Whispers of the Future: Unraveling the Enigmatic Secrets of Babar Mahal
About eight o’clock at night, after a busy, demanding, and stressful day, I saw a man who was perspiring in this very cold winter as I strolled through Babar Mahal’s alleyways. When he looked up at me, his face became white. His look terrified me a little bit. He had worn a strange outfit consisting of a black wool pullover with thin stripes. His beanie was ready to slip off his skull, while he held a muffler in his right hand like a wrist timepiece. He was trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, but he didn’t want to show the degree of dread he was. He adjusted his beanie as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, just as he established icy eye contact with me. His body was shaky and his cheeks were flushed.
He didn’t bother me since I was preoccupied with finding a way home. There would be no public bus service accessible to me at that time. The man in the black pullover was in such a state of mind that he failed to see that he had left his phone on the pavement. I yelled out, “Dai,” to alert him, but he was not hearing me. I sprinted after him to give his phone back. He was moving quickly. I got past him and gave the phone back. He was inhaling deeply and slowly. He was shaking in his shoes and quavering like a leaf. I handed him a bottle of water that I had been carrying in my bag as I ditched my bag from my shoulder. He sat next to a tree’s shade and drank every drop of water in one go. He thanked me for the water shortly after calming down. I couldn’t resist posing the question, “What happened?” He was still shaken by an event he was reluctant to share with me about.
I tried to connect my mobile data for a ride share without bothering him because I needed to get home as soon as possible and it was getting late. After taking some time for himself to settle down, he responded, pointing to the Babar Mahal palace with shuddering voice and parched lips, “There…there…I witnessed a thing extremely odd and skewed. It was far worse than frightful. I was afraid of him.” A second time, I inquired, “What did you see there?”
The man said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what I honestly saw there. It’s best for you to move on. You get home as quickly as you can. Stay away from here.” He looked very genuine and true, but I had no comprehension of precisely what he had to say. I returned home.
I had trouble getting to bed that particular night. It was in fact the person that distressed me in the back of my mind. The man was petrified; what could be so unnerving in that palace? Were there any burglars? Or was he a con artist who made up tales to deceive me into not phoning the police? I’m the kind of person who loves to unravel mysteries. Tell you what, I really enjoy taking adventures and I find a lot of inspiration in the stories of Holmes and Watson. I consequently made the decision to crack the enigma of Babar Mahal’s hallways.
The following day, I strolled by Babar Mahal’s palace on my route to my college. I explored the area with much curiosity and enthusiasm. Apart from a small, sealed chamber that I could peer into through the window, I couldn’t locate anything unusual. That chamber was peculiar and strange to me since there was an old clock that seemed to work in the wrong direction. An anticlockwise-running clock is something I never witnessed before. Another weird thing that struck me was the silhouette of an effigy that wasn’t actually positioned in any part of the room. I was already late for college, so I determined to return to the location after college.
When I returned from my college, the clock was back to normal. I was taken aback. I couldn’t see any shadow since it was evening. But wait, I spotted the reflection of a person in the mirror directly behind me. The individual had been attired in costumes that I remembered seeing in the printed material of my social studies history section. WAIT! Is it Junga Bahadur Rana’s reflection? My mind fumbled with panic, my heartbeat increased, and I turned around. Nobody was there! I was terrified and fled the spot as swiftly as I could. Oh, My Goodness! Now, I had the ability to gauge how terrified the black pullover man seemed the previous day.
I quickly browse the internet to get a quick impression of Junga Bahadur Rana’s appearance. But NO, that person looked quite different. Who could he have been? I could feel my cold goosebumps. My subconscious was overflowing with an excessive number of inquiries. What purpose did that man’s reflection serve there? Was that room haunted? Was what I saw real or just a mirage? Numerous questions continued to cross my mind. I went home. I couldn’t focus on my workload. I browsed the Internet for the history of the palace. Well, I realized that the palace name comes from the owner itself. The palace which used to be a part of Thapathali Durbar (owned by Junga Bahadur Rana) belonged to Babar Shamsher after the end of Thapa regime. I then searched the Internet for the picture of Babar Shamsher and I found the person exactly the same as I saw in the reflection.
The following day was Saturday. I considered going back there. Naturally, I was afraid, but I also wanted to solve the puzzle. Once more, I glanced through the window. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The clock was operating as it should. The mirror functioned properly. When I turned to a look, I noticed a boxy computer with a delicate cloth covering it. Some lights were flickering on the computer screen. Every second, the reflected light’s vibrant colors changed. It was red sometimes, blue other times. Much like someone were using it, or like someone was enjoying a game on it. I entered the room through the hallway. I glanced through the door’s keyhole. All I could see was nothing. The corridor was empty of people. Perhaps as a result of the fact that it was Saturday.
After some time of waiting, I heard some murmurs. I continued holding my ears close to the door. A person was speaking with confidence in his voice, “……Democracy is committing suicide. Nepal might once again be a monarch….”. I was unable to fully hear his voice complete the sentences. Why would someone make a report of Nepal? Were they terrorists planning to attack our nation? Why were they discussing things about Nepal? I was shocked. I saw something amazing when I peered in through the keyhole once more. Something that appeared so false and implausible. There was a radiant golden oval portrait in the wall. The items in the blue oval picture frame were in motion. It resembled animation more. I could see the present Babar Mahal and then suddenly the structure that was wrapped with the decors of technology. It was more like the structure of Silicon Valley with a taste of Nepali origin. AGI(Artificial General Intelligence)s were dancing in Babar Mahal’s yard. I could see the same person who appeared in the mirror behind me. Through the mirror’s glass, he disappeared. Was magic involved? Or was it the next generation of technology? Did Junga Bahadur Rana travel back in time? Was that the building I saw Babar Mahal’s future? What was the secret behind the clock’s engineering that made it turn anticlockwise? Was that the time-travel symbolism? Was the future depicted in the oval portrait? If so, what were AGIs doing in Babar Mahal’s yards? Would humans eventually be replaced by AGIs? SCARY! I was alone with the queries and my thoughts! I went there in an attempt to unravel the palace’s mysteries. However, the mystery stayed unanswered. What might have been the case? The answer is unquestionably the future! Nowadays, when I pass-by the mysterious corridors of Babar Mahal, I don’t see anything. Babar Mahal is undoubtedly concealing something behind blocks in addition to being more than just a building made of bricks and mortar.
