Haunted lies

INCIDENT 2

The Red Carpet

29 August 2002,

Sometimes being a fashion freak may lead you through many life menacing experiences.  I came to know it yesterday.  Few days ago as I mentioned on ‘22 August’ page my husband surprised me by gifting a beautiful red carpet.  I loved it and decorated my drawing room floor with it.  My son Rehan already started enjoying its smoothness. But the enjoyment lasted for few moments.  The carpet turned out to be haunted.  The first stroke came on 23 August morning after my husband left for office and Rehan went to school I noticed some scratch marks on the carpet,  as habituated I suspected Rehan but on clean observation , they looked like the nails of a ferocious wild animal.  After my husband returned we discussed it secretly as Rehan refused on spoiling it.  The next incident took place on 25 morning, the carpet used to be distorted every day since 25 and finally on 27 august we decided to investigate. After pretending to be asleep we came to the dark drawing room tip toeing and to our utmost horror we saw that two strangers along with an animal are playing on it… my husband thought it was Rehan and switched on the lights and the next moment, there was absolute silence.  Guess what?  There wasn’t anyone….not even Rehan, for next hour we were in a comma and then my husband got up, picked the carpet and folded it in four.  He walked towards the balcony and threw it far into the beach and after minutes the mighty waves carried it.  Perhaps a hallucination but I saw those three figures waving us or perhaps thanking us….do you have any explanation to this?

Sabina 

Haunted lies

INCIDENT 1

The coolie

Date: 13 May 1992

Place: Daman Station                                                                        Time: 11:00 pm

Dear diary,

Indian traditions perhaps include late running trains since Robert Clive`s era.  Within few passengers who were left, I was most frustrated, for I had got posting in this monotonous place for research on Paleozoic era skeletons which were discovered recently from the beach side. As I got down the train, I started searching for station master`s cabin, so that I can at least telephone or tar a message to my family, on the plat form there was absolute silence, not even a single tea seller, do you believe? How to search a rickshaw then? Dense fog with faint burning smell in air made vision more difficult.  With strong voice I shouted “Coolie”. No response.  I tried again, this time louder “Coolie…Coolie”. And finally a red kurta and white dhoti figure emerged from the fog.  He was pretty old but looked habituated to the strain; more over what I had was just two suitcases.  He came near me and said-“Jee sahib”.  I spoke in stern voice-“saman bahar tak le chalo”.   He nodded his head in obedience and picked up the suitcases.  Slowly walking we came out of the station, not a single rickshaw.  I asked him about station master throughout the way but he did not speak much.  In the cold and dense fog his metal shoulder band glittered faintly, it read ‘222’.  The coolie put both those suitcases in rickshaw without its driver and wiped his face with the gamcha around his neck.  I took out my wallet and asked-“kitna hua?”  He just smiled and said-“ Bees rupaiya sahib”, I paid him twenty rupees and then he disappeared in the dense fog.  After 10 minutes an ambassador passed the way, the man stopped on seeing me. He offered lift and I accepted it. My destination was blue resort which was 20 minutes from the station. What happened was that my eyes fell on the newspaper lying on the deck of the car, the gentleman was kind enough to offer me and I just glanced through it… the third column on extreme right read-

‘Mysterious death of Coolie: Today a Coolie identified as Asmal, was mysteriously found dead near the Daman station.  He worked under the tag 222……’

My God……he was the same then….but how??????

Anand