THE NEW MUGHAL
Prologue
Yakub had completed the first year of his graduation the previous month. His father, a widower, was content in the folds of religion, leaving the running of his provisions outlet and managing Rang Mahal to Yakub's sister-in-law Parvez. Yakub now assisted Parvez in running the shop for the duration of the break from the college.
Rang Mahal was a three floored apartment building in the suburbs, each floor having four 2BHK flats made available on rent or short leases. The stilts below the three floors had the parking, with a flight of stairs going into the basement where the provisions shop was located. All floors were connected by a lift.
Parvez had not yet fully got over the sudden move of her chauvinist husband to the Gulf four months ago. Feroz had married her when she graduated from school six years ago, but to him she was just a maid. In fact, she had slept on the floor in the same bedroom, waiting on Yakub's elder brother. She had never let known the extent of her discomfort while her husband was there. She conceived once in the third year of her marriage, but miscarried. Since then, Feroz had lost all interest in Parvez and found an excuse to leave the country for a well paying job, leaving her destitute and dependent on her father-in-law. Now the twenty three years old woman kept herself busy to prevent being overwhelmed by loneliness and depression, by immersed herself into cooking and supplying food to the single occupants of Rang Mahal. She had also trained in beautician activities and frequently visited the women in the neighbourhood, thus becoming financially independent.
Yakub stayed with his father in one of the flats on the first floor of Rang Mahal, while Parvez occupied another flat on the third floor. She would cook meals for all three of them, and provide the breakfast and dinner for her male family members at the flat and lunch at the shop.
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PART
I
Chapter 1 : 12 March
Yakub was sitting on the same bench in the same park where he used to sit with Abhay. He felt alone since his classmate and neighbour Abhay had left town due to his father's transfer. They both used to play in this park as teenagers.
Spring had come early this year. The tropical sun was heating up, drying up the crowd in the park. Except for the gardener, Yakub had the park to himself, as he was watching the mating game of stray dogs.
As Yakub watched, the alpha followed the bitch and snapped at the weaker competition. It must be almost twenty minutes later that the alpha dog finally wore down the bitch and established his domination. Finally, the triumphant dog mounted the conquered bitch and impaled her.
Yakub looked about and noticed that he was alone inside the park. It was twilight. Yet he sensed another presence, heightened by the silence. This feeling of knowledge of the surroundings was new to him, and he was unable to understand or decipher it. He was also unable to understand if his feeling of arousal was due to him watching the mating dogs, or .............
Suddenly, he sensed the presence withdrawing. He ran out of the park and saw .............
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Chapter 2 : 13 March
It was 4 am. Yakub got up and carried his six feet muscular body out to the road to receive the milk van. As he waited, he stretched his muscular body, preparing to go for his morning jog-cum-workout. The waning half moon was overshadowed by the street lights. As he stretched his arms above his head, Yakub saw the alpha dog of the previous day sitting on the other side of the road, focused on him. Yakub felt irritated and stared back. He willed the dog to go away. The dog got up suddenly and turned away.
Yakub's attention was broken by the milk van's arrival. He unloaded the milk crates effortlessly. As the van left, he started to cart the crates to the shop door one by one. When he came back for the third crate, he found the dog standing two feet away, looking at him with its tail moving slowly from side to side. Yakub stared at the dog and sub-consciously willed it to sit down quietly. The dog sat down.
Yakub finished carting the crates, came out and closed the gate. It was 4:15 am. As he walked away, he did not notice the dog sitting near the gate, watching his receding frame.
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It was dawn, when Yakub returned at around 5 am. As he opened the gate to let himself in, he noticed the dog sitting where he had left it. He was mildly surprised, but ignored it and went into the stilt parking to continue with his cooling down exercises. While he was at it, Parvez came out of the lift. She was dressed conservatively, and carrying two empty bags. They both wished each other, and she walked out to go to wholesale vegetable market.
Yakub was opening the shop, when Parvez returned an hour later. He heard the auto stopping at the gate and knew Parvez would need help in carrying the vegetables up to her cookery. As he turned, he felt a burst of arousal. Even before he could understand, the feeling was gone. Bewildered, he jogged up past the gate and found Parvez looking at the dog. It was where Yakub had left it sitting.
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It was 8:30 am. Yakub was sitting alone in his shop. He was trying to piece together the events of the last 24 hours. Something was not right. With an outworldly idea germinating in his mind, he closed his eyes and imagined the dog to walk into the gate and come down the stairs to the shop front.
He opened his eyes. Nothing.
He went up to the gate. The dog was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe he was reading too many mind control stories on Literotica. Of course such things don't happen in real life.
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Chapter 3 : 15 March
The sales representative of the detergent manufacturer sat opposite Yakub, trying to convince him to increase the size of the consignment. Yakub knew it was a good idea, but there was no space for the extra items. He did not need any more convincing, but the sales rep spoke on. Yakub wished that he would shut up. The sales rep stopped speaking mid-sentence. This alerted Yakub back to his outworldly idea. He thought that he could get this sales rep to reduce the margin by half. As if on cue, the sales rep offered the double consignment at half the commission rate.
Yakub smiled and accepted. Now he knew.
But he still wanted to confirm.
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After closing shop early, Yakub went back to the park and sat on his favourite bench. The pack of dogs was there, sans the bitch and the alpha dog. He sat patiently, looking around for the pair.
After 20 minutes, he got up and starting walking along the walking track around the park. He found what he was looking for at the far end of the park, behind the hedge.
The dog looked up from his knotted position, lowered his ears and growled at Yakub, probably irritated at being disturbed while impregnating his bitch. Yakub stared at the dog and willed it to follow him. He then turned and walked off.
At the park entrance, Yakub stopped and turned. The dog was there, looking at him with its tail moving slowly from side to side. Yakub walked back to Rang Mahal. The dog followed.
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When Yakub's father returned from his evening prayers, it was past 7 pm. He found Yakub standing near the lift, watching a large hound lapping up milk from a small dish.
