Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“If we open the upstairs room and look into it, it would be cleared.” Aravind said.
“You people don’t let me in peace if it has not happened. At the earliest opportunity I discuss about this with Tanuja and take a decision.” Rajesh said.
“It seems you are thinking too much to discuss this matter with Tanuja, why so?” Sunanda asked him.
“I discuss all the matters with Tanuja before implementing them. I discuss about repairing and renovating this house, I discuss about publishing that book of ‘A Mansion of Illusions’ which is about us and our experiences of last time visit here. I don’t do anything without discussing it with her.” Rajesh said.
“What a nice husband you are! It is indeed a very good practice.” Rose said with a smile on her lips. Then she got off from the chair and said. “Now I go into my room. I shall meet you people again.” Then she moved away from that place towards their room.
After talking some more time all of them have disbursed from that place.
&&&
“Are you really thinking that it would be better to perform the last rites of the dead bodies of that Nagaraju and Semanthakam?” looking into the face of her husband Rajesh, Tanuja asked him when he mentioned about performing last rites to those dead bodies.
When Rajesh entered into their room Sameera, Sunanda and Tanuja were talking in themselves. Sameera was on the right hand side of Tanuja while Sunanda sat in a chair opposite to them. Rajesh dragged a chair on the side of Sunanda and slumped himself in it. He has thought it was the best time to discuss with Tanuja about the matter performing the last rites to the dead bodies which were thought to be kept in the upstairs last room.
“It is in fact the suggestion of Aravind. Anyhow I am also thinking that it is better to open the room and look inside. If there are dead bodies in it, it is always advisable to perform last rites to them. Even I am not a firm believer in religious things, I am also thinking like that.” Rajesh said.
“But I am feeling fear even to think about opening of that room. If there are dead bodies of them in it, how they would be now after all these years!” Tanuja said
“They shall be so as they have to be. Anyhow I am also thinking it is better to open the door and find whether there are dead bodies or not rather than worrying ourselves like this.” Sameera said.
“Alright. If we find the dead bodies in that room, when we are going to perform the last rites to them? I think it sure does take considerable time and expenditure also for that purpose. Anyhow how many days we can stay here?” Tanuja asked Rajesh.
“That is indeed a point to think about.” Rajesh said thoughtfully. “I don’t think I can manage without going to my hospital more than three days.”
“We do like this.” Sameera said. “First we open that room and see whether there are dead bodies in it or not. If there are no dead bodies in it, there is no problem at all. If we find dead bodies in it we just close them as before and think what to do. You yourself need not stay here to perform the last rites of it. If you cannot stay longer you can go and we look after the last rites of them.”
“Why you are that much enthusiastic about performing the last rites to the dead bodies?” Rajesh knitted his brows together.
“I cannot say” Sameera nodded her head helplessly. “It is just a subconscious feeling. I cannot bear my great grandfather’s spirit suffers just because the last rites to its dead body are pending.”
“Your dad can bear it, your grandmother can bear it who have more close relationship with him than you but you cannot bear!” Sunanda sarcastically said. “You just tell me you want to have the thrill of opening that room and look inside.”
“As if you don’t have any wish to have that thrill?” Sameera said.
“I am curious of course to look into that room” Sunanda said “But at the same time I am feeling fear also to open that room and look inside.”
“Every one of us here feeling thrill and fear towards that room.” Tanuja said. “Anyhow all of us want to open that room and see in it. Moreover now it has become important to perform last rites to those dead bodies also. When we are going to open that room and look inside?” she asked Rajesh looking into his face in the last.
“In the evening at six.” Rajesh said. “All of us together do that.”
There was some silence then and all their hearts were filled with a sort of thrill and fear feelings.
“I want to say something.” Sameera suddenly said.
“Tell me straight.” Rajesh asked her.
“There is a reason in performing last rites to Semanthakam. But why should we perform any last rites to that rogue Nagaraju. I want his spirit to suffer infinitely for the atrocity he committed.” Sameera angrily said.
“One thing here” Tanuja was about to say something.
Then Aravind and Anand entered into that room. “If you don’t think ours is not an intrusion between your talking” Anand said “we want to be with you people.”
“It is not at all so. Please come and we tell you what we are discussing. In fact this is a matter all people here need to be known.” With a smile on her lips, Tanuja said.
Then Aravind adjusted himself on the left hand side of his mother in law on the bed and Anand dragged a chair beside Rajesh, and sat in it.
Then she explained to them what they were discussing until that moment.
“Yes, I advised uncle to perform last rites to those dead bodies.” Aravind nodded his head.
