The Exorcism of the Ghost- Part II (concluded)

(continued from the previous post)

          Padma was in her mid twenties.  Their house bore a pall of gloom because of the death of a relative – not that their family had not known death, because the deceased individual forced it upon himself!  This was the first ever suicide heard of in the village the family hailed from!  Moreover, the relative was a prodigal son who wrought infamy upon his parents – he would purchase expensive items from the market on credit by (mis)using his father’s name and the poor father would have to foot the bills at a later date.  There was a point when the parents grew tired of his spendthrift habits – they warned him strongly.  The suicide was not the result of the repentance, rather of determination to put elderly parents into further trouble.  When he was ‘fished’ out of the river, a suicide note was recovered from his possession, which said that his parents drove him into taking this extreme step and that he would take revenge on his parents and those who supported them by haunting them.  In addition to the sorrow, Padma was worried about this ‘haunting’.  She expressed her fears to Sakti, who assuaged them by saying, ‘Don’t you worry, Padma!  If each and every individual who committed suicide would decide to haunt some one or the other, the roads would be full after dark and there would be no room for traffic either’.  Padma was relieved.

* * * * * * * * *

          Employee Padma was on a field trip in the Himalayas along with seven colleagues, three ladies and four gentlemen.  One of the men was the youngest of them all, and so would resort to practical jokes and pranks, at times.  He used to try them on an immature lady by name Bhavani.  It was dusk when the eight of them chatted over tea, sitting across the dining table in a guest house deep inside the forest.  They were making a plan of action for the following day.  Suddenly, it became colder.  Almost all of them were either in full woollen coverage or had additional warm clothing about them that they could wear at short notice.  Bhavani noticed that she had forgotten the woollens in her room.  When she was about to leave for her room, Mahaveer, the youngest of the group, remarked, ‘Bhavani, beware! I had a chat with the caretaker about the safety in this guest house.  He told me that a family of leopards roams around this place in the dark.  And, listen carefully, the ghost of a woman who committed suicide in this guest house haunts one of the rooms’.  ‘Which room is it?’ asked Bhavani.  Mahaveer replied, ‘It is the second room on the right’.  Bhavani let out a shriek, which attracted the attention of Padma and the remaining colleagues, who were continuing with their plans.  ‘No, I’m  not going to that room, nor will I sleep there.  Will anybody, exchange their room with mine?’ asked Bhavani.  Padma looked at the mischievous face of Mahaveer and made out the prank, but she was not really free from the fear of the ghost to laugh it off.  The feminist in her was aroused because Mahaveer was teasing a woman, albeit without seriousness.  Further, she felt she was being trained to be a leader and if she could not face what seems to be a prank, she would not be able to face more serious challenges in life.  So, she walked up to Bhavani and told her, ‘I’ll come along with you to your room, don’t worry.  There are no ghosts in this world – they are imaginary.  What is imaginary does not exist.  If you still feel that there might be one lurking in your room, let’s face it and check if it has the courage to face us!’

          Bhavani felt more confident, gave up the thought of exchange of room and never talked about the ghost during the remainder of their ten-day sojourn.

* * * * * * * * *

          One day, Padma waited for lunch to be served at the mess in the hostel, and, as was her wont, broke into a Telugu song:

          ‘The flame of my life has been blown away

          But I run to you because I wanted your heart

          Ask me for  a wish,

          I will fulfil it with the help of Mohini…….’

          Before she could complete her song, Shetty, a Telugu-speaking colleague, shouted angrily.  ‘What happened to you today, Padma?  You used to sing soulful numbers.  Why do you sing a spooky number today?  If you have any problems, discuss with us but don’t sing ‘loser’ songs!’

          Padma had a hearty laugh and replied, ‘Thank you for your concern, Shetty!  I only know that ghost song as something difficult to render and never thought about it from the ‘loser’ angle.  Anyway, ghosts exist only in movies, not in reality!’

