by Sanchit Garg
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise (except for mentions in reviews or edited excerpts in the media) without the written permission of the author.
Published by Huddle Books in December 2019
ISBN: 9781670223142
Price: INR 299/-
Huddle Books
[email protected]
he past month had made me stressed out. I had to do something, but I didn't know what to do. My mother was sitting in the drawing-room; I took a deep breath and went inside.
I sat on the sofa seat beside her and spoke whatever I had in my mind.
“Mother! Do you believe that we should keep on living here? Don’t you think that it is time for us to leave this place and settle somewhere else? I know you and Father have deep ties with this house, but this place doesn’t have the kind of facilities my kids require. Now that Purnima is married, you need to think for my kids and me, too.”
She replied, "I can understand what you are trying to say, but your father would never agree to this."
I demurred, "After Baijnath Tauji separated from us, bad things have started happening. Fifteen days back, Ramu, Kantilal's uncle's son, lost his eyesight. The doctor said his eyes are all good, but to him he can’t see anything and so, he cries all the time, saying, please don’t take my eyes! Please don’t take my eyes! The doctor is now saying that it is something psychological. And a month before that, a girl from ten houses away, who was about to be married, killed herself by cutting off her neck. These things have never happened in our village before, but they are happening now, and I don’t know why.”
She scoffed, “This is totally normal. Both of them probably got mad.”
I continued, “Last week, I went to Tauji’s place and saw how wonderfully and comfortably they were living in that town. His grandchildren were happy too, but all you and Father want to do is keep us locked in this hell of a place. You should visit their house once; it will change your mind. If they can do it, why can’t we do the same? Also, I am concerned about my children, especially Amira, after what happened to my elder sister, Madhumitha. Now, you can’t say it was a small thin..."
She cut me off and spoke in a panicked tone, "What happened with Madhumitha? What are you saying?"
I answered, "I know the truth. A ghost appeared in front of you and said that, he would take Madhumitha away with him, that she is too pretty, and he would make her his wife. The next day, she mysteriously got burned in a fire at home. But, nothing else was damaged. And, the most severe thing was that she was burned entirely, but nothing happened to her face. Not even a single scar. It was as if someone was protecting it."
She scoffed, "What are you babbling? This is not true at all. She died due to smallpox."
I reacted, "There is no need to lie anymore, Mother. I already heard the truth a few years back when you were retelling the whole story to one of the relatives. Her saree's drape caught fire at that same time and place as the ghost said he would come to take her away. Now, people are dying in our vicinity, and it all happened from that day, the day when Tauji lost his younger son, Vijay. I don’t even know what happened to him. Tauji just told me he died. How he died and where was his body, he never answered that. How could something like this happen?”
She kept on listening to me silently. Not even changing her expressions or moving from her place. I was scared of everything that was happening.
"Please don’t say this is not true and just a dream of mine. I am scared of everything that is happening around us, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to Amira or anyone else."
She argued, “Even I don't want that! But do you honestly believe it is going to be easier shifting to some other place than this? Everyone knows us here. We have got a beautiful house. Your Father is doing good business, and we know all the nearby areas. Moving to somewhere else is not going to be as easy as you think it to be.”
I demurred, “After Vijay's death, Tauji and his family moved to Purnima's town the next day, without even saying anything and are running a prosperous business now. We should move closer to them and ask him if we can join him in his business. I didn't believe in ghosts before, but now I do. There’s gossip going on in our village that Tauji and his two sons- Vijay and Jagdish, were seen near the old-abandoned house at around nine in the night and were running away from there with something in their hands. I don’t know if this is true, but when I tried to ask Jagdish Bhaiya about where he and Tauji were the night before, he paused for a moment and told me that they were out for a walk to discuss their future plans. People have been saying that they did something terrible at that house and now the whole village is experiencing the repercussions. Just what exactly did they do?
When I went there with the villagers, all we could find in that house was some big cavity in a wall and 2-3 broken vases. Maybe, the hole was already there as no one had been interested in going there for a long time. All we have known until now is that the place had been deserted for close to some 70-80 years and the people who lived at that house suddenly disappeared one day. Some say, they moved to a faraway city; others, that they died due to old age. But no one knows the truth. Sometimes, people passing by can experience a strange- Aaahhhh sound and in fear, they try to keep away from the vicinity of that house and never look at it any longer. I even saw Vijay looking around that house some days back, but I thought that maybe he had dropped something around there.
Now see that all of Tauji’s family has gone away. How did they get so much money in such a short time? They didn’t even ask for their say in our ancestral home. Some people say that a snake pair lived in that house for a long time protecting something. Others say the previous owners hid something in there.”
