RK, the shrewd one and DJ, the stout one were having an argument. "Well, if you are so sure, why don't you spend a night at that bungalow", RK taunted DJ. DJ looked totally dejected. Although he firmly believed that ghosts did not exist, he could not persuade himself to accept RK's challenge.
What was the argument about? Ghosts and their presence in a house in the village.
Sometime after the argument, DJ met another friend. "I am disappointed because I could not take up the challenge”, he said. “ I think we should go to the house. Will you accompany me?" His friend looked surprised and a little scared, but true to his character, he agreed.
They did not share their plan with anyone. “Tomorrow is a Saturday. Lets do it tomorrow morning.” Morning came and the weather was a little gloomy like it is in Bangalore just before heavy rains. The two friends started walking up the old overgrown path. "Yesterday, I was talking to my grandmother", DJ said absentmindedly. "She told me that this house was owned by a very rich family. The entire family died in a road mishap. There are rumors that this house is haunted by their ghosts." DJ felt his spines tingle as he finished the last sentence. The big house had just come into view.
They mustered all their courage and jumped over the boundary and entered the house. They explored the ground floor and all that they found was dust and rot. With time, pride started replacing fear in their hearts. And as they were about to leave, they heard a scurrying noise from the first floor. Curious, they ascended the squeaky stairs and entered the room where they thought the noise had come from. The room was empty but they noticed another door that was swinging. They opened it slowly and peered through it. The view from the balcony of that room was so beautiful that they were mesmerized and inadvertently drawn to the very edge.
And then, they had this feeling that someone was standing behind them. They turned around slowly and their hearts stopped beating. There was one old man standing behind them at the entrance of the door. He was looking very pale. His hair and beard both were all white and he was definitely more than ninety years old.
Their mouths dried up. Thud-thud—thud. Thud-thud—thud beat their hearts. It was as if the whole world could hear it. What were they witnessing? Was it a ghost? It couldn't be. The old man was smiling at them! "Welcome to my lovely home!" he opened his arms. His voice was unnaturally gruff and sinister. "Let me introduce myself" the old man took two steps forward. "I am the Nawab who lived here sixty years back" he waved his hands towards the house. A smiling ghost! They tensed up for an assault and were ready to jump over the balcony. As if the ghost read their minds, he spoke, "I am not going to trouble you. I always wanted people to visit my home."
“Come let me show you around" said the old man and started showing them around the house. He was behaving as if the house was fully furnished.
Once they finished the house, the old man took them outside and started talking about the invisible gardens. And then all of a sudden the old man started fidgeting around licking his lips.
"I need food. Give me some blood" The old man drew a small kitchen knife form his shabby cloths and approached the boys.
"Run Anand run…" DJ shouted. And the boys ran. They ran till they could run no more. And then they ran some more. All this time, the only thought racing through DJ's mind was how it could be possible. He was still not convinced. But he had seen the ghost with his eyes. Two people cannot both hallucinate at the same time. Finally, out of breath and with legs like lead, they stopped. They sat down and gulped in mouthfuls of air as if they had just surfaced from a deep sea.
DJ's belief was shredded but there were a few strands still holding. He could not believe that they had seen a ghost. Although he had run away in a fit of panic, he decided to go back to the house to solve the mystery.
He reached the house and started peering through the windows of the ground floor one by one. Just as he was about to give up, he saw the same old man. He could also see two other people with him. One of them was RK. "Oh My God!" thought DJ. "I must save RK. He is trouble. But wait. Why is he laughing? Why is he paying money to the ghost?" It was then that the whole prank struck him. He had learned a valuable lesson. Seeing is not always believing.
No comments:
Post a Comment