On the outskirts of the city Bhubaneswar in Kalinga Vihar, a large and peaceful locality near the legendary Khandagiri* caves, lived a man named Rakesh. He worked as a Technology Architect at Infosys, which was 20 kms away in Infocity. On a chilly wintry January night, Rakesh was returning home from work. He got down at the bus stop and walked his way back home. The street was deserted, he had no one but the tall yellow street lamps to keep him company. As he walked past the familiar St. Arnold’s School, he heard a commotion inside. He paused and looked at his watch; it was 11 pm. “What’s that noise? Are they burglars?” he thought, suddenly tensed. Robberies were quite common in this part of the city, so naturally the residents were always on high alert. “Who would rob a school?” he questioned himself, rubbishing the previous idea. Then he heard loud music. He decided to go in and give it a check.

The lock of the school-gate was open; he entered the premises and started walking in the direction of the noise. The school looked like a big black giant, towering over the houses nearby. As he entered the corridor, it was dark and empty. He couldn’t see a thing, so he took out his phone and used its flashlight. He reached the first floor and could sense that the cause of the clamour was nearby. Walking across the corridor, he noticed that one of the classroom’s doors was ajar, light and loud music was flooding onto the corridor.

He opened the door and peered inside, four people with a weird sense of fashion were gyrating to the loud music. Just then, one of them looked back towards the door and saw Rakesh. She stopped dancing abruptly and a slight frown appeared across her face. Gradually the other dancers realised that their comrade had stopped dancing and turned back to see what had caught her attention. Rakesh stood rooted to his spot, staring at them, transfixed. The two men in their twenties were each dressed in a black khadi jacket, a white shirt and a white dhoti. While the two girls in their late teens, were dressed in a pink and red salwar each with the respective dupattas rolled around their heads. What an unusual sight! The group seemed as afraid of the outsider as the outsider was of them. After a few tense moments, Roshan mustered up his courage to ask, “Who are you guys? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” In reply they exchanged a few confused looks with each other. After a while, one of the men replied, “Hello friend, my name is Amar. We are having a party; we celebrate here at midnight on the 13th of every month. We started our party a little early today….” “You can join us if you want,” he added as an afterthought. Rakesh, who felt tired till then, suddenly felt rejuvenated. Surprised with himself, he replied, “Yeah okay, I have nothing else to do on a Friday night, might as well stay here.” He did not have a very exciting social life.

With all traces of trepidation gone, the group greeted the newcomer jovially. Rakesh introduced himself to all of them and they returned the courtesy. He met Amar and Ajit, both had tanned skin and practically looked alike. Then he met Amrita, the girl with the red salwar, having a haughty looking face with a kind smile. The last to welcome him was the girl who had spotted him at the doorway in the first place. As he looked at her up close, his heart sank. She looked beautiful. She had grey eyes accentuated by kohl, a pretty nose embellished with a golden ring and pink petal-shaped lips. She said, “Hello, my name is Vandana.” He mumbled, “Hello, I am Rakesh.” He was then ushered in to the classroom and the music started. The group had a very weird taste in music. Slowly, they cajoled Rakesh to join them in grooving to the music. While dancing, Rakesh darted his eyes to and fro from Vandana. It was an odd sight to see, a man in full modern day formal attire dancing with a group adorned traditionally. Just as Rakesh was getting ready to show his moves on the floor, Amar announced loudly, “It’s 2 am! Let’s return home friends.” Rakesh then realised how tired he was, having worked for ten hours in the day and then danced for another two.

The entire group of five; closed the classroom doors and sauntered back to the school gate. After reaching the exit, they had to go separate ways, Rakesh was disappointed. “Bye!” he called out after them as they were about to leave. They looked back and responded with the same vigour. Vandana had a smile on her face while she waved back at Rakesh. She stopped in her tracks while her friends had moved ahead. Rakesh mirrored her. The two stood looking at each other for a few moments. Rakesh was staring at her intensely, while Vandana kept smiling. Finally, Amrita had to forcibly take her away by the hand. Rakesh watched them walk away; they took a right turn and were no longer in sight. With a lump in his throat, he made his way back home and instantly fell asleep on his bed.

