"When life ends , that may be regarded as the beginning of a new life , a new journey and a new route to travel "- The words coming out from the radio , are lingering across the walls of the room . However , they don't seem to affect Shubimal. He is busy in his own thoughts.
"How can it be possible? How can a man walk faster than me , while I was running?"- He asks himself , but finds no answer . He slowly gets up , and walks towards the bathroom.
Shubimal Basu , born and brought up in Kolkata , currently lives in Gariahat . His family comprises of just three members - His father , mother and sister. Sixteen years ago, they had shifted from Mominpur to this place. The cause of their shifting although , is still unknown to Shubimal. He gets no answer , every time he asks his father.
Even a few days ago , during breakfast , at about 9 A.M in the morning , Shubimal and his sister were drinking soup and his father was reading the newspaper , when suddenly , his mother entered the hall. She was looking scared , with sweat dripping, from all over her face.
" Today is the 25th of April. Just 7 days are left , for Babu to turn into 20. Aren't you worried?"- She asked his father.
"Growing up definitely denotes something good , mom. Besides , parents should be happy for their children , at least , during the time of their birthdays. Why are you so freaked out?"- Shubimal asked.
"Just shut up and finish your soup. You are already late for the class."- Mr .Basu shouted and then , turning towards his wife , said in a low tone - " Please be patient , dear. You need to control yourself now. This is not the time , to break down. We will discuss about this topic later , in details."
Shubimal was really surprised by his father's response at that time. But , he had preferred to keep quiet.
Although, he never found any clue, but still Shubimal somehow feels, that the fear and anxiety his family continuously faces regarding him, has some relations with the mysterious reason, for which they had left Mominpur , when he was of a very small age.
He had also heard his mother & father saying words like "Curse" , "Devil" , "Death", many times, but could neither make head nor tail, out of it.
Today is the 28th of April. Shubimal had gone out for a morning walk at about 6:45 A.M. During that time, the busy roads of Kolkata generally stay silent, with maximum five to six vehicles, covering them.
As he was running across the road, he saw a tall figure walking before him. The person was excessively tall and gave a sense of somewhat strangeness. Shubimal felt the urge to overtake him. He started running more fast and swiftly. But alas! the man was still ahead.
Shubimal speeded up more and more for the alternative tries, but the end result was just the same. He was somehow not being able to overtake the person. He became tired and exhausted, and started panting. The person was just one or two hands ahead of him. But the same distance seemed to be unbeatable during running.
He took a quick glance at his watch. It was 7:30 A.M. He had spent a long time chasing the tall person, without noticing the time, and so, he must hurry up to home now, or else he would get late for his English tuition. So, he decided to leave the man and run towards his home.
The whole incident flashbacks itself in the mind of Shubimal, as he is taking a bath. However, he washes the incident away, comes out of the bathroom and gets ready for his tuition.
One day passes away. The event is still fresh in the mind of Shubimal. He cannot make out any reason for the event , that occurred that day. However, he decides to forget that, and focus on his love life- Shreya. It's his birthday month after all, and there is a probability that if he proposes to her on his birthday, may be, she will accept him. Positive signals , is what he has got from her, always, and that's why he is planning for the proposal.
Today is the first day, of his birthday month. Tomorrow is his birthday. Shubimal is very happy today, as well as excited for the next day. He wakes up at 6:30 A.M. Today, he has no tuition to attend. He sits up on his bed, puts on his glasses and comes out of the room, into the balcony. The flat in which his family lives, is on the third floor, and so a clear view of the road running down, beneath the apartment, is possible every time, from the balcony.
He looks around the road, here and there. A few tea vendors are opening their stalls. The vegetable sellers are walking across the road, with their vegetable vans, shouting loudly. Suddenly, his eyes get focused on a tall person, standing in front of his home apartment. The person seems to stand still, staring up at someone, most probably him. Many people are walking and running across the road, going by the person, sometimes even going closely by him, but no one is noticing him.
A big car comes running across the road. The driver drives the car through the person, but still the person remains there only , standing on. This scene increases the heart rate of Shubimal. Almost fainting, he runs towards his room, brings his binocular, and looks at the person. Seeing the person, he becomes unconscious and loses his sense.
The person has no face, only a pair of lips, and he writes in air- "Happy Death Day, 2/5/2013" and then vanishes away.
Shubimal wakes up, to a sudden chilling touch of water. He finds his mother, father and sister, standing around him, staring at him, in anxiety. He removes the water from his face, and asks-"What happened?"
His mother replies-"That is what we should ask you. You were lying unconscious on the balcony. What happened there?"
