LEGACY OF PUTUL-BAARI A.K.A. “The HAUNTED DOLL-HOUSE”

Located on the banks of Hooghly,’ Putul- Baari’, or the ‘doll-house’ is situated in Shobha Bazaar, North Kolkata. This dollhouse is believed to have been built as a storehouse originally during British rule. Later on, it was taken over by the elite upper class and converted into an entertainment and amusement center. Here, rich young aristocrats, educated young upper-class Bengalis, Britishers and other landed class people used to enjoy themselves. However, this has a dark background also! Legend has it that this ‘dollhouse’ was also the site of the murder of many innocent girls, where the rich committed all kinds of misdeeds with the girls and killed them! Some say, that this house belonged to a zamindar who had a beautiful daughter, she had a fetish for dolls! So she decorated the whole house with different kinds of dolls! Can you imagine a house full of dolls? Sounds creepy, right? Anyways, the story further goes that the little girl died of malaise and since then it has been believed that the dolls, all worn, dirty, and broken come alive at midnight and roam the empty house looking for their playmate! Some also say, that if someone strays there by accident, then that unfortunate person is doomed! As the dolls don’t allow anyone to escape the house!

Well, these are some of the legends associated with ‘Putul-Baari’, a.k.a. “The Haunted Doll-House.”

Shrishti found herself all alone in a big house. She did not know how she had come here but she moved ahead cautiously looking for anybody. The house was huge and it was all white marble, with beautiful decorations on the high ceilings and solid pillars in the halls. Her footsteps echoed in the huge hall and magnified it ten times. She kept on moving forward calling out “Hello? Is anybody here?” There was no response. She was a bit unnerved moving about in this big house all by herself. Though her attention was on the beautiful paintings and frescoes which adorned the walls of the house. The whole house was neat and clean and it seemed that someone used to take special care of the house. She saw a spiral staircase a bit ahead. The railings of the staircase were all sparkling white as were the stairs themselves. She again looked around and found no one. So she started climbing the stairs.

Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a huge throng of colourfully dressed people, all chatting animatedly. They seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere and rushed down the stairs. Shrishti was afraid that she might be pushed backward by this oncoming huge crowd. But surprisingly, the crowd just went on past her! It seemed to her that they just glided past her smoothly and did not even look at her! Another thing that took Shrishti completely by surprise was that many individuals in the crowd were carrying huge baskets, silver shiny plates, and utensils. Some of these baskets were covered with flowers of different varieties, while the utensils and huge silver plates contained mouth-watering sweets and snacks of all kinds. It seemed to her that some kind of occasion was taking place looking at the smiling and joyous faces of the people.

All of a sudden, she could hear traditional Indian musicians practicing their trade from somewhere in the house.

“Where did all these people come from?” wondered Shrishti.

“A moment ago, not a single soul was around!” she continued deep in thought.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she found more people milling around. The corridor at the top of the staircase had many rooms. All of the corridors and the rooms were adorned with beautiful flowers. There was a sweet and strong smell of incense emanating from around the hall and the corridor.

The more she tried to talk to somebody the more she felt that they were either oblivious of her presence or were feigning indifference! This was an affront to Shrishti and she did not like this. The more she tried to find out she had ended up here and who were all these people, the more she was ignored! She was also very scared of all this and wanted to go home but she could not find anybody who would help her with this. This made her more scared but she moved on.

Finally, she reached a room where the door was slightly ajar. Here she peeked in nervously. She saw a young woman all dressed in bridal get up sitting in front of the mirror. It seemed to Shrishti that the young woman was about to get married. Looking at the happy and smiling face of the woman Shrishti all the more desperately wanted to get back home. She was so mesmerised looking at the woman who was very beautiful that she almost forgot why she was there. She had thought that she might get a chance to seek help from someone upstairs, but till now, she had not met anybody, except this young beautiful woman, who was sitting all alone in the room.

