An encounter with the Ghost

“This is the story of how a little courageous boy helped catch the thief. Remember fear lies only in your head. Fear is a greater foe than the object of its origin.  Those who can overcome it achieve great things in life.” - As Mr. Mohanty (the literature teacher) finished reading a prose, the school-bell rang declaring the end of today’s school. - “I want all of you to write the answers for the questions in this chapter. Write it in your own words …” - Impatient Bunu could not hear further. He and his backbencher friends had their bags packed and ready. They were waiting for the teacher's signal to run to the playground.  To Bunu’s dismay, the front benchers started assembling around the teacher to ask doubts, delaying dismissal of the class.

While coming back from the playground with Amit, Bunu saw Siba, Priyanka and Ritu arguing about something. Amit and Bunu approached them. “Hey you guys!! Siba here is boasting that he had met a ghost near the village graveyard. His cycle had broken down while coming from tuition and he saw someone there wearing a white dhoti and kurta. This man accompanied him till the village temple without saying them a word and always replying ‘Hmm...’ to any questions.” - Priyanka started explaining to Bunu and Amit the topic of the argument. - “The man apparently stopped just before the Devi Maa temple and did not step further.” - “Of course, a ghost would not step near a temple. Also, I could not see his face. He had a shawl over his head. Who puts on a shawl in September?” - “He might be sick or if it had rained, then it would be cold outside.” Ritu intervened,  “You have definitely not met a ghost.” - Siba was going to say something, when Bunu said, “There is no such thing as a ghost. You have met someone who might have forgotten his path and seeing the temple he remembered this was not a village he wanted to visit”. All of them laughed. Siba, feeling a little embarrassed, countered Bunu, “So, you are saying there are no ghosts?” - “Of course there are not. Even if there are any, I am not afraid of them.” - Bunu is always afraid to go out in the dark. He would ask her elder sister to accompany her, in the night, even if his mother asked to fetch something from the grocery shop two doors away. He is always mocked by her sister afterwards in front of the whole family. But, when he made the last statement, he had not thought of the consequences. - “Really!! There are no ghosts!!! …Well then, if you are so brave, prove it to us”- Siba said. “How do I prove it?” - “Well tonight, you can go to the graveyard and write your name on one of the memorials. Tomorrow morning we will all see how brave you really are!” - Bunu readily accepted the challenge. - “So be it.” After making bold statements, he did not want to be called a coward by his friends.

Ritu and Bunu were neighbours. - “Hey Bunu, come to our house. Reema Di (Bunu’s sister) and Sani Di are on the roof. We will play carrom.” - Since the next day was a Sunday, there was no burden of finishing home-work. Bunu readily agreed. It was almost nine in the night when Reema and Bunu came back home. The dinner was already prepared. After having dinner, Reema and Bunu took the remaining food and went to feed Teeton. Teeton is a puppy they had adopted recently. Teeton was chained to one of the pillars. They unchained it and filled its bowl. After having its dinner the puppy started playing, running back and forth around the siblings, sometimes licking their limbs. - “Reema… lock the gate and come.” - Their mother called them. They wished good night to Teeton and went inside. Their mother was just finishing up her household work for the day and their father was reading a book. The children slept in their grandmother’s room. As soon as their grandma completed the remaining parts of how their grandfather got a job in a big hotel in Kolkata, Reema went to sleep. Bunu stayed awake in his bed waiting for his father to go to sleep and gathering up courage for his night’s mission.

After a while the light in the dining room went off and he could hear his father going to bed. Minutes later, the ticking of the clock and his father’s snores were the only sound he could hear. Once, Bunu was sure everyone was asleep, he slowly went to his parents room, to see if they were asleep. Though his fathers snoring was easily audible in the entire house and may be even outside, he still thought it prudent to recheck. He took out the torch from the cupboard, some chalk fragments from his school bag. He put on his shoes (running fast in chappals is difficult). He took a deep breath and drank a glass of water. Now he is ready for the mission. He opened the door and went out. The sound of the door woke Teeton up. Bunu stopped before opening the gate and went back inside. He went to the puja-room, picked up the Hanuman Chalisa and kept it in his pocket.

