The Invisible Anklets

“ chum, chum ...chum, chum” the sound of anklet bells could be heard distinctly. I opened my eyes to see the alarm clock on my bedside showing half past midnight. I thought may be it was my imagination playing tricks , the after effect of a horror story which I read in a off beat magazine bought few days back. An eerie silence followed. I wrapped my comforter more closely , shut my eyes tight and tried to sleep.

“ Hello, good morning. Time to wake up and get ready”, came the polite instructions from my roommate Asha, who was a regional language teacher and I taught science . Both of us had joined the present school very recently .

We both shared a two room house, with a kitchen as well as an unkempt garden. The house had a tin roof which leaked in several places. In my room I had put pans in strategic locations to harvest rain water. There were also few creepers which adorned the moist walls. I would joke that we had one of the seven wonders in our room “ The Hanging Garden of Babylon”

I never imagined the school would be located in such a remote corner, far away from civilisation. We were told that school was located in a temporary site vacated by a power project employees,  in a year or two the school would be be shifted to its permanent site where right now construction work was in full swing.There were around three hundred students and forty staff. The students were local tribes from nearby villages. Most of the teachers were from city or small towns. 

I fell in love with the place in spite of the old tin roof houses, military bunkers for hostels and makeshift class rooms. There were dense trees, plenty of birds and wild flowers. There was a spring flowing from the nearby hill. Everything looked so romantic during the day time.

But in the night the scene changed so drastically. It was like a scene from spooky movie. Asha my room mate would never venture alone. We always went in groups to the dining hall which was about one furlong from our residence.

Invariably it rained every night. We carried our umbrella. We often saw specks of orange colour moving in the nearby hills. Some guessed that pack of jackals moved during night and their fiery eyes shone in the dark night. But the other story was the tribals buried their dead on the hill top, so those orange specks could be the eyes of restless souls moving around the hills. Mr. Daniel Rodriguez, the literature teacher advised us to hold on to the steel handle of the umbrella which he believed was the Cross to evade any evil spirits.My colleague Asha used to hold the handle so tight that her knuckles appeared white as if blood had frozen.

 The Students had no fear whatsoever. They were used to moving in dark, hunt for wild berries , roots and mushrooms in the forest. Witch craft, black magic was very much prevalent among their tribes.

After dinner we would be back to our room. Asha had this habit of checking every door and window and ensured everything was secured. She would stuff a towel or thick cloth under the front door to prevent night visitors like snakes or scorpions which were common in this place. I had no such phobias and was always amused about the precautions taken by my roommate.

On Sunday we decided to make our garden look better. We took the help of our old gardener Chandu to assist us. I bought few saplings of marigolds, pink petunias, and a variety of chrysanthemums. I instructed the gardener to make neat beds for the plants. He cleared the wild grass and weeds and turned the soil upside down. Asha and I started picking up stones and other rubble from the soil. I found a hard piece, thought it was a stone and showed it to Asha.

The peculiar stone was washed. A horrible shriek followed. The stone turned out to be a half jaw bone with two teeth still intact. Before we could investigate the jaw bone whether it belonged to a human or animal, Asha threw it with all her strength in a nearby bush. 

I looked at Chandu , our gardener. He spoke “ What would you find in a graveyard? People constructed houses without even bothering to respect departed souls!” I was defensive. “How do you know this land was once a graveyard?” I challenged him.

“ Well ! My ancestors believed and as little boys we were not even allowed to venture or play here.One of our friends disappeared while playing  ,never to be seen again”, he said smugly. I didn’t want him to continue with his horror stories. I simply gestured him to finish his work. A little distance away , Asha shivered like a leaf with her eyes darting here and there like a snake tongue as if looking for the lost boy. That night she refused to go to the dining hall along the spooky path. We requested one of the teachers to send the dinner to our room.

Asha instructed me not to close my bedroom door. I heard her chanting the names of all the deities till I fell asleep. 

It was almost midnight, again I heard the sound of the anklets with additional rustling sound of a cloth as if someone was moving fast. Initially I ignored but the sound continued. I lifted my head slightly from the pillow to look at my roommate from the open door. Asha was snoring gloriously, adding whistling tune to already eerie noises. I pulled my comforter over my head and shut my eyes tight. The sounds continued. 