Suddenly, the woman saw Srishti’s reflection in the mirror. She turned and saw Shrishti peering from the room. At first, the woman frowned looking at an 8-year-old girl peering at her from the door, but then she softened and gave a smile. She started beckoning Shrishti to come to her. Shrishti was scared at first, but then when she saw that the woman was smiling at her and beckoning her she grew a little relaxed. She was still scared and apprehensive that the woman might scold her!

Despite the woman’s repeated beckoning, Shrishti did not budge from her place. Then Shrishti saw a rapid transformation take place in the woman’s demeanour. It had happened so suddenly that Shrishti reeled back in terror!

She saw the woman enraged and in her anger, she was ablaze with fire all around her! Shrishti got more scared when the woman started coming toward her.

She fled in fright. Now, the real terror began!

Every which way Shrishti turned there was fire all around!

Each flame seemed to jump and pounce on her.

Somehow, she made her way downstairs; here she saw a terrible sight!

All the happy smiling people she had seen a few moments ago, were now all ablaze and were coming towards her with their arms opened wide!

As if they wanted to envelop her in their fiery embrace!

Shrishti screamed and turned and ran towards the door.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……………………..Help………… Help……………………………” She screamed.

But there was no one!

Only the fiery spirits of the house lunging towards her!

She dodged and ran towards the exit of the house. All of a sudden, she saw the same woman, whom she saw upstairs standing near the doorway!

She was completely ablaze and furious! Her eyes seemed like two burning red-hot embers of coal!

Shrishti was terrified now and screamed again “ maa……………….. baba……………………………………………… help…………………..help………………..”

Her parents came rushing to her room and shook her awake. Srishti opened her eyes and saw that she was in her room. There was no fire and no scary-looking woman!

It was a bad dream!

She was all trembling and sweaty. Her mother quickly embraced her and said “what’s wrong baby? Don’t worry baby, your parents are here.”

“You were having a bad dream.” Her mother continued.

These dreams would keep recurring every alternate day and Shrishti would wake up trembling and screaming. Her parents were extremely worried and concerned for her. They took her to every single doctor, but, unfortunately, no one was able to help her! She grew more frail day by day!

Shrishti now thought that she could see that woman during the daytime also.

This increased her fear and she sunk further into a world of delusion and hallucinations!

Did I tell you that before this Shrishti was a bright child and was very much into reading and also sports?

Now, all of this just became mere things of the past.

Her parents were extremely concerned about her.

They could do nothing that would help her; rather, they were feeling helpless and useless in seeing their beautiful and bubbly child wither away into nothingness!

Then someone suggested to them that they should consult a child psychiatrist.

Dr. Pritam Taluqdar was a world-renowned child psychiatrist. He listened patiently to Srishti’s parents and gave an encouraging smile and wink at Shrishti.

“Please wait outside while I and Shrishti have a heart-to-heart talk.” He said.

Shrishti’s parents nodded and went out of the room. Dr. Pritam looked at Shrishti and gave her a candy. Then he made small talk with her.

After a few minutes, Dr. Pritam became deadly serious and asked the question.

“What do you see in your dreams Shrishti?”

“A fiery woman who is very angry!” Shrishti replied without looking at him.”

“Who is this woman?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Shrishti replied.

“Why is she angry with you? He asked.

“I don’t know,” Shrishti replied.

“What does she want with you?” He asked.

“She wants to burn me!” Shrishti shrieked.

“Okay…… Okay… Don’t be scared beta.” Dr. Pritam said to calm Shrishti down.

Shrishti was terrified at something. She kept on looking behind Dr. Pritam and pointed a finger at something!

“What are you looking at?” Dr. Pritam asked mildly surprised.

“That woman is standing behind you!” Shrishti cried out in alarm.

Dr. Pritam was taken aback at this sudden outburst. He spontaneously turned but could not see anyone!

“Aiyeeeee………….

She is going to burn you also!” Shrishti screamed again.

