Fiction & Nonfiction

Spirit or devil?

Spirit or devil?


When he was appointed as a high school master in a district headquarters of pre-independent India, my grandfather had a lot of tough time looking for accommodation.
For a while, his wife’s relatives were kind enough to put them up. He had four children, ranging between eight and two, my father being the eldest.

Comfortable houses were hard to find even in those days of less population, and inexpensive standards of living. After a thorough search, grandpa came upon this particular house in an alley off the main street. The couple went about the house that had an ornate spiral staircase, spacious rooms, and a wide wraparound veranda. Both were pleased at its roominess, especially, for the kids to run about, and play however they liked. Excited as they were, little attention was paid to the shady reputation the house had.

The original owner of the house was a rich merchant. He had three wives and a number of children. The house used to throb with life till about half a century ago. Then started its decline. There was a legal battle over the inheritance rights, and finally after years of adjournment of the case, during which time a few rivals died, it went to the youngest son of the merchant’s youngest wife. He was of my grandpa’s age, who lived in a village nearby, where he had few acres of farmland for his sustenance.
Nobody dared to live in a disused house, for fear of lurking unseen presences.

Grandpa was a tall, impressive looking man. He was strong both in mind and body. He didn’t much care for the daunting details surrounding the house. The need of the hour was so pressing that grandpa hardly knew that the house he hired was till then, more like an abandoned shelter, just a landmark for a new comer to the town.

After a simple house warming ceremony, the family moved in. They started feeling very much at home there.
A week passed, and then bone-chilling things started happening.

Grandpa was fond of yoga and meditation. He didn’t believe in idol-worship. It was during the twilight hours after school, he usually practiced yoga. He would take up the lotus position on a mat spread on the floor, and then would concentrate on breathing. Inhale through the right nostril, hold, and exhale. Repeat the process through the left nostril.
On one such occasion, he became aware of some strange noise pretty close by, and heard a group of people shuffling about. When he opened his eyes, and looked around, it was as though he was transported to another world. It, he said, was an incredible sight. There were vague human shapes, with hands linked dancing around him, their anklets ringing a jingle. Even the devil seemed attracted to yoga!
As grandma entered the room, all disappeared. She found her husband gazing into the empty space, perhaps trying to make sense out of the “sight” he just had.
“What are you staring at?” she asked inquisitively.
Startled into the present, he murmured something inaudible.

Winter evenings were short and darkness descended sooner than during the previous season. People went to bed early. As she started preparing the night meal, grandma reached for salt and spice, for the vegetable curry she was making. She couldn’t find the containers, and a while later however, she found them right in front of her, on the kitchen slab. She got confused, but before she could delve into the matter, one of the children diverted her attention.

On the next evening again at seven, she started the cooking fire and placed a thick-bottomed utensil on the earthen stove. Mechanical gadgets were unheard of those days. It was fish curry that night for the dinner table. She turned around to get the spices from the shelf, and to her utter shock, she found the bottles coming towards her, held in mid air. She let out a blood-curdling scream that seemed to have scared the day lights out of the devil itself! The bottles dropped crashing on the floor, their shards spilling and strewn around!

Her husband and the kids made it to the kitchen in a jiffy. There she was lying on the floor, crumpled, and bemoaning her fate. Grandpa took her to the living room, and after calming down, she told him of what happened. He consoled her by saying that someone was only trying to help her. Even his superbly casual, and positive attitude towards the unexplainable, didn’t let her have any relief from shock and fear.

Grandma was an early riser, not only out of habit, but also because she had a large breakfast to prepare, and then get things organized for lunch.
As she stepped into the wide hall, she saw an old man, who to her, in the semi-darkness, looked like her late father-in-law, sitting on the bed-cum-swing, smoking a thick cigar. As she neared the person, her heart pounding, she saw none, yet, the aroma of the cigar hung low and thick. That left her listless for a while. You see, she didn't have the same kind of mental strength that her husband had.
Often, she would hear, some strange and invisible kids running on the stairs and squealing in pleasure. She had often seen, a ball bouncing up and down, without anyone being seen.

On a Monday morning, preparing to go to school, he donned his coat, and turned around to get the wallet. Grandpa was about to lay his hand on it, and pronto! it disappeared into the air and got plastered to the roof. The mischievous devil, he muttered under his breath, for fear of being heard by the source of mischief. This trick happened twice, and resignedly he was about to walk out, and thud! It fell on the table and stayed there, mercifully.

My sister and I felt quite creepy at these weird events as they were narrated to us. To crown them all, was the incident that decided the future course of action for the family.

During the annual exams, my grandpa got busy with setting the question papers for the class, he taught. Those days, it was the teachers’ duty to get the cyclostyled copies of the questionnaire ready, get them coded, and stack them away for the ensuing exams. Invariably, he was late coming home.

On one such evening, a man walked into the house, introduced himself as my grandfather’s colleague, and told the family, this sad news.
Hearing of her husband’s sudden death in the school premises, grandma fell unconscious. It was the biggest shock she had ever received. Her mind went blank, her limbs numb, and her connection with the present, blocked off.
Soon, sympathetic neighbors gathered, and condolences were offered. She was still in the grip of giddiness and shock, when grandpa appeared on the doorstep.

To his deep alarm, his very existence was doubted, doubt being the very base on which human progress or regress depended. Could it be the devil, impersonating grandpa? A few of them, said as much. That was the final blow to the family’s peace.
When he came to know about the dire incident from the somber neighbors, he made an on-the-spot decision to move out of the haunted house.

When he enquired after the colleague’s whereabouts, he was stunned out of wits, to learn that there was no such man. Obviously, the departed still clung to their earthy possession, and would like to remain so, resented the presence of others, perhaps till their bedeviled, lost souls found peace.

These supernatural elements are still an enigma to me. To believe them or not, is yet a dilemma.


Word Count:1313