Darjeeling was built up by the British colonial rulers as a hill station for convalescing army men who could not be sent back home across the oceans. Very British bungalows were constructed in remote and hardly accessible areas to provide the officers peace and quiet.
BY TAPAS MUKHERJEE
Take for example the hamlet of Lava saying 'Hey' eloquently to tourists traveling in between Kalimpong and the Dooars. There right in the midst of a sprawling hill expanse is a bungalow where two female ghosts, one Indian and the other British, lamented audibly at night in two different nasal accents.
The village headman had to make an on the spot investigation. He spent an uncomfortable night in the bungalow, and decided to return accompanied by the Indian counterpart of an exorcist. Equipped with a broomstick and a bucket of Mantra-fortified water, the exorcist could reduce the two nasal accents to one; the Indian female ghost apparently accepted the plea to look for new haunting ground under threats of hellish banishment.
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| Pic from www.ghosttheory.com |
Here is what the exorcist had to report: “The English lady, Jane, says she was killed by her husband so as to marry her sister. All she wants is an apology from the husband-sister duo before she can rest in peace. Both of them had escaped back home to England where they died in a car crash, but she could not locate them anywhere in her part of the world. So she is waiting for them to come to her.”
There was no way to get rid of her, the exorcist added, she hated haunting people but could not help weeping at times and practicing tap dance, which was her passion both in life and beyond. If people felt disturbed, it was their problem. The exorcist refused to exert any more pressure claiming that they had become friends. Even the headman's threat of taking action against the 'female ghost-corrupted exorcist' failed to yield any result.
Some spirited inducements loosened his tongue, and the village headman agreed to finish the tale: The exorcist received urgent telepathic summons one night from his ghost-friend to come right over to the bungalow. The bungalow was unusually calm – no sound of weeping or tap dance. Flickering candle lights and hushed conversations proved that one of the rooms was occupied.
The exorcist silently went up to the upper floor where she was waiting. She was furious. “The Indian bitch you got rid off is a lying bitch too,” she fumed. She was the one who informed her about the London car crash in which the husband-sister duo were supposed to have died. “The scoundrels” were alive, and right here occupying a room in the floor below.
The exorcist knew that a scorned woman was potentially dangerous; a scorned female ghost could be altogether fatal. He agreed to be a co-conspirator to help Jane avenge herself. The exorcist went out of the bungalow to make some preparations.
On his return he explained to the couple that all they needed to do was to say sorry touching the white boulder by the side of the road leading to the top of the hill. Perhaps this would also lessen the burden of guilt they were carrying on their shoulders. Moreover, he could transfer some of his special powers to Jane who would then be equipped to unleash her wrath in the most diabolical manner.
The couple approached the familiar white boulder with much trepidation. They sat on their haunches, bent forward and placed their palms on it. The exorcist who had earlier loosened the boulder now gave it a powerful push. The boulder was followed by two bodies over the precipice down into the deep gorge. That night Jane tap danced for the last time. But the lamentations still continued; this time two nasal tones, one male and one female, both in English accent were often heard.
BY TAPAS MUKHERJEE
