“There is no better haven than one’s self”, thought Xavier, while waiting for Aastha.
“They have come. Let us meet them”, said Catherine.
“How was your stay in Ahmednagar?” asked Catherine.
“I want to go to the washroom first”, thought Aastha.
She did not reply and went to her room. Aastha wasn’t feeling well with being played with now and then.
“She is one mind for me”, murmured Rita’s instrument. But she seems worn out and tired from everything that happened in Ahmednagar.
“Is our purpose served?” Both Catherine and Xavier enquired from Rita’s Instrument, who said that Chandrika’s Aks has left this body a long time back. It is now Rita’s instrument through which others will play their game of food making.
“Please call me Bela”, she said. “I like the name. We don’t have names since we are not born. Only our doll was born. She has a name with which we will play.”
“And yes. Our purposes are partially fulfilled. We have received instructions to bring her back safely, so we came back at the earliest,” replied Bela.
“What do we do now? We have to play with her again. Others are also wanting to make their food through her. We will execute other tasks under the direct supervision of Sebastian Sir and Parth Sir, who have already played their part. They are our masters whilst we are their slaves.
“We are all linked to her body. She will make our food for our formation”, thought Catherine.
“Look around outside on the main road,” Catherine said to Bela. “What do you see?”
“I see a crowd of persons accumulated in certain pockets all over the street, indulging in the offenses of affray,” replied Bela.
“They are all those magical gaits who are being formed and are yearning for peace,” replied Catherine.
“We are taking care of that doll only for our life. We need to be very careful in our dealings with her. Our seniors are sending us instructions through our trans-medium every second.
They have earmarked each of our duties.
“Yes. I know. I have to prepare food for everyone. Through the food, we will make ourselves,” said Bela.
“We are a family to Aastha. She will have to stay with us. I am like her previous sister, whom she loved like her daughter. She shouldn’t know who we are in our making unless our seniors want it to be revealed.”
“Do you want to go to khidderpore after some time? It is one of the biggest hubs of black magic in our dimension. Get ready,” said Catherine to Bela.
“What about Aastha? Should we take her with us?”
“What is her need in Khidderpore? Our place is no less than any black magician’s den, but let us see how other magical gaits are doing? We will also indulge in some black magic in her name.”
“We will leave after lunch,” said an excited Catherine.
“At lunch, we will discuss her finances,” said Bela. “Xavier Sir had received certain instructions from our masters regarding all of her financial dealings. You need not worry about anything.”
“We will pledge some gold and take some gold loan from Manapuram gold loan, Kalighat branch in name of Aastha Sidhwani (as is part of our black magic practices). It is one method of our food making. We love gold. We dwell in all such places of gold. Further, I will show that I will go to work till evening to the erstwhile office of our master, Harlyn which is in Barabazar of this dimension, and earn some money through prostitution. We will earn some money through these methods of gold, prostitution, falsehood, betting, lottery, etc. But we need to do something about Aastha. How will she continue with no financial help? She cannot share our finances.
“Don’t worry about that,” remarked Xavier. “We have strict instructions from our seniors to keep the Flat 5D on rent so that we can use the returns from the property to take care of Aastha.”
“It is his magical world. He will take care of it. That is what he said. He said that our world begins with Aastha and ends with us. Our master has given instructions not to force Aastha to do any household work. She will have to be taken care of nicely.”
He added, “Aastha cannot eat non-veg food and any raw onions. That will affect magic considerably. Further, she should not touch onions or garlic or any other smelly stuff. She should not indulge in cooking food.”
“There are certain other instructions for her,” added Xavier
“She will sleep with you in the room where we all played the game with her till further instructions. Nobody should disturb her sleep,” said Xavier to Catherine.
“She was a game for our seniors and she has made them into what they are today. Now she is our game and will make us and other gaits into near about perfection,” he smiled.
“She is a doll in our magical garden. She is the only human who can lead her life with us, at least till our seniors want.”
“I agree with you, Sir. I was just thinking.”
“Should I give an advertisement on social media about our flat 5D on rent?” Catherine asked
“Please go ahead,” replied Bela.
“I will proceed. Saying so, Catherine makes all the arrangements so that new gaits would come to the place and play with their doll.
It was not soon when one gait approached Catherine and called her up to speak to her. She said –
“We are a group of four girls, Gauri, Krittika, Pooja, and Swati who want to stay together in a paying guest accommodation?”
“You must be knowing our family”, Catherine communicated through her transmedium.
“Yes. I know everything. By the way, may I know your monthly rental charges?” asked Gauri.
“It is 5000 Indian rupees per person without food and 6000 Indian rupees with food”.
“Can we meet the doll? Gauri communicated through her medium.
“You can see but cannot meet her. You can make your food from a distance.”
“She is everyone’s food,” Gauri laughed. “We want to stay in your pg because of her.”
