The Fear That Never Got Erased
It was a rainy day. The winds were tempestuous. I was sitting
at the veranda with my cup of hot coffee. I was enjoying the cool
weather and kept on staring at the rain and the swaying trees. All of a
sudden I caught a glimpse of a moving light around a big mango tree. I
started wondering what it could have been. My grandma was sitting
beside me so, I told her about what I saw. She was startled at my words,
came closer and asked me to repeat what I just said. In an articulate
manner I repeated “I saw a moving light around a mango tree.”
She hugged me tightly and took me inside without saying a
single word. This made me even more curious and I wanted to know the
reason behind this sudden quirky reaction of my grandma. We were having
our supper but I still continued to think about the moving light I saw
around that big mango tree. After the supper I immediately went to my
grandma’s room and asked her the reason behind her strange reaction. I
mean it was just a moving light, that’s it! Nothing else. My grandma
said that it wasn’t something so obvious and murmured into my ears that
it was a very strange pisachi (a devil) with light on top of its head.
Well, it actually sounded too funny and unrealistic to be believed. I
burst out laughing and made light of my grandma. My grandma lost her
temper and started shouting at me “what do you know about this pisachi,
it took away my beloved son.” I saw tears rolling down her red cheeks.
I hugged her and wiped off her tears. I apologised and asked her to
narrate the story of that devil to me.
My grandma started off by describing the special traits of that
devil. She said that it appeared in many different forms. It used to
roam around in disguise. She said that during night time it used to
disguise as an animal with light on top of its head and lived on the
trees. People in the village could actually know its presence because of
this wavering light. It sounded very interesting. She told me that
there were many rumours in our village about this strange devil.
People used to say that it never attacked anybody directly and
said that it used to visit everybody’s houses for help only on the days
it used to rain heavily. If the owner of the house allowed her inside
then the very next day the owner would die, my grandma said in a low
tone. Then she told me that she heard many incidents about people dying
because of this evil spirit. Even I did not believe in these rumours
until the day my eldest son became a prey, my grandma said in grief.
She became very emotional so I consoled her. After a long pause, she
continued with her story. She said that the weather was very harsh and
it rained very heavily the day before my uncle died. Around 11 o’ clock
somebody knocked at the door and it was my uncle who opened the door.
My grandma said that she was also standing beside him.
A young lady with an innocent face in a red sari fully drenched by
the rain was standing near the door way, my grandma said. She started
pleading us for allowing her to stay in the house for just a night as
it rained heavily and said that her own house was very far away so; it
would be difficult for her to reach her house in such a harsh weather.
“I shouted a very big No!” my grandma exclaimed. My son didn’t listen
to me and convinced me to allow her stay as she was a lady. I knew that
she was that awful pisachi who killed so many people. I decided not to
sleep that day, she said. I tried controlling my drowsiness but
somehow my eyes closed. When we woke up in the morning, she had already
vanished without saying a word. Your uncle as usual went for his work
and came home in the afternoon for lunch, my grandma continued. After
his lunch, he decided to take a nap and by 5 o’ clock he was found dead
on his bed. I broke down into tears and couldn’t believe that my son
had died. My grandma couldn’t control her emotions anymore and her
sobbing woke up everybody in our house. My parents scolded me for
disturbing her and started consoling my grandma. My conscience wasn’t
allowing me to believe this story. So, the very next day I went to my
grandma and convinced her that uncle’s death just could have been a
coincidence. I also gave many evidences but she refused to believe my
words and my way of analyzing things.
Not only my grandma but many people in my village still believe
that their relatives died because of this ‘devil’. I am a modern- day
girl so my conscience never allows me to believe these things but after
listening to my grandma’s story even I fear looking at the trees and
the moving light during night time. There are many kinds of fears in
our society and the entire world which would never get erased like the
fear of ghosts, demons, behemoths and other evil spirits. They will
continue for years to centuries.
