Posted on by Aranyascope

The Woman with the Infant

The moment the train left the station, Indrajit realized, in the hurry to catch the train he had forgotten his prized torch at his uncle’s home. He hoped to retrieve it on his next visit. The weather had turned sultry and humid even though it was just mid-May. He thanked his stars that he could get the AC 2-Tier ticket under the Tatkal Seva of the railways. He settled down in his cubicle and after a while realized that he was travelling alone in that section, the other three berths in his cubicle were unoccupied, very unusual, he thought.

He took off his shoes and made himself comfortable pulling up the blanket as air in the cubicle became a bit chilly. He took out the book he purchased from the station before embarking the train and started reading it. The train picked up speed, the gentle movement of the coach and the clanking sound soon made him sleepy… he slowly dozed off.

The ticket checker woke him up. As he was checking the ticket, Indrajit asked, “Aren’t anyone coming for these three berths?”

The ticket checker, looked through the chart and replied, “A family of three will embark from the next station.”

Indrajit was relieved and happy that most of the night, he will be alone in the cubicle… he doesn’t enjoy the company of strangers while travelling in a train. He usually reads a book or listens to music looking through the window, the vast canvas that nature presents, brings joy to him. He was contemplating on picking up the book again when the catering staff brought his dinner. He finished his dinner peacefully alone and washed up. He prepared his bedding and switched off the main lights, only blue night lamp in the corridor were lighted. He pulled up the blanket to cover his head and was soon in deep slumber.

The train was cruising at a decent speed when there was loud noise and the train stopped with a jerk. Indrajit woke up with a startle, the train coach was pitch dark, even the blue night lamp on the corridor was not on anymore. He sat up on his berth looking to figure out what has happened; when his eyesight settled in the darkness, he realized someone was occupying the opposite berth. The train started moving again, the night lamp too started glowing and in that feint light, Indrajit figured that the new occupant is a young woman with an infant. She had her head covered with her dupatta or the scarves as is the local custom for married women.

The ticket checker had said there will be a family of three coming for the vacant berths, where are the other two members? Indrajit was in a dilemma… what if the others got left behind… he asked, “Are you alone? Where’s rest of your family?”

The woman kept quiet, did not respond… probably did not understand English. He tried again, this time in Hindi but the woman still did not respond. It would be impolite to press further, Indrajit thought as he lied down to sleep again. But the sleep eluded him, he felt something is amiss. After a while the infant started crying, the woman sang a lullaby to sooth the baby but it had no effect, the infant was hungry, probably. The woman turned the other way to feed the baby, Indrajit got up to take a stroll while giving her some privacy. He walked along the corridor to the other side of the coach… he was surprised that all the other occupants were fast asleep, oblivious to the crying of the infant. He opened the coach door and felt the gush of fresh warm air. He lit a cigarette took few quick puffs before throwing it, closing the door, he walked back towards his berth. He saw the woman with the infant walking to the other side of the coach. She walked out of the AC cabin, intrigued, Indrajit followed her… just in case she needs any help. He stood behind the glass door watching them. The woman holding the baby in one arm, opened the compartment door, a gush of wind caught her, letting go her dupatta, a beautiful young woman turned towards coach door retrieving the dupatta and covering her face. The woman then stood dangerously close to the door cooing to the infant. Suddenly, she lost the balance due to the movement of the speeding train and the infant flew out her arm into the darkness outside. She flung herself in the air behind the child in a futile attempt to catch the disappearing infant. Indrajit, involuntarily let out a cry for help waking up the others in the coach. He rushed to the open door to see outside but only pitch darkness greeted him. He shouted to his travelers, “A lady with her infant just fell out of the train.” Then without waiting for the others to act, he pulled the emergency chain with full strength. The train came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. He along with few others climbed down to check but by then the train had covered a good distance from where the woman had jumped.

The railway guard and the driver along with few policemen came to the coach from which the emergency chain was pulled. “Who pulled the chain and why?” asked the guard. The co-passengers pointed towards Indrajit, “He pulled the chain” they spoke in unison.

“Why?” asked the guard again.