This time Dr. Pritam just smiled and started writing something on his pad. He called for her parents. Shrishti was crying all this while.

“She is suffering from some kind of trauma and that’s why she is having these delusions of a woman all covered in flames.” Dr. Pritam explained.

Her parents were alarmed hearing this. Her mother was clutching Shrishti tightly in her arms and trying to calm her down.

“What to do doctor?” her father asked. It was obvious that he was worried.

“Don’t worry; I have decided to treat her. I have also prescribed some medicines for her.” He replied with an encouraging smile.

“I will also keep on visiting her. You have to ensure that she is happy all the time.” Dr. Pritam said.

Shrishti’s parents heaved a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.

“She would be all right…………. doctor?” asked her mother who was all worried and tense about her only child!

“Don’t worry Mrs. Mukherjee, everything will be all right.” Dr. Pritam assured her.

For the next two days, everything was okay. On the third day, Shrishti again had the same nightmare!

This time she saw that she was trapped in that big white burning house and she could not escape the clutches of the woman who was ablaze torching her too!

“Help………………………………………………………………maaaa…………………………………………………help………………………help………………………………………………..” She screamed and screamed.

Her parent rushed to her room completely taken by surprise and wondered what was wrong with their child!

When they reached Shrishti’s room, they saw her sitting on her bed trembling with fear! Her body temperature was also quite high!

This time someone suggested that she should be taken to the ‘Tarakeshwar Kali Temple.

Even her neighbours were concerned about her as Shrishti was among the most popular children of the colony where they lived.

However, nothing fruitful happened!

Shrishti continued to deteriorate. Then Dr. Pritam was once again consulted. This time he increased the medication by giving strong anti-hallucinogens and other strong steroids.

Gradually, Shrishti started to sleep better!

Her nightmares also seemed to have stopped. She slowly and slowly started recovering from this malaise and again started exhibiting signs of her former self!

Her parents were now eternally thankful to Dr. Pritam and all other friends and relatives who prayed for her.

Fifteen years have passed since that incident. Shrishti now is a young pretty woman. She is highly educated and is a software engineer and a web designer too! She was a renowned blogger also and her website’s name was ‘Myths and Legends Of India’. Here, she would post little-known facts and information about the various cultures, myths, and folk tales of India. These posts would also feature legends, unexplained phenomena, bizarre occurrences, and mysteries related to India. This website was a very popular website and many people visited this site every day. So this site used to get thousands of likes every day and this site was now collaborating and venturing with other organizations into new avenues.

She is also fiercely independent, a tough professional who has a very popular blog site and a website to her name. She likes partying with friends, going to the pujas every year, working late at night, etc.

I mean all the attributes you would think of the 21st-century educated professional, she had it all. Her parents were also happy that Shrishti had moved ahead from her past and was now happy and content.

Now here comes the real stunner.

It was a Wednesday evening, when Shrishti along with her close friends and partners, Arun, Priya, Mouli, Suryo, and Bipin were sitting at a popular café on the main street of Kolkata and discussing their upcoming project. All of them were giving different ideas but all of them fizzled off midway.

“Guys, why don’t we start giving a tour online of various haunted hotspots around West Bengal?” Suryo exclaimed.

“Later on, we can expand and include other supposedly haunted areas of the country?” He continued.

No one replied for a few seconds.

Mouli and Arun passed glances at each other.

Bipin frowned at Suryo but said nothing.

Shrishti kept quiet for a while.

“This depends on how this particular project works if it works.”

Suryo explained further.

“That’s a great idea!” Priya exclaimed.

“We can start by giving background details of each spot we cover. We can also add in the local beliefs and superstitions associated with that particular place.” She said excitedly.

Even Arun piped in “we can even start organising ghost hunts and tours just like in US and UK.”

Now everyone was animated and all started talking at once about their forthcoming venture.

Bipin also joined the fray by saying that “we can get more sponsors and support guys. Maybe even internationally get recognition.” He had a twinkle in his eyes.

