Doppelganger

It was a long tiring day and Lokesh is completely exhausted. Its Sunday tomorrow-hence a bit relaxing. He parked his car and walked towards the elevator. He entered and pressed for the 4^th floor.

The elevator stopped and the door opened. The corridor lights are dimmed out. He stepped out and started walking towards his flat- # 404. As he approached near his door, he saw a man coming from the other end of the corridor. He past behind him and walked towards the elevator. Lokesh opened the door and threw his laptop back on the couch. He is too tired. He took off his shirt and walked straight towards the restroom for a shower. This is the only thing that can give him some relief.

He came out of the restroom wiping his hair and switched on the television. It's only 8:30pm and he still has half an hour before he prepares his dinner.

Lokesh is unmarried. He is 39. When people ask him why he is still single, he always smiles and avoids the question. He had also heard people talking at his back about him being a man. He ignored them. He prefers to be called an impotent, then letting anyone know the true reason behind his fears.

Its 9 pm now. Time to prepare dinner. Lokesh walked to the kitchen. There is some chicken left from yesterday. He only needs to cook some rice.

Lokesh usually sleeps till late on Sunday morning. He keeps his phone switched off till 10.00 am so no one can disturb him. He wakes up around 10’o clock in the morning and after finishing his breakfast goes out to buy groceries. In the evening he goes for a stroll to the nearest park. He does not prefer going to movie theaters or shopping malls. Rather, he watches the movies that come at online streaming media.

After taking a round or two of the park Lokesh sat on the corner bench. He has been coming to this park for the last one and a half years, yet he does not have any friends. Honestly, he does not prefer to make friends. He is happy in his own world.

“Mr. Lokesh Lohith!” a familiar voice called him from the right. He turned around and there stood a man in his late thirties. He looked very familiar as if Lokesh had seen him numerous times in his life. Same round face with absolutely no hair, even no eyebrows, pitch dark complexion, chubby cheeks, flat nose, small eyes.

“I recently shifted to the apartment. I guess I saw you yesterday evening when you returned from work.”

Lokesh gasped for breath. He realized why this face looks so familiar. He is his exact doppelganger.

The man took a seat beside him on the bench.  He wondered why this ugly man wanted to befriend him. Yes, Lokesh considered himself as ugly and he had a deep-rooted complex on his looks. In fact, he hates himself for his looks.

“Myself Mukesh Pandit!”, he extended his hands for a shake.

Lokesh! Mukesh! What a co incidence-Lokesh thought, ignoring his eagerness to shake hands.

“I know you work in FCBD Bank. You would see me there from Monday onwards.” Mukesh said giggling.

Lokesh realized, his heart palpitation has increased a bit. This guy had joined the same place where he works? How ridiculous!

“Do you live in flat # 404? Mine is 406!” Mukesh kept on giggling much to Lokesh’s annoyance.

He turned his face and looked at Mukesh again. He looks exactly like him.

Lokesh now started to sweat! He realized if he stayed there for any longer he may have a stroke. He stood up from the bench.

“Are you leaving! How about a coffee at my house?” Mukesh asked.

“Not t…today”, Lokesh told in a trembling voice.

“Okay! then see you tomorrow in the office.”

Lokesh was curious to know one thing and hence could not resist asking, “How did you know I too work in FCBD Bank?”

“Hahaha… I saw you in the office on Friday. You might not have noticed me, but I did.” Mukesh continued to grin as usual.

Lokesh came back to his flat and went straight to bed. He is not in a mood to watch movies today. How is this possible?

He had read somewhere that, the likelihood of someone walking around looking identical to you, specifically, in all eight facial features is only one in a billion.

Lokesh started losing his hair at a very early age when he was sixteen. He remembered being bullied by his classmate due to his premature baldness. He had always heard others calling him ugly-even from his own family members. His parents were decent looking and his younger brother is good looking too. God knows from where on the earth he got this looks! He even heard his father demanding a DNA test as he seriously doubted him to be his blood!

Tears rolled down his cheeks... He never received his father’s affection in his life. His mother was maybe the only one who loved him.

Cacophobia- the fear of ugliness. Someone suffering from this condition may experience extreme amounts of anxiety when they encounter something that they deem as being ugly-that may include the person himself.

Lokesh knew he is ugly. He did not remember when was the last time he looked into the mirror. He removed all mirrors from his room a long time back. The trauma of getting bullied by his school mates still haunts him. He never had any girl showing any interest in him. Gradually he withdrew himself socially. But that did not help. He went paranoid about bad looks. Once he was traveling on a plane and his co-passenger was dark-complexioned. He paid double to get his seat changed. He almost went to hit a salesman who approached him on the road to sell a credit card, because he was ugly.

Now, this? His doppelganger would be roaming in front of his eyes every day all the time. This is horrendous!  Lokesh could not think anymore!