It was the start of October. The weather was slightly cold outside. Bunu marched towards the graveyard. Near the Devi maa temple he stopped and prayed for a little while. It was a moonlit night. He did not have to use the torch till now. But he decided to use the instrument for the road ahead. He started walking. The night was calm. Not a single human or animal was in sight. Still he was paying extreme attention to all the events around. Even the sounds of wind in the trees and the rustling of leaves did not go unnoticed. There was a big banyan tree just before the graveyard on the opposite side of the road which was a home to many birds. He remembered his grandfather used to say the tree was even big enough since his grandfather’s days. There is a pond near the banyan tree. There is no clear boundary between the tree and the pond. The tree's roots and trunks are inside the ponds or one can say the pond has flooded the ground beneath the tree. Both in an eternal battle to eat into each other's existence.

While he was crossing the pond, a gust of cold wind blew past him, making him shiver. Some leaves and fruits from the banyan tree dropped into the water making splashing sounds. Birds started chirping. All of sudden he remembered, two years ago, while going to school he saw a  dead body of a woman floating in this pond. Bunu’s heartbeat spiked. He could feel the beating against his chest. He thought about running towards the village. But he did not. He was so close. He observed the surroundings for a moment, placed his hand on his pocket to check if the Hanuman Chalisa was still there. Gathering up some courage, he headed into the graveyard.

He went to the second memorial from the entrance. Because writing on the first and running away may not prove that courageous afterwards. He went to the memorial and put his left hand in the pocket only to find the chalk fragments had slipped through a hole in his pocket. He started looking for a red brick piece to replace the chalk. He heard a faint chiming sound at a distance from his back. He stopped searching and started paying attention to the sound. He could not hear any more. He lacked the courage to turn around. He consoled himself there was no one, his fear making him hear things. He found a piece of brick and sat his name on the memorial. “B__U__N__U” - he started writing his name. Writing with brick is not as easy as writing with chalk. You have to repeat the lines to make the letters prominent. Half way through he heard the sound again. Seemed like the sound was approaching. He hurried up writing the last letter. A dog at a distance started barking in his direction. “Animals can see spirits” - his grandmother once told him. There was no doubt in Bunu’s mind there was a ghost standing behind him. He started running.

The sound of an iron chain screeching on the ground started following Bunu. It seemed to him the ghost had a chain in his hand and he/she wanted to bind him with it. Bunu started reciting Hanuman Chalisa, 

                        Jai Hanuman Gyan Gun Sagar| Jai Kapisa tihun lok ujagar|| 

                        Ram duta atulita bal dhama…

He could remember no more. He cursed himself for not reciting Hanuman Chalisa enough. When crossing the pond, he remembered the dead woman again. Young people, when they die, have a lot of unfulfilled desires. This woman must be following him as he remembered her sometime before. He started running even faster. When Devi Maa’s temple came into sight, he remembered what Siba said, “Ghost stopped before the temple and did not cross it.” 

He ran into the temple leaving the gate open. And stopped on the veranda. The inner door was closed. But he was sure the ghost would not follow him here. So he turned back. The chain sound stopped. Bunu sat down. He was out of breath, panting and sweating profusely. The temple had open walls with only a small room for the deity. A moment later he heard the sound again. But this time he had belief, he was holding the Hanuman chalisa in one hand and he was in the Temple's boundary, the ghost could not enter here. 

        He stood up, with a lot of confidence and a slight anger to face the ghost, make eye contact with her. There was no ghost. He looked around. There was no one outside. He heard the sound again. Coming from the main gate. Someone surely entered the gate. He directed the torch beam towards the gate. A tiny creature walked in. It was Teeton. The puppy somehow managed to break its chain and follow Bunu all this way to the graveyard and back. When Bunu ran, it also ran behind him and what remained of his chain was making the sound all along. Bunu started smiling not long after he figured this out. He picked Teeton up from the ground and kissed it. The puppy reciprocated the love by licking and sniffing Bunu.

        Bunu did not know when he dozed off on the Temple’s varanda. He woke up, by the talks of the farmers going to their fields. The eastern sky was red, but the sun had not come up. He and Teeton sneaked into the house. But while he was closing the door, his mother woke up, “Where did you go so early in the morning?” - “I woke up and went outside to check up on Teeton. I thought I heard him.” He went to bed thinking his little adventure went unnoticed. When he was having his breakfast, one of the farmers came to meet his father. The farmer revealed to his parents that he saw Bunu coming back from the Temple early in the morning. Finally, Bunu had to accept before his parents about last night’s episode and got slapped by his mother for that. His father on the other hand, took him away with him to the market to avoid him getting further scolded by his mother. “You could have told me. We would have gone together secretly.” - his father laughed. “Next time include me as well.”

        Bunu did not have to tell his friends about his triumph last night. By the time he came back from the market, the entire village knew, thanks to his mother, grandma, sister and the farmer.