For the next few days, Rakesh felt restless. Ever since that night, all he could think about was Vandana. Her striking eyes, her smooth hair hidden by the pink dupatta and her dreamy lips. He had never seen a finer specimen of human being in his life. He knew he was in love, for the first time in his life. His heart felt elated and tensed at the same time. How would he meet her again? “We celebrate here at midnight on the 13th of every month” this one sentence kept reverberating inside his head till the 13th of next month.

When the night finally arrived, Rakesh hurried to the school just before midnight. He literally ran through the open gate and into the womb of the dark gigantic school, searching for the girl who now had his heart. He found them in the same classroom, in the same garb and dancing to the same music. They greeted him enthusiastically. “How have you all been?” he enquired. Ajit replied, “We have been at the top of the world, my friend!” A soft voice said, “It was so nice of you to join us again.” Rakesh turned towards its source. It was Vandana. She was smiling, the same grin she wore when they had parted ways last month. For the last thirty days he had mused about that smile and finally there she was, displaying it in all her simplicity and perfection. He made a sudden movement as if to hug her, but she recoiled and her smile faded, replaced by a frown. This made Rakesh stop in his tracks, his face turning red with embarrassment. After a few awkward moments, Amrita came to his rescue. “Come on, Rakesh, let’s dance, I hope you are not too tired, because tonight is going to be very exciting!” In a matter of minutes, the awkwardness vanished and the five of them were pirouetting to the music. Rakesh looked at Vandana, she was enjoying the music and beamed at him. All traces of unease had evaporated from her countenance. Feeling relieved, he turned to Amrita, “Thank you for the face saver.” Swaying to the music, she said, “No problem at all. Vandana is beautiful isn’t she?” a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Rakesh blushed again and nodded. Amrita suddenly became stern, “What you are feeling is understandable, but you should know that all entities have certain boundaries.” He looked nonplussed and simply replied, “I know.”

The clock struck 2 a.m and, like before, the party came to a close. While they were slipping out of the school, Rakesh quietly asked Vandana to wait in the corridor, while the others moved ahead. He said, “I am sorry for what happened earlier. It was not my intention to cause you any discomfort.” Vandana broke into her platonic smile, which had enraptured his heart. She replied, “It’s okay Rakesh. The most important thing is that you have realised your mistake. And it was sweet of you to join us again. I hope you would be able to make it here next month as well.” Standing near the school exit, he watched Vandana and her friends walk away and out of sight. He sighed, tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and he had forgotten to wish her. Cursing himself he returned home and fell asleep.

The next day.....

There was a buzz of excitement in the Infosys office. They were waiting for a major announcement. One of them would get the chance to work at their Texas office for the next seven months. The nervous and animated employees were chatting with each other in high pitched voices. Rakesh was oblivious to all the mindless chatter. His mind was stuck in the classrooms and corridors of St. Arnold’s School, while his heart was stuck on the radiant contours of Vandana’s face. He stepped into a reverie, remembering the strand of her hair which fell out of her pink dupatta, while she was dancing to the music. She had to gently put it back inside. Rakesh felt his heart was like the titanic which had sunk deeper and deeper into the ocean of love. Immersed in these thoughts, he heard someone call out his name. At first, he felt it was his imagination. But then his name was called out several times. Suddenly he was jolted awake from his day dream. It was his boss, Mr. Mathur standing in front of him, his tall frame towering over him. “Young man, your dream has finally materialised. Congratulations!” Rakesh had been selected to work at the Infosys office in Texas, USA. His colleagues were congratulating him, albeit grudgingly. His seniors who had been in his place a few years ago were trumpeting about their own experiences in USA. All the words were falling on deaf ears, Rakesh had blocked everyone out. Only one sentence was regurgitating inside his head, “I hope you would be able to make it here next month as well.” He would be leaving India in a week's time!

The following seven months were some of the most unpleasant and restless months in his entire life! Whatever Rakesh did, the thoughts of Vandana intruded upon him. Whenever he listened to any music, he was reminded of the music that played in the classroom. Whenever he looked at any woman around him, he was reminded of Vandana, her platonic smile, her pink salwar and dupatta, her grey eyes. He was madly and hopelessly in love. Memories of Vandana made him feel like in paradise, whereas the torture of staying continents away from her made him feel like living in hell. He was in purgatory, cleansing unknown sins, counting down the days when he would finally return to India, to meet his one true love. He had no way of contacting her and seven months was a really long time. “What if she met someone else?” “What if they fell in love?” These thoughts haunted him, making him crazy; naturally his job performance suffered.