“The infant slipped away from the woman’s arm and she jumped to save her child.”

“What woman? Which berth?” asked the guard.

“She was on the berth opposite mine. Probably came in from the last station.” Indrajit replied.

“Sir, the train is running non-stop since we started without halting even for a minute.” The guard replied clearly irritated for this unnecessary delay.

“The berth, you are referring is vacant, the reservation is from the next station which is still few hours away.” The ticket checker chipped in.

The driver had been silent all this while, now he spoke, “Do you recall the woman? Was she young with an infant, maybe 3-4 months old?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Indrajit replied enthusiastically.

“Oh no, she’s appeared again.” The driver said.

“Who’s woman? Do you know her?” asked the guard.

“Sir, few years ago, I was the co-driver on that fateful night, a young woman with her infant son was travelling in the AC Coach. The kid was crying a lot, so she came out and was standing on the doorway when the child slipped away from her arm. She jumped after him to save but both of the died that night. The bodies were found in the morning by the villagers.”

Indrajit was visibly shaken. The driver put a hand around his shoulder and assured him, “She only shows up once in a while but has never harmed anyone.”

The guard hurried everyone back in the train and signaled the driver to continue. Indrajit thought he wouldn’t get any more sleep that night. However, the gentle swinging of the train put him to sleep anyways.

The sudden jerk woke him up. All his senses became hyper active as the crying of a baby wafted through the air. He sat up and froze instantly… the woman with the infant was sitting on the berth right opposite his.

Posted on by Aranyascope · 1 Comment

Favours Returned

Dr. Sameer Roy Chowdhury got posted to Nandigaon, a rural posting for a junior doctor, although Nandigaon is more of a mufassil town than a village with a municipal hospital in place. Sameer checked into his residential quarter behind the municipal hospital and joined the hospital in the morning. There were two other doctors but they lived in their own houses in the town. All three worked out an arrangement wherein Sameer would take care of any emergency cases at night being next door to the hospital and in lieu can enjoy extra off days to visit his parents once a month. Life in the mufassil town does not offer much excitement and falls in a routine very quickly.

On that eventful rainy evening, Sameer was studying for his NEET exams for PG course, the cook had prepared the dinner and left for the day. Around 9 pm Sameer decided to have dinner and started heating up the food in the microwave. There was a knock on his door. He opened the door to find the ward-boy Gopal standing under the umbrella… “Doctor, please come quickly to the hospital, there’s an accident victim in critical condition.” Gopal said with urgency.

“Okay, you go and help Wasim to clean the wounds, I will join you soon.” Sameer replied.

He put the food back in the refrigerator, taking his white coat and locking the house he rushed to the hospital. The hospital building is single storey with a long corridor having rooms on either side. There was hardly any patient at night, therefore only a skeletal staff on the night shift. Most of the lights were switched off with only two tube lights on either end of the corridor lighting up the space. The emergency toom was right at the beginning of the corridor where Sameer found a bloodied man on the stretcher trolley, there were visible injury on his head, arm and leg, the man was crying in pain. Sameer took a quick look at the victim decided to shift him to the operation theatre (OT) for surgery, the only hope to save his life.

The male nurse, Wasim was cleaning up the wounds and dressing the area, he wanted to quickly finish the job and go home to attend family function. He said, “It is not necessary, Doctor Sahib, we can let him go after the dressing of the wounds.”

“What are you saying, Wasim? The patient is not in a state to sit up even…is there anyone from his family?” Sameer asked.

“There’s no one with him, he was lying on the road and a kind autorickshaw driver brought him here”, replied Wasim as a matter of fact.

“Let’s not waste any more time and take him to the OT” saying so, Sameer started pushing the trolley. Gopal and Wasim joined him to push the trolley. The OT, on the far end of the corridor was locked, it took some time to locate the guard and get the keys. Gopal unlocked the door, Sameer and Wasim pushed the trolley and shifted the man on the operation table.

“Wasim, please boil some water immediately while I check on the patient” Sameer commanded.

