This was summer vacation. Little Babu quickly gobbled up large pieces of paratha served for breakfast, took a few sips of milk from the cup, looked around furtively if any one was looking, there was no one, poured the milk down the drain which passed under the passage joining main building and kitchen. He was out at the yard in a flash. Others were already their playing in the loose Secundrabad soil. He liked to play in the yard surrounded by disorderly grown henna hedge. The crystalline soil was rough on the skin. Every child sported lacerations crises-crossing their skin covered with coat of dried blood. Soon he was tired. Quietly he left the group of children, climbed up the verandah and sat on the edge dangling his feet. He felt the coat of dried blood on his the back of his arm, just below his left elbow. The find was encouraging as he meticulously set about peeling of the coat from the skin. Once noticed it was irresistible for him to leave it alone or to let it fall off on its own. Slowly he lifted the coat from one edge and went on to pull it very slowly until near the center of the spot he found the coat firmly stuck to the skin not yet properly healed. He then began from the other end until he reached the center again when he just yanked it off in a jerk. Little beads of fresh blood oozed out from the center spot which looked pink contrasting against the dark skin around there. There was a little irritation for a while as he shook his arm in the air to let the oozing blood dry off. Having done and over with the ritual he felt a sense of accomplishment and directed his attention towards the view in front. Up ahead beyond the tarred road was the dirty orange colored hockey ground leveled with help of bulldozers by army men. The left side of the ground fell sharply against the adjoining land while on the other side a small nullah and then a row of Keekar trees ran parallel to its side. Partly visible from his house, behind the row of Keekar trees, was a large field for the training of soldiers. Further on straight across the hockey ground was a vast expanse of slowly rising verdant green terrain until the Tirumalgiri hill range littered with all shapes and sizes of rocks and boulders rising sharply blocked the distant view of horizon. The summit straight ahead of his house in the distant hill was the tallest and perched atop was a huge cube shaped rock resembling a giant dice, as if left there by fleeing Gods in a hurry. This rock was so precariously balanced that every time Babu looked at it, he would wait eagerly for it to roll down the hill in a roaring dance of noise, only to be disappointed. As he looked lazily around, he saw a lone soldier exercising and few buffaloes grazing in the distant. While he was busy contemplating fall of the rock, his attention was suddenly diverted by the commotion caused by agitated talking of adults gathered in a group in the yard. Children also had formed a circle and were talking animatedly. He jumped from his comfortable perch and joined the group of children and asked, " What is going on?"
"Don't you know! A soldier has committed suicide " they said in unison and pointed towards the distant Keeker tree at the far edge of hockey ground. Babu looked in the direction, for while he couldn't notice anything and then it struck him like a thunderbolt .The lone soldier he had seen earlier in the morning as exercising was in fact hanging from the tree and the rising land behind the tree made it look like he was standing on the ground and exercising. Until this time Babu had never seen a dead man not even from a long distance. He did not know how to react. Death was a new experience for him and his instinct suggested fear. Slowly the full impact of visual started gathering momentum and hit him with such astonishing force that left him stunned and overwhelmed. He was filled with fear, fear and fear. The spirit of dead would haunt him. He looked around, animated discussion was still going on in different groups of adults and children. Collecting his thoughts he listened to the children talking about suicide. Shaking his head casually he pretended to be unconcerned though his thoughts were not there. Already there was a motley crowd of officers and soldiers gathered around the tree. For some unknown reason they allowed the body to hang on the tree for a long time. Babu couldn't gather enough courage to look squarely in that direction .He would look in the direction with the corner of his eyes very briefly and quickly move away. The vision of man hanging from the tree got firmly embedded in his mind .The thought of not able to shake off the specter frightened him. In any case he was essentially a timid child prone to fanciful imaginations. The thought of approaching night also unsettled him. He spent the whole day dreading the darkness of night .He did not sleep in the afternoon for fear he might not be able to sleep at night while everybody else went to sleep. The nightfall set his fear to newer heights. By now he was quite exhausted but the relentless fear remained with him unabated. Finally the moment arrived when lights were switched off. For a while his brothers talked and then one by one they all went to sleep, not Babu .The image of dead man was still embedded in his psyche. Initially he listened for every movement of his brother to reassure himself if they were awake, later slightest noise would set his heart pacing. As he closed his eyes, he saw the image of the dead man hanging from the rope with end of rope disappearing in empty space. He could not keep his eyes open either for fear that the ghost of dead man will swamp him. Time seemed to drag; he wished night would pass quickly so that the agony will be over. He did get bits of sleep for very brief periods but the overwhelming fear would not let him sleep for long. Eventually he saw faint light of dawn through the window and chirping of birds. The knowledge of the day breaking combined with weariness of night finally sent him to sleep instantly.
The din of morning noise, children playing and shouting, Soon he was awake. Everything seemed as usual except for him. He felt very tired, eyes heavy with sleep and the lurking fear still was there. The events of the day before started to haunt him again and another night of terror faced him starkly. While at breakfast he heard his mother pointed at him and in a tone of irritation, accused him of remaining awake the whole night. These words from his mother were electric. He felt no more threatened. That night he slept peacefully, safe in the knowledge that his mother watched him the whole night.
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