The Banyan Tree

My legs were frozen and could not move in front of that haunted banyan tree in the jungle/ forest.

This story is a real haunted memory of my childhood when I was 17 years old and I was living in a town of Varanasi far away from that Varanasi ghat.

I was living with my parents and grand parents. I had many school friends who used to spend time at my home till dinner and then they go to their home so I never felt lack of siblings.

My mom called me, Tanmay beta....

I went, she handed me the lunch box for grandpa who was farming in rice fields at the time of harvesting with few workers. I went with his tiffin, while going there is a forest in between our home and the rice fields but the strange thing is a tree of Banyaan which is spread too long and shades spreading. Villagers have tied red clothes and some sindoor tika on that tree. Many stories are famous about that tree and villagers believe that there is a ghost on that tree, so if you cross the forest without salutation to that tree, you will be killed. I thought that this is a myth but later I too started believing. My friends in school were talking about ghost sounds at night and they told that when dead bodies are burnt at ghat they turn into ghosts and stay for longer on this tree until they don't get moksh.

In the evening during Purnima, my grandma and grandpa were in rice fields, for taking care of them I went and then weather changed into cyclone. They asked me to go home and sent me with a worker whose house was near a forest so he went, now I was alone Crossing the jungle and near that tree, then cyclone got too horrible, leaves were covering and flying all around. It was a bit dark so I couldn't see because of dust, leaves in the air and also it was darkly surrounded. I stuck on the root of that tree, fell down and I saw that tree branches were filled with hanging dead body. In front of my head, I saw a dead lady who tied a baby to her waist And both of them were crying blood.

That Lady was shouting just run away.... Run away. Somehow with trouble, I escaped. When I reached my home I was looking like everything had changed, no one was in my home then I saw a letter and I saw that dead lady again with her child, she smiled and said now I can go peacefully and said take care my child.

When I read that letter it was shocking to know that my family, mom, dad, and big brother was killed in a storm and that time I was too small and with my grandparents who were not at home and that why I and my grandparents survived.

In actual my grandparents never came home after that incident and they told me that I never gave them tiffin and it was around 10 years to passing away of my family. For me, I was shocked. I told my grandma about that haunted incident that happened to me, she told me that she was your mother with your elder brother. She was starving for moksh and peace and I think now she got that.

Today I'm 21 years old, my grandparents also passed away, but still I am happy, I daily go to that tree, talk to my parents and feel their presence.