The Salamander Factor - Part 5

The message alert tone on her mobile phone woke her up.

Smruti was in deep sleep. She felt fresh and pleasant as she woke up. She read the message on her phone. It was sent to her by Nitisha, Samrat’s mother.

Come home as soon as you read this message.

Smruti had a smile on her face. The memories of previous night flashed in front of her. Her arrival to India and visiting Samrat’s house, she finding the small paper written with “Salamander” on it, her meeting with Randeep, Randeep revealing her about his love for her, his revelations about his attraction for Samrat, Randeep getting a message from an unknown number about return of Salamander, and Samrat’s sudden arrival. Nothing made sense to her. But everything was a bit unusual, she thought. Nevertheless, Samrat’s return has filled the vacuum which existed earlier in her life. Nitisha aunty must be dancing with joy to see her son back, she thought. Smruti was very excited to meet her.

Randeep can keep you happy. Samrat had told her the previous night.

She kept thinking about the previous night and her phone rang. It was Randeep.

“Good morning, Randeep”, she received the call.

“Hey! A very good morning. I am coming there to pick you up.” Randeep said.

“Oh! okay. So even you have got Nitisha aunty’s message. Isn’t it?” Smruti asked him.

“Yes. That’s why I got fresh and left home soon after I read the message. I will reach there within half an hour. Be ready.” Randeep said and cut the call.

He was driving his car amidst the peak hours’ traffic of Mumbai. Even he was feeling really fresh and pleasant. The night was so special, he thought. Samrat’s return had brought freshness to their life. Moreover, Smruti was back in his life. Ask her out soon. I am sure you will keep her happy forever. Samrat had told him last night.

Suddenly, he remembered the day when he was in Samrat’s house. He wanted to know the reason behind Samrat’s calling himself “Salamander”.

“Well, I simply love the creature. There is a mystic appeal to it.” Samrat had replied.

“What mystic appeal are you talking about? It is simply a form of a lizard. And its organs grow if you cut them, right?” Randeep had laughed at him.

“I am not joking. And you are right. Salamander is a special kind of a lizard. Its limbs, tails and other organs grow back if you cut them. I believe Salamander is one of the most powerful creatures. I am enamored by its mystery. I am soon going to travel to the north of India where it is found in certain areas. I want to get hold of one.”

“Your fascination for salamander doesn’t make any sense to me.” Randeep said.

As he spoke, Samrat was sketching salamander on a white paper. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter. It makes a lot of sense to me. Just call me Salamander. I love the name. I love the mystery.” Samrat winked as he looked up and then again began sketching.

“We will call you Sally. It sounds sweeter and even more mysterious.” Smruti entered and gave a high-fi to Randeep.

“Oh, yes. Sally sounds good too. I don’t mind.” Samrat winked at her.

Suddenly, the cars and buses started honking horns together. The signal was green and Randeep had not noticed it. His thoughts transfixed him to a different world. He started the car to leave for Smruti’s house.

The morning was pleasant. However, it was a cloudy and windy day. The dark clouds had covered the sky. It would rain any time. This unexpected change in the weather made the day look less bright but pleasant.

Randeep and Smruti reached Samrat’s residence. They figured out that there was lot of chaos near the gate of Samrat’s apartment building. Smruti saw a police van parked on the opposite side. While Randeep parked their car, she said, “I am feeling a bit uneasy. Why are so many people present here?”

“Probably, to meet Samrat.” Randeep jokingly said as he came out of the car.

“But what is the police van doing here?” Smruti got nervous.

“Chill. Something must have happened. Let’s go upstairs and meet Samrat first.” Randeep said and they walked their way inside through the main gate.

As they reached Samrat’s residence, they found lot of people inside the house. Samrat’s dad was talking to some police officials. There were people standing and listening and talking. Smruti and Randeep looked at each other. Smruti got extremely nervous after seeing all this chaos. By now, even Randeep was feeling confused and uneasy.

“Let’s go to Samrat’s room.” Randeep said and held Smruti’s hand and took her towards Samrat’s room.

Inside Samrat’s room, Nitisha aunty and two other women were sitting on the bed. Nitisha aunty had tears in her eyes. Smruti and Randeep were unable to comprehend anything. The other women left the room so that Smruti and Randeep could sit and talk. Nitisha asked both of them to sit beside her.

“What’s going on, aunty?” Smruti asked her. Nitisha suddenly started crying profusely. Smruti had never seen her crying so much. She hugged Smruti and kept crying.

Smruti kept looking at Randeep. Randeep’s jaws had dropped. He became very nervous by then. Smruti tried to console Nitisha. “Aunty, please stop crying. For God’s sake, stop crying.”

Randeep asked her, “Aunty, please tell us what happened? Why are so many people here? We are not able to understand anything.”

Nitisha drank some water and started speaking.

“I was trying to call both of you last night. But none of your phones were available. They were switched off.”

“Last night after you left” Nitisha said while looking at Smruti, “we got intimated by Police that they found dead body of Samrat in Darjeeling around five days back. They were not able to investigate the identity of the dead body until last evening. Samrat had met with an accident in Darjeeling five days back at night. So severe was the accident that his face was unrecognizable. A truck, probably, hit him hard and he was thrown in a valley. The police could reach the spot after almost eight hours as the incident occurred at night.”

Smruti and Randeep were numb for few moments. None of them could speak a word. They kept looking at each other. 

Samrat was dead five days back. Then who was the one who met us last night? Who made us smile again? Who brought us closer to each other? Who made us relive those moments? They were numb. Shocked and frozen.

“I was trying to call you. But none of you were reachable. I couldn’t sleep the whole night.” Nitisha said and tears rolled down her face again. “There is no other grief for a mother than seeing the dead body of her own son. What’s the purpose of my life now?” Nitisha cried and cried.

Smruti and Randeep were silent. Smruti stood up and went near the window. The winds were blowing strong and the sky was covered with many dark clouds now.

Randeep loves you a lot. He will always keep you happy. She remembered the moments of the previous night.

Randeep was still numb. You can ask her out now. I want to see both of you together. He remembered the previous night too.

He came near the window and stood beside Smruti.

The cloudy winds gave way for the rains. Smruti kept her head on Randeep’s shoulders. Tears flooded her eyes. Randeep held her tight and cried too. They kept looking outside the window.

And then the rains stopped. The sky was clear and bright now, probably heralded a new dawn of the day.