Dinesh Bez- The Sorcerer

Short story

Set amidst a lush green village with gently rolling hills in the background, the Veerbhadra Institute of Physical Training, Soanpur provided the perfect environment for the students to gain knowledge & hone their skills. It was here that four youngsters Piyush, Bhaskar, Priya and Gitika met for the first time when they enrolled for the Masters programme. While Piyush was from Delhi, Bhaskar and Priya were from Bengal while Gitika was from Guwahati. They settled down pretty quickly in their new surroundings and devoted themselves whole-heartedly to achieve the best possible outcome out of their rigorous curriculum.

Piyush and Bhaskar were adventurous by nature & craved for activities that gave them a rush of adrenaline. Their hectic schedules left them with little time to spare. However, even then, Piyush who had a fascination for ghosts; spirits and the paranormal had researched enthusiastically about a place named Yoyong, situated about 50 kilometres away from campus. The name of this place is etched in folklore as the seat of mysterious black magic.

The more he came to know about the place, the more his curiosity and fascination was aroused which led him to plan a visit to the place. He convinced the other three and finally they planned a two day trip during their short winter break as their hectic classroom and on-field training sessions left them with hardly any time for leisure. After what seemed like an unending wait, finally with the declaration of the second semester results the holidays were announced. Piyush had already made all arrangements for the trip after literally pleading with the other three to convince them to join him.

Immediately after breakfast the next day, they all got into a cab that drove them to a popular home stay named ‘Jironi’ located in a quaint little village just outside the main thoroughfares of Yoyong. Just as the four of them got out and were taking in the sights & sounds around them, a broad shouldered and tall gentleman followed by another in a spotless white uniform greeted them at the gate. By the time the others had finished taking a look around the place where they were going to spend the next two days, Piyush had already completed the necessary formalities at the counter and after paying an advance he led the others to their rooms accompanied by the bell boy.

Bhaskar had requested for two twin-bedded rooms on the first floor and the group did not have to regret because of his choice as the view from the balcony was simply breathtaking. One side provided a bird’s eye view of the village while on the other side the onlooker was greeted with an expansive view of the dense foliage of Jupitora Wildlife Sanctuary whose boundary extended almost to the edge of the village. Piyush and Bhaskar almost thumped their clenched fists in excitement. After a quick cup of tea, the boys paced the graveled driveway impatiently as they waited for the girls to show up after a change of dress.

They began walking along the narrow but well paved road leading further into the village. They hailed an auto and after negotiating the fare for an entire day of sightseeing set off for their first destination which included visits to five pilgrim sites, the Sivakunda waterfall and the Yoyong Central Museum of Culture, Mythology and Sorcery. This was the place Piyush and Bhaskar were most eagerly waiting to visit as it housed detailed information about the origin and the extent to which black magic as practiced in and around that area. Piyush had a close look at everything the museum had to offer and by the time he finished the others were waiting impatiently for him to join so that they could proceed for lunch.

The auto driver dropped them at a swanky resort named “Zirina” located about 8-10 kilometres away from the museum. As they sat waiting for lunch to be served, they could hear two gentlemen seated behind them talk about a certain Dinesh Bez who was regarded by all in Yoyong as the best astrologer who could predict the future with mind-numbing accuracy. Unable to control his curiosity any longer, Bhaskar enquired at the cash counter before leaving about Dinesh Bez* and his whereabouts.

Moments later, as he instructed the auto driver on the route to take, he could hardly control his excitement and licked his lips in anticipation at the prospect of meeting with a master practitioner of black magic and astrology. Luckily for them, there were not too many visitors that day and they were soon led into the inner chamber by an usher. As the four of them at down, they saw that the Bez, a tall and well-built fellow around 35 years of age was in deep meditation in front of a ceremonial fire and the walls and floor had images of humans, animals and other weird looking creatures painted skillfully using a rich array of colours.

After a brief lull, Dinesh Bez slowly opened his eyes and cast a piercing gaze in the direction of the four visitors as if trying to figure out the purpose of their visit. Sensing this, Bhaskar stood up and after greeting him with folded hands, explained the purpose of their visit as briefly as possible. One by one they stepped forward and knelt beside the Bez who after carefully observing the palm lines or markings answered all of their queries and also made some other interesting observations regarding what lay ahead for each one of them.

Content after knowing everything that they wanted, the four of them bowed in reverence and hurriedly made their way towards their waiting ride as it was beginning to get dark and they were beginning to feel tired and drained.

