Reveal

The cousins decided to open the old trunk and view the pictures of their ancestors. The greyscale pictures had their own beauty. The youngsters felt that through the monochromatic pictures they were able to connect with the relatives that they had not even seen. While going through various photos Preeti stumbled upon a particular photo which gave her chills.

The photo was taken outside their ancestral home. The mansion was clearly visible in the background. The photo had three children posing together. There were two boys and one girl. A tall boy had stood in the centre who appeared to be the eldest among them. He appeared to be around 10 years old. The girl was wearing traditional clothes, she was standing on the right side of her elder brother. She appeared to be 4 or 5 year old. Another boy who was wearing shirt and shorts had been standing on the left side of the tall boy. This boy looked as if he must have been 7 or 8 years old. Their wide smiles had lit up the whole photo.

Preeti's eyes had been glued to the boy on the left side. He was the same boy who had come to her room the other evening to wake her up. He was the same mysterious boy she had been searching for last 2 days. She showed the photograph to her cousins and asked if they knew who he was. The cousins were clueless. All of them decided to consult the elders to uncover the identity of the boy. Unfortunately their aunts and uncles too did not have the answer to the question.

Finally Preeti made a bold decision. She decided to approach her elderly great grandaunt who was almost 90 years old. Preeti believed that the she would have the answer to the question she had been searching for. Preeti showed the photograph to her elderly kin and asked her if she knew who the boy was.

Her great grandaunt held the photograph with her trembling hands. She looked at the photo and immediately she had tears in her eyes. This told Preeti that there must have been a tragic, emotional story behind that photo. The elderly kin wiped away her tears and narrated the story, "this was the photo with my siblings. See that tiny girl in that photo, that's me. The boy besides me is my eldest sibling Sadashiv Dada. And this boy on the right was my elder brother Mohan Dada. This photo was taken on the day of Diwali outside this bungalow where we are right now. We were so happy that day", tears continued to flow from her great grandaunt's eyes.

"Panajikaki (great grandaunt), What happened to Mohan Panjoba kaka (great granduncle)? Will you please tell me?" Preeti asked her kin who was deeply emotional at that time.
"It was his last day on this earth. After this photo was taken we were playing and Mohan Dada climbed on a tree. While getting off from the tree he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He had a massive injury on his head and died because of that injury. I was too young to understand. I was never even able to say goodbye because I could not even understand what was happening. Never after that we had celebrated Diwali in this house. Everyone says that he appears in this house whenever there is something special. Someone sees him playing or running around. But I had never seen him. I wish I could see him one last time and hug him. Just once I want to see him," she continued to weep remembering her long lost elder brother.

Preeti had finally found the answers to her question. She had no courage to tell her elderly kin that she had seen her brother just a couple of days ago, because she did not want to break her heart. Preeti knew that there was nothing to be scared of the spirit that she had seen. He was just an innocent boy who wanted to be a part of the celebrations.

But after that incident Preeti never saw her ancestral home as the same. Now whenever Preeti visits her native place, she sleeps with one eye open.

- The end-