Topic by Venkat
What do you think of Paranormal? Do you have any personal experience of yours or anyone close to you to share in this regard?
Let us talk Ghosts!
At first, it is completely irrational.
I personally have no experience whatsoever of anything paranormal. To the extent I know most of us don’t. So, why do we even talk about this? But year after year we have flocked to movies churned out by Hollywood and Indian Cinema, getting our thrills from paranormal genre. So, there is a deep seated interest. So, why not discuss here?
Even in this scientific age in India (in TN), we attribute schizophrenia and other mental conditions to “possessions”. The exorcists, mostly charlatans make good business out of it. Then there are other delusions, such as “saamiyaadi”. These are easily understandable and so are summarily dismissed.
In my childhood I was able to dismiss some stories easily. My grandmother’s stories for instance. For her, the ghosts were a child play. A distant relative in the village committed suicide leaving a young child, husband, mother-in-law and extended family. My grandmother who is known for her toughness (father’s mother who was a great influence in my life) went to stay with them. In the village they called my grandma Indira Gandhi! When she came back she would tell so many stories! The foodstuff they put for sun drying in the back yard would lift (along with the mat) and fly in the air and land intact in another place. The heavy lids on the rice storage bin would lift by itself, the broom will never in the place where it is kept and so on. Then she managed to stop all this!! One day, my grandma was so frustrated that she yelled at “it” (??) saying “enough is enough, she would no longer tolerate and would not hesitate to give “it” a few blows with her slippers”. And then “it” ran away! I laughed, but never believed!
Yet, there are so many stories I have heard from people of all age groups and educational status that it would be hard to dismiss these as mere fabrications.
Such as my schoolmate (now a Prof at Annamalai), who whilst on an official tour ended up in haunted hotel room! Horrified was not the word to describe his experience. Later the Hotel admitted there was a murder suicide just weeks ago in that room!
Some of the experiences have been unique and these people did not seem to have another experience of paranormal nature. For instance, this is an experience my father told me. This is an encounter he had in his mid thirties. In his Govt service, he was traveling back late night in a Jeep along with the driver. In the deserted road, he saw an apparition at a distance and asked the driver to slow down. The driver seemed inattentive. As they got closer, apparently it was a woman crossing the road. He once again alerted the driver who simply pressed on and they drove through that apparition! The driver would tell him later, that this apparition is known to regular drivers on that route. Whoever stopped, suffered! My father had no other experience of this nature. Even after this, when I (in my childhood) asked my father if he believed in Ghosts and he would say No.
Responses
Velayuthan
"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."
This was supposed to be the world shortest horror story!
We generally grow up fearing the dark spaces and any death in the known circle heightens the fear for time being.
Even though we overcome this fear as we age, still some freaky situations brings out the fear in us.
This happened to me when I shifted to RAK where I lived alone for couple of months on my floor which had 9 empty flats.
The whole building there were hardly 3-4 occupants. .As the power supply was by DG, some outages will be there and once I got caught in the middle one such outage as I stepped out of the lift. Just managed to reach my door to find that I left the house key in the car itself. With no alternative left I had to use the staircase like a blind person to reach the ground floor.
As I exited the staircase I bumped into someone and uncontrollably I let out a shriek. Luckily it was our watchman who was trying to switch on the emergency power back up. It took me few minutes to calm myself and reach my flat safely after getting the house key.
But I strongly believe that fear is a mind thing and can be easily overcome by staying positive.
RAK also famously houses a ghost house where they say that children are seen in the windows calling out for someone in the nights!!
Venkat
FIVE SHORT STORIES
1
I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again.
2
The last thing I saw was my alarm clock flashing 12:07 before she pushed her long rotting nails through my chest, her other hand muffling my screams. I sat bolt upright, relieved it was only a dream, but as I saw my alarm clock read 12:06, I heard my closet door creak open.
3
In all of the time that I've lived alone in this house, I swear to God I've closed more doors than I've opened.
4
A girl heard her mom yell her name from downstairs, so she got up and started to head down. As she got to the stairs, her mom pulled her into her room and said "I heard that, too."
5
I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, "Daddy, check for monsters under my bed." I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, "Daddy, there's somebody on my bed."
Devanand
When I was newly married there nights when my wife would scream in the middle of the nights saying she could see some vague creatures by the side. Once or twice she screamed on seeing me and claimed that I looked like ghost with blood sucking teeth. She claimed that she had similar incidents for many years. After few incidents I realized it is more to do with her eye sight as she sleeps without her spectacles. Once or twice when she woke up and wore her spectacles immediately she realized it was true and from seeing paranormal characters she became confident and normal.