Everyone was now discussing deciding a spot.

“Let’s start with Aleya Lights” Mouli interjected.

“No, let’s start with the legend of ‘Nishir Daak’.” Arun countered.

They were all now giving different supposedly haunted locations across West Bengal to start their project

All this while only Shrishti remained quiet and stared straight ahead.

When Priya asked her “hey, what’s wrong?”

She got no answer. Bipin and Suryo also tried to engage her in the conversation but all they could get from Shrishti was just a blank stare.

It was as if she was seeing something or someone intently up ahead. When they turned around they could not see anything.

Shrishti, meanwhile, had all constricted suddenly and was sweating a lot. Her catatonic stare up ahead did not break. Her friends at first thought she was pulling a fast one on them, but when, despite repeating prodding, she did not answer, it was time for them to get worried and anxious.

Then all of a sudden “Let’s start with Putul-Baari!” Shrishti said with finality in her voice.

Everyone looked at her with a stunned expression. Just a few minutes ago, she was not participating in the conversation and also had started behaving oddly!

“What guys! Why are you looking at me like this?” She laughed.

Everyone was taken aback by this sudden transformation.

“Are you okay?” Mouli gently asked touching her arm.

“Of course guys! What’s wrong with me?” Shrishti asked giving a curious expression in her eyes.

“Just a few minutes ago, you looked as if you were zoned off” Bipin offered.

Shrishti looked at her for a few seconds and burst out laughing.

“It looks as if all of you guys are in a zone.” She mocked.

“How come this name comes to your mind?” Bipin asked curiously.

“I don’t know it just popped and I took it spontaneously.” She replied.

“Anyways, guys it’s the best place to start with, don’t you think?” she asked seriously.

“I think she is right. We should start with Putul-Baari.” Suryo said.

Even Mouli and Priya also agreed to this. Only Arun and Bipin remained quiet.

So, it was decided that they would start their new venture from the place Shrishti had suggested. Everyone was excited and a bit apprehensive too considering the reputation of the place. Only Shrishti remained unconcerned about the speculations. That night, Shrishti again found herself in that big white house which was engulfed in flames. This time the woman who was completely engulfed in flamed had trapped Shrishti!

She had nowhere to run.

Every which way she turned; the entity was right in front of her.

The flames from her body seemed to pounce at Shrishti eager to envelop her in their embrace.

She again woke up screaming.

Her parents came rushing to her room.

They again could see that Shrishti was completely terrified and trembling with uncontrollable fear. She was covered in sweat despite the air conditioner going at full blast.

Her parents were worried that after all these years how come this has happened again? From that day, it was a frequent recurrence that Shrishti would wake up screaming in the middle of the night.

Her parents again took her to Dr. Pritam who examined her and said:

“Strangely, this has returned but don’t worry I will increase the medication this time. Also, try to keep her happy and smiling all the time.” He advised.

Her friends the next morning had come to pick her up but her parents informed them that she will not be able to go with them as she was sleeping because she could not sleep the whole night.

Priya and Mouli went to Shrishti’s room and saw her sitting on the bed with a faraway look in her eyes.

“What is the matter, girl?” Priya asked.

Shrishti did not respond.

“Hey, you have got a nice collection of books on paranormal and occult.” Mouni looked and browsed through her bookshelf.

Still, Shrishti did not respond. “Wear something nice today. I see you have a good collection of the latest fashionable, trendy clothes!” Priya exclaimed.

All of these were just attempting to get Shrishti to get up from the bed and also to respond.

“What’s wrong Shrishti, why aren’t you saying anything?” Priya asked, this time more seriously.

Shrishti looked at her friends and started crying.

Both Priya and Mouli were taken aback by this sudden outburst of crying.

They rushed and embraced Shrishti tightly.

Shrishti then told them of her experiences since childhood.

Both of them were horrified and surprised that Shrishti had kept it hidden from them for so long!

“Where is this place?”

