July 12, 2011
Enjoying my freedom from school, one warm summer May morning I was watching bright sparks from Johnny’s welding in my father’s workshop. I was sitting at the cash table. My father was taking his usual break at 11 in the morning.
"If you don’t want to believe me it’s all right. I did see ‘it’, " insisted Shankar seeing my father leave the workshop.
Sankappa, Mahesh, Ibrahim, Shankar and Johnny worked in my father’s workshop. Wrought iron furniture, trusses with huge channels for roofing of buildings like churches and factories were manufactured in the shop.
Johnny stopped welding the wrought iron design he was making, kept the holder down, took off his protective glass and got up. Some curious boys had come too close to the shop to watch the fireworks sparking out from the welding. He shooed them away and returned to Shankar who was bending a steel rod at the standing vise closer to where I was sitting.
"I don’t believe in these things. But if Shankar has seen one, he may have seen it," Johnny said condescendingly.
I wondered what this ‘it’ was.
"What is so difficult to believe? It was so clear. I saw it," said Shankar.
Again the ‘it’.
"It’s time for someone to marry!" shouted Sankappa from across the lathe that he was working on competing with the sound the machine made.
This was not making sense to me at all.
"When you walk alone in the night and you are scared and all is quiet, a branch, why, even if a leaf shakes it can look like some strange shape" Johnny tried to convince Shankar drawing from his own experience. He continued "So many times I had been scared walking in the night alone. The thoughts of spirits hovering over you or following you can make you so nervous you can actually see things."
"Am I a little boy like him?" said Shankar referring to me, visibly angry. "I tell you she was in a white sari. She was humming. I could clearly hear her anklets. One moment she was in their compound" he said again pointing towards me "then from the old lady’s compound she walked straight to the haunted property and sat on the well.
This was getting more and more interesting.
"What do you expect? She is an Indian ghost bhai. They sing…and dance… and you can hear the sound of anklets. There must have been some background music too!" Mahesh made motions of a woman dancing.
Ibrahim, with his torso bent like a perfect ‘C’ over the tool box started singing softly "Gumnaaam he koi, badnaam he koi…kissssssss ko khabar kon he woh…anjaaan heheeeee. Ha Ha Ha."
Johnny said "Maybe it was a real woman waiting for our groom after all."
"Once you are married you see the Chaundi everyday!. You don’t have to wait until dark!"said Sankappa quite seriously now.
My turn was only to wonder about the enlightening powers of marriage. I thought I will wait for my turn though from my age it looked like it might take all eternity!
"Did she come close to you?" chided Mahesh.
As if struck by a bright idea Shankar said "Why don’t you see for yourself. She may show herself to you too"
Their bantering went on for quite some time.
Shankar, Mahesh and Johnny planned to go in search of the Chaundi that night.
Sankappa pointed towards my father who was approaching the shop in long strides. Quickly they took their positions again and the chaos of the machines took over.
As soon as I saw my father enter the shop, "Daddy, I want to go home"
I jumped down from the chair and ran homewards.
**************
I crossed to the other side of the road, looked down at the 30 broad concrete steps that stopped at a lane. I controlled the temptation of sliding down the concrete slopes of the steps from the top. I got a spanking every time I went home with the torn shorts. But the slide was irresistible. No I will not go down the slides. Just yesterday I had my shorts totally frayed. When my mother had bent down to spank me she had stopped midway. She had seen my bare bottom. To my utter dismay my sisters started laughing. She started laughing too. I was humiliated. A spanking was better than being ‘exposed’ and laughed at. Moreover, I was wearing new shorts. Quickly I reached the bottom of the steps.
I walked down the lane. On either side there were compounds. The one to the left belonged to an old lady. She lived in one portion of her huge house. The other portion was occupied by her tenants a man, his wife and three children.
I peeped into the compound to my right with renewed interest and curiosity.
