I looked at "it". And kept looking. And would have continued in the same placid vein, if the buzzer hadnt intruded. I looked away from "it", and gave the door my undivided looking attention. Unfortunately, the door looked back at me and stubbornly refused to get open. With a grump and a groan, I got up and opened the door of my house. I had been transfered to this hamlet of a town a few months ago,and was quite impressed with the town's rich culture,customs and legends.Overall it was a pretty placid town only marred occassionally with the rumours of an odd ghost or two but which died after a while , or of the odd feud or two that took place rarely.Indeed,it was a comfortable phelgmatic existence one could eke out in these parts. But then there was this persistently ringing door bell which threatened one's placid siesta. "Hullo" "Fancy you being.." "My My" The sudden profileration of voices did copiously towards sharding my placidity. I shook myself and looked at the crowd before the door,and tried to make sense of what they were saying. "Hey,why didnt you tell us before" "Lets go for a treat,i say!" "fancy,keeping this from us all this time" So on went the crowd in the same vein,till i could barely stand there and pretend it was a dream..I did briefly mull on the possibility of falling asleep then and there, but the relentless and a trifle over-enthusiastic tugging at my sleeves rapidly dispelled that excellent possibility. "Hola" i bellowed. It had a great effect. But then, there was always a a certain proficiency in my "Holas". "Hola" i shouted again for effect. "What havent i told you" i asked in a stentorian voice. The crowd hushed at this.Which was pretty inconsiderate of it,so to speak. One would have thought they would be falling over one another,to tell me what i didnt tell them,or rather what they thought i hadnt told them. A mute voice crept up. "About your engagement with Ms.Hare White" said the voice. "Dont tell me its false...." went yet another. "Really,this is the..." ,started a bespectacled and visibly moved fellow. "Hola" i shouted again.My mind was,to quote Disraeli,now like a kite.It was trying hard to fly amidst the storm of events.The happy news of my engagement to Ms.Hare White was but marred by the very crucial fact of my hearing the name for the first time.But then,my mind was scheming together the nuts and bolts of an idea,rudimentary as of now,but building on.... "Its true" i bellowed The crowd hushed again.Whoever said its difficult to hush a crowd should have seen my mastery at work that day.The crowd was getting hushed that day for all its worth. I dusted a few imaginary specks off my shirt with wide expansive flourishes. The crowd grew expectant and perked up its ears. Crowds always perk up their ears when they see the slightest flourish. I wondered what they wanted to hear.The next question dispelled any doubts as to the matter. "So who is she" chirped a sparrow in the crowd. "A certain lady" i remarked,though the crowd seemed entirely dissatisfied with what i thought was an excellent answer. "But who " went on a dogged soul. "She is the - i paused here for effect,but also because i didnt have a clue what to say - the brand ambassador for Othello watches,a model basically" ,having arrived at my rapid conclusion from seeing an Othello watch in the crowd. "Ah..." went the crowd in appreciation. "I have an othello watch " screamed an enterprising chap. "I too " went another. "We'll gift you othello watches on your engagement ceremony" went yet another unimaginative chappie. "But how did you all come to know of it?" i asked. "We received an anonymous card detailing your engagement with Ms.Hare White" "One normally doesnt consider anonymous cards , but it was a pretty costly looking card, and the sender seemed to be on first terms with you,since it named you by your nickname." I felt that was a rather tenuous ground for belief,but then it could just be my sleepbefuddled mind which found the ground tenuous.Probably i too would have got excited at the notion of another harmless guy biting the dust,so to speak Which was when i put a hand up,partly coz i was still feeling sleepy after the hulabaloo,and partly coz i still hadnt finished looking at "it" ,when i was disturbed by the crowd. So after dispelling the crowd with a coupla "Holas" i closed the door and went back to the computer screen - and started looking at "it" once again. The email now started to make sense. "Follow the White Rabbit" "It would lead you to a rabbit hole.Dont jump into it.Engage the white rabbit and persuade it to jump first The evilest evil awaits one who falls into the rabbit hole." Your friend - Cev It seemed too much of a coincidence that "Ms. Hare White" or to invert it,the white rabbit also seemed to be the lady i was allegedly engaged to. There were indeed a couple of glaring pieces missing in the jigsaw puzzle. I reckoned the email told me to go along with the engagement,but it shouldnt be me who falls into the "hole" ,but Ms.Hare White. If only i knew who she was and what exactly was the hole.... My contemplations were rudely broken by another