A midnight walk to remember

“Look, mom!” Anita hears her daughter’s voice from the bedroom. Sarika appears with a ball of hair in her hand. “I applied the flax seed gel like you said. Still hair fall continues,” she complains.

“External application does not solve internal problems,” Anita simply says, as she continues to fold the clothes.

“Profound. Let me write that down,” Sarika says as she plops on the bed.

“No need to be sarcastic. You need to eat flax seeds to get the required micronutrients. I will make the flax seed chutney powder,” Anita heads to the kitchen after folding the last towel, promptly followed by Sarika.

 Rhea and Nisha are coming for dinner today, Sarika reminds as she fills up her huge water bottle.

“Don’t worry. I know your friends’ favorite dishes. I have planned accordingly,” Anita reassures, while checking the salt in the curry.

Rhea and Nisha come together in the evening. As they hug Anita, Rhea says, “We are meeting after such a long time.” Anita makes them promise that won’t happen again; they shouldn’t let so much time pass between meetings.

As they sit and catch up, Nisha switches on the television. There is a show about ghosts. “They make it seem so real,” says Rhea.

“One of my friends actually saw ghost,” says Nisha. Rhea immediately turns to look at her and says, “There are no ghosts. People grow up listening to ghost stories. When you are alone in the dark, fear makes you see things.”

“For example, my mother. She won’t go out after twelve,” Sarika chips in, teasing her mother.

“Because of men? I have to agree; they are worse than ghosts,” Nisha says with a laugh.

“That too. But I also read a story when I was still in school. A woman goes out a little after twelve. She was possessed by a ghost. After that her behavior changed drastically. The descriptions were so vivid, it scared the life out of me,’” recalls Anita.

“Only way to conquer fear is to face it,” says Rhea.

Nisha agrees with her. She advises Sarika to take her mother for midnight walks. “This is a gated community, so it is safe to go for midnight walks. Do it every day. It will help her to overcome her fear,” says Nisha.

“Done! Mom, our midnight walks start today,” Sarika jumps out of the sofa and tells her mother.

“It’s still 9 PM, my dear. Still afraid of clocks?” Anita teases. She goes onto a narrate a story of how as a one-year-old, Sarika would cry whenever someone pointed at a clock.

***

The three friends gather in Sarika’s room after dinner. Anita sat in front of her computer and watched a movie. It was way past eleven when they came to say good bye to Anita.

“It is late. Stay here today. You can leave tomorrow morning,” Anita tells them. But they have plans in the morning so insist on leaving.

After they leave, Sarika suggests they go for a walk. Anita refused saying it is nearing 12 and they should be at home before 12. “There are people around. Let us walk for some time. Just once, please,” Sarika urges her. Anita finally agrees.

As the walk, Sarika asks, “You know ghosts don’t exist. Do you really believe in ghosts?”. Anita considers this question for some time. ‘‘If you think logically, they don’t exist. But fear knows no logic,” she says.

“Why would anyone want to come back to this world after death? Death is a good escape,” Sarika asks. “What if they don’t have a choice? Maybe criminals would like to come back. They would like to continue torturing people,” says Anita.

After 15 minutes, Anita insists they return home.

At home, Sarika rushes to her mother’s bedroom. “Oh, mom, I am suddenly feeling cold. There must be a ghost around. It is after 12 after all,” she pretends to shiver.

“Don’t tease me now. It is so hot here. I am sweating,” says Anita.

“Maybe it is a new species of ghosts. Makes one sweat,’ says Sarika. Anita laughs. “Enough of jokes now. Go catch some sleep. It is late,” she tells her daughter.

Next morning, Sarika was still sleeping at 10:30. Anita goes to her room.

“Sarika, get up, child.”

“Let me sleep, Mom. It is Sunday.”

Anita draws the curtain and light fills the room. Unable to sleep any more, Sarika gets up and looks at her mother and suddenly gasps. “Mom, what happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look possessed. You should not have gone out yesterday after 12.”

Anitha is worried now. She goes to look in the mirror. Sarika bursts into laughter. “Wicked girl. Always pulling my leg. Now get up and get ready,” says Anita. Sarika hugs her. “You are perfectly fine. There is no harm in going out after midnight, do you get it now? We will go for a midnight walk every night. In a few days, you will get over your fear,” says Sarika.

***

Next day, after Sarika left for work, Anita calls her mother. Her mother lives in the village with her brother. As they share news, her mother remembers something. “Do you remember Shalini?”, she asks.

“Yes, why?”, asks Anita.