Later, after a rejuvenating hot shower, the group settled down comfortably with steaming cups of masala chai and an assortment of lip smacking delicious snacks. A bonfire helped them keep the December chill away. Darkness descended rapidly around the place and the very fact that it was surrounded by forests meant that there was almost a pin drop silence all around that was broken occasionally by the screeching of the owls and howling of foxes in the distance.

Dinner was served at 8.30 pm sharp and the four of them appreciated that a lot because suddenly there were black clouds in the sky and it began drizzling. After a quick dinner, all of them called it a day and quickly settled into their warm beds and before long were fast asleep. Outside, the wind picked up speed and the rain began to intensify.

Time: - Midnight; Place: - Dinesh Bez’s house

Undisturbed and unseen by anyone, the Bez was engrossed in chanting mantras in front of the ceremonial fire. As the ritual neared its completion, the flames leapt up higher and higher. Dinesh Bez bowed in reverence in front of the fire and a fiendish laugh escaped from his lips, mild to begin with but grew to sound menacing and boisterous. Unknown to anyone, the Bez had the power of holding on to his youth and not letting it wane.

But in order to achieve that, he had to snatch a few years of life from someone. He had never used this power before but as he was predicting the future of Piyush and Bhaskar, he saw that both of them had twenty years each of very productive, fruitful and disease free existence ahead of them. While Piyush would live on to reach ripe old age as per his calculations, Bhaskar unfortunately had only those twenty years of life left in him.

Using his prowess in black magic, the ritual that he has just completed had fulfilled his objective of snatching some years from the lives of his unsuspecting victims who lay fast asleep snuggled under blankets oblivious of the great misfortune that awaited them.

Time: - 6.30 am; Location: - Jironi Home stay

There was a big commotion inside the premises of the home stay. All the residents had gathered in front of the room occupied by the two boys. Bhaskar lay on his bed with his hands thrown wide and eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling; open wide as if gaping in horror at somebody or something till his life had ebbed out. But what was even more disturbing was that his body had degenerated almost overnight and the sprightly young boy’s now lifeless body looked as if he had grown older by a couple of decades or thereabout. The owner, with consternation writ large on his face has already informed the Police who were expected to reach the place as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Bhaskar too was nowhere to be seen and it was the owner who had discovered the dead body when he came to the room with warm cups of green tea and biscuits. Seeing the door wide open, he had walked in after knocking but the scene that he saw left him in such a state of shock that it took him several minutes to regain his composure and raise an alarm.

Unknown to all, it was Piyush who woke up at around 5 am in the morning. As he made his way towards the balcony, the large mirror of the dressing table caught his attention. When he moved closer, what he saw made him howl like a madman. He rubbed his eyes and slapped himself in disbelief when he saw coarse grey beard adorning his face. Rubbing his shriveled dry skin, he ran towards his friend who appeared blissfully fast asleep. But upon finding the limp and lifeless body of his friend, he ran outside like a zombie as if in a dazed state without a fixed destination in mind.

Time: - 7.30 am; Place: - Jironi Home stay

The Police team had arrived at the crime scene by then and began their investigation. The absence of Piyush led people to suspect his hand in the death of Bhaskar although everyone appeared clueless as to how a youth in his prime could resemble a middle aged man overnight in terms of appearance.

Time: - 10.30 am (About 4-5 days after the incident); Place: - National Highway expressway a few kilometres away from ‘Jironi’

Police were having a tough time keeping the agitated onlookers at bay who had gathered at the crime scene. Some youths had informed the Police after they found a decomposed body lying next to the railway line running parallel to the highway. The deceased appeared to be around 40-44 years of age and it looked as if a train had run over the unfortunate man. The investigating officer who incidentally was also in charge of the ‘Jironi’ case saw some striking similarities between the dress and the physical attributes of the body lying on the track and that of Piyush which were shared by his two female classmates.

Establishing the identity beyond doubt proved difficult owing to the state of the body. It was only later when Piyush’s parents were asked to come and a DNA test was carried out that the identity was proved beyond doubt.

Police investigations continued for several years but hit a dead end leading officials to close the file citing it as a case of unnatural death.

Time: - 11 a.m. (Twenty years later after the ‘Jironi’ incident); Place: - Makeshift cottage of Dinesh Bez somewhere in Banipur district

A group of young college going students had come to know through word of mouth publicity about the strange gift of the Bez to predict the future with unerring accuracy. About an hour later, as the group of boisterous youths left, the Bez* could not suppress a wicked smile from forming on his lips. He began making preparations for a ritual that he performed exactly twenty years ago.

He had already chosen his would be victims who left his place totally unaware about what lay in wait for them and the walls of his modest cottage echoed with his fiendish, booming laugh.

Bez: - A sorcerer, a person who claims to have magical powers