“Who is the woman?”

“Why is she engulfed in flames and why does she seem malevolent towards you?” Priya asked in a staccato of questions.

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“I don’t have the slightest clue,” Shrishti replied in between sobs.

“I think we should postpone our plan and try to get you away from all this,” Mouli said softly.

“No………………….! All of you guys have made this plan and I will not stand in between.” Shrishti indignantly remarked.

“I will be coming along with you guys.” She added.

“But you are not well. I can see this from your expression.” Priya said in a concerned voice.

She was making this statement because Shrishti’s face had a drawn, tired, haggard look and it seemed that she had not slept for many days.

“Don’t worry I will be okay,” Shrishti assured them.

“By the way, when are planning for our visit?” She asked.

“Next week,” Mouli replied.

The current week somehow passed and despite Shrishti having those nightmares recurrently, she still was rigid in her decision to go ahead with the plan. However, this time she suddenly had a new kind of strange experience.

One night she felt the temperature of the room grow too hot. She got up from the bed and went to open the window. Here, she could suddenly see the apparition of the woman, engulfed in flames staring right at her.

Shrishti was too scared.

She did not know what to do.

The entity silently glided towards her and all of a sudden rushed to grab her.

Shrishti screamed and her parents again came rushing to her room. This time they found her near the window and crying uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong dear?” her mother asked.

“That woman is going to kill me,” Shrishti replied in between sobs and pointing outside the window.

Her father glanced outside but could not see anyone.

“Who is going to kill you?” he asked a bit concerned.

“The woman who is standing right outside the window!” Shrishti again pointed to a spot from where she could still see the entity!

Her father and mother peered more closely but again they could not see anyone.

“There is no one there maa!........” Her mother tried to console her.

“Why can’t you see that this woman is trying to kill me?” Shrishti was now enraged.

She looked back at the spot and saw the leering at her and then slowly disappearing into nothingness!

Shrishti could not take this anymore and she fell unconscious!

“Shrishti………Shrishti……… ki holo maa?” her mother exclaimed in sudden alarm.

The next morning they again took her to Dr. Pritam and recounted the whole episode. Dr. Pritam listened to them quietly and grew concerned with each passing moment.

“How come the medicines are not having any effect?” he mused.

“Did she suffer from any kind of trauma in her childhood?” He asked.

Both of Shrishti’s parents vigorously shook their heads.

“Then I have to examine her some more and also consult with others.” Dr. Pritam sighed finally.

Her parents just nodded and looked dejected.

 Anyways, the fateful day arrived when Shrishti and her friends had to visit Putul-Baari for their venture. As they neared the place, they could see crumbling blocks of tenements in its place and its residents were all of the low-income group. They were all at first apprehensive of this group led by Shrishti. When Bipin and Suryo explained the reason for their coming there, they drew back in fear.

“Don’t go up there, sahib!” One of them pleaded.

“It’s too scary and dangerous.” Another one of the locals added.

“Why are you all saying this? Have you experienced or seen anything?” Arun asked

“Yes! Sahib, we are all aware of the reputation of the place.” Another one interjected.

“Sometimes in the night, we can hear sounds of dancing, music, and loud cheering coming from above. This happens even though no one lives upstairs!” a woman interjected.

“Yes…… we also can hear sounds of people screaming and rushing here and there as if they are trapped in a fire!” An elderly resident added.

Then someone informed them that someone had tried to investigate all these strange occurrences, despite their warning had gone up one night and had never come back!

The police had gone there and just found a charred corpse!

The residents also said that these kinds of incidents have been going on for so many years now.

Once a young couple had eloped from their families and tried to take shelter upstairs, but the next morning, only the charred corpse of the wife had been found.

The husband had completely gone insane with absolute terror in his eyes.

 The police had arrested the poor fellow on charges of murdering and burning his wife and then feigning insanity!

All these stories made Priya and Mouli slink back in terror.