I wondered why all apparitions only choose midnights for their ghostly activities. They disturb our night rest and comfortably sleep in their graves at day time.

Next day , in spite of myself I disclosed the ghostly rendezvous to Asha. She immediately called our colleague Joshi ji , who taught Hindi to students, a Sanskrit scholar and considered to be a pious person. 

Mr.Joshi heard all our ghost experience and suggested us that we should bring a picture of ‘Hanuman ‘ deity and organise prayer meetings every Saturday. He was confident that the restless souls in and around our house would leave soon.

We both left for the nearby little town. Fortunately we got our deity made in beautiful German silver, shining from head to foot. We also bought two dozen bananas, incense sticks, earthen lamps and garlands of marigold. 

We invited all our colleagues to attend the prayer meeting at our house. All attended the meeting with utmost sincerity. As per the custom, each one brought offering to the the deity like fruits, sweets, flowers, coconut , camphor and earthen lamps. 

Joshi ji initiated the meeting. He brought his harmonium, some one bought a pair of cymbals and dholak(Indian drum) and we all started singing prayers to appease the gods to protect us from the ghosts. The prayer was followed by eating the offerings “Prasad” with great relish. Everyone thanked us for the evening and we both were also happy to host the congregation.

It was already eleven o’clock. We were tired and moved to our respective rooms. 

 But past midnight , the sound of anklets started disturbing me. Again I buried myself in my comforter. When sleep overtook , I had no clue. 

“ Wake up! Wake up! Shaking my shoulder, Asha sounded excited. I opened my heavy eyelids and looked at her. She pointed at my window. I dragged myself to see what the excitement was about. 

The marigold, petunias were in blossom and the chrysanthemums were on the way. The garden looked beautiful.

I congratulated Asha. She in turn said , “ This is all because of our prayer meeting. The horrible ghosts have left our garden and would not dare to disturb us”. I was very happy for my colleague but didn’t disclose the night incident to her and spoil the happiness.

The Saturday meetings continued. People were willing to sacrifice their television sops , mobile phones and useless chitchat on Saturday evenings. And the gathering was a relief from the routine and to bind people in spiritual activities to keep the spirits at bay.

 But I continued to suffer every midnight with the sound of the invisible anklets. Frequently I also saw shadows dancing behind the window curtain. I decided to have a showdown with this stubborn ghost. I was no more afraid after attending the prayer meetings and the reassurance from Joshi ji that ghost don’t hold a chance wherever the “Hanuman” deity is worshiped.

On the following Saturday, at midnight the sound of anklets was at a high pitch . The shadows behind the curtain looked menacing and I could hear howling sound of the wind too. 

I picked up my flashlight, a kitchen knife and few flowers offered to the deity that evening. I silently opened the door and stepped out. The wind was blowing at a good speed and outside the sound of anklets was more distinct. My heart raced so fast that I could hear the ‘ lub dub, lub dub’ and In spite of the chill weather I started sweating. 

I cautiously followed the anklets sound which took me  to the backyard , near a wild berry tree. Now the sound of anklets was more intense as if the spooky creature didn’t like my presence. With shaky hands, I tried to switch on my flashlight and focused on the tree. 

I noticed the branches had spread far and wide to form a canopy and end of the branch there was bunch of dried brown berries.Suddenly the wind blew so hard and at the same time the “chum , chum”sound was in its crescendo as the berries laden branches hit the tin roof. I realised who the ghost was and the dancing shadows. I laughed at my stupidity but let out a loud shriek when a cat landed on my shoulder from the tree. I ran straight to the front door.

Though my heart was racing, I was happy to discover the mystery of the anklet feet. I flopped in the bed but kicked the comforter in a corner. I decided to disclose the secret of the invisible ghost in the morning. 

“ Good morning dear teacher, it’s Saturday . Time to make arrangements for the evening prayer meeting. Many more members are joining our group. The atheist Mr. D.P , our sports teacher is coming too”, said Asha almost chirruping like a sparrow.

The golden marigolds , the pink petunias and the peaceful white chrysanthemums in our little garden were in full bloom. The wild berries seemed to be taking rest in the still wind after dancing the whole night. I went around the backyard ,hugged my ghost tree and whispered I was ready to enjoy the invisible anklets and never to disclose our secret pact to the Saturday congregation.