I wanted to highlight this issue turned things into normal because of my sheer belief that there is no paranormal beings.
Sumathi
Getting Rid of Ghosts
For years, Hitoshi tried in vain to awaken the love of the woman he believed to be the love of his life.
But fate is ironic: on the very day that she finally accepted him as her future husband, she learned that she had an incurable disease and would not live for very much longer.
Six months later, when she was about to die, she said to him:
‘Promise me one thing: never fall in love with anyone else. If you do, I will come every night to haunt you.’
And then she closed her eyes for ever. For many months, Hitoshi avoided other women, but fate continued to be ironic, and he discovered a new love. When he was preparing to remarry, the ghost of his ex-beloved kept her promise and appeared to him.
‘You are betraying me,’ the ghost said.
‘For years, I offered you my heart and you rejected me,’ replied Hitoshi. ‘Don’t you think I deserve a second chance of happiness?’
But the ghost of his ex-beloved was not interested in excuses and came every night to frighten him. It described in detail what had happened during the day, the words of love that he had spoken to his fiancée.Hitoshi could no longer sleep and so he went to consult the Zen master Basho.
‘It’s certainly a very intelligent ghost,’ said Basho.
‘It knows everything down to the last detail! And now it’s ruining my life because I can’t sleep .’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll get rid of the ghost,’ said Basho.
That night, when the ghost returned, Hitoshi spoke first, before the ghost could say a word.
‘You’re such a clever ghost, I’d like to make a deal with you. Since you watch me all the time, I’m going to ask you about something I did today. If you answer correctly, I will give up my fiancée and never take another wife. If you answer wrongly, you must promise never to appear again, or else be condemned by the gods to wander for ever in the darkness.’
‘Agreed,’ replied the ghost confidently.
‘This afternoon, when I was in the grocer’s shop, at one point, I picked up a handful of grain from a sack.’
‘Yes, I saw you,’ said the ghost.
‘My question is the following: how many grains of wheat did I have in my hand?’
The ghost realised that it would never be able to answer that question and, in order to avoid being pursued by the gods into eternal darkness, it decided to disappear for ever.
Two days later, Hitoshi went to Basho’s house.
‘I came to thank you.’
‘Be sure to learn the lessons your experience has taught you,’ said Basho. ‘First: the spirit kept coming back because you were afraid. If you want to rid yourself of a curse, simply ignore it. Second: the ghost took advantage of your feelings of guilt. Whenever we feel guilty, we always unconsciously long to be punished. And finally, no one who truly loved you, would force you to make such a promise. If you want to understand love, first learn about freedom.’
Venkat
‘It’s certainly a very intelligent ghost,’ said Basho
That was the best line in the story. Sumathi
By the way, the stories seem to have become all the deeper and in that sense challenging us with our current understanding of the life (ghosts, women whatever).
But is the moral (another) of the story – clever tackling of woman (I mean the ghost) is about quantitative comprehension?
Surya
Three things stand out for me on revisiting this story placed in front of a Jeffrey Archer short story collection:
- that death is female (Kali vs Yama)
- the story is in first person - with death speaking
- and is revealed midway in the tale in a twist
Quite remarkable ...
Sri Krishnan
It is one of the classic 'short stories', I just love it.. Have read it many, many times.
Bharani
Do I believe in paranormal?
Yes I do. Paranormal activities are depicted in all cultures/ religions and science fiction stories as well. Similar to Venkat's narration of schizophrenic episodes of an elderly person, I too have heard of an 80 year old woman in our street in CBE, who used to have spells of schizophrenia. One night she got up at 1.30 am, climbed on a high stool, unlocked the doors, and tried to run down the steps claiming that her brother (who hadn't spoken to her for ages) was calling her. Three of her grandsons, in teens and early 20's tried to stop her, but she pushed them down and headed out for the gate. Agreed that it was her mental illness that caused her to behave that way; but for an old lady of her age with severe arthritis to display so much violence and strength in the middle of the night - that points in the paranormal direction.
Are paranormal activities always filled with horror? Or are there happy ones too?
Usually paranormal activities may be a result of unfinished agendas. I do see quite a few stories online that have happy endings. Such stories make me feel a lot more comfortable too.
Venkat
This was sixth semester one late evening after dinner when around 20 people converged on a room in the A block. We had an Ouija board in the middle. Drawn on a large cardboard if I remember right. The guys were all strewn around the room. Some on the cot, some sitting on the table, and a few on the floor.