After an unimpressive stint in the United States, he finally returned to Bhubaneswar in the first week of October. When Thursday, the 12th day of the month arrived, he skipped his office. He had decided what he would do when he met Vandana, the tension was palpable. After what felt like a year, the clock struck 11 pm. He sprinted to the school, past the entrance gate, up the stairs and burst into the classroom. A nail in the classroom’s door had pricked his arm; a drop of blood fell on the ground. He was huffing violently, having run all the way from home. As he looked up, he saw Vandana and the others. It took them a minute to recognise him, but when they finally did, they welcomed him warmly. Amar said, “How have you been Rakesh?” He was about to reply, when he noticed that Amar’s face had contorted in horror. Amar was looking at his arm, where a small trace of blood was visible. “Oh, this? I got injured as I entered this room. Don’t worry, I will be fine” Rakesh replied while looking at his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the four exchanging puzzling looks with each other. He felt uneasy. Suddenly Ajit asked him mock- jovially, “Well friend, where have you been all this time?” Rakesh then explained to them that he had gone to USA for work. This time, they looked even more surprised than before. Vandana looked at him with her mouth slightly open. He could not gauge whether she was impressed or terrified. Ajit enthusiastically said, “You know the American Revolution was a pivotal moment in World history, 13 colonies overthrew an Empire!” Amrita nodded and added, “The likes of Gandhi, Ambedkar were influenced a lot by both Westminster Abbey and the US Capitol in terms of the model of Democracy for Independent India.”  It made no sense to him talking about history, but he felt like they were trying to divert his attention. He could sense them exchanging inscrutable looks with each other, when they thought he wasn't looking.

The music that night was a bit subdued; Amar, Ajit and Amrita were behaving peculiarly. Rakesh shook off the strange feeling in his stomach and called Vandana out of the classroom to the corridor. Standing in the dark corridor, Vandana looked beautiful and her skin glowed. Rakesh assumed it was because of the moonlight. He said, “Umm. Vandana, I need to confide something in you.” She nodded and said, “Yes, go ahead.” “I think… I think I love you Vandana,” he blurted out. She looked shocked for a moment but then tried to hide her expression, but he had seen it. He continued, “I know you may not have the same feelings for me, but-” She interrupted him while shaking her head, “You don’t understand, it is not possible for me to have such feelings for any human being.” He felt a blow to his heart when he heard those words. “Why? Do you love someone else?” She looked directly at him, frowning. “No silly! It’s just… you won’t understand.” She sighed, took a deep breath. Pointing to the classroom she continued, “These three have been with me from the very beginning. They are my comrades. I enjoy their company, but ever since I came to know you, I felt like an empty space inside me was filled. But now-” He was impatient. “But now what? What has changed? I am still the same and so are you. Why can’t-” Thwack! Something big had hit the back of his head. He lost his consciousness.

The next day……

It was 6 pm. The sweeper was cleaning the leaves and plastic strewn across the playground, mentally reproaching the students for dirtying the ground. When he reached the corner of the ground, he saw a jute bag, with a putrid smell emanating from it. He uncovered the bag and let out a blood curdling scream. He ran back to the school, shouting incoherently. Within two hours, the police along with half of Kalinga Vihar’s residents were at the spot. A body bag lay on the ground. The skull had been smashed with something heavy; the victim had been identified as Rakesh who lived in the area. Police Inspector Vijay and his team searched the entire school, but no evidence was found. The only piece of evidence was a picture crumpled in the dead person’s hand. Vijay opened the photo and looked at it carefully. It was really old, in black and white. It looked like it had been crumpled many times. The people in the picture were barely visible. Looking at him from the photo were four people, two men and two women. The two men were dressed in black jackets, shirts and dhotis. While the two women were dressed in salwars with the dupatta rolled around their heads. At the bottom was written, “Amar, Ajit, Amrita, Vandana: Executed by the British near Khandagiri*. Date of execution: Friday, October 13, 1922.” Vijay scratched his head and thought, “What a coincidence?! Kalinga Vihar is near Khandagiri* and today is Friday, October 13, 2017.”

Khandagiri*- Khandagiri caves are partly natural and partly artificial caves of archaeological, historical and religious importance near the city of Bhubaneswar.