There are many magical gaits like us, the “What is what and “When is when” forms of the dimension, all waiting to be made into perfection. These forms don’t know about their whereabouts and work on the instructions received through their trans-medium. We have been instructed to take care of their food and their making. And we have chosen this pg as our prime location for work purposes as well.”
“We will come to complete all the formalities by tomorrow.”
The night was a little long for Aastha. It was long because of various reasons, one of which was the gameplay. She was now in another dimension where time was affected because of magic.
In the room, Aastha turns to Catherine to speak to her, “I cannot sleep. I am feeling restless”. Catherine doesn’t give her an ear.
“There is a knock on the door. Please open it,” said Catherine to Aastha.
Bela barges into the room and startles everyone. Both Catherine and Bela communicate interse.
Bela smiles at Catherine and begins – “We will take our journey to the next level tonight”
And leaves the room hurriedly.
“What next level?” Aastha overhears the conversation. She goes into deep contemplation when Catherine shouts, “Can you switch off the lights, please?”
Aastha switches off the light and goes off to sleep.
She couldn’t sleep for over two hours and drifts into her thoughts. In the middle of the night, at around 1 am, she hears a faint noise coming from outside the room.
“What’s this? Who can it be at this time of the hour?”
Perplexed and befuddled, she couldn’t go back to sleep. She looks at Catherine.
“Catherine is sleeping. I cannot wake her up”, she thought.
“What to do? The noise of the footsteps is nearing the door. I need to go out and check if everything is ok”.
“Somebody is outside the room, she thought”.
“Who could it be at this time of the hour?”
Little fearful, Aastha cried, “Who is there outside the room?”
“It is me. Open the door.” Bela murmured.
“I will not open the door now. Please come tomorrow morning”.
Aastha’s heart started pouncing faster than before. After some time, she began –
“Why have you come now? Do you need anything?”
“I want to kill you,” was the voice that came through her trans medium. There was a pause of silence for some time.
“I want to kill you”, murmured Bela.
Aastha pleaded politely and asked her to go back to her room. A scuffle ensued between Aastha and Bela. “Please open the door,” Bela requested
Aastha didn’t pay heed and tried to sleep.
Bela left for her room after some time.
It was 3 am when she stopped hearing any noise from outside her room. Aastha dozed off for some time till 5 am.
At 5 am, she immediately took a small bag, packed a few articles of use and took a bath.
“There is nobody outside the room. I now have a chance of leaving the house,” she thought. Aastha prepares herself mentally and takes her bag. She goes out of the room and looks around at her surroundings.
“It is 6 am now. There is no one around. I better leave fast,” she murmured.
When she is about to leave, she suddenly hears a voice from behind.
“Where are you going?” spoke an angry Bela
“Oh.. you scared me to death. I was leaving the house. I just wanted to go for a walk.”
“Walk with your bag? Who are you fooling? I don’t believe you. You cannot go like this. Just leave your bag and go wherever you want.”
“I cannot let you go. Saying so, Bela snatched her bag from her shoulders and indulged in a verbal wrangle.
“I won’t go inside. I will go out to walk,” spoke a determined Aastha.
“I am giving you the last warning. You will never take such a step. Now go back to your room.”
“I will not go back,” said an astonished Aastha.
“Go back. Otherwise, I will give you a tight slap. Just go back to your room.”
Aastha goes into her room with teary eyes. It was the worst morning for her.
In the afternoon, the girls’ group comes to pg and finalise everything
“We are taking your flat for 6000 Indian rupees per person per mensem. The food should be homemade, said Gauri, the leader of the group.
“What else?” smiled Catherine
“We want to control the doll by throwing our aura every time we come to the flat to eat. Is it okay with you? asked Gauri
“We are players and eaters of this doll. We have aura against the girl,” added Swati.
“She is not a doll. She is a human parath (human sheath). We are all entitled to play with her, replied Bela who acted more like an amiable compositeur.”
“Even we will join you indiscreetly,” laughed Catherine.
“She is the only one who will not have a purse, mocked everyone. “A pitiable girl,” joyed Swati.
“Don’t think too much about her. We have to take care of her,” said Gauri
“What a loser?” added Krittika
“Hey! Look. Is that girl Aastha? She is looking very shabby and her dressing sense sucks.”
“What a whore!” Pooja laughed and everyone followed.
“Hey, wait. Let us observe this doll for some time, Krittika said. “Look at how she is eating her food.”
“Our food is eating OUR food,” mocked Pooja
“She is a sham. A piece of furniture. Stop looking at her. Now let us get back to our work,” said Gauri
“Oh yeah. I forgot you are the leader of our gang, as we, the girl’s gang are known for our notoriety wherever we go.”
“I doubt this doll will stand a chance of survival before us. Our seniors will have to worry.”
