Most people would’ve had this experience: It would have been late at night. You were hanging out with your friends or cousins and someone pitched the idea of talking about the ghosts and supernatural kinds of stuff they had experienced or knew of someone who had. Surely, it would’ve driven someone to leave the room to avoid that. While, for some, it would have been an experience to cherish, be imaginative, make jokes, play pranks, and what not!
Since today is Halloween, a day not really celebrated in India as such, but still everyone is familiar with it. We don’t really prefer talking about such stuff but as a society, we certainly enjoy horror in one form or the other. Let me share 3 instances like that which faint-hearted people can certainly skip. Heh, no I am kidding, everyone can read and share their own as well.
Days of Aahat and Zee Horror Show
Throughout the 90s, a good part of my summer vacation was spent in Bikaner. Each year we used to visit my maternal grandparent’s place there. Right opposite our house was a big old Rajasthani Haveli. The Haveli was huge and it had only a guard living in it. From our balcony, we could see the far dimly lit corners of the Haveli and it was always spooky to look towards it in the night. But the vacations also accompanied having the wonderful opportunity to spend time with same-aged-cousins. We used to spend almost every night watching horror TV Shows and getting more scared to look towards the vacant Haveli which was just there, vacant, old, and staring back at us.
To top all that, I remember one year, one of my elder cousins brought a Book called World Famous Ghost Happenings (still available to buy). It was probably bought from the Railway Platform selling pulp fiction. I was barely a teenager then and I remember having the audacity of reading it all. It had tales from some Blue Saree clad Woman who used to take lifts from strangers in Karachi, to the ghosts of US Presidents in the White House. Ah, those were indeed the days!
Crossing the Railway Track
When I was studying Engineering, I had to cross a railway track daily to reach my Bus Stop. Now one time, I watched a guy standing on the platform looking towards the other side. He just stood there, ignored me while I walked past him and he kept looking towards a house which overlook the railway platform. I realized that this person was from my neighborhood and his house was pretty close to the railway track and he was probably looking in that direction.
A few days later, I heard about the sad demise of that person. Now, I cannot recall that I saw him before or after that demise.
A Trip to Bhangarh
I would just share this story of a speech I delivered.
