We crossed that Zenith point

We were searching a good place to talk, have some intimate moments. It’s been six months we were seeing each other. Now, we needed to talk and plan for our future. My parents were giving constant pressure saying I was running out of my age for marriage. 

Rahul bought a new motor cycle.  We thought of going to the nearby hill top. We planned to catch up the sunset too. Roads were not good…a bit muddy. Narrow lane through big pine trees….. In few places, it was just up and up….and the edges were quite sharp. We took more time than expected. We saw few wood cutters on our way…who were coming down from the forest area.  They gave some awkward looks at us as if they were wondering why we were going towards that side.

We reached the top….there was silence, such as might have existed before the birth of sound.  We saw one sign-board – “This is the Zenith point.Don’t cross this point, you will be at risk.”

From that point, there was  a slope…. There was a big tree beside that board. And the grass were quite smooth. We sat there, and took out our eatables.

Suddenly, my mobile phone rang. I had kept it in the grass. I picked it up to receive the call. Oops! It slipped from my hand, fell down in the sloping…..I could see it rolling down the lane….and stuck in a tree few feet down to us.

We were helpless…what to do now….Should we go down and bring it ….We were confused. It was still day time, so why to worry….!!!

Rahul walked down…..My heart seemed to stop beating and then the worst came….A double flash of lightening with a crash of loudest thunder, all of a sudden. The thunder pealed and echoed across the hill and among the distant forests. The flood-gates of heaven suddenly opened and let out their rain in streaming torrents.

I could see Rahul going down and down. 

The drops started falling down with a rapid rushing sound upon me . A moment later an another flash, even more brighter and of longer duration than the first, lit up the sky from zenith to horizon and bathed the place momentarily in dazzling whiteness.

I quickly went closer to the tree, tried to save myself as much as possible, from the rain and wind.  

Now, I could not see Rahul anymore….

The rain stopped. I could see the rain glistering on the leaves and branches. I shouted Rahul loud so many times…..my voice echoed from every side……But, no response from Rahul….I screamed…..cried my heart out and loud…I decided to go down to find him…..

I slowly started walking down with my bare foot....

The wind rose suddenly, and in less than a minute, as if, the storm that had been gathering all day burst forth in its full fury. I was lost…..

Baak : A Gothic Story

‘Baak’….a special kind of ghosts….typically lived in swamp areas. Don’t know whether it was found or seen in other places of the country or not……..but it was popular in Assam till even late 70’s.

  

Fresh Fish was the staple food of Baak. People used to encounter a Baak while fishing in a river or pond or a swamp area. Generally, the non-veg guys, the Fish eaters had the fortune to come across this kind of ghosts.

Mostly, people used to put fishing net in the ponds or marsh lands late in the evening and collect in the dawn. There were so many stories like, sometimes some lonely fishermen used to catch fish and keep in their pots…and automatically fishes used to vanish…..while they used to feel somebody’s presence and get to hear some chewing sounds in the air. Normally, Baaks didn’t take lives of people, they would attack if the fishermen threatened them.

The Baaks used to carry their souls in one pouch. If any human being could snatch that pouch….the Baak used to obey the orders, like a genie. Many people knew some magic tricks to snatch that pouch. My great great grandpa was one of them.

Long ago, there was a family in a small village of Assam. Father, mother, two brothers with their wives and one kid each were living happily. One day, the siblings went for fishing, even before the dawn. They went to fish in a big fishery nearby a swamp area. They were in a boat, and were getting lots of fish….They were overwhelmed. Suddenly, the younger brother heard a big sound from his back side as if some heavy thing fell into the water. He looked behind, and could feel some abnormality in elder brother’s behavior. The elder brother said that nothing happened. But, the younger brother had some doubt, started observing keenly what was happening without giving any hint. The picture was clear after sometime, the man in the boat was a Baak in his brother’s shape, after killing and throwing his brother into the water. He kept patience, planned and trickily snatched away the pouch of the Baak….and convinced him to accompany him to his house and be in that shape only. The Baak had to come into the agreement.

