The Sinister Night

When my mother's family moved to their ancestral house after grandfather got transferred to another state, my mother was twelve years old. My mother's ancestral house was in a small and remote village in West Bengal. My grandfather came with my grandmother, my mother and my uncle who was just a toddler back then and left his family in his ancestral house with a few belongings and enough money. My mother's grandmother was still alive and she heartily welcomed her grandchildren and daughter-in-law. My mother's grandmother was a very pious lady who always spent her days in pujas and fasts. The house was a traditional courtyard style one. The main door faced the suite of three rooms with the kitchen and bathroom on the far corner of the courtyard. One could see the bathroom and the kitchen from the bedroom. It was in May. A strange fever appeared in the village. The people who were down with this fever died within two or three days. People began to die in large numbers. The symptoms that appeared were headache and high fever, but before any medications, the patient died. Some even had hallucinations at times and shrieked in fear. Hospitals and medical help were far-flung there during those days. There was only one physician in the village at that time. Even he could not diagnose the cause of the fever. The unknown epidemic rang the death knell for the entire village. Fear grasped everyone. The priests said that this fever was the cause of the goddess Kali's wrath upon them and the only way they could be saved was by conducting sacrificial offerings to the goddess. The day for the ceremonial worship arrived. A fearful idol of Kali was sculpted, the temple was decorated and a large number of people started coming in crowds from the morning. Almost every family in the village brought goats and buffaloes for sacrifice to please the goddess. At about midnight, the puja began with chants, aarti and loud beats of the drums. The whole village had gathered there. My mother's grandmother too went, while my mother and grandmother stayed back indoors. My mother and uncle were too small to view the animal sacrifices. My grandmother after putting her children to sleep was sitting in the bedroom, listening to the radio, waiting for her mother-in-law's arrival. She might have dozed off for a while when suddenly the radio started making these weird frequency tuning noises and stopped working altogether suddenly. Other than a hurricane lantern that was glowing in their bedroom and one oil lamp in the courtyard, there was no other light source in the vicinity. It was the hot month of May, and yet, the temperature was quite chilling. Thinking that the batteries of the radio might have died, she decided to go to the storeroom by the kitchen to fetch some spare batteries. The moment she opened the bedroom door, what she saw sent chills down to her spine. She saw a four-legged entity trying to climb down from the terracotta tile on the roof (prevalent in old houses). The creature's shadow flickered in the lamp's light. It was not the size of a house cat or fishing cat but much larger. It seemed to effortlessly glide and descend along the tiled-roof without making any sound. The enormous belly and long scaly tail of the creature outlined against the lamp's light. The fearful sight of the entity could have caused anyone to faint. But she was courageous. She went into her room and brought the hurricane lamp. As soon as she held the lantern before the courtyard space, she found nothing. The dark entity had vanished. My grandmother thought it must be her fantasy and so went inside her room to keep the lantern. And then, when she returned to close the door, she was scared to death. The creature was within a yard of her. Frightened out of wits, she shut the door and bolted it from inside. She hurriedly closed all the windows in the bedroom and began chanting prayers. The door was continuously being banged with considerable force from outside as if the creature was clawing against it. My mother and uncle had woken from their sleep and were curious about the strange sound at the door. But my grandmother did not tell them anything, lest it might frighten them. She just clasped her children against herself and recited the Mahakali mantra throughout the night. A considerable time had passed like this when finally, the sound of temple bells and drums were heard faintly.

This meant that the yagna and sacrifices got over and the puja came to an end. At this, my grandmother got back her courage. My mother's grandmother returned after a while. And when my grandmother went to open the door for her, the entity had vanished. Everything was as normal as before. My grandmother and her mother-in-law had different stories to tell each other. My mother's grandmother started first, "The puja was a miraculous one. As soon as the yagna started, strong winds started blowing in from all directions, as if to extinguish the holy fire. The pundit poured ghees and put woods to feed the flames.

The sinister forces were trying to disrupt the puja proceedings. I could feel it in my bones, bahu. Yet, the puja did not stop." My grandmother had been exhausted by tonight's events, burst out crying. My mother and uncle, frightened, ran towards their grandma. My grandmother narrated whatever she had experienced during the night. Both of them understood that the night had been a sinister one. The very next morning, my mother conducted a puja in the house for the well-being of the family. The priest placed two Trishuls of Maa Kali before the doorway, crossing each other and purged the house of all evil forces. And miraculously, after the puja, everyone in the village healed from the unknown fever.