“How come all of you are staying here?” Arun asked.

“We have no other place to go sahib…… We are the people who nobody wants.” One resident remarked sardonically.

“We are not living… we are also dead along with spirits!” Another one quipped.

Anyways, the group made their way upstairs.

From the moment Shrishti reached the top of the stairs she had the uncanny feeling that she had been to this place before! She also felt that something or someone was watching them!

She could see as she made her way forward along with her friends that the rooms all were white; though they had aged and decayed and plasters were crumbling off the walls. Thus, giving it a yellowish colour. She could now remember that all her childhood dreams and nightmares, to be precise, were of this place only!

She had trepidatiously tried to make it to the room that she could remember from her dreams. The room was exactly the way it had looked in her dream!

The room had big ceilings and an ornate dressing table!

Even the queen-sized bed seemed to be neat and clean after so many years!

The room had no sign of any fire eating up its walls and all the furniture as Shrishti had experienced in her dreams!

All of a sudden as she turned around, Shrishti was rooted to the spot in fear!

She could see the same beautiful woman in traditional wedding clothes sitting in front of the big ornate mirror on the dressing table!

“You have come here at last!” The woman addressed Shrishti.

Shrishti could not respond as she was frozen with fear.

“I have been waiting for you for so long now……..” the woman smiled.

“Now I can have my vengeance!” She growled bursting into flames!

Meanwhile, Shrishti’s friends were all exploring the rooms and preparing for their programme. So they were oblivious to Shrishti’s absence. When all of sudden they could hear Shrishti scream!

Shrishti screamed and screamed. She could not move.

The woman seemed to glide towards her menacingly.

When Bipin and Arun rushed towards Shrishti and grabbed her just inches away from the entity’s grasp!

Shrishti screamed again pointing towards her and fainted.

A few moments later, when she regained her consciousness she frantically looked here and there.

There was an absolute fear in her eyes and she nervously darted her eyes all around the place.

“Where is she…….. Where is she?” Shrishti asked frantically.

“Where is who?” her friends asked bewildered.

“That woman……. She was here to kill me!” She responded still in shock.

“There is no one here except us.” Suryo tried to calm her down.

Shrishti could still see the woman leering at her and then faded with a final warning.

“All your friends are going to die too!” with that she disappeared.

Shrishti now wanted to get away from the place where her friends complied. Back home Shrishti was still in deep shock and was not able to respond to her concerned and alarmed parents’ questions. She started hallucinating during the daytime also that the woman was always nearby and tried to kill her!

Her parents were growing extremely worried and concerned for her. So were her friends.

Then one day, Priya who was about to retire to her bed suddenly saw a bright glow in her room. She was surprised that when there was no light switched on in her room, then how come this glow was coming, and from where was it coming? Before she could investigate, the woman from Shrishti’s dreams appeared in front of her!

Priya jumped back in alarm!

Before Priya could react or do something the woman touched Priya’s arm and Priya burst into flames!

She screamed “help…………….. help…………….. Somebody help………… please…..”

Her parents were surprised at this and went to investigate. As they reached Priya’s room they were taken aback by the smoke and fire coming from her room. Priya’s door was also locked and despite her father’s efforts, the door could not be opened.

All this while Priya kept on screaming until her voice could not be heard anymore. Her parents all this while tried desperately to get the door opened and save their daughter.

 

The next day, the police were called and they broke the door. Inside it looked like a burned-out house, all the walls and furniture were all burnt!

 Somewhere in between lay Priya’s charred corpse! The police questioned her parents and asked if she had any enemies.

 Her parents said that Priya was the sweetest girl and nobody could even think of harming her!

Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, Shrishti had been an unfortunate victim to have seen this from her house! All this had happened as Shrishti had gone to bed and in her nightmare, she had seen Priya getting burnt and killed!

The next day her friends, who had gotten the news, were in shock and alarm, had informed Shrishti of this terrible incident.

All of her friends were in deep shock and grief. Especially Mouli and Arun.

