THE DOORBELL RINGS!
I was 10 years old when a very bizarre incident took place in my life. I remember that my cousin who was of the same age as me had come to spend a week with us during the summer holidays. One afternoon, both of us were alone at home. My mother had gone to the market, father was in his office and my grandfather was visiting a friend. Mischief came uninvited whenever we were left alone.
My cousin and I loved conducting experiments in the kitchen. We used to take a glass, pour some water in it and add we could mix in a glass. It could be material from the kitchen or even the bathroom. We would observe the colours and the texture of the mixture we prepared. That afternoon too, we were busy being the young scientists of our family when we heard the door bell ring. We were certain that mother had come back from the market. We were scared that mom would not appreciate our scientific brilliance. We worried about her reaction when she found out that we had wasted a lot of things in kept in the kitchen and the bathroom. With terrified steps I reached the door and to my surprise and luck, the bell was not rung by mother instead there stood a man I had never seen in my 10 year old life.
Through the grill door, I asked him in a very relaxed tone why he was here? He didn’t answer my question but instead asked me if someone was at home? I told him very innocently where everyone had gone. He asked me another question, whether all the adults leave at this time in the afternoon? And I said “yes, almost always.” The man asked no further questions and left. Without paying much attention to him we retreated to our experiment.
The next day father went to the office again, grandpa left for his friend’s house and mother went to meet some relative who lived nearby. The two young scientists went into their laboratory. The door bell rang again that day; the same man had rung it.
We were afraid of the man. He approached us for four days continuously when no one was at home. On the fifth day mother was at home and the man did not come. There was no man that day who rang the doorbell. That was a quiet, undisturbed afternoon. In the evening both of us decided to tell mother about this man who always rang the doorbell in her absence.
Even in those days like now Delhi was not considered the safest of places in the world. Especially for girls whether young or old, were seen as potential victims of many crimes. Almost every day the newspapers were filled with news of crimes against women. Mother became very anxious when she heard about our encounter with an unknown man. She had always believed that we were safe in our house. Now, after the visit of the uninvited stranger, she feared for our safety.
She quickly called everyone up and told them of the man who approached the two of us when no was at home. As expected everyone shared the same apprehension. After much deliberation, it was decided that the two of us would never be left at home, alone. Then it was decided that it was important to catch the unknown man. My father, grandfather, aunt, uncle, everyone offered different ways by to catch him.
Mother decided to use a ruse to trap the man. She decided to leave the house at the usual time through the main entrance and come back in through the back entrance, She felt certain that when the man would approach us when he feels certain that there was no one at house. The first trail bore no result. No one came to the house, the door bell did not ring when we two were left alone. Mother then decided to inquire from the neighbours; she asked them whether this stranger had visited their house in the afternoons? She enquired whether anyone had ever seen a man ring the door bell of our house? None of the neighbours answered in the affirmative.
After investigating for a few days with no result, the mother soon became tired and quickly claimed that we had made up this story to scare our elders. She believed that because my cousin and I were very young, we probably thought that making up a story like this would be fun as it would definitely scare the adults. In the few days that followed, she stopped taking this episode very seriously. We became topics of several discussions between my father, grandfather, aunts and uncles. Everyone talked about how two little girls could make up such a believable story that filled all adults with such fear.
Well my story ends with this tame conclusion. No trace of a strange man who rang doorbells could be found anywhere. Even father’s best efforts came to a nought.
Eventually the urban legend of dangerous criminal came to be replaced with the belief that two young cousins one day, in the company of mischief and boredom created a fanciful tale to play with the minds of the elders in their family. Initially the two of us protested vigourously. We refused to accept the fact that the man was a figment of our imagination. But gradually, relentless suggestions of what we had done wore us down. Our minds were forced to believe that we created the story.
Today, whenever mother or anyone else remembers that incident they recall it with laughter. But today when I remember that incident I recall it with the doorbell ringing; because I know it for a fact that there was a man, who would come and ring the doorbell, and then smilingly, talk to us.