She finally spoke up, “Whatever it was, whatever it is, is long gone now. And you know that your Father doesn’t believe in ghosts or any other stuff. But I will speak to him about this. Just give me some time.”
I woke up in the middle of the night and felt a little thirsty. So, I decided to go to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Though we had around seven bedrooms in our big house, the kitchen area was a bit small and just adjacent to the entry gate. I walked to the hall and saw my mother standing there, with her back towards me, looking at the exit.
I shouted, “Mother! Mother!”
No response.
I shouted again, “What happened, Mother? Why are you standing here in the middle of the night? You should be in your bed right now?”
No response again. She didn’t even budge.
I walked to the front of her. Her eyes were wide open, and she was not even blinking. It looked as if she was bewitched.
I shook her, “Mother! Mother!”
She finally blinked her eyes and panicked. “I didn’t say anything! I didn’t say anything at all!”
I replied, “Mother! It’s me! It’s your son! What are you saying?”
She trembled, “There is an old lady over there.”
I asked, “Where?”
She pointed towards the dishwashing area with her shaking hand. “Over there! Near the tap! She’s washing the dishes."
I was shocked, “Where is she? I don’t see anyone. Maybe you were dreaming?”
At this moment, she was sweating like hell.
“No, I saw her… She’s still there... Don’t you see her?”
She pushed me a little to my left b
y her hand to see the dishwashing area.
She looked at the closed door, "Where did she go? Check the kitchen, maybe she went in there?”
I went into the kitchen to check, but there was no-one there. I returned to my mother; she was breathing heavily.
“Calm down, Mother! What exactly did you see?”
She described, “I woke up in the middle of the night on hearing the sound of utensils. I came out into the hall and saw an old lady, sitting on the stool, the tap was on, and she was washing the dishes. Her white saree’s drape covered her head. I looked at the entry door, and it was wide open at that time. It was completely dark with a little moonlight making things visible. A cold zephyr was flowing inside from the door. At this moment, I knew that she was something else.”
I looked at my mother, she was still in shock.
She continued, “I called out to her, who are you? How did you get inside our home? Why are you washing our dishes in the middle of the night? But she kept on washing the dishes without saying anything.
I called out to her again? Why are you here? But she still didn’t reply. Finally, I yelled at her saying that, if she didn’t stop, I would call my husband and he will beat her out. At that moment, she turned her face towards me, but I couldn’t make out anything of it, it was pitch dark; still, her saree was scintillating somehow. I looked towards her hands and her feet, and they were dark, completely merging with the night as if they didn’t exist at all. A few seconds later, she tilted her head up a little as if trying to take a look at my face. It was then that I saw her blood-red eyes and a shriek dumbed my ears.”
My eyes widened in shock. I got scared, too then.
“A chill rushed through my whole body, and I got numb. Unable to see, hear or feel anything at all. It was like someone had dropped me in a completely dark and boundless room wherein I couldn’t feel anything at all.”
“Mother! It’s okay. I think you should go back to sleep now. Let me get you a glass of water first.”
I brought her a glass full of water. She drank it in a hurry.
“Whatever happened, whoever you saw, is long gone now. I will keep watch here for some time. Please go to sleep.”
She said in a scared tone, “But what if she comes back?”
I replied irately, “No! She won’t come back now. You go to sleep.”
With a downcast face, she replied, “Okay!”
She turned back and started to walk towards her room. After taking a few steps, she stopped and turned her head back, to look towards the washing area.
I beseeched, “Just go to sleep, Mother. Believe in me! Nothing would happen. I am here.”
Without saying anything, she finally walked back to her room and closed the door. I rechecked the whole area and double-checked the door lock. It was perfectly alright and locked. I went to the kitchen again, to grab a glass of water for me. After drinking it, I went back to my room to get some sleep.
The next day, Mother recounted to my father, the whole scene that happened the previous night and about what I spoke with her.
Father scoffed, “Forget it. Maybe it was just a dream and nothing else.”
Mother implored, “No! It wasn’t.”
He yelled, “Enough! It looks like you are hearing a lot of fake ghost stories from the village ladies. Don’t listen to them. These are all useless gossips. Nothing’s true in this. Just focus on your household chores.”
She replied in a puny voice, “But...”
“No, but! This issue is dropped now. I don’t want to hear anything else on this matter. Is that clear?”
“I…”
Spying on their fight from outside the door, I decided it was time that I discussed the issue with my father. I went into their room, he was standing near his bed, and my mother was sitting on a nearby chair.
I started, “Father! Last night, Mother had a horrific incident…”
He stopped me.
“I already told your mother that I wouldn’t listen to her dream again…”
“But, Father! It was not a dream. I saw Mother in the hall, totally spellbound, late at night. Something unusual happened last night. She’s not lying.”