The next day Lokesh’s boss introduced Mukesh to the rest of the team members. Everyone from the team laughed at the fact that Mukesh is so similar to Lokesh.

“This is just unbelievable!”, Sandhya said.

“Yes, we see this one in a billion and we would consider ourselves lucky to experience this phenomenon coincidence”

Everyone burst into laughter including Mukesh. But Lokesh could not laugh. He just left the place.

“What happened Lokesh?  it seems like you are not happy to find your doppelganger?”, said Ajit-his office bully.

Lokesh did not say a single word and went back to his desk.

Lokesh usually eats his lunch alone. But today Mukesh came and joined him, much to his discomfort.

“Can I join you?”, he smiled and sat beside him.

“You have already”, Lokesh replied in a cold voice.

“Heheheh!—yeah that is true!”

Lokesh kept on eating without uttering a single word. But something was bothering him. This guy does not only look like him but he assumes his life is also quite similar to him.

“So, who all are there in your home?” Lokesh finally asked unable to resist his curiosity.

“I live alone just like you I am not married”. Mukesh replied.

“So, you grew up here?”

“No! I was raised in Mumbai. Completed my education from St John School ……”

St John! Oh no! This cannot happen. Lokesh too studied in St. John-Delhi. This is impossible.

Mukesh kept on talking. Lokesh felt as if someone is narrating his autobiography. Every detail from Mukesh's life-is exactly similar to his life. 

Lokesh stood up without finishing his food.

“Hey, are you done? "

“Yes! Don’t feel like eating anymore”

“But you….”

Lokesh did not wait for Mukesh to finish his words.

Its 11.30 pm. Lokesh stepped inside the rooftop. At this hour he did not expect to be anyone in the roof. This is the right moment. Just a few more moments and he is relieved from all the pain of life. He had enough! He slowly walked towards the boundary wall and looked down. It’s a 6 storied building and the chances of his survival are almost nil. This life has got nothing. Let’s end it.

He was about to get up on the wall when suddenly a familiar voice said, “Oh! You are here too. I thought I won’t find anyone at this hour!”.

Oh my God! He has followed him even here!

“Its pleasant breeze here, isn’t it?”, Mukesh said. “I am sure you must be here for this. Me too.”

Despite such a striking similarity between the two of them, Lokesh realized there is one difference. Mukesh is not so socially awkward like him. Also, he does not seem to have much complex about his looks. But that does not solve Lokesh’s problem. For obvious reasons he just cannot stand this guy.

Suddenly his eyes sparkled. Why not do something for the first time to change his life. Why not just get rid of this problem forever?

Lokesh looked around. No one is there at this hour. This is the moment!

“I come here to get the view of the lake at this hour.”

“Lake? Which lake?” Mukesh asked.

“Come here I will show you!”

Mukesh came and stood beside him.

“Where do you see the lake?” He asked suspiciously.

“Just lean a bit more and you can see it too!”

Mukesh leaned a bit more obeying his words and then--- Lokesh knew what he has to do. He bent down and hold Mukesh’s legs and turned him upside down. The rest was done by gravity.

Mukesh's body landed with a thud on the concrete below. Lokesh did not stand anymore to find out what happened next. He hastily moved towards the door and rushed to his room.

3 months have passed since that day. Lokesh is a changed man now. His condition has improved and he is no longer phobic. He finally changed his life.

Mukesh's death was termed as suicide and the case was closed by police. There was no one behind him to mourn his death hence there was no appeal for any further investigation. Poor Mukesh!

Lokesh knew there was no CCTV camera in the building as this is an age-old construction-hence no one got to know about him being present with Mukesh on the roof, that day.

Lokesh is now much social. He goes to lunch along with his teammates, comes home, and calls his friends and relatives. He is even planning to visit his hometown after a long 12 years.

Its 11 p.m. now. Lokesh is sitting in his room and watching television when the power went off. Oh no! Not at this hour. This building does not even have a power backup and he can’t sleep with the ceiling fan being off.

The only relief at this time is the rooftop. Without much delay, he puts on his slippers and opened the door.

The terrace is empty as usual and filled with a cool, soothing breeze.

He started to stroll around. He feels so relaxed now. He has finally turned his life around.

Suddenly he heard something. As if someone just coughed from the other side of the wall. He looked around, no was there. Maybe that’s just a delusion.

Again, someone coughed. This time too, the sound came from the same place. Is someone there? An intruder.

Lokesh walked towards the border wall and looked outside. No one was there. This is strange. He leaned further to see if someone was hiding behind the slabs.

Suddenly he felt a jolt at his legs. A sheer force lifted his body in the air and before he could do anything, his body was gravitating down towards the concrete ground.

The terrace door still remained open, slamming to and fro, from the heavy wind!