This was the ‘haunted’ property. There was no house but the dilapidated remains of an old mud house near the well. The rugged property had a spooky, unkempt look. There was grass, shrubs and weeds all over the place.
The well itself was half covered with creepers. There was a rusted pulley but no rope. No one used the well. A big soap nut tree stood next to the well. I wondered whether that explained the white sari of the lady.
Tall, wild plants shaded the dark well. A mud wall thick with moss and wild grass grown on it was in a wasted state. Any moment it could fall off, with the thick roots from the wild plants attacking it. I tried to imagine the woman Shankar referred to sitting on the wall of that well. Certainly a lady dressed in a sari, white or not couldn’t be sitting daintily on that wall. When I got tired of craning my neck I continued walking, turned left to the lane which was flanked by two more compounds on either side.
The compound to the left was ours. The one behind the old lady’s. Three of the workers Johnny, Mahesh, Shankar shared a house in the compound behind ours. Other workers lived elsewhere.
I entered my house, only the thoughts of the ‘Chaundi’ remained in my mind. I must ask Peter. He would know.
In the evening Peter and I sat in the humungous mango tree with the conglomerate branches in our compound. It gave the most luscious of mangoes which were coveted by all. Although there were so many mangoes on this tree recently even after windy nights not a single one could be found fallen in the morning.
Picking a ripe mango I asked my friend Peter, "Peter, what is a Chaundi?"
Peter stopped sucking on the luscious fruit. He was excited; he climbed up from his branch and sat next to me on mine.
"Chaundi?" He said
I nodded.
"She is a beautiful spirit of a young girl" he slurped up the overflowing juice of the sweet fruit. I resumed eating mine.
He continued. "Young girls who accidentally died or killed themselves before marriage turned into ‘chaundis’."
"Her eyes are huge. She does not blink". I stared at him.
"She comes out only in the nights". Peter tore out the other side of the mango and scooped out a chunky piece with his mouth.
"Her body shines in the night". As he swallowed a whole mouthful
"Her long hair reaches up to her ankles! And she wears anklets to make sound."
He brought out his long tongue and licked the orange flesh on the fibrous seed.
"She wears white saris." As if he knew the mystery behind the mandatory white costume of a ghost.
Peter chewed on the white fibre on the seed which was devoid of any juice now with such dedicated concentration that it resembled the hair of an old man. Not satisfied with that he ground the seed across his lower teeth so hard some fibre stuck between his teeth. He put his finger nail to pull it out. I waited then with more suspense he said.
"Twisted feet"
"What ?" I asked.
"Twisted feet. The sure way to know it is a Chaundi". He said with an air of importance.
Then I asked him "is there a Chaundi in that well?" I pointed towards the abandoned compound from the branch.
He was even more excited. He said "Yessss" most decidedly.
"Can we see it?" I asked.
"No. Anyone who goes close to it will be pulled down into the well.. So many children have gone there. Never returned," he informed with authority.
He threw the seed farthest he could throw.
"Why does she do that?" I asked.
"It seems there was a young girl who lived in a hut in the compound. She was in love with a man who left her and married someone else. So she jumped in the well and killed herself." He said as if he were a witness to all this.
"Then how does she come up?" I asked. I had almost forgotten he half eaten mango in my hand.
‘Her body does not come up. It’s her spirit. That is why she comes up in the night. Unfulfilled wishes of marrying and living with children make her wander in search of men and children to live with her in the well"
Sounded quite plausible though incredible.
Peter had a lot of information on this Chaundi.
She seemed to have a special liking for truck drivers as well. When they saw her in the moonlight they would be captivated with her beauty. They would stop their trucks and follow her as if in a trance and then they met their fate in the well too.
I wondered what happened to the men she killed who must also become spirits like her. Then there would be spirits everywhere.
Maybe they were not as attractive as the lady in white.
Then I had another thought.
"But how does she walk with twisted feet?" I asked.
"She is a spirit, they drift man." Very logical.
"Then why the twisted feet?"
