A rusty old Chetak remained parked in the opposite garage for years now. The owners, close friends of our family, had shifted bases and had settled abroad. Their trips to India had become sparse over time, last we saw them was when their father, the patriarch of the Sen family, had passed away, couple of years back. However, the old scooter stood its ground as the family was too attached to sell it and was too away to take care of it. There were rumours that flew by the lanes, as the scooter gathered dust with time, that it was haunted. They said that the headlights went on and off on its own, deep in the night. Some said that the engine started squeaking with energy and turned off immediately when someone approached the vehicle. I dismissed the rumours as for me the Chetak meant much more.
If not for Mr Sen and his blue Chetak, I would not have been alive. I remember the day like it was yesterday, there was a group of bullies from school who chased me down to the street on their cycles, pounding me for a mistake that I didn’t even know and accidentally pushing me into the gutter. It was a rainy day, and I was there trying to reach out for air but to no avail. At that moment when I was about to lose hope, I heard the sound of Chetak. I raised my hand in hope to be seen. Next I remembered was Mr Sen lifting me on to the scooter and driving me as fast as possible to the hospital. I survived that day because of them. It meant everything to me. So, whenever I visited my hometown, I would walk across the lane and dust the old Chetak, clean. I smiled at it as I patted the handle and walked away.
Today was no different, I dusted the old Chetak and walked as I patted the handle. However, as soon as I turned away from the scooter, the headlight was switched on. I turned back and it was off. Even the coil didn’t illuminate, it was plain off.
I was taken back as I tried to convince myself that the light came from the autorickshaw that passed by. I stayed there for a while, wondering if it might switch on again but it didn’t. It was almost dinner time when I made a move back to my home. It was an uneasy supper; my parents kept asking me about my work in the city for which I just nodded with a yes. The mind was occupied, it was elsewhere, it was with the blue Chetak.
I slowly got into my room and sat on my desk wondering about what just happened. I looked out from my window and saw the old Chetak resting in the garage. Before I could overthink the situation, I quickly got into my bed and closed my eyes, trying to forget the incident as a dream. However, the sleep eluded me as I again reached back to my window to watch the old Chetak and all of a sudden, the headlight was switched on.
The scooter turned towards my direction and I quickly dropped down by instinct. I could hear my heart beats as I lifted my head to look out of the window and to my surprise, the Chetak had vanished. I searched across the area but couldn’t find it.
I somehow gathered courage and walked out onto the main road, trying hard to search for the old scooter but to no avail. I finally sat down at the porch area with my head down when I finally heard it, the sound of Chetak. I looked up to see a bright light in the sky and I fainted.
I woke up after a while only to watch my room’s ceiling. It took me a while to realise that I was on my bed. I rushed towards my window and found the old Chetak stationed at the garage, as if nothing had moved. It was driving me insane about what was happening around me. I just didn’t have any answers. A minute back I saw a flying Chetak and in the very other minute, I was on my bed, watching the ceiling.
I stayed by the window that night, fixated on the blue Chetak for answers but I didn’t receive any. Lost in my own thoughts, I made my way to the bed again and before I realised, I was sound asleep.
The headlight switched back on and turned towards my window, and then switched off.
rroopeshkumar 