzes...

the sour outpourings of the soul

corrosive on the lips.

Alice in Realityland #6

Summers were a boring affair and li’l Alice was weary during that part of the day as usual. The hour of the power cut! Going without power during day time was ok. She could do something even when she was bored like- watching the sparrows, or playing hide and seek with her cousins (at grandma’s home) or at least going for a ride on the bicycle ( herself happily seated on the rear  while Rachel grudgingly tagged her along answering her stupid questions ). But power cuts in the late evening... err... she hated it!

One thing she enjoyed the most, however on summer evenings, unlike school days, was watching television uninterrupted. On school days TV time was rationed. But, lo, again during vacation she couldn’t watch it as uninterrupted as she wanted to. Why? Because of the biggest villain — the  POWER CUT!!!

Power cuts were a daily routine during that time and li’l Alice hated it more than anything when it ate into her TV time on the National channel. The soap operas would be telecast only for a few hours, that too only till 10 at night. How insensitive on the part of the electricity board!

As there was nothing else to do during “the hour”, the whole family would take a trip upstairs. It was especially pleasant when the moon was out. They would carry a mat and lie down watching the skies. Sometimes, Appa and Rachel tried to figure out the constellations and then Rachel would go into raptures about the wonders of the universe. It was her secret wish to work for NASA. Although, all these things were beyond Alice’s comprehension she still listened to it keenly.

At other times they would play a word game...something like a scrabble but without the board. Appa would start with a letter from the alphabet, then construct a word and with the last letter the next person would construct another word. This game helped li’l Alice to learn a lot of words and often, she was awestruck at the number of words others around her knew. This was also the occasion for Rachel to do her verbal parade and Alice was always jealous when she did that, as Amma and Appa would appreciate Rachel more....

“Honorificabilitudinitatibus” said  Rachel with all the pride of a sesquipedalian. “She sells sea shells on the sea shore... “ shouted out li’l Alice in an attempt to outdo her sister. “That’s not a word Alice...” said Rachel “ that’s a tongue twister- don’t you know the difference? Duh!” “Then you should be using words people use...” replied an agitated Alice. “This, for your kind information, my dear sis, is something the great writer Shakespeare used”. That felt like the unkindest cut of all to li’l Alice. Mustering her wounded pride she declared “I’m not playing with you anymore” and left the arena.

Although Amma was asking them to stop the argument and not to be silly, Alice refused to join the game. She wanted to go downstairs but was too afraid of the dark. So she settled herself in a corner observing the stars while the others continued with the game. To her amazement she saw something moving in the sky. Forgetting that she was angry, she ran to them and pointed out a shooting star plummeting through the sky. She knew that her mom considered it as ill luck but Alice secretly believed that it was lucky.

In her excitement she uttered her wish aloud. “ I wish I could travel on a shooting star and reach the moon”. She had always loved the Frank Sinatra song “Fly me to the moon...” her father played on the tape recorder. It had opened a universe of possibilities to her. But to her dismay, Rachel began with her argumentation - with her rockets, NASA, Neil Armstrong and the scientific impossibility of Alice’s whole project.  Although angry with her sis once again, Alice knew that Rachel is right and remained quiet.  There was a smile on li’l Alice’s lips, however, and slowly did a “moonwalk” when no was watching cause in her mind she was riding on the shooting star from one planet to the next in a jiffy. Power cut was not a bad thing at all after all li’l Alice realised. It could make her “dream-magine” at least and she laughed!

Insanity

I place the knife on it

pressing its sharp edge gently

on the smooth hard husk,

then peel it layer by layer; 

tugging first, at the thick outer casing,

then remove the spongy membrane 

delicately, 

to reveal varied chambers of rubies.

They stain my thin long fingers,

these fleshy jewels,as I pick them out,

the only way to cure...they tell me...

I take,

a cluster of cardinal joy, accordingly, and

lay them tenderly on the plate...

Next a bunch of garnets,

of fear and other anxieties;

a conglomeration of fury follows,

scarlet berries popping and exploding on the platter,

and finally the sanguine debilitating pain,

rotting seeds which I reluctantly throw away, 

a reminder of my pomegranate days...

Conversation on a Saturday Afternoon

I long for that long chirpy saturday lunch
when in the air-conditioned cafe
we sat sipping iced-tea, lime soda and a smoothie
the three of us spilling beans...

A woman who threw herself
from the tenth floor crept in
with her depression.
Next was the creaking bones
and the body
which no longer is what it used to be...

We munched on the memories
of our last meeting
and of our travels in between
from visiting a temple to a nude spa...

We drew dotted lines on a flat map
marking our next destination
and remembered the taste of cocktail we drank
last time in the far East.

I long for those minutes
of absolute bliss when I could dive
into that beautiful world of books, art and memories
than live in this rut of extreme stupidity, 

where not even a modicum of sense crawls in...