“How can anyone even think of doing something like this?” Suryo asked a question that was in everybody’s mind.

“Yes, she was the nicest person around,” Bipin added.

“This is my entire fault. I should have warned you guys. It is because of me Priya is dead!” Shrishti said in between sobs.

All of her friends looked at her confused and baffled. Then she recounted the entity’s warning in the Putul-Baari, that she would kill everyone!

Her friends were just stunned and looked at her unbelievingly.

“It’s not your fault, dear. Don’t punish yourself for this.” Mouli went over and embraced her.

“Exactly! This is not your fault……” Arun added.

Meanwhile, the police could not conduct an autopsy because of the charred condition of Priya’s body. They were also baffled that how could a fire erupt in a locked room when there were no signs of any combustible materials, nor any evidence found of any kind of foul play? This was one of those cases where the authorities cannot solve a murder and leave it as it is!

Arun, on the other hand, was determined to go to the depth of this and he started researching the paranormal and occult, as he was a strong believer in them. It was he who was a bit hesitant about the whole project, though he chose to keep quiet. He also met Shrishti’s parents and got to know about the episodes that she used to have in her childhood. He also met Dr. Pritam who gave him a complete rundown on Shrishti’s condition and treatment.

It was then Arun realized that something was not right!

He contacted through various online mediums and people the famed paranormal investigator and psychic Paramjeet Sengupta.

“Sir, I have something important to discuss with you.” He told Paramjeet.

“Okay, you can come on this coming Thursday,” Paramjeet replied.

So, on Thursday, Arun went over and met with Parmajeet, where he described the whole thing to Parmajeet.

Parmajeet patiently listened and after a few seconds, said “I want to meet Dr. Pritam.”

Arun obliged and all three of them had a lengthy discussion about Shrishti’s case. Although Dr. Pritam was a man of science still he had a healthy respect for para-psychology. Then Parmajeet met with Shrishti’s parents. Here, he came to know in detail about the whole situation from her parents. He asked for permission to meet with Shrishti which her parents readily gave.

“Hello, Shrishti…… How are you?”

“My name is Paramjeet Sengupta and I have come to meet and talk to you.

He could see as he entered her room a young girl cropped on the bed, looking hollow, tired, and with a distant look in her eyes.

Shrishti gave him a blank look and did not respond to his greeting.

“You are also going to die. All of us are going to die. I don’t want to die………………………………………..” she screamed.

Her parents immediately rushed in as they were anxiously hovering just outside her room.

“See, this is the condition of our daughter. Now, this tragedy has further shaken her to the core and she is always frightened!” Her mother said emotionally.

“Don’t worry ma’am…. I will try my best to help her.” Paramjeet assured her.

That evening Paramjeet and Arun again met and discussed how to tackle the problem. After Arun had gotten some positive assurances from Paramjeet, he went back a little relaxed to his car. As he was about to start the ignition, he could suddenly feel extremely hot inside the car!

This was despite the air conditioner!

He took a glance at his rear-view mirror.

Here he saw the same woman all engulfed in fire glaring at him!

Before he could make any sense of it, the woman touched him on the shoulder and he burst out in flames!

He could not get out of the car and kept on screaming!

People outside could not rescue him as the doors were jammed!

It was only after that the fire had died down and the fire-fighters had managed to break the doors, did Arun’s charred corpse fell to the ground!

At the same time, Shrishti was again having the same nightmarish experience of that woman coming into her dreams and tormenting her. She also said that she was going to kill all of Shrishti’s friends!

So Shrishti desperately tried to call her friends after somehow managing to get awake. She could contact all of her friends except Arun; whose phone was not reachable!

The police meanwhile were continuing with their investigation, despite no clue being found of the earlier death; were stumped at this second strange death. In both the cases, no clues were found of a killer; nor a motive could be gleaned, still, they continued with their investigations. The real obstacle was that both Priya & Arun’s bodies were so badly burnt that an autopsy could not be conducted on either of them!