For the Planchette, we didn’t use the bottle cap (as in Kanchana’s case), but used a 25 paise coin instead.
This was planned and we waited until it was 11.30 p.m.
The lights were turned off and one single candle was lit in the middle.
Two of the guys kept their index fingers slightly on the coin.
There was pin drop silence in the room. And then we called the spirit.
We asked HER various questions!
We asked if she really committed suicide… the coin would fly, so fast… to NO.
Then we asked if she was murdered. The coin flies to YES. The two boys would tell us later… far from they pushing the coin, they found it difficult to keep pace with the coin. They vouched it was like a trance.
Then we asked the spirit who did it. The coin would move fast but precise…
B
A
L
U
M
A
H
E
N
D
R
A
Yes, we had invited the ghost of Shoba the actress!! It was the time when her husband Balu Mahendra was being arrested on suspicion on a case that was opened years later after she allegedly committed suicide.
Most of us were left with Goosebumps. We wanted to close the session. Some guys went on asking questions. One good friend asked if he would ever get the classmate girl he was crazy about… the spirit would say, no, this girl is already kind of fixed for another. Of course, to arrive at this response we needed some 4 questions and corresponding answeres.
Another friend who was too thin asked if he would become stout. The spirit said yes.
Finally, one guy asked something regarding the exams.
The coin moves hither thither as if confused and finally moves to “T I R E D”
We let her GO!
Susee
I distinctly remember this - I was one of them who volunteered to place my finger on the coin. But I'm not sure that there were only two of us. I thought there were 4. Anyway, that was really spooky! Because I knew that I didn't control the movement of the coin. But I can only speak for myself! Would never know what the other guys did.
Here is my take. Almost all of us knew that BaluMahendra was the key suspect. Assuming that everyone was sincerely 'letting the coin move' on its own, could it be that sub-consciously we were all guided towards his name through Self-fulfilled prophecy?
Venkat
Great you remember it! Was it four people who placed hands? All I remember is the coin was simply racing!
Yes, some of us (including me) argued it was subconscious guiding. We even spoke of Thoughtwaves of all of us sitting around actually having a physical impact on the small coin. Some call it ideometer effect.
It was great fun though!
What do you think of Paranormal? Do you have any personal experience of yours or anyone close to you to share in this regard?
Let us talk Ghosts!
At first, it is completely irrational.
I personally have no experience whatsoever of anything paranormal. To the extent I know most of us don’t. So, why do we even talk about this? But year after year we have flocked to movies churned out by Hollywood and Indian Cinema, getting our thrills from paranormal genre. So, there is a deep seated interest. So, why not discuss here?
Even in this scientific age in India (in TN), we attribute schizophrenia and other mental conditions to “possessions”. The exorcists, mostly charlatans make good business out of it. Then there are other delusions, such as “saamiyaadi”. These are easily understandable and so are summarily dismissed.
In my childhood I was able to dismiss some stories easily. My grandmother’s stories for instance. For her, the ghosts were a child play. A distant relative in the village committed suicide leaving a young child, husband, mother-in-law and extended family. My grandmother who is known for her toughness (father’s mother who was a great influence in my life) went to stay with them. In the village they called my grandma Indira Gandhi! When she came back she would tell so many stories! The foodstuff they put for sun drying in the back yard would lift (along with the mat) and fly in the air and land intact in another place. The heavy lids on the rice storage bin would lift by itself, the broom will never in the place where it is kept and so on. Then she managed to stop all this!! One day, my grandma was so frustrated that she yelled at “it” (??) saying “enough is enough, she would no longer tolerate and would not hesitate to give “it” a few blows with her slippers”. And then “it” ran away! I laughed, but never believed!
Yet, there are so many stories I have heard from people of all age groups and educational status that it would be hard to dismiss these as mere fabrications.
Such as my schoolmate (now a Prof at Annamalai), who whilst on an official tour ended up in haunted hotel room! Horrified was not the word to describe his experience. Later the Hotel admitted there was a murder suicide just weeks ago in that room!
Some of the experiences have been unique and these people did not seem to have another experience of paranormal nature. For instance, this is an experience my father told me. This is an encounter he had in his mid thirties. In his Govt service, he was traveling back late night in a Jeep along with the driver. In the deserted road, he saw an apparition at a distance and asked the driver to slow down. The driver seemed inattentive. As they got closer, apparently it was a woman crossing the road. He once again alerted the driver who simply pressed on and they drove through that apparition! The driver would tell him later, that this apparition is known to regular drivers on that route. Whoever stopped, suffered! My father had no other experience of this nature. Even after this, when I (in my childhood) asked my father if he believed in Ghosts and he would say No.
