A friend of mine always looks under the bed and checks whether someone is hiding there before he goes to sleep.
He is a God fearing guy, not at all superstitious, but he still has his doubts about the paranormal. My friend is not alone in his beliefs --- the majority of us are unclear about ghosts, spirits and so on. Even though the city has grown tremendously and the new generation is more urbane in their outlook as well as thinking, a lot of our perceptions about the unexplained after-life remain the same. I will call it the ‘unseen underground.’
So it was not that shocking when a guy in his early twenties told me about his increasing belief in ghosts after two incidents based on two buildings in the city. The first is an unfinished high rise situated near a prominent city junction where no worker is willing to work because they say it is haunted. The ghost in the building pulls the legs of workers who try sleep in the building at night.
According to locals, the plot on which the building is being built was an old cemetery and people see some kind of connection with this for the troubles that are being experienced today.
The second tale is about a shopping complex near a very well known college. Years ago, this building was a hangout for youngsters and became a hotspot for well-known brands that opened their outlets here. Everything was fine till the shops started to experience falling sales. Now most shops are closed. It’s the same story except that it’s told in hushed voices that the building was constructed on a plot which was previously a burial ground.
A story I heard recently involves a gruesome death. This is connected to a temple and an adjoining traditional smaller shrine in which snakes are worshipped. It’s believed locally that no one can build a structure that is planned to be taller than the temple. Till now this was just a belief. But someone tried to do the forbidden, he died of snake bites.
So was it a curse or just a twist of fate? We may never discover which one. But then that’s how it is. That’s how the mystery sustains. Without the ambiguity the stories are not exciting enough. They simply are just that --- stories.
The writer is a drummer with Kochi-based band Kaav
