Born Again

Mira, physically checked each and every nook and corner of Tania's room.

This meant checking behind the curtains, corners of the windows, behind the TV set, under the table and the chairs. She saw the tiny CCTV camera that Tania had fitted behind the TV set.

She then checked under the bed but could not see anything. She pulled the bed a little so that the head rest area was away from the wall. Here also she could not see anything.

She then closed the curtains to make the room slightly dark. Except for the tiny light from the CCTV camera behind the TV set there was no other light being emitted by any device. She then opened the curtains.

She had even checked under the double bed and behind it also by slowly pulling the headrest area away from the wall. Not an easy task for a single person to do as double beds are heavy. She could not see anything at all.

After closing the curtains also she could not see any flickering light etc., except for the tiny light from the CCTV camera behind the TV set. Hence, she drew the curtains to let in the light again.

She next adopted the mobile dialing technique by dialing her landline number in India, from her mobile. No one would be home at this time and no one would pick up her phone call.

She did not notice any interference or clicking noises while she moved around the room. But as soon as she placed the mobile under the bed, it started to make disturbing noises. As she moved the mobile closer, she saw that something had been pasted to the leg of the bed.

After this discovery she had left Tania's room to call her husband and her granddaughter. But she could not get a response. Thinking that they had either switched off their mobile phones or put them on silent mode, she decided to call later. Obviously, they would see her missed calls and call back when free.

She then decided to check up on Igor. He would probably be in the study. As she passed his door, she could hear someone clearing his/her throat. By the intensity of the noise, she figured out that Igor was in his room today.

She then went over to Nitika's room and knocked on the door. She thought to chat with Nikita for a while before they both headed to the kitchen to start the process for evening tea and discuss what to make for dinner.

The perpetual problem with all ladies has always been what to make for dinner.

Nikita, got up on upon hearing the knock, went over to open the door. Seeing Mira, she asked Mira to come inside.

As Mira entered, she saw a lot of photographs spread out unevenly across the bed. Apparently, Nikita had been refreshing her memories.

"Nikita, you carry all these photographs with you whenever you travel?" Mira asked.

"Yes, some of them, not all." Nikita replied.

"Come sit down," she said while she pulled up a chair.

Nikita then started to show her the photos one by one. There were a few black and white ones and the rest were all coloured ones.

"This handsome young couple in this black and white picture are my husband and me," she said with a smile.

"It was taken when Fedor and I had got married." she added.

"This is another black and white photo. In it you will see my father in law and my mother in law sitting in the middle. My husband and I are sitting on the sides."

"My mother in law was a gem of a person. But my father in law was not a nice man. He was always troubling people."

"This coloured picture is of the entire family comprising my in laws, my husband as well as my daughters."

"My in laws had aged by then."

My eldest daughter is Galine, sitting in front of me and that younger girl sitting in front of my husband is Svetlana."

"You must be wondering where is Igor?"

"Well he was born after my father in law expired and he figures in another coloured picture with his sisters." she added.

She found the coloured picture of the three siblings and showed it to Mira.

Just then Mira saw another coloured picture of a little girl with Nikita. It was just behind that of the siblings.

"Who is this little girl with you, carrying a basket of cakes?" Mira asked.

"That is Anastasia, the daughter of the farmer who belonged to our village. His farm was adjacent to ours at Khayenky village near Kiev, Ukraine."

"This little girl, Anastasia, was born in 1981 and an only child. She died at the age of 10 years in a fire along with her parents. The fire was caused by a short circuit in 1991. This was the time when USSR had split up to form a number of separate countries."

"She was very attached to me. I was a newly wedded bride and she would love to visit me. I would make cakes and give her some."

"My younger daughter, Svetlana, would love to play with her."

"You know, when ever I look at Tania, I am reminded of her. Some of her features and behaviour is quite similar to Anastasia."

"Yes, It could be that she has come back as Tania. In our Hindu philosophy we believe we come back if there is something we did not accomplish or we were too attached to someone and could not see that person before passing away." replied Mira.

"You may be right. My father in law was not a good man. He used to chase this little girl, insult her by calling her a thief. She was never that type of person. Her dying with her parents in that fire really upset me." Nikita replied.

"There was a rumour in the village that my father in law was involved in that fire incident."

"The inquiry did not find anything but people had their suspicions and we lived in the shadow of that suspicion."