Going home, the younger brother hide the pouch somewhere extremely secret place in the house. Years and years passed, nobody came to know about the truth. The Baak kept searching the pouch…..He had to live his life like a man…he had two children….

One day, everyone had to go to a marriage ceremony in a nearby village. Keeping all family members in the marriage venue, the Baak came back home…..minutely searched the pouch….and he was successful….But, he became emotional enough…......Should he leave the house….or keep the pouch in its place again……


PS. Publishing this story under the hashtag theme of Indiblogger:#incompletestory.  The story is incomplete.  



Image courtesy : Google

Was that a Ghost???

Guwahati University Law hostel. Month of Feb of some year of 90’s.

“Just few days left for the exam. Need to finish so many chapters and then would have to do revisions, at least once or twice.” Reena thought.

She planned to study with Pompi for couple of days. Pompi’s situation was also the same. Both  of them were from the same place, and not only that, they were very close friends too, and always helped each other in study. Both used to believe in – early to bed , early to rise. So, they planned to get up early at around 4 am and study in the dining hall, as their rooms were four seaters. Others  would get disturbed if they would study in their own rooms. In the evening, they used to decide who would get up early and wake up the another.

The hostel was of Assam-type. All rooms were in one floor and were connected with very long corridor. Each room was four seater. It was adjacent to a hill, for which monkeys were the frequent visitors. The Dining hall was the bridge between the hostel and the hill.

For a week, getting up at 4 am became a routine for both the girls. Now just 4 days left for the exam. They needed to gear up. So, they decided to get up at 3 am next day.

“Reena, O’ Reena...get up, lets go for study!” Reena heard a voice. One of her roommates made a comment from her bed only, “Your best friend calling..”

Reena got up. Took her books and copies, drank a glass of water and rushed towards the door.

Oops, Pompi was not there.

“She must have got bored of waiting for me and so probably has gone to the dining hall”, she thought.

She hurried through the dark, serene, lonely corridor. At last she reached the dining hall.

But, What!!! The door was closed. Pompi was not there. 

She opened the door, the room was dark. A cool breeze touched her whole body. She hesitated to enter to search for the light switch.

To clear the doubt if Pompi is inside the hall, she uttered, “Pompi! Pompi! ...U there?”

Suddenly, a window opened. The window was just opposite side of the door, where she was standing. She could just see a white shadow going out like a breeze....

And..... she ran and ran......till she reached her room, and jumped on one of her roommate’s bed. She was continuously shivering. Her roommates got up, asked her what happened......she couldnot reply anything that time, but just could see the wall clock – it was just 1 am.

Two of her roommates could gather courage to go out, and knocked the door of Pompi. She was in deep sleep that time.

Do you believe in Ghost?

I was 8 yrs. old then.

I have three aunts (Maahi) and two uncles (Mama). My eldest Maahi is a singer. She was awarded the best singer in that year in a competition held among the seven states of Northeast India, somewhat similar to today’s Indian idol.

The competition was held in Shillong. As the commuting and communication, both were so complicated in those days that my both grandparents had to accompany Maahi. Both my Mama were studying in different places. So, other two Maahi (both were below 15 yrs) had to be the guards of the house. I had to be a mental armour being with them as my winter vacation was going on.

My grandparent’s house was in a small village of Sibsagarh. In the front, just other side of the road, there was a big pond, then a small vegetable garden and after that a dense forest. There was a gap of atleast 50mtrs/100mtrs in between every house. After two houses at the right side, there was a huge paddy field. 

The first day, we very sensibly closed the boundary gate, all doors and windows, and slept in the same room.

The second day, we forgot to close the boundary gate. When realisation stroke our minds, it was already dark outside. We could not gather courage to go out and close the gate. We also forgot to close three/four windows in the drawing room. The drawing room had atleast 8 windows. Both the Maahi started closing the windows one by one and I was the bystander. 

While closing the windows, suddenly we all heard one male unfamiliar tired voice… “Daughter, how are you, why are you closing the windows…..” Immediately one Maahi saw an old man in clean white dress standing near the window she was closing. She screamed, but closed the window. Another Maahi just heard the voice, but could not see anyone while closing another window…..We all tremendously got scared!!! Thank God, by that time all windows were closed. We felt for a moment as if we were in a dream.

