“Antique English Clock. Made in England. Very old, very antique…. Le Lo Le lo…”
Mark was always enchanted with that centuries old looking wall clock. No matter how many times he came to Chor Bazaar he always made it a point to go to that lane with the shop selling stolen antiques.
It surprised him that no one ever took interest in that clock which looked like the ones you could see on a station in London.
It would go so well with the theme of his newly renovated plush flat at Marine Drive.
Mark had been in India for almost 6 years now, and had made quite a successful living with his art galleries. He could buy any Vintage furniture he wanted, but his heart always wavered to that antique English Clock.
Concentrate Mark, you don’t require this; you are here for Nike shoes, and a Leather jacket for Loraine.
He quickly found the shop he was looking for, bought a pair of Nike sneakers which the shopkeeper claimed were fresh maal (Meaning just stolen from someone who paid four thousand Rupees for) and a brown leather jacket for his sister back home.
He left the narrow lanes of Chor Bazaar in a hurry lest his heart flutter back to that stupid clock.
“You know Mark I love your new house, you’ve done it so well” Jacob his partner told him the same night when they were chilling over a couple of drinks.
“Thanks Jake, Cheers to that”
“But you know what is missing from this? You need a nice Antique looking wall clock in this corner here. Wouldn’t it look grand, don’t u think? “
“You know what I’ll do, I’ll talk to my antique furniture guy at Bandra tomorrow and get you a good deal on one of those Victorian style Clocks that he has. Or even better I’ll give it to you as a house warming gift. How’s that huh?”
“Hey now c’mon Jake, you don’t have to gift me anything, and besides I think I know the perfect clock that will fit in to this corner” This had to be a good sign, a sign that he should just go and buy that Antique Clock.
“Its fifteen thousand rupees saab” said the guy at the crammed antique store.
“You think I’m crazy to pay that much for this, go call Raja I want to talk him, not you”
Raja walked in from the inner room. “You plan to make me bankrupt Raja?
“Saab he’s quoting very less for you, this is classic 18th century clock stolen from England, it’s priceless” Raja said in his heavy accented English.
“Oh ya? So you mean to say you have this watch from the 18th century in this little shop of yours? And that no one has ever tried to show interest in it?”
“Well saab, I no lie to you, this watch has been in our family since generations. My Great Grandfather got it from this English guy with hat and umbrella, and he said it was a very special clock, and you should only give it to right person”
“What is so special about it?”
“The Englishman claims that if you listen carefully you can here many voices from the Clock which would reveal your future. I tell you saab we have been hearing from generations but not a single word. I give it to you because you from England and you look like noble man. The watch must want to come to you”
“Yeah well whatever, here’s 12 thousand, get it delivered to my address here by noon today”
Although Mark pooh-poohed the story that Raja had told him, but deep down he felt a certain connection to the Clock too, or else why would he keep coming back to it?
That night Mark dozed off on his comfy leather sofa, when at midnight the clocked chimed 12 times, and he woke up with a start. Realizing that it was only his newest possession he got up to go to his bedroom, when suddenly there was this buzzing noise.
It was like hundreds of people were talking at the same time, like it was a railway station. Mark put both his hands on his ears and the voices stopped. He carefully removed his hands again, and he could still hear them.
He frantically checked all his rooms for any TV or stereo that must have been left running, but there was nothing. The voices were getting louder. Mark ran to his bedroom locked the door put two pillows on his head and went off to sleep.
The next morning he went on with his usual chores forgetting all that had happened the last night.
The voices came again the next night. Mark thought he was going crazy. He could not sleep for a week, when he decided to go back to Raja and ask for an explanation.
“You say you here voices saab? You must come inside and meet my grandfather; he will be able to explain”
Raja’s grandfather looked like he was a 100 years old, with a long beard, and a wrinkly frail body. Raja quickly explained him the situation in Hindi when his grandfather opened his eyes wide and looked at Mark
“Jo kehete hai karo. Suno”
“He means you should listen carefully to the voices, they are your ancestors, and you should do what they say”
Mark went home confused and scared. That night he made himself a huge mug of black coffee and decided to get this madness over with.
Promptly at midnight the voices came back. Mark strained his ears and tried to single out one voice. There was one which was the loudest.
From what mark could here, it just kept on saying, “Silver Chalice at Cindy Mason’s grave”
The next day mark called his dad and enquired about his ancestors and whether there was any Cindy Mason in their family. It turned out that there was, and surprisingly she was buried in India, in Mumbai for that matter.
Mark was shocked. How could this watch be anywhere related to his family, his ancestors? Nevertheless he took Raja’s grandfathers’ advice and started looking up all the cemeteries around the city.
Finally he found the one, and found Cindy Mason’s Tombstone which said, Cindy Mason January 1878 to October 1935. So she died during the English regime in India. That was interesting.
The next day Mark bought two huge silver chalices, bought off from Jakes Antique dealer in Bandra, since he thought that would make her happy, and hid them in the mud near the Tombstone.
The voices stopped troubling him from the same night.
“Antique English Clock. Made in England. Very old, very antique…. Le Lo Le lo…” Raja was shouting at the top of his voice.
“Psst Raja, these Chalices are awesome we could easily get 15 thousand for them. But next time you ask for something more expensive ok?”
“Yeah yeah”
Chote the assistant chuckled heartily, and continued with his usual work.
“Antique English Clock. Made in England. Very old, very antique…. Le Lo Le lo…”
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