The Jinx of Amola

Inside the tank, Jennifer took photos and videos. Neither of them knew however how exactly they would leverage this evidence- this clinching evidence about strange experiments being conducted in their vicinity in a Water Treatment Plant. They posted one photo of the lab on Orkut, the newest tool they had with themselves to communicate with friends not anticipating the consequences. The next day, Mr. Bharali was kidnapped by men dressed in police uniforms. Jennifer's mother received threats and she applied for a transfer and Mr. Mukherjee was hit by a truck during his early morning run. 

Continued from last week…

"Isn't Mr. Arvind too young to retire?," Prince's mother joked. When Prince came back home later that evening after several rounds of Badminton, he dropped his racket and started smelling something very intently. It was the same smell that was there in the plant. Mr. Mukherjee was involved in something! He immediately sent an SMS to Jennifer to meet him but to his surprise, Jennifer's mother replied instead. She said that Jennifer was unwell.

On the day of the Chief Manager's farewell, the entire town of Amola gathered at the guest house. Jennifer found a scribbled calendar in her mother's cabinet while searching for spare cash. The numbers 4, 9, 0, 2 and 3 of March meant nothing of significance to her but she nevertheless sent an SMS to Prince mentioning her weird discovery. Actually of late, Jennifer had become suspicious of her mother. After she had told her mother about their visit to the plant, her mother had been stopping her from meeting Prince. She infact even stopped her from venturing in the direction of the plant.

Taking advantage of the situation (everyone was distracted as they were attending the farewell) , both of them went back to the plant and put the number 49023. However, the door did not unlock. This time Prince noticed a soot-like pollutant in the air around the plant. Basis a hunch, Jennifer typed the numbers in ascending order 02349 and the door clicked. Inside the tank, there were giant computers, screens, suits hanging, files and countless bottles with colourful chemicals.

In the meantime, Rizwan had cycled to Prince's home but couldn't find him. He asked around and a neighbour apprised him that Prince often visits the shopping complex to buy chocolates. He went to the party but Prince wasn't there either. Rizwan had won an award (a large ice cream and a memento) for his painting at a local competition. He desperately wanted to share the ice cream with Prince before it melted. He pedaled to the complex and asked around only to be told that the mischievous children were playing near the wall.

Inside the tank, Jennifer took photos and videos. Neither of them knew however how exactly they would leverage this evidence- this clinching evidence about strange experiments being conducted in their vicinity in a Water Treatment Plant. They posted one photo of the lab on Orkut, the newest tool they had with themselves to communicate with friends not anticipating the consequences. The next day, Mr. Bharali was kidnapped by men dressed in police uniforms. Jennifer's mother received threats and she applied for a transfer and Mr. Mukherjee was hit by a truck during his early morning run. Police sealed the aeration tank with big locks, high barbed wire fences and a notice board with a harsh warning. Amidst all the ongoing spate of mysteries, Rizwan was not to be found and his ice cream melted inside the plant's campus. The Police were clueless. Prince and his family moved to the nearby big city for higher studies.

(Six months later)

A journalist from 'The Current Post' visited the abandoned plant to write a piece. She and her son Rahul camped at the club near late Mr. Mukherjee's home. The well had dried up and they had to buy water from a tanker. To her surprise, the town had no water supply despite the water treatment plant stationed there. The soot around the town hadn't dispersed even after six months since its discovery by Prince. The journalist also sent some samples to the national lab for clues. It turned out that the soot is a by-product of a chemical reaction using the newly discovered heavy metal in Kenya. A school of chemists believes that during a perfect reaction by the metal, an arc through water can disturb the mesh of space-time to open a time travel window that lasts for a few minutes provided the conditions are appropriate i.e. sunset, clear sky, no wind, etc. Mr. Mukherjee, the head scientist in Oil International Ltd and Mr. Bharali, the high school science teacher believed in this school of thought. Nobody knew who the masterminds of these experiments were as Mr. Mukherjee was dead and Mr. Bharali was kidnapped with no demands or ransom calls. A brave policeman followed a lead up to an inlet pipe and found Rizwan's decomposing body. Repeated calls to his parents' phone went unanswered. Post the assignment while returning home, the journalist asked Rahul about the whereabouts of his green Magnus ball. With sad eyes, he pointed towards the roof of Late Mr. Mukherjee's home.

By: Snehal Deb

Author of 'Whispers from Saraighat'

Guwahati

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