From Room No. 403 of the ECE building, I had watched that place for years.

During exams, when my mind escaped formulas and answers, my eyes always went there—ponds, paddy fields, and a strange cut in the land like a man-made gully. From that distance, it looked unreal. Beautiful. Mysterious. I always assumed construction was going on.

I was wrong.

That day, I finally went there.

My friend Pluviophile walked with me till the edge of the paddy field. After that, I stopped.

Something inside me tightened. A lonely place. No people. No houses. And a girl with me.

I didn’t like the thought.

Not because of her—but because of others.

“Koi dekh lega toh?”
“Kya sochega?”

A boy and a girl walking into a place where no human exists—people don’t ask questions, they make stories.

So, I told her to wait and went ahead alone.

The paddy field swallowed the noise of the campus behind me. Step by step, the world became quieter. When I reached the place, my chest felt hollow. No humans. None. Just bamboo huts standing crookedly, like they were watching me. The wind moved through them, making sounds that didn’t feel friendly.

For a moment, I thought of turning back.

Then I looked around.

From there, I could see the ECE building. I could see the NIT(A) apartments. Civilization was right there—yet this place felt cut off, forgotten. That contrast scared me more than the loneliness.
I’m not brave. I admit that.

So, I didn’t go deeper. I walked until I found a road.

Left—nothing. A dead end. No people. No movement.

Right—a long stretch of road… and far away, an autorickshaw moving slowly, like proof that humans still existed.

I followed that direction.

When I finally reached the main road, the noise felt unreal. Too loud. Too alive.

The place stayed behind—but the feeling didn’t.

It wasn’t just fear.

It was the strange realization that some places aren’t dangerous because something is there…

but because nothing is.

And some distances are not measured in steps—but in courage.


Beyond Room 403