buzzer. I answered the door with marked irritation. "Hello" came a voice from within a elfin cherubic entity that stood outside my door. The nymph smiled. "Hello" she said again.This time the "hello" registered. "Hola" i said in my most friendly baritone. She went over what was now appearing to be her favourite word , "Hello" and smiled. "My name is Hare White". My heart skipped a coupla beats.Which was saying a lot for my normally placid heart. "Uh...He..Hello Ms.White, What can i do for you? " i asked in an offhand manner,that belied my dying curiosity.But then we Kumars are consummate actors. "The more pertinent question is what i can do for you" she said.And then looked around as if ascertaining that there were no listeners.The mystery was thickening. "Walls dont have ears , but they do have heads - nail heads " i joked. The joke was lost on Ms.White. She spoke in a hushed whisper. "I am going to show you a place.... that will change...a lot of things." "But you must promise not to tell about it to anyone" she warned "Okay... " i said in the same hushed tone. "The place is a sundry 30 miles from here.I shall come tomorrow morning.Be ready" she said and went away in a whiff of air. I was stumped.I looked once again at the email.And my mind was in a whirl. Perhaps this Ms.White wanted to murder me by pushing me into a well that was a remote 30 miles away.And this email wanted me to be one up on her and push her instead! As i was breaking my head thus,the buzzer rang. With a coupla strides,i opened the door. A strikingly beautiful stranger stood there with a hunted look on her face. "Hullo " , she said , "My name is Hare White" My heart was breaking records that day of skipping beats.Perhaps i should charge the various Ms.Whites of this world a " heart beat tax" before they come calling on me with such marked inconsiderateness. "Hullo Ms.White " i said weakly. "You wouldnt want to take me to a secret place would you " I asked with a flash of inspiration. She looked suprised. Also a trifle hurt,as if i had upstaged her "surprise" "Well....ye....yes...but how did you know?" she asked. "Oh, it happens all the time,you know " i drawled. She seemed a bit dissatisfied with the happenings that happen all the time. "Well...its secret ....and you shouldnt tell it to anyone" she frowned. "Secret is my middle name" i assured her. She brightened up. "Tomorrow morning then" she said and before i could utter a word, flitted away. So much twirling is inhuman,so to speak,for any normally placid mind,and mine now exhibited a strong desire to put a good sleep atop this "engaging" problem. Which was when the buzzer rang. I suddenly developed a strong aversion to the various Ms.Whites of this world.One would have thought at least a semblance of conscience in them to not come calling on a poor sleepy fellow at the same time. I opened the door with marked irritation. "Look here Ms.White no.3...." i started. The placid face of the factotum of the colony,John Parsley,met my irate glance. "Sir..." he said extending his empty hand " a something for your getting engaged...." and looked at me with wide open innocent eyes. "How did you come to know" i almost screamed. "Sir, everybody knows...its the talk of the colony" So it had gone this big. "Begone " i bellowed and made to close the door. "Sir...I have a message for you" he shouted. "What..." i asked opening the door. He indiscreetly eyed his empty hands and pointed his eyebrows towards them for additional emphasis. I placed a 50 rupees note on his hand. "I dont know what this means...but this is what the stranger said - "The white rabbits of this world are generally black.So is the future of one who falls into the hole" I was flabbergasted.Surely this referred to the white rabbit and the hole in the initial mail. "Wh..who told you this...." i asked. "I got a phone call in the colony main booth....which told me to relay the message to you Sir And the caller said that he was a friend of yours,he gave his name as Sav. It appeared a prank call,but i thought i should tell you all the same." "Ya..it appears to be a prank call..." i laughed without mirth and closed the door. I was in a rollercoaster. I could hardly sleep that night. The next day,i was all ready in the morning.I could hardly wait for Ms.White or rather the Ms.Whites to come. She - or rather both - didnt turn up. I waited till the afternoon and then gave up.As i relegated the incident to one of life's unexplained mysteries,the buzzer rang. The door opened to the smiling countenance of a lady - a stranger - dressed in black. "Hullo" she said in a clipped accent , " my name is Hare White " I clutched my heart. "I have something to tell you,let us discuss it over a ride" she said and led me to her car.Things were happening too fast for me to have a hold on things,so to speak. "If anything, at least now the mystery shall unravel " i thought. She remained quiet till the car was cruising at a comfortable 50. She cleared her throat "There is a secret place call the 'Well of....'