Responses
Velayuthan
"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."
This was supposed to be the world shortest horror story!
We generally grow up fearing the dark spaces and any death in the known circle heightens the fear for time being.
Even though we overcome this fear as we age, still some freaky situations brings out the fear in us.
This happened to me when I shifted to RAK where I lived alone for couple of months on my floor which had 9 empty flats.
The whole building there were hardly 3-4 occupants. .As the power supply was by DG, some outages will be there and once I got caught in the middle one such outage as I stepped out of the lift. Just managed to reach my door to find that I left the house key in the car itself. With no alternative left I had to use the staircase like a blind person to reach the ground floor.
As I exited the staircase I bumped into someone and uncontrollably I let out a shriek. Luckily it was our watchman who was trying to switch on the emergency power back up. It took me few minutes to calm myself and reach my flat safely after getting the house key.
But I strongly believe that fear is a mind thing and can be easily overcome by staying positive.
RAK also famously houses a ghost house where they say that children are seen in the windows calling out for someone in the nights!!
Venkat
FIVE SHORT STORIES
1
I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again.
2
The last thing I saw was my alarm clock flashing 12:07 before she pushed her long rotting nails through my chest, her other hand muffling my screams. I sat bolt upright, relieved it was only a dream, but as I saw my alarm clock read 12:06, I heard my closet door creak open.
3
In all of the time that I've lived alone in this house, I swear to God I've closed more doors than I've opened.
4
A girl heard her mom yell her name from downstairs, so she got up and started to head down. As she got to the stairs, her mom pulled her into her room and said "I heard that, too."
5
I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, "Daddy, check for monsters under my bed." I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, "Daddy, there's somebody on my bed."
Devanand
When I was newly married there nights when my wife would scream in the middle of the nights saying she could see some vague creatures by the side. Once or twice she screamed on seeing me and claimed that I looked like ghost with blood sucking teeth. She claimed that she had similar incidents for many years. After few incidents I realized it is more to do with her eye sight as she sleeps without her spectacles. Once or twice when she woke up and wore her spectacles immediately she realized it was true and from seeing paranormal characters she became confident and normal.
I wanted to highlight this issue turned things into normal because of my sheer belief that there is no paranormal beings.
Sumathi
Getting Rid of Ghosts
For years, Hitoshi tried in vain to awaken the love of the woman he believed to be the love of his life.
But fate is ironic: on the very day that she finally accepted him as her future husband, she learned that she had an incurable disease and would not live for very much longer.
Six months later, when she was about to die, she said to him:
‘Promise me one thing: never fall in love with anyone else. If you do, I will come every night to haunt you.’
And then she closed her eyes for ever. For many months, Hitoshi avoided other women, but fate continued to be ironic, and he discovered a new love. When he was preparing to remarry, the ghost of his ex-beloved kept her promise and appeared to him.
‘You are betraying me,’ the ghost said.
‘For years, I offered you my heart and you rejected me,’ replied Hitoshi. ‘Don’t you think I deserve a second chance of happiness?’
But the ghost of his ex-beloved was not interested in excuses and came every night to frighten him. It described in detail what had happened during the day, the words of love that he had spoken to his fiancée.Hitoshi could no longer sleep and so he went to consult the Zen master Basho.
‘It’s certainly a very intelligent ghost,’ said Basho.
‘It knows everything down to the last detail! And now it’s ruining my life because I can’t sleep .’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll get rid of the ghost,’ said Basho.
That night, when the ghost returned, Hitoshi spoke first, before the ghost could say a word.
‘You’re such a clever ghost, I’d like to make a deal with you. Since you watch me all the time, I’m going to ask you about something I did today. If you answer correctly, I will give up my fiancée and never take another wife. If you answer wrongly, you must promise never to appear again, or else be condemned by the gods to wander for ever in the darkness.’
‘Agreed,’ replied the ghost confidently.
‘This afternoon, when I was in the grocer’s shop, at one point, I picked up a handful of grain from a sack.’
‘Yes, I saw you,’ said the ghost.
‘My question is the following: how many grains of wheat did I have in my hand?’
The ghost realised that it would never be able to answer that question and, in order to avoid being pursued by the gods into eternal darkness, it decided to disappear for ever.