The middle-aged man from the upcountry was in a bad shape… a deep wound on the forehead, a dislocated jaw, blood oozing out from the wounded chest, suggesting broken ribcage. Sameer switched on the focus lights of the operating table and was shocked to see the man. He knew him… Subol da from his village, a gentle soul, used to work on his father’s farm. Subol da lost his wife and young son in a road accident few years ago. The tragedy was too much for him to bear and he lost his mind. Sameer’s mother used to feed him and take care of him, then one day he disappeared from the village.

Sameer called out, “Subol da, Subol da, can you hear me?”

Subol looked at Sameer, his eyes blood red, he seemed to recognise him. His lips moved a little and he said uncomprehendingly something, feebly.

“Would like to drink some water, Subol da?” Sameer asked with concern.

Gopal brought a glass of water and Sameer fed Subol a few drops, a gurgling sound came out from his throat and his head tilted on the side letting out the water from his mouth. Sameer, checked the pulse and nodded sadly at his assistants, “Subol da is no more. Gopal, please arrange to shift the body in the morgue.”

Wasim covered the body with a white sheet and asked, “Doctor, you know him?”

“Yes, he is from my village. My mother used to adore him, she took care of him after tragedy hit him when he lost his wife and son in an accident.” Sameer replied.

“Then we should inform someone in his family” Wasim said hopefully.

“There’s no one in his family. Let the police take necessary action in the morning. Meanwhile, you go and get the paperwork ready, I will wash up and write up the report.”

Sameer looked at his bloodied hands, took out the ring from his finger and began to wash. Gopal went out to call the morgue assistant.

The guard came to lock the operation theatre as Sameer was drying his hand. He went back to the emergency room to write up the report. The guard locked the room and went to his post.

As he started writing, memories flooded his mind… he remembered Subol da telling him stories when he was young, giving him a ride on his bicycle and teaching him how to cycle. He also remembered how melancholy he had become after losing his family. His mother ensured, Subol da gets proper food everyday and tried to cheer him up…

“What are you thinking, Doctor?” Wasim’s question broke his reverie. He started writing up the report and signed it putting an official stamp on the report. As he was putting the pen away, he noticed that his ring is missing. He remembered taking it out to wash his hand in the OT washbasin. The gold ring, with an amethyst stone was specially made for him by his mother, it was special. He rushed out to retrieve it from the OT.

The corridor was empty as the few patients occupying the benches have gone home after getting treated. The tube light at the other end of the corridor near the OT has started flickering, signalling time to change it. When he reached the OT door, he found it locked, he called out to Gopal to get the keys from the guard.

While waiting for Gopal to bring the key, he felt the air around him getting heavy, the flickering of the light gave an eeriness to the surrounding especially as the morgue happened to be the room opposite to the operation theatre. There was no sign of Gopal or the guard, he started walking back to look for the key himself. He took few steps but stopped at the sound of the lock being opened. He turned around to see the guard opening the OT room door. Sameer was perplexed, where did he come from? I didn’t see him coming. He thought.

After a little while, the guard came out from the room but did not look at Sameer, in fact he stood with his back facing him.

“Did you get my ring?” Sameer asked.

The guard simply stood there silently.

“What happened? Did you bring out my ring?” Sameer asked, desperation showing in his voice.

Without saying a word, the guard extended his hand backwards holding the ring. Sameer took the ring and immediately felt an icy cold wave pass through his body. He looked at the figure closely. This is not the guard, he wears a proper uniform, this one is wearing a pajama and torn shirt.

“Who are you?” Sameer called out. His voice had become shrill in unknown fear.

The man slowly turned around to face Sameer.

Sameer was shocked to find Subol da standing, the deep wound on the forehead, the incapacitated left arm dangling on the side. He let out a deafening scream and started running back to the emergency room. Then he saw Gopal and the guard coming with key.

“What happened Doctor Sahib?” Gopal asked with concern.

Sameer took hold of Gopal, shivering violently and blurted out, “Subol da.”

“What about him? Where is he? I kept his body in the morgue.” Gopal said.