“Now I am asking why should we perform any rites to that rogue Nagaraju. Whatever torture he does have for whatever reason, it would be less for the atrocity he committed.” Sameera said angrily.
“You were just about to say something when we entered into this room.” Anand said looking into the face of Rajesh. “Please tell us uncle what it is”
“Can we say now which dead body is Semanthakam’s and which dead body is Nagaraju’s even we found some dead bodies in that room now?” Rajesh said.
“Of course, no. We may not able to say.” Aravind nodded his head in negation and said “That is why it is better we perform the last rites to the both dead bodies there. That Nagaraju also would have enough punishment all these years as no last rites were performed to his dead body from a long time till now.” Aravind said.
“One thing we need to worry about here.” Sameera said. “In that séance why either Semanthakam or that Nagaraju did not bother about the last rites to their dead bodies?”
None of them did say anything to that.
“Now we have to agree with one out of four I am going to say.” Sameera said “One, there is no problem either to Nagaraju or Semanthakam even no last rites are performed to their dead bodies. Two, their dead bodies don’t need last rites or for certain reasons they want their dead bodies remain so without last rites. Three, the séance was a bogus and neither Semanthakam nor Nagaraju talked through me and Sunanda in that séance. Four there are no dead bodies in the upstairs room and it is just a rumor.”
“I am forced to agree with something you suggested now, I agree with the third one. In that séance subconsciously we were forced to talk like that but neither that Semanthakam nor that Nagaraju talked through us.” Sunanda said. “The fourth point also may be true but we cannot be sure now.”
“Before we leave this house we do open the doors of that room and see what is in it. Please stop arguments about it.” Rajesh said with an irritating expression in his face.
“I have not yet given my express approval for it.” Tanuja looked into the face of Rajesh.
Rajesh turned his face towards her keeping that irritating expression like that.
“I alright I am also in favour of it. Open the doors of it in the evening itself.” She said with a smile.
&&&
“Its really becoming a very difficult thing to me to control my thoughts. I just don’t know what to do with them.” Tanuja said,
At that time in upstairs middle room there were Tanuja, Vinod, Neeraja, Rose, Sunanda and Sameera were present.
“Why do you want that much to control your thoughts? What would be the problem to you if there are thoughts in your mind?” Vinod asked her.
“I just cannot understand what you are trying to say.” Tanuja said with a surprising expression in her face. “Is it is not troublesome to us if painful thoughts are invading on us all the time?”
“Thinking something or other all the time is the nature of our mind. Just like our body, our mind also does its duty whether we like it or not. Can you stop your body from sensing hot, cold, smoothness etc? Can you stop your ears from hearing the sounds around and stop your nose from having the smell around? This is the nature of our body and you just cannot stop it from performing its duty. In the same way thinking something or the other all the time is the nature of our mind. We cannot stop it from doing it. Moreover…” he paused for a moment and said “we need not prevent it from doing that either.”
There was still a confusing expression in the face of Tanuja.
“From the moment you wake up till the moment you sleep in the night, you do have so many disturbances around and you don’t care about them at all. Then why cannot you take these unnecessary thoughts also just like that?” Vinod asked her.
“Still I cannot get you.” Nodding her head helplessly Tanuja said.
“The main problem is occurring only because you are thinking you are doing all that unnecessary thinking intentionally. Once you understood that incessant thinking is happening without your contribution at all, and there is no loss at all by that thinking you stop worrying about it and disregard that thinking. Once you stop worrying and disregard that thinking, those thoughts would no more worry you. You can separate yourself from that thinking and observe it.” Vinod said.
“Now I think I understood what you have said.” with a happy expression in her face, Tanuja said. “On thinking what you have said is appearing true. Yes, most of the time the thinking is just happening so without my intention at all.”
“Whenever you are vexed by that incessant unnecessary thinking, just say in yourself strongly that is all involuntary thinking and you have no business with it. It may appear surprising in the beginning but you can see a lot change in yourself if you follow what I have said.” Vinod said.
“I sure do try what you have said.” Tanuja said.
“In fact in Rose’s opinion feelings are more important than the thoughts also. She wrote a big article ‘Dealing with feelings.’ Neeraja said.
“Did you write an article like that? You never have said about that to me.” Looking into Rose’s face, Vinod said.
“In fact I want to write a book on that. But because of busy schedule I could not write everyday. So it was ended as an article like that.” Rose laughed and said.
(I hope that you enjoyed upto here. I shall publish the next chapter as soon as possible. Please don’t forget to rate and review.)