Two days later, Hitoshi went to Basho’s house.
‘I came to thank you.’
‘Be sure to learn the lessons your experience has taught you,’ said Basho. ‘First: the spirit kept coming back because you were afraid. If you want to rid yourself of a curse, simply ignore it. Second: the ghost took advantage of your feelings of guilt. Whenever we feel guilty, we always unconsciously long to be punished. And finally, no one who truly loved you, would force you to make such a promise. If you want to understand love, first learn about freedom.’
Venkat
‘It’s certainly a very intelligent ghost,’ said Basho
That was the best line in the story. Sumathi
By the way, the stories seem to have become all the deeper and in that sense challenging us with our current understanding of the life (ghosts, women whatever).
But is the moral (another) of the story – clever tackling of woman (I mean the ghost) is about quantitative comprehension?
Surya
Three things stand out for me on revisiting this story placed in front of a Jeffrey Archer short story collection:
- that death is female (Kali vs Yama)
- the story is in first person - with death speaking
- and is revealed midway in the tale in a twist
Quite remarkable ...
Sri Krishnan
It is one of the classic 'short stories', I just love it.. Have read it many, many times.
Bharani
Do I believe in paranormal?
Yes I do. Paranormal activities are depicted in all cultures/ religions and science fiction stories as well. Similar to Venkat's narration of schizophrenic episodes of an elderly person, I too have heard of an 80 year old woman in our street in CBE, who used to have spells of schizophrenia. One night she got up at 1.30 am, climbed on a high stool, unlocked the doors, and tried to run down the steps claiming that her brother (who hadn't spoken to her for ages) was calling her. Three of her grandsons, in teens and early 20's tried to stop her, but she pushed them down and headed out for the gate. Agreed that it was her mental illness that caused her to behave that way; but for an old lady of her age with severe arthritis to display so much violence and strength in the middle of the night - that points in the paranormal direction.
Are paranormal activities always filled with horror? Or are there happy ones too?
Usually paranormal activities may be a result of unfinished agendas. I do see quite a few stories online that have happy endings. Such stories make me feel a lot more comfortable too.
Venkat
This was sixth semester one late evening after dinner when around 20 people converged on a room in the A block. We had an Ouija board in the middle. Drawn on a large cardboard if I remember right. The guys were all strewn around the room. Some on the cot, some sitting on the table, and a few on the floor.
For the Planchette, we didn’t use the bottle cap (as in Kanchana’s case), but used a 25 paise coin instead.
This was planned and we waited until it was 11.30 p.m.
The lights were turned off and one single candle was lit in the middle.
Two of the guys kept their index fingers slightly on the coin.
There was pin drop silence in the room. And then we called the spirit.
We asked HER various questions!
We asked if she really committed suicide… the coin would fly, so fast… to NO.
Then we asked if she was murdered. The coin flies to YES. The two boys would tell us later… far from they pushing the coin, they found it difficult to keep pace with the coin. They vouched it was like a trance.
Then we asked the spirit who did it. The coin would move fast but precise…
B
A
L
U
M
A
H
E
N
D
R
A
Yes, we had invited the ghost of Shoba the actress!! It was the time when her husband Balu Mahendra was being arrested on suspicion on a case that was opened years later after she allegedly committed suicide.
Most of us were left with Goosebumps. We wanted to close the session. Some guys went on asking questions. One good friend asked if he would ever get the classmate girl he was crazy about… the spirit would say, no, this girl is already kind of fixed for another. Of course, to arrive at this response we needed some 4 questions and corresponding answeres.
Another friend who was too thin asked if he would become stout. The spirit said yes.
Finally, one guy asked something regarding the exams.
The coin moves hither thither as if confused and finally moves to “T I R E D”
We let her GO!
Susee
I distinctly remember this - I was one of them who volunteered to place my finger on the coin. But I'm not sure that there were only two of us. I thought there were 4. Anyway, that was really spooky! Because I knew that I didn't control the movement of the coin. But I can only speak for myself! Would never know what the other guys did.
Here is my take. Almost all of us knew that BaluMahendra was the key suspect. Assuming that everyone was sincerely 'letting the coin move' on its own, could it be that sub-consciously we were all guided towards his name through Self-fulfilled prophecy?
Venkat
Great you remember it! Was it four people who placed hands? All I remember is the coin was simply racing!
Yes, some of us (including me) argued it was subconscious guiding. We even spoke of Thoughtwaves of all of us sitting around actually having a physical impact on the small coin. Some call it ideometer effect.
It was great fun though!