“He was in front of the OT, he went in to fetch my ring from the room.” Sameer spoke haltingly, still impacted by fear. He showed them the ring on his finger.

“What are you saying sir, I locked the door myself and keys are still with me” the guard replied.

“Let’s go and check the OT.” Gopal said as he walked towards the OT. Wasim too joined them.

The OT room was locked and so was the mortuary room. Sameer spoke in a dazed state, “But, I saw Subol da going in and bringing out my ring.”

Wasim, placed his hands on Sameer’s shoulder like an elder brother and said, “Consider this as a favor returned. Your Subol da just paid back all the love and favors that your mother showered on him. The spirits do return to pay their debts.”

Posted on by Aranyascope · 3 Comments

The Haunted House

The house stood amidst a large unkept garden, it was big, probably has five or six bedrooms besides sitting and lounging areas. Lt. Colonel (Retd) Narayan Reddy stopped when he saw the FOR-RENT sign hung over the gate.  He tried to push open the gate but it was locked and made crackling noise. A middle-aged man came out from a house, opposite side of the road…

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Yes please, I am thinking of renting this house, where can I find the owner?”

“The owner doesn’t live here. I am the caretaker of that house. I am Vilas Deshmukh. And you?”

The man folded his hand in namaste and introduced himself.

“Narayan Rao, retired Army Officer.”

“I wouldn’t recommend you to rent this house, it has a very bad reputation. Who all is there in your family?”

“I and my handyman Sambhunath. Can I see the house from the inside and then decide?”

“Sure. I will get the keys.”

Vilas Deshmukh went back to his house to get the keys. Narayan Reddy walked around to take a better view of the house from the sides and he liked what he saw. It was a big double-story house with lawns all around the built-up area.

Vilas Deshmukh opened the lock of the gate and they entered. It, indeed is a big house spread over two floors, the ground floor has a big hall for sitting, a dining room, kitchen and pantry besides a storeroom at one corner just next to the staircase that’s going to the upper floors. The first floor comprises of four very spacious bedrooms around a central lounging area. Moreover, there was an open field at rear and a lake providing cool breeze throughout the day.

“I will take it, Mr. Deshmukh. I am giving you the cheque for two months right now.”

“There’s no hurry for that, Col. Reddy. I request you to reconsider your decision… of the last two occupants, none could stay beyond one night, the first one was found dead below the staircase and his servant in the rear lawns while the second one came out of the house screaming in dead of night. There are other houses I know that are up for renting, I can show you those.”

“I am not refuting your claim but I am taking this house, I will come in the evening with Sambhunath.”

In the evening Narayan Reddy along with his handyman Sambhunath came with their luggage and settled down in their new abode. Sambhunath liked the house, “Saheb, it’s too big for us?” he said innocently.

“Sambhu, we have seen hard days in our army days, now its time to enjoy life.” Narayan Reddy affectionately placed his hand on Sambhu’s head and ruffled his hair.

They ordered food from the nearby eatery and finished their dinner early. Narayan Reddy decided to take the first room near the staircase on the first floor and allotted the adjacent room to Sambhunath.

Narayan Reddy woke up in the middle of night as he thought he heard footsteps outside. No, he can hear the footsteps, very soft, climbing up the stairs, the sound stopped in front of his door. He has a gun but it is in the cupboard, taking it out might alarm the intruder. He picked up the 5-cell torch, it could be used as a weapon if need arises. The footsteps slowly started retreating and climbing down the stairs. Narayan Reddy, took out his revolver and opened the door, Sambhu too had heard the footsteps and came out of his room. Both went down to check from where the intruder had entered… all the doors and windows were locked and tightly shut, no one can come through them. It’s an old house, there might be some hidden ways at the back of the house, will check in the morning, Narayan Reddy thought aloud.

Nothing untoward happened rest of the night. In the morning, Narayan and Sambhu did a thorough search of the house but couldn’t find any secret outlet to enter or exit the house.

“I will go and get the grocery and vegetables from the market; we can’t survive on hotel food every day.” Narayan Reddy announced and left for the market.

As he was getting into the car, Mr. Deshmukh came out, “How was your first night in the new home?” he shouted from his balcony.