When news of Arun’s sudden and gruesome death reached Shrishti’s friends, they were all devastated. As it was just days ago that they had painfully consigned to the tragic fact that Priya was no longer with them. Now this news completely turned their world upside down.

Shrishti was the worst affected. She went into a kind of shock.

“It’s my entire fault. I killed Priya and Arun. She is going to kill us all.” She kept mumbling all through the day.

Even Paramjeet was surprised. It was only the other day that Arun had met him. Now, he decided to once again meet Shrishti’s parents.

“It’s time you please tell me everything. It seems that you have been hiding something from me.” Paramjeet demanded.

At first, Shrishti’s parents vehemently denied it. But after continuous persuasion, they acceded unwillingly to Paramjeet. It was from them that Paramjeet learned that Shrishti’s great, great-grandfather was one of the patrons of Putul-Baari. It was there that he had fallen in love with one of the dancers. She was a young beautiful Bengali girl of poor background. Both of them were in love with each other. However, due to social customs and traditions, Shrishti’s great-great-grandfather could not fulfill the promise of marriage to her, and the girl, heartbroken had set herself and the whole of Putul-Baari on fire in vengeance.

While dying she cursed Shrishti’s great great grandfather and said he will also not have a normal life and she will keep on tormenting his future generations, until she can have her revenge! Shrishti’s great grandfather also died a miserable, depressed sad man. Since then it has regularly happened in the family that someone has died a mysterious death!

Paramjeet listened quietly and took his leave. That evening, he alone went to Putul-Baari!

He could feel a huge amount of negativity and sadness in Putul-Baari.

He could also see and hear the spirits of the unfortunate souls who had stumbled upon this place accidentally.

He knew what he had to do.

The next couple of days went into his preparation. Then on the third day, he again paid a visit to Shrishti. This time he made an unusual request.

“I want to take Shrishti to Putul-Baari along with me!” He said.

Shrishti recoiled in horror and started trembling.

Her parents were also taken aback.

“Don’t worry nothing will happen to her. I am there.” He reassured them.

At first, Shrishti was unwilling and too terrified to even think of going to that place when Paramjeet said “You want to get rid of this from your life, right?”

She nodded.

“Then you have to do exactly as I say. Don’t worry I will not let anyone or anything harm you.” He encouraged her.

As soon as Shrishti reached the place she could suddenly hear strange screeching laughter and someone says:

“At last, my time has come. Now I can have my revenge!” Shrishti recoiled in terror.

“Show yourself your vile spirit!” Paramjeet commanded.

The entity just screeched and there were instant fireballs all over the place!

Then Paramjeet started chanting some sacred mantras and sprinkling Holy water all over the place. The spirit growled in anger and showed itself in the form of the same woman who was tormenting Shrishti!

“Why are you helping her?” She asked Paramjeet.

“Don’t you know what her family has done?” She continued.

“I know but she has nothing to with it. She is innocent.” Paramjeet replied.

“Innocent!”

“If she is innocent then I am right in taking my revenge!” the woman countered.

The entity tried to move in the direction of Shrishti who was trembling with fear.

 But this time Paramjeet knew that if he did not act fast it might be too late! So he started reciting the holy mantras and sprinkling holy water on the spirit.

At first, the spirit recoiled at this sudden divine onslaught!

Then it tried to resist but could not do much.

At last, the spirit of the vengeful woman screamed and disappeared into nothingness.

All the fires also died down.

“Now everything is alright. She will never trouble you again.”Paramjeet assured Shrishti.

Shrishti felt tremendously relieved. It felt like someone had released her from a dark, dank place; where she had been incarcerated for a long time!

She profusely thanked Paramjeet on her way back and so did her parents.

“It’s nothing. I am just a medium. It is all the Supreme One’s command and desires that I try to help people.” He said with the utmost humility and modesty.

With that, he took their leave and waited for the next case.