          Little did she realise that the exercise of her exorcism of the ghost (within, of course!) would be tested soon enough.

          One day, she saw her colleague, Arun, speak something over breakfast to her colleagues, Jhansi and Lakshmi, which made them cringe in despair.  In a short while, Arun walked up to Padma with a triumphant smile on his face, and asked, ‘Padmaji, you stay in room number 106 in the ladies wing, don’t you?’  Padma nodded. 

          ‘Do you come out in the night to the water cooler to fill up your bottle?’

          Padma nodded again.

          ‘Then you must know something.  Don’t venture out at odd times in the night.  Room No. 106 in the Ladies wing is a haunted place.  The ghost of a lady trainee is said to hover around.  I am your well wisher, so I came to warn you’.

          Padma was appalled.  How can a colleague trainee, who himself was being trained to get in to a very responsible position, behave so irresponsibly?  She quickly gathered her wits about her and decided to pay Arun back in his own coin.

          ‘Thanks, Arun!  Let me share a horrifying experience with you.  Last night, around midnight, I walked up to the water cooler to fill my bottle.  I watched a stocky white creature at a short distance staring at me!’

          Arun was excited.  ‘I told you, Padmaji! You should be more careful in the future’.  He shifted his feet in an attempt to get up from the table where Padma was having the breakfast.  But she waved her hand and beckoned him to wait.  ‘I have not completed Arun!  Please bear me out.  You are my well wisher, are you not?’  Arun had not choice but listen.  But a look at his face could indicate his utter disinterest in the proceedings.

          Padma continued, ‘I was petrified at first, but, was relieved that it was not a ghost’.  Arun got irritated.  Why was this woman boring me with non-ghost stories?  ‘Not a ghost?  Then how was it horrifying?’  Arun enquired.

          ‘The creature was male.  On a closer look, it resembled you.  I thought it was you and lost all my fear.  In fact, I called out your name twice – no thrice.  Then I noticed you were running away from me.  Since you are a courteous person, I did not expect you not to return the greeting.  Then correlating the white dress you wore with the time of the night, I was terrified to even think that I might have seen an apparition!’

          Arun’s face changed colour.  He realised that his mischief was seen through.  He quietly left the table and never ever tried this prank on others. 

* * * * * * * * *

          It was on Makar Sankranti day in a training academy located in an obscure corner of India.  Most of the trainees had homes not too far off from there, so they went home for the holidays and only a handful remained.  Three Telugu-speaking trainees decided to tune into the only Telugu channel which could be viewed on the cable connection available in the hostel.  When the 9.30 p.m. movie began, they were disappointed.  Did they wait all the while just to watch a ghost film?  The two ladies got up to leave and the gentleman said, ‘Padma, it’s better you go back to your room.  Otherwise, when you cross the mango tree, some ghost may actually possess you!’  He laughed as if to self-congratulate.  By now, Padma was all too aware of this obsession of men to scare women about ghosts.  ‘And tomorrow morning’s news on the campus would be about your unconsciousness’, retorted Padma.  The man was taken aback.  He wanted to know how.  ‘I would be walking back to my room and would find you in a ‘ghost’ly attire sitting on a branch of the mango tree in order to scare me.  I would anticipate that and call out your name.  You would not have factored in my response – so you would lose your balance and fall to the ground, unconscious’.  ‘Oh, my Mother Goddess! I better not try my antics on you’, said the man, and all the three had a hearty laugh.

                                      *********************************

                                   

          Padma reported to a field unit for practical training.  As she was ushered into her room she had an eerie feeling.  It was a large room with colonial style furniture and a Mangalore-tiled roof.  It was a cloudy day and the breeze made the dark-coloured curtains move gently.  Padma remembered all the spooky songs in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil at one time, in a sequence.  She laughed to herself –with all her ‘experience’ with the ‘non-existent’, she did not have to worry.  If there were indeed a ghost, it would have to confront a stronger adversary in her!

* * * * * * * * * *(concluded)