“All well. It is a big house, there were some unusual noises but nothing serious.”

Waving goodbye to Mr. Deshmukh, he drove away to the market.

When Narayan Reddy came back from the market after almost two hours he found Sambhu standing outside near the gate, visibly shaken, ashen faced.

“What happened? Why are you standing outside?”

“Come inside Saheb, I will tell you.” Sambhu’s voice wavered.

Sambhunath took out the grocery-vegetable bags from the car and went inside behind Narayan Reddy.

“Okay, tell me now”, once inside, Narayan Reddy commanded Sambhu.

“Saheb, I was cleaning and dusting the rooms and went to the storeroom to look for a broom, suddenly, I felt someone is standing behind me breathing heavily, it was ice cold. I turned around but there was nobody. Saheb, this house is spooky, makes me very nervous, let’s go back to our old house.”

“Sambhu, this is a big house and you were alone, you must be thinking about last night and then you may have felt the cool breeze floating in from the lake. Don’t worry, everything will be alright.”

Though Narayan Reddy assured Sambhunath, he, himself was a bit unsettled but being a Fauji, kept his cool and like a sniffer dog, searched the entire house for any clue. The house was as clean as the bright sunshine outside. The day passed peacefully.

Narayan Reddy decided to stay awake at night, had a frugal dinner in the evening followed it up with few cups of black coffee to help him stay awake. Sambhunath slept early in his room. Narayan Reddy made himself comfortable on the easy chair and waited… for something unusual to happen.

As the night grew, there was eerie silence except for the tick-tock sound coming from the wall clock.  Despite the cups of coffee, Narayan Reddy ultimately dozed off only to wake up with a start when the church bell struck at midnight. His senses stiffened immediately, he could feel the presence of another person in the darkened room, someone is right behind him… the icy breathing very close to his neck. The Fauji spirit in him made him jump out of the chair and face the intruder, a blank space behind the easy chair was all that he could see. He heard the quick pace of footsteps running down the stairs and then came the sound of something heavy falling down followed by a heart wrenching cry of a dying man and then there was complete silence. He has seen death and the agony from very close in army but even he was stunned by the event.

“Saheb, open the door.” Sambhunath banged on the door.

Narayan Reddy came out to find Sambhu shaking in fear. He pulled him inside his room and gave him water to drink. They spent the rest of the night, awake and tensed but it passed peacefully.

In the morning, Narayan Reddy found Vilas Deshmukh having tea on the balcony of his house.

“Oh, come Col. Reddy, have some tea. You are really tough military man who could live in that house for two nights.” Deshmukh said jovially.

“Thank you, Deshmukh ji. Please tell me what exactly happened in that house.” He asked seriously.

“Okay, I am going to tell you what I know. Long ago, maybe 10-12 years back, a Bengali businessman named Pralay Dey, a businessman from somewhere in Bengal built this house. He was a bachelor and lived with his nephew. Life was good for him… his business was booming. He even got his nephew married and the new bride took control of the household. They were a happy family. Then suddenly, one morning, Pralay was found dead, probably slipped and hit head on the floor.” Deshmukh stopped take a sip of his tea.

“As per the last will and testament of the deceased, the property and money were received by the nephew who within a months’ time winded up the business, sold the house and left the city without any forwarding address.” Deshmukh stopped, sadness enveloped his eyes.

“The house was bought by Ghanshyam Das, a businessman from Delhi. He wanted to setup a Confectionery and Sweet Shop for his son, Angshuman. They performed puja and threw a grand house warming party. Angshuman and his mother went back to Delhi leaving Ghanshyam Das to finish setting up of the shop with his trusted servant Baburam. Next day morning, Ghanshyam Das was found dead near the staircase while the body of Baburam was discovered in the back lawns.”

“Anshuman tried to sell the house but by then the news of multiple death in that house has spread like forest fire, no one was interested in buying the house even at a discount. Anshuman, asked me to be the caretaker and look for a suitable buyer or tenant; the house has remained vacant for over five years till you came in.”