“Now, you too. After this, you both would say that you saw a ghost glowing brightly, who was coming to kill you.”
“No, Father! I didn’t see it. But, I believe in Mother. She would never lie about this.”
“Are you both plotting to change my mind to leave this place?”
I repudiated, “No, Father! Why would we do something like that? She respects you a lot.”
“So, are you saying you don’t respect me at all?”
I frowned, “Father! I have always respected you and will keep on respecting you till I die. But, if something is not right, I believe I should let you know and discuss it with you. Now that Tauji has gone far away, I would fill his place.”
He guffawed, “Really? You are too small for that.”
“Father! I am already married and have two kids. I am not that small. Please don’t disparage me. I would never go against you, but please try to give all that is happening around us, a deep thought. Please!!!”
He replied in a vacuous voice, “Okay, I will. You can leave now.”
21st September 1972
A week flew by, resulting in the death of a four-year-old child who lived two houses away from us.
It was the day when Father called the whole family to assemble in the dining room. One by one, we all gathered in there. There was scruple on everyone’s face as to what father was going to talk about. I knew that it certainly had to do something with our move to someplace else because he called the whole family in; Mother, my younger brother, Mohan; my wife, Nandana and my two precious children- Jai and Amira, who were still four and five years old. I didn’t know why he called the children too, but I believed, whenever he meant family, it must include everyone, no matter what age they were. I think that’s the respect he gave everyone from his end.
I also had two sisters, one older and one younger than me. The older one, Madhumitha was already dead and the younger one, Purnima, was married half a year back. Once there, in the dining room, we sat quietly, waiting for Father to speak first.
In a dead-serious look, Father finally replied, “I have been in a quandary in the past few days; whether to leave our ancestral home and shift to somewhere else or to remain here itself. A lot of baffling events have happened in our village, and I still don’t believe that they were caused by something like a made-up word, Ghost, but something or someone is making them happen. Also, there is the issue of better education for the kids…”
He took a breather and then spoke again, “I think the times are transitioning and maybe we should change a little, too. Leaving the house where our family has been living for the last hundred years is not easy. We have made a lot of memories here. I spent my childhood running and playing in this house. But it is time we break some bars and move ahead in life.
Gayatri and I have a little left to live, and I believe that it is better to listen to your kids sometimes. We will all plan it out and move by the next month. Regarding this house, as to what to do with it, I have decided unanimously that we will not sell it and get money in return for it, as that would affront our ancestors. We will leave it as it is. We have ample funds as of now to buy a new house somewhere. The rest would depend on the new business we undertake.”
he next day, I sent a letter to my sister, Purnima, who was residing in a nearby town; for her to ask her husband, Sudhir, if he knew of a house available for buying there, so we all could move near her. I speculated when moving to a new place; it’s always better if you know a familiar face or if you have already been there a few times before. Plus, hers was a likeable town, far better than our small village with limited facilities and connectivity.
I was ambling back home from the market when a passing Fakir started ranting about something abruptly just when I was about to enter inside my home.
“You all
are cursed! All of your future generations are cursed! Unless you return what was taken… unless you do the deeds of the dead. No one can save you from the approaching doom. All will die! No one will be left alive! Mark my words…for I speak in the name of the one and only one.”
What did the nincompoop yell? I don’t believe in anything he said, why would I? We haven’t done anything wrong to vex anyone. All we are doing is living our life as true to God as possible. I looked back at him again, carefully. He had no eyes, was dressed in tethered clothing, barefoot and had a small drum in his left hand. His hair was the perfect shade of grey and haphazardly put down. It looked like he wanted to instil dread in people, so they would give him some money to spare them. I had never seen him before in our village. So, I left him ranting and went inside.
Once inside, Jai came running towards me, “Father! Father! Who’s shouting outside? Can I go and see what is happening?”
I yelled back at him, “No, don’t go! It’s just a deranged person blabbering random stuff to demand money from good people like you, like me. So, he can go and waste his life away from bad drinks.”
I spoke quietly to scare him now, “So, don’t you listen to his words and better stay away from such people. Sometimes, these kind of people steal away small children like you and then do wicked things to them.”
He was startled, “Wicked things?”
“Yes! Horrible things. Things that should never happen to anyone.”
With a sad and scared face, he went back to his room. I giggled.
At around one in the night, we heard a clamorous moan. I knew it was from one of our cows, but they wouldn’t be awake at this time.
Except for the kids, everyone else had come out into the hall.
I stated, “Father! I am going outside to see if everything is alright.”
“But, what if there’s a bandit. I will go with you. Just let me get my rifle.”
“Father! You don’t need to do that. I will just go and come back pronto.”