“Don’t joke. We cannot chew the doll. Rather we have to do something contrary to our nature, which is to be caring towards her.”
“I am off her. I cannot be caring. We are black magicians. We don’t have a heart.”
“Yeah, that is why her heart is needed by us.”
“Hush, she shouldn’t know anything until our seniors want her to know. Now get back to work.”
“Where is she going? Let us ask our aunty here.”
“Why do we have to bother about that girl? Let her go to her hell.”
Walk, walk and walk as much as you can, all for your good health. She heard it on the radio. Aastha couldn’t do much except make it a habit to go for a walk around the long stretch of land along with Victoria, the land across her building.
Beautiful scenery kept her captivated most of the time. But what was most astonishing was the fact that birds could speak in a certain language. They were those magical gaits who were formed through her magical suit.
Listening to the music and walking across the pathway to Victoria became a routine affair. It seems this was the only solace she had.
“I love this song,” thought Aastha. She used to put her favorite song on the playlist. The birds used to connive by saying our favorite song has also come. They used to communicate inter se in their language, which was even understood by Aastha.
At home, Bela asks Aastha to shift outside in the drawing-room.
It was another kind of harassment meted out to her.
She pleaded, “I don’t want to shift outside. I am scared during the night.”
“Scared? Of what? Is everything fine with you?” asked Bela
“Yes. Everything is fine. I just don’t want to shift outside. However, if you insist, I will try sleeping on the bed outside in the drawing-room for one night to see if I find my peace.
“I will make all the arrangements for you,” replied Bela
“Arrangements?” queried Aastha
“Yes. I will clean up your corner before you sleep outside.”
“I will help you with that. I just need a bedsheet and some solitude,” cried Aastha.
The bed is situated opposite the temple place that was the object of gameplay and where all the idols of gods are kept.
“Wow, thought Aastha, it is a possibly exciting phase I will see from tomorrow if I get up feeling refreshed.”
“I will shift all my belongings to the corner place by tomorrow, she murmured to herself and went to sleep. In the meantime, Bela entered the room.
“What all things do you have to shift to your place? Let us see.”
“You just have three sets of clothes and a few old n worn-out books,” said Bela. “Oh. I forgot, you also have one more thing.”
Aastha gave a puzzled look to Bela when she continued –
“You moron, you have your body to shift also. So move it and help me with the things.”
“Can we do all this later? Perhaps, tomorrow.”
“Let us finish this task now so that from tomorrow, you can stay there for all times to come.”
“How can I stay there? I thought I will sleep outside only for a night.”
“No. You will shift outside permanently.”
“How can anybody stay there? There is just a bed in the drawing-room. with many visitors coming to our house. How will I stay there throughout the day?
To add fuel to fire, there is a windowpane surrounding my bed. Noises of vehicles and people from the street are a recurring feature. There are many more disturbances and distractions from outside.”
“Just try staying out for some time. If you aren’t able to accommodate nicely, then we will shift you to the room,” said Bela.
She connived.
The next morning, Aastha woke up at 6 am, much earlier than the usual time of her waking up. She looks around and ponders,
“I am feeling fresh. I guess sleeping outside wasn’t a bad idea.
Walkin’ and talkin’ were the two most important exercises she could not indulge in more often.
At times, the magical gaits of the family would throw their heaviest aura on Aastha and play with her. There was no one she could talk to about the changes that were experienced by her. Bela would often shout at her when she would skip taking a medicine. It was one afternoon when Bela shouted at Aastha.
“Take this medicine or else you will have to face dire consequences. Why do you forget to take medicine?”
“What medicine?”
“Doctor Bodani’s prescribed medicine.”
“Okay. I will take it later.”
“No, take it now. You have to take it at a specific time.”
While Aastha was taking the medicine, Bela began speaking to Catherine through their medium.
“See that she takes the medicine every day on the time so prescribed by the doctor. If I forget or don’t get time, you should be after Aastha to see that she takes the medicine. It is Sebastian Sir’s instructions for her. He said that the medicines will help in the formation and making of the magical gaits all, through Aastha in due time.”
Aastha overheard the conversation.
“Whoa. What are these gaits?” And she feels heavy and dizzy for some time.
Aastha had to keep everything to herself, for there was no one with whom she could share her agonies.
The girls had established a base of their own in their temporary abode for gameplay. While arranging the articles of black magic, one girl began –
“We are the rulers of this Kolkata dimension. Who is she, the doll before us? spoke Pooja
“She is a shitty human slave. I don’t like her”, interrupted Swati.
“We are not her controllers. We cannot rule her. She is neither an object nor some property. She is our life”.
“No, we cannot control the doll. We will have to allow her to breathe. Our task is very limited and we cannot go overboard”. Gauri explained to the girls’ gang.” “We are Girls’ Gang.” They roared throughout the dimension. Together, we rule this Celtic dimension.