“She is possessed by a ghost. She says something comes and bites her. There are bite marks on her body”, says her mother. Anita is worried. “It is not ghost. She might be going through something. This seems like a mental health issue. Please tell her family to take her to a doctor”, says Anita. “Then how do you explain the bite marks?”, asks her mother.

“I don’t know but she needs a doctor,” says Anita.

Anita wonders whatever happened to the school-going kid. She looked fine when Anita met her two years ago. She wonders how such a young girl can have mental health issues.

After Sarika returns, Anita tells her the story. Sarika looks worried. “Mom, I remember reading a girl who assumed to be possessed by a ghost. She keeps hurting herself. Later it is revealed that she was going through sexual abuse. I hope it’s not that.”

Now, both sit in silence.

Sarika breaks it after a few minutes and jumps up, “Wait, let me talk to Ramona. She is a therapist after all,’ she says. After 20 minutes of discussions with Rhea’s sister, Ramona, she joins her mother in the living room.

“She thinks this is a serious matter and she could be going through abuse. She can’t diagnose her like this, but she can’t rule out sexual abuse. Sometimes when people don’t know how to say it, they express through different ways, even a ghost story. Ramona has dealt with some similar cases,” Sarika tells her mother.

As she finishes, her face is a mixture of anger, disgust, and sadness. She had known Shalini since she was a baby. “How can we help?,” she asks. Just then,

Sarika’s phone suddenly lights up. “I had asked her for the contact number of someone near the area who can help. She sent me a therapist’s number. Her name is Lalitha. Let me talk to her,” she says.

Sarika calls Lalitha and talks to her. “Mom, Lalitha has agreed to accompany you to the village to meet Shalini.”

Anita immediately starts planning the trip. Later that night as she finishes packing, she asks, “It will be some time before I come back. Will you manage?”

“Don’t worry, mom. I will manage just fine,” Sarika assures her mother.

Anita travels to her village with Lalitha. Her mother is pleased to see her. Anita introduces Lalitha to her brother Vikas, sister-in-law Seema and their two children. Seema is intrigued by Lalitha’s work. After breakfast, she sits with Lalitha and chats. Anita’s mother takes her to another room. She is apprehensive. She asks Anita if it is right to interfere in the family matters of others. Anita argues that such attitude is helping abusers to get away. “Shalini needs help. If it is abuse, we can’t be mute spectators,” she tells her mother.

Anita takes Lalitha to meet Shalini. She is sad to see how much Shalini has changed. It is gut-wrenching to see the fear in her eyes. She refuses to talk to Lalitha. Lalitha has the experience of handling many such cases. She tells Anita that it will be some time before Shalini trusts her.

"There is no hurry, you can stay in my house,” says Anita.

Over the next week, Lalitha slowly gains the confidence of the girl. The more she talks to Lalitha, the less bite marks appear on her body. After two weeks, Shalini tells Lalitha about something that happened two months ago when her parents had left her alone with her uncle when they went for a wedding. “Her uncle sexually abused her. The ghost story was the outcome of her trauma,”

Lalitha explains the situation to her family and recommends that they visit a psychiatrist to treat her. Anita asks if Shalini will be okay. “It is a slow process, but with the right treatment, she could be better,” Lalitha says. Anita is grateful for her help. She thanks Lalitha profusely.

***

Just by the way the doorbell rings, Sarika knows who it is. “Mom, you are back!” Sarika happily says. After a long hug, Anita collapses on the sofa. Sarika sits beside her and demands to know everything.

Anita explains everything in detail. “As you guessed, it was sexual abuse. Lalitha handled it very well. I will call Ramona tomorrow and thank her for the help.”

Later that day, Anita comes to her daughter and says, “This made me think about my fears. You are right. There are no ghosts. I can’t believe I gave so much power to a story over my mind. Now I see the real story. A woman goes out after midnight, was assaulted and the trauma changes her behavior and people say she is possessed by the ghost. Do you think that is what actually happened?”

“Maybe, mom. It is just a story.”

“You are young but still you understand these matters. Why don’t I? I have been so stupid all these years.”

Sarika hugs her mother and says, “Mom, you are not stupid. You grew up in a society that didn’t understand mental health and attributed everything to ghosts. You grew up hearing ghost stories and believed that. It is not your fault. I am happy that you finally understood and has left behind your fear.”

Anita looked at the time. 11.40 PM. “Come, Sarika. Let us go for our midnight walk.” Sarika smiled and followed her with a twinkle in her eyes.

END