We came out from that room immediately, went to another room from which there was a clear visibility of the front yard. The yard was so big that a person will take atleast sometime to run away from our boundary. We could see no one there nearby the window, but there was a white shadow in the air as if going out through the open gate. We could hear dogs barking at the neighbourhood.

We still think….what was that – was a negative power or an old man who came to scare us intentionally!!!!!

Ghostly Experience

Do you believe in ghost? I did…

After completion of my college, I took admission at Guwahati University (GU) for my masters. I was excited…for a new life…opening a new chapter. I was in hostel since my 11th. But, experience of University is perhaps unmatched!

GU has 8 girls’ hostels and 10 boys’ hostels with a beautiful green campus. I got admission in Hostel no.1 (R.C.C. -1). R.C.C. -1 has a capacity of 80 girls. It is a two-story building. All the rooms are connected with very long corridor in each floor. It is adjacent to a hill, for which our hostel was attacked by the monkeys all the day.

As freshers have to adjust in their accommodations, initially, I was placed in a hall of 8 girls. It was altogether a different experience of staying timidly being scared of the seniors, facing raggings etc. We used to go to the dinning hall all of us together silently, immediately the bell used to ring, and come back to the room before our senior batch girls used to go for dinner.

After a month, some of us got allocation of few rooms. I got the extreme corner twin sharing room in the first floor, which had a balcony. From the front door of the room, the bathroom section starts. And in between the basin area and the room, there was a store room, where some unused materials were kept. The store room used to be locked all the time. And there was a closed window from our room too. I and my roommate Barna were quite happy to get the room as the other girls of our batch got four seater rooms without balcony. All of them congratulated us.

On the first day itself, at around 8 pm, suddenly Barna came running to the room with a scary face. Myself and three of my classmates were discussing something interesting. Barna used to be our BBC news as she had good terms with one of the senior girls. Barna said, “Hey Madhu! This room is haunted! I am no gonna stay here…For long time the room was unoccupied!”
We all were blank….Didn’t know what to do…!!! Dinner bell rang. Both of us couldn’t have food properly. Ultimately, we decided that we will be staying in a different room with our other batch mates, sharing the beds.

Two days we stayed in other’s room. But what next?

The third day…with our brave hearts, decided to stay in our own room. Two other brave girls also agreed to sleep with us. Around 11 PM! Lights were on. We four were in the effort of getting asleep. Suddenly, we got to hear some sounds in the door. Not exactly the knocking, something like… “Hoooo..Hoooo..” as if somebody is trying to whistle through the door. It was winter season….We all put ourselves inside the heavy blankets…and slept somehow.

First night was over. Second night too, it was the repeat of the previous day. Barna could not resist herself. She got up from the bed. Took a knife and went into the door. Did some R & D. Put some papers in between the door panels. And then onwards, there was no sound…! And got to know that wind used to pass through the door for which those sound we used to get to hear.

Story does not finish here. Next day again, there was a heavy rain and storm in the evening. We were feeling cosy. We both were studying at our tables. Suddenly at around 8 PM, we got to hear some sounds of throwing utensils in the store room. It was locked from outside, so who will throw the utensils inside? Big question! We called our neighbours….all were sweating in the January cold atmosphere. What to do again….one problem we solved, another arised. This time, Barna was silent. We called our cook uncles. Two of them came….but were scared to open neither the door, nor the window from our room and go inside the dark room. So, when there is a problem with the good people, God always send some Angel to help! That’s happened with us too like Chetan Bhagat’s Call Centre book!

A senior batch girl - Chandana came forward to go through the window. Our two brave cook uncles also agreed to go behind her. So, expedition started. Chandana opened the window and went inside with a torch, both uncles also followed her. She found many utensils on the floor lying here and there and the window from the other side was open. The storm attacked the window badly and the lock was broken and the flaps were dancing then also with the breeze. So, Chandana detected the ghost!

After uncovering the ghost, Chandana became the Heroin in front of us! And we started a new chapter in that haunted room!

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