...... URK" she clutched her throat. I came out of my habitual placidity and clutched the steering wheel to bring it to a stop. Ms.White seemed to have become unconscious.I drove the car back to house and ran inside my house to get a first aid kit. I came back out with the kit and saw - nothing.Nothing at all.Ms.White and her black car seemed to have vanished. I did what any sane man would have done on such an occasion. I fainted. I opened my eyes and looked around and saw that i was in an unknown bed in an unknown room - and with all the Ms.Whites grinning their faces out standing beside my bed . I raised my eyebrows weakly in question. "Its a long story" they laughed. "We are three sisters.My name is Emily" said the "recent" Ms.White,the one who had fallen unconscious. "The leftmost is Vanessa and the one to my right is Charlotte. We all read a story once where three sisters pull a fast one on a stranger for the mere mirth of it. And we couldnt resist it." she giggled. "We saw you in Ms.Snight's party last week,where she told us that you live alone and that you are new here. So we thought we should colour up your life a lil" Happy images of hanging the Whites with a noose atop a cactus tree streamed through my mind. "We came one by one and told you about a secret place" "The very romance of it all...did you get boggled by it....?" asked Emily. I admitted to a certain disconcertedness. "You must have been really surprised with the third Hare White" Charlotte said,giggling "But we didnt reckon on you fainting though! " they crooned I shrugged,though the dark images racing through my mind hadnt subsided.I mused darkly on the prospect of giving them a proper spank,but the frailties of my physical disposition seemed to be against that splendid plan.I frowned inwardly. "What is your surname ? " i asked with a laugh. "Black" they responded promptly. "Emily , Vanessa and Charlotte Black " they giggled. "We took the name White to contrast with our surname" "Inspiring isnt it ? " asked Vanessa ,with a smug simper. I made a mock injured face. Suddenly my mind stumbled over a jigsaw piece. What about the "warnings" i had received and about the engagement news breaking out! " Did you spread the news of my engagement to Ms.Hare White ? " i asked. "Ya...that was Emily's master touch " Charlotte purred. Master punch more like, i thought darkly. "And what about the warnings? " i asked "What warnings? " asked the sisters. "The one - warning me about the white rabbit..." i drawled. The sisters looked at each other and shrugged. "Are you feeling allright....we didnt send you any warnings....." they said severely. My mind started churning furiously.If the warnings were not from these vagabonds then from whom...? Luckily we kumars think with scintillating rapidity. "Oh...it must not be pertaining to this then...was actually more of an advertisement than a warning.Said if i didnt buy the wonderful White Rabbit(tm) trousers,i would be given the boot on my behind." All laughed. "Oh it definitely wasnt us...we dont sell trousers...." giggled the three. "If you buy one,tell us how it is, and we too shall buy some" chuckled they. Phew.. , i thought , luckily that quick thinking set them off the track. I mulled over the warnings in my head and was getting increasingly uneasy about the evilest evil and black future parts in the warnings.I looked at the trio with a trifle trepidation. The three sisters were now discussing something among themselves in hushed whispers with occasional side glances towards me.I perked up my ears but could manage to hear only a word or two like "knife" and "hole".An occasional "poison" permeated too. We kumars are of the utmost perspicacity. I looked at the window and gauged the distance to the same.It is a testament to my suppleness that I , in a single leap , negotiated the distance upto the window and jumped out of it. I landed in a rose bush. I ran headlong till i found a rusty cycle.I quickly jumped onto it and began to pedal fast for all i was worth. The Blacks' non-admission of the warnings spooked me to no end. The warnings said it all. About the Whites being Black.About their putting me into evil holes.i pedalled faster and faster. I looked back and saw a dilapidated mansion.Perhaps the Ms.Whites or rather Ms.Blacks were ghosts and led me to their "hole" which was the haunted mansion.Or they were just evil witches or whatever out to add one more to their repertoire of murders. I suppressed a shudder and cycled forth. Twas a sundry hour later that i reached my apartment,and spent no time in putting some Holy pictures on the front of my door and armed myself with a nice heavy pistol.This should stop 'em.,i thought. If only i could know who had sent those warnings.Probably some samaritan,well known with the town's idiosyncrasies and legends,and in whose good books i perchance happened to be in.......... A week later i received an email.From the same anonymous id that the initial warning came. "Glad to see you heeded the warnings" went the first line. Ah..i thought tenderly...my saviour. I perused the second line. "You were also the one who ran(or should i say cycled) the fastest" -Your friend Cev(Charlotte Emily Vannessa) I felt weak all over.