The Ugly Woman

Mr Ravi Grover was a very handsome man in his thirties and a widower. He had a very large estate in the hilly areas of Darjeeling with lush green trees spread wide. He had no body to call as his heir but had few responsibilities such as his own mother who was a very strange lady. She was quite old in her seventies and stayed at Mr Grover's ancestral house in Darjeeling far away from the hustle and bustle of the metro cities. She preferred to be kept alone and not disturbed during few hours of the day when she chanted holy mantras alone in her room. She also instructed her servants to make sure not to let anyone enter her room at that time of the day when she is offering prayers. Mr Grover often travelled to Darjeeling from Kolkata where he owned his ancestral business of making wooden furniture and supplies for offices. Along with that he also owned a factory where pencils were manufactured.

Now, coming back to his personal life. Mr Grover was a very shy and an introvert person. He wished to keep his personal life within himself. After the death of his wife and an unborn child in mysterious circumstances which even the police could not solve, Mr Grover wished to only remain busy with his business. Mr Grover's father , Mr Shyam Grover was a very sophisticated man who had died due an incurable disease when his son was only five years old. Mr Grover had only faint memories of his father calling him and playing with him in the big lawn outside their ancestral house in Darjeeling. Mr Grover also had a sister who was two years older to him. Presently she lived with her husband in Bombay.

One fine morning of 6th March 1986 , Mr Grover had just returned from his two week long stay at Kolkata. It was that his business was in a very good position and that kept him away from Darjeeling most of the weeks and months. He was very fond of his late wife. It was around 3 am and still dark. Mr Grover entered from his main gate and took slow steps towards the main door and rang the bell. To his surprise when nobody opened the door he assumed that his servant was on a leave and he had to open the door by his duplicate key. As soon as he entered his house he got a foul burning smell. He could not figure out as the fireplace was not active. He rushed upstairs to find out if everything was okay and his mother was alright. As he climbed up the stairs in the dim night light he saw a lady wearing a saree. He could not see her face as she stood as a dark shadow at the end of the corridor where light was very less and her hair covered her face mostly. Mr Grover shouted and ran towards the lady "Whose there?" . The lady turned around and Mr Grover's heart stopped beating. The lady had a totally distorted and burnt skin. Half of her face had scars where as half was clear to make out whom she resembled. She resembled none other than his own wife whom he loved so dearly. Mr Grover called her out.."Lata!!, is that you?". The lady shrieking in fear ran away upstairs towards the terrace. Mr Grover followed her calling out "Lata! Lata!". She was wearing a saree, but it's color was not visible in the darkness. At the terrace she stood near the boundary. When Mr. Grover reached the terrace he saw the lady jumping off and a heard a loud screaming. As soon as he ran to check upon her downstairs he was again in state of shock. There was no human figure down on the ground when he looked down from the terrace. Mr Grover fell down on the ground suddenly. He could still smell the same foul smell at the terrace as well , while he felt unconscious in the next moment.