Narayan Reddy took leave of Deshmukh without telling him about the incidents of last two nights. He called up his junior colleague in the army, Major Ashish Kumar…

“Hello Ashish, how are you?”

“I am fine Sir. Its good to hear from you, hope you are in good health.”

“Yes, I am fine. Actually, I called you about your brother, you had once mentioned that he’s a para-psychologist and is interested in paranormal activities, I want to consult him.”

“Well Sir, my brother, Nirmal, incidentally lives very close to you, only an hour away. I am sending you his number, you can call him up. I hope, it is nothing serious.”

“No, no, not at all. Just need to satisfy my curiosity.” Narayan assured his friend.

Narayan Reddy called up Nirmal Kumar to fix an appointment and left to meet him. He narrated the events of the previous two nights to Nirmal Kumar. He asked few questions then said, “Let’s go to your home and see it firsthand.”

Nirmal Kumar, with his vast experience in paranormal activities, could sense that everything was not right in the house. He felt an undercurrent of tension in the air. He checked every room, the balconies and the lawns; the storeroom intrigued him the most.

Nirmal Kumar took a deep breath and said, “Look, Narayan, something is not okay here. I will come back in the evening with my assistant, Mrityunjay who is an excellent medium, will do a planchet to call the disturbed spirit to pacify it, hope we will succeed.” Narayan Reddy had no faith in occult sciences but kept quiet.

As the day turned into evening, Sambhunath started getting agitated, Narayan Reddy could feel that Sambhu will not be able cope with another night of turmoil. He thought of sending him to Deshmukh household for the night. Just then Nirmal Kumar along with Mrityunjay came in and declared, “Nobody needs to go anywhere, the four of us will sit for the planchet and call the disturbed spirit.”

As directed by Nirmal Kumar, they set up a round table with four chairs in Narayan’s bedroom. Nirmal Kumar asked them to sit down holding each other’s hand, thinking about the spirit that visited them. All eyes were on Mrityunjay who is going to act as the medium. Ten or fifteen agonising minutes passed, nothing happened; then suddenly with a great force all the doors and windows opened and gush of cold air filled the room. Mrityunjay’s body shook up violently but Nirmal and Narayan on his either side holding his hand, kept him glued to the chair.

Nirmal asked, “Who are you? Why are you roaming in this house?”

There was no response, so Nirmal repeated his question, a bit more firmly. Mrityunjay slowly spoke up but it was all garbled.

“Speak clearly. We are here to help you. What is your name?” Nirmal almost shouted this time.

Mrityunjay’s lips moved, “I am Pralay Dey. I was murdered in this house. I have nowhere else to go.”

“Tell us in details.” Nirmal Kumar shouted again.

“I used live here happily with my nephew, Nimai. The business was good and Nimai was learning the tricks of the trade quite well. He was the only family I had. I got him married to a girl named Usha. I had bequeathed all my assets to Nimai. I don’t know why or who poisoned his mind, he became greedy and wanted all the wealth immediately. One night he dressed up in the devil’s attire to scare me. I panicked and ran down the stairs but he came after me and pushed me inside the storeroom, I fell down, my head hitting the iron grill of the utility shelf… I lost consciousness. Nimai and Usha locked me up, being a heart patient, I felt claustrophobic and died of suffocation during the night in the storeroom. And since then, I am living there.”

“Why did you kill two innocent people?”

“I did not kill anyone; they got scared by my presence. The servant went to the roof and jumped to his death while his boss slipped from the stairs and died.”

“So, what is the solution? Why don’t you go away?”

“I can’t leave this house, especially that storeroom. Let me live here in peace, you keep that room closed, all the time… I can’t stay with you anymore; it will soon be morning.”

A gush of wind swept the room, the door and windows shut violently, Mrityunjay collapsed on the chair. Nirmal sprinkled water on Mrityunjay’s face to wake him up. In the morning, Narayan Reddy called the mason to build a wall in place of the door of the storeroom sealing it permanently and giving the spirit of Pralay Dey his own space in the house that he had built to enjoy living but couldn’t in his lifetime.