"To scare people" he said as a matter of fact.
"Wont any one catch her?" I asked him wondering whether Shankar and his friends would be able to catch her.
He said "many have tried it seems. They had tried to catch her by her hair but she quickly disappeared"
Peter jumped down as the setting sun silhouetted the branches giving them a grotesque character and we parted ways.
********************
The next day as usual at eleven I sat in the chair at the cash box relieving my father.
All five of them gathered near the lathe where Sankappa stood listening to Johnny’s narration.
It was a stormy night.
About four in the morning they had reached under the mango tree.
Soon enough she appeared.
Near the compound wall.
Soft white sari swayed in the morning breeze.
The long straight hair floating in all directions covered the beautiful face.
Shankar whispered "See? I told you so".
They could hear the thumping of their hearts.
They stood in one huddled mass.
Then suddenly the white figure moved. Towards them!
Now their hearts jumped in their mouths.
All three shivered and swallowed hard.
What happened next shocked them even more!
Oblivious of their presence the Chaundi stopped close to them and started picking the luscious mangoes that had fallen on the previous night. Once the bag almost burst with the burden, the ‘Chaundi’ tied up her Sari over her knees and maneuvered the wall made of stones, jumped into the next compound and her petite figure vanished in the shadows! Of course they had seen her distinctly.
They stood like statues near the tree.
It was obvious that it was ‘Shaku aunty’, the old lady’s tenant who was playing the "Chaundi". She had obviously put her long hair and pretty face to good use.
Mahesh was wringing his hands. "Missed a real good chance of catching a "Chaundi" he said.
"Yes, you should have seen his open mouth. It had reached his feet. His eyes literally fell to the ground" said Shankar.
"We’ll take a chance at the Chaundi today" Johnny said with determination and winked.
They spoke in whispers so that I could not hear. There seemed to have some sinister plan in the way they looked at each other and deliberately prevented me from listening. I thought they were up to something evil. I could not think of preventing something I did not know was going to happen to Shaku aunty.
"Coming?" Mahesh asked Sankappa and Ibrahim.
Ibrahim shook his head.
"Keep me out of it" said Sankappa.
"He has had enough of the ‘Chaundi’ in his life" Shankar laughed.
*****************
At 4 in the morning, Johnny, Mahesh, Shankar entered our gate and stealthily walked onwards the mango tree. The full moon shone brightly. The trees and the thick branches threw ghostly shadows on the ground. The gentle breeze gave life to the criss cross shapes and it seemed like they moved. I sat in the courtyard and kept close to the house.
They were waiting.
Sure enough she appeared.
A thin tall figure.
The apparition in white!
Her beautiful face was half covered with long wisps of hair.
Her arms and legs seemed to disappear into nothing.
They tried to follow her.
Sure enough they knew it was ‘Shaku’ come to pick the mangoes.
Oh she must have seen them.
She turned to go.
Mahesh called out "Hey, stop"
She walked quickly.
They followed her.
In the dark shadows and in the distance I could see no more.
I don’t know what happened next. I fell asleep.
A loud voice shook me from my sleep "what are you doing here"? My mother asked. Astounded at my not being in bed she had come in search of me.
I pointed towards where the men had gone.
In the morning there was a crowd in the abandoned property. The old lady, Shaku’s husband, my parents, other neighbours made quite a group. They were shooing away the kids. Soemone said Shankar’s body was at the bottom of the well. Mahesh was fallen on the ground. Mahesh had a far away look. His face was white and devoid of any expression.
Everyone wanted to know ‘what had happened.’
With some efforts Johnny said, "We were following "Shaku". She had come to steal mangoes. That’s all we know." His eyes were wide open. Unblinking.
Shaku’s husband said "What Shaku? What nonsense is he blabbering? My wife and children have gone to my in-laws yesterday. No ajji?"
The old lady nodded affirmative. She said, "Last evening."
What I had seen in the moonlight also looked nothing like Shaku aunty.
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