Shubimal remembers about the supernatural incident he saw today, a few hours ago and starts shivering. His father taps his shoulder and asks-"Tell me Babu, what happened? What made you unconscious? "
In short, Shubimal tells them the incident that he saw, today in the morning, when he woke up.He notices that after hearing it, much contradictory to his expectations, his parent's faces turn pale, and they too start shivering with fear.
Shubimal understands that his parents know something and are hiding it from him, and so he says-" Mom, dad, I feel you guys know something, and are hiding it from me. So, please tell me...What is it? What do you guys know, that I don't?"
Shubimal's father then starts dictating the story, the story that would change Shubimal's life forever:
"The incident occurred 17 years ago, when you were almost 3 years old. At that time, we lived in Mominpur. The day on which the incident occurred, I was coming back from hospital, with your mom. The reports of Mimi's birth , were found to be positive, and the doctor had advised your mom, to be admitted, within the next 3 days. We were on a taxi, heading towards home, when a drunk boy was crossing the road. In spite of many horns by the taxi driver, the drunkard could not control himself, and was hit by the car, in the middle of the road, and in a moment's time, he lay on the road, in a pool of blood. Seeing that, we were really shocked and frightened. At that point of time, the easiest possible solution, we found, was to run away.
Later, we came to know that , the boy, was the only son, of his deformed faced and crippled father , who had a very fearful reputation in his locality. His father was known to be a famous black magic practitioner, possessing somewhat supernatural powers, and also known, to have hurt many people, using his powers.
He came to visit us or rather curse us, the next day. Although, we pleaded thousand times before him, and your mom even knelt down, for mercy, he did not listen to any of our pleadings and cursed us, that any member of our family, who is a boy and who reaches 20 years of age, will instantly die, on his birthday.
He did not listen to any of our cries, and walked away limping, showering us with his wave of cruelty. His face was so deformed, that I could not make out any distinction between the parts of his face. The only part visible, was a pair of broad lips. The sight to his face, was terrorizing.
After a few months passed by, we forgot about that incident, and slowly retreated back to our normal lives. But suddenly, one day, we came to know, about the death of my brother's son, early in the morning. The day he died, was his birthday, and he was to turn up into 20 years of age. Hearing about the incident, I dropped my phone. Old, painful memories were suddenly refreshed.
From that day on wards , we used to stay in fear, that what might happen to you, when you grow up. But one day, we heard of the news of his sudden death, due to an accident. We were relieved, and decided to leave that place. It is then, that we came here. But we were still fearful, that someday he might turn up again, from the dead, and seek for revenge. Today, it seems our thoughts have resulted in to reality."- Shubimal's father ended his words, with tears in his eyes. His mother and sister also started weeping.
The whole story makes Shubimal, resemble it, to an Urban Legend. But, here it is reality." So,Urban Legends do come true." - He said to himself.
Later, at night, everyone sits silently for dinner. When you can predict death in advance, life becomes less important and you always long to meet the end. The same thing happens with Shubimal. He skips dinner, and silently creeps into his bed. Although, it's difficult to sleep, but still he pretends to do so, even when, there is no one, watching him. His mother and father too, can't stop themselves as well as each other, from crying. An environment of sadness prevails in the house. Shubimal silently waits for death to embrace him.
The next day, Shubimal wakes up or rather gets out of bed, with utmost grief. Today is his birthday, as well as the last day of his life. He will no longer be able to see the world, from tomorrow. He silently meets his parents, and touches their feet. They bless him, with teary eyes.The whole day passes away in sorrow and grief. Slowly the day changes into night, and darkness comes, spreading it's wings all over the place.
The time, at present, is 11:50 P.M. But, Shubimal is still alive. He and his parents and sister, are both anxious and happy, because if somehow 10 minutes, pass by, Shubimal will live happily ever after, and the curse over the family, will get removed.
Finally , the clock chord strikes 12, and to everyone's utter happiness, Shubimal stays alive. His parents rejoice the moment, hug him, and the environment of sadness, instantly changes in to happiness. Shubimal is very happy to be alive. He enthusiastically, eats his dinner, along with a reciprocating feeling ,from his parents and sister. Then happily, he jumps on to the bed, and dozes off to sleep. His parents and sister also, have sound sleep.
The next day, Shubimal wakes up to the alarm of his cell phone. He quickly brushes his teeth, takes a bath, freshens up, and comes out of his house, to start his bike for tuition.
As he rides the bike, his eyes go immediately upon the left front mirror.......The faceless man is standing right at his back......
