Lekha (Completed)

Lekha 53

I suddenly remembered my camera which had time travelled with me, if that is what it was. It was all the evidence I required to prove my point. I quickly rummaged inside the bag left beside me by Vaishali. I released a sigh of relief to find it intact but then it refused to switch on. The battery seemed to have exhausted somehow even though I remembered charging it in the morning of my disappearance.

I had to divide the time as before and after the disappearance, as any other division of time seemed quite confusing to me. Then again trying to make sense out of the time periods caused a small anxiety attack and I again started to feel suffocated. I calmed myself down slowly and did the inhale exhale exercise I had been taught to even out my breathing.

Now all I had to do was get bored looking at all the tourists around me having a gala time.

The girls returned back after what seemed like hours and if not for the snacks left behind by Vaishali I would have perished due to hunger. I felt wary eyes on me confirming that I had been the main topic of discussion during the walk through of the palace. I wondered if they would declare me mad if I told them the truth.

Thankfully Ms. Veena left me alone when we reached back to our orphanage hostel but it seemed that Vaishali was not one of those to take a hint when curiosity was more compelling then friend-welfare.

"So tell me... who tried to kidnap you? Did you see their face?" exclaimed Vaishali as soon as we reached our shared accommodation.

"I don't remember anything after I fainted. Why do you think someone would try to kidnap me?" I asked trying to understand how the rest of them came to this conclusion.

I planned to stick as close to the truth as possible because the complete truth was something they would not be able to understand. I myself was still trying to decipher the 'scientific' reasoning behind what had happened or was it indeed 'magic'. I wasn't a believer of magic as the practical side of me always wanted to figure out the technical aspect of a magician's trick no matter how complicated it looked or how in awe the rest of the audience was.

"Well... you see. One of the girls had eavesdropped on the conversation between Pramod Sir and the lawyer who comes every month to ask about you. From whatever she could figure out from the conversation, she came to the conclusion that your parents had left you richer then all of us in the orphanage though she was not able to guess ...how much you were worth. That reasoning led to the conspiracy theory." She concluded with a laugh trying to hide her embarrassment. Mr. Pramod was the person in charge of the orphanage and he loved to 'talk'. Sometimes I wondered if he was obsessed with his own voice.

"Oh!" I was taken aback with the kind of knowledge my co-inhabitants of the orphanage had gained through eavesdropping and some kind of guesswork must have been added to spice up the rumor mill.

What really irked me was that I had been dragged into the limelight and was the topic of discussion even though it had been brought about via an accidental discovery. I had always preferred to keep a low profile as my parents death had somehow killed the zeal in me to socialize. This made me realize why suddenly the other girls had started taking interest in me and even tried to talk to me on their own. The realization made me feel even lonelier than before. Although I had Vaishali who was like a sister I never had, I craved for 'home'.

The place I had called home, fantasy or not, but those people had accepted me and loved me the way I was. Except for that one 'hitch', I regretted leaving everyone. That hitch reminded me to charge the batteries of my camera. That would be the answer to all my queries.

"So Lekha... are you actually rich and was some actually planning to kidnap you?" whispered Vaishali after shuffling closer to me as I put my camera batteries on charger. She sounded like I was going to reveal the answer to one of the mysteries of the universe.

"I don't know dear whether I am rich or not... but yes my parents have left a house and some financial backup for me, which I would get once I come of age. That is why the lawyer uncle comes to check on my wellbeing and also to give me a little bit of what you can call pocket money" I smiled when I saw her looking at me with awe.

"See... Vaishali... the house is just a roof over my head when I head out into the world. It's not what the other girls have made it out to be and on the monetary aspect ... well I think considering the kind of pocket money I get... it must be just enough to help me for a month or two to establish myself. So you see how deceptive the rumors can be."

"Oh!... But don't tell the other girls about all this. Let them believe in what they have started" said Vaishali with a wicked smile. I could feel some kind of plan brewing in her mind but then I was fine in letting her have her own set of fun. We at the orphanage hardly had something exciting to look forward to.

"Don't go overboard ... Vaishali. "I warned her as I knew she sometimes got real wild ideas.

The next day was quite restful but as I was loading my now fully charged battery in the camera I was informed by a peon to go to Ms. Veena's office. I had to reluctantly leave behind the all divulging camera.

"May I come in Ma'am?"

"Come in Lekha dear. Have a seat" said Ms. Veena, in that soothing motherly voice of hers.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I am much better after the night's rest"

"Well... Lekha... I normally would not have inquired about this ... but... as you can see the circumstance here is quite 'different'" she said with hesitation in her voice and I felt it more as she stressed on the word different. She sounded as if she had been personally charged with solving a deep mystery.

"So what had actually happened Lekha? Can you remember anything?"

"Well ma'am, I found this door with no lock on it on the outside as I was walking ahead of the rest of the girls. I decided to take a little peek inside. It was an empty alcove. I heard the girls coming my way so hid inside the empty alcove to scare them as they pass by. I pulled the door tightly closed behind me. Due to this I believe I might have passed out of suffocation and when I gained consciousness ... you all were there. I don't remember anything in between" I related my end of the story as I myself was not sure of what had actually happened or not happened.

"That part I understood Lekha... but can you tell me or do you remember how your clothes were changed?" she asked leaning forward as if staring into my eyes would reveal to her what lay hidden.

"No ma'am. Even I am a bit worried about not being able to recall that part "I said giving her a sad smile.

"Don't you worry your little head over it. It will all come back when it's the right time but till then promise me that you will not go anywhere alone outside the orphanage" she said sounding a bit worried. I nodded my head in agreement and left as she dismissed me with a gesture, still lost in deep thought.

As I opened the door of the office I found Jhanavi and a few other girls standing outside, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. I lifted my eyebrow in question making them all walk away fast with embarrassed faces.

On reaching my room I found that Vaishali was not there, so I quickly locked the room from inside and switched on the camera clicking on the display button. The first picture I saw was in fact that the last picture I 'thought' I had clicked using it. It was a picture of a beautiful Sheesh Mahal in all its glory.