House No.5, Palace Gardens

7th October 2008, A Suburb in Kerala

'Chechi, you should be really careful. The stars don't favor those who live in this house.', Saraswati said as she escorted Anita through the garden.
'What do you do, Chechi?'
' I am a writer, Saraswati.'
' Do you write news in the newspapers?'
' No, I write books, novels..'
'You write stories,Chechi?', Saraswati asked with amazement.
'Yes I do Sarasu'
' then someday if you are free, can you come home and tell munna some stories. He always complains that i do not know any stories. How would I know? I haven't even gone to school..'
'Sure sarasu, one day for sure.', Anita said as Saraswati opened the door.

'how long are you going to stay here ?'
'I wanted a place to write my next novel. After it is complete I might leave.'
'Are you married?'
'You sure do have a lot of questions. Let me sit down for a while and settle down in this house. Then I will answer all the questions you have.' , Anita said suppressing a laugh.

Anita stood at the balcony, Saraswati's question still ringing in her ears. 'Are you married?'.... It has been just over three months since her divorce from Naren. An arranged marriage. A perfect couple - according to her parents. Everything was fine for two years. Suddenly things started to take a bad shape between them. Naren started accusing her of being mad. Depressed, yes. But mad! He was taking things overboard. She had been having a bad run with her writing, with the newspaper turning down her column , her last book being a total failure and critics accusing her of using a copied idea. The perfect couple could not hold on much longer. Sooner than she thought , Naren moved for divorce. She looked at the wedding ring which she still used to wear. Tears formed in her eyes. But she was not going to break down. The tears vanished as they had come. Her eyes transformed from a sad set to that of determination.

Her career was in a bad state and her life even worse. That was when she got hold of a story from a casual talk she had with a friend. It happened to a friend of a friend in a suburb in Thiruvanathapuram. She and her family had been staying there for over a couple of years, when one day the worst tragedy occurred to them. Her husband fell into a hole dug up for a well. The soil on the sides collapsed burying him underneath. Since then rumours of the haunted house had spread. It seemed the previous two inhabitants had also died in strange circumstances. One of them had drowned in a swimming pool and the other who was in the air force, had died in a plane crash during a routine test flight.

The rumour was that a Sadhu had once come to the house when the owner was residing there. Overwhelmed by the owner’s hospitality he had given a warning to him for his good. He had predicted that the house had a curse on it and that the people staying in the house would die by the five elements. The owner being a pious man, took the advice and changed his house. He then gave it out for rent. According to the Sadhu's prediction, only two elements remained now : fire and space.

Anita sensed a story there. She had everything, even a ending, which she got the instant she heard the story. Only the gaps and details in the story remained. And here she was at House No. 5, Palace Gardens, in search of her story. She had hired the same maid who was there previously, Saraswati. She would be able to throw more light and of course she had a part to play in the story.

Anita's next few weeks were spent with the locals. In the evenings she used to go to the beach to view the sunset. It gave her immense pleasure, relief, and confidence. In the nights she would collect together all the information she gathered and put together her story.

She hadn't found anything unusual about the house herself. It was a splendid house. She had began to like it. But she couldn't stay there for long; her novel was approaching its end. Only one person's account was remaining, Chadran , the owner. After that she could mail the script to her publisher. Finally the last sunday of November was near.

December 8th 2008

“Her book is due release today and has blown away all records according to the publishers.
The police are confirming that it is an accident. Sources have also confirmed that the cause of the explosion was a leakage in cooking gas. Although nothing much of a body could be recovered,her wedding ring and other jewellery were recovered from the site. Police are investigating the missing of the maid, Sarawati. Chandran the owner of the house had testified earlier that Anita had been at his house last Sunday and that she was very concerned about Saraswati's mental health. Ramachandran was told by Anita that Saraswati had started mumblings strange things and did not seem herself during most of the time. The Police had made a statement yesterday that they had got no link connecting Sarawati to the event.... " , the TV blared in the hotel suite .

"Goood... But not a perfect ending as in my book!! '
"I wouldn't be getting any royalties but I bet my book will be a hit. That should silence those critics...", Anita felt relief. It had been months since she had the feeling of relief and contentment.
'Forgive me Sarawati, but I had to do it.'

August 20th, 2009

'I am a scientist, I don't believe in such superstitions.'
'Just a good word to be careful around here sir.’ said the taxi driver as he drove away leaving Rajeev at the gates. Rajeev settled in quickly. He loved the house. He had bought the house for cheap for a superstitious owner who was desperate to sell it off.

After a week Rajeev became acquainted to the less than brave comments of his friends and neighbors. He was a scientist after all and he didn’t care. He stood at the balcony feeling the light breeze hitting his face. He had taken couple of weeks off. A much needed vacation after the long tiring work on Chandrayaan, India's first moon mission. The phone's ring broke the peace in the house. Rajeev picked it up.
'Hello, Rajeev'
'Yes'
'This is George here..'
'Yes sir'
'There is great news. You have been selected for India's first man mission for the moon....'

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