Ghost(s)?

I have been brought up on Ghost stories of the Gangetic planes from the mid of nineteenth century. There was this lady in a white sari in Allahabad who would appear on the terrace of the house at midnight where death used to come calling within a couple of days of her appearance. There was the famous man/men with horses hooves for hands in Lucknow.

These were all stories from my childhood of days (nights?) much before my time. I now stay in a well lit, huge tree lined, park facing neighborhood of educated people. 

Everything that you take for granted as signs of civilisation and modern times can appear like a thin veneer to the primal past at times. I had a minor glimpse of this yesterday.

I think it started in the afternoon when I noticed red thread tied multiple times around a huge tree in the park with vermilion and turmeric rubbed on it. I found it a bit strange and mystic but forgot about it after a while. 

Late at night while walking Alex after his meal he came up to a house at the end of the lane where his friend Jenni used to live. She was a 2 year old Golden Labrador who passed away suddenly around a month back. Alex goes to her gate still, everyday and gently whines while wagging his tail and looking at a spot as if he can see her/something there. It's a bit spooky, but she was a sweet kid so not so scary. He needs to coaxed away from her gate everynight. 

Just as I was about to get back to my gate I saw a kind of mini commotion outside my next door neighbours gate. He is an executive in Airtel and seems to be waiting for me. 

The first thing he said to me is that there is a problem. I thought my boys would've broken something while retrieving the shuttle cock from there terrace in the evening. But it turned out to be something else. 

He said that there has been this lady who has been coming to their gate deep into the night and peering inside. His boys and nephew had seen her thrice and he had even called the police regarding this. According to the description it was a stalky woman in a ghagra choli who walks up to their gate, peers inside and then disappears. I had nothing to say to this and was totally flummoxed as to how to respond to this. He seemed a bit worked up and a bit shaken up. 

I told him about the tree, thread and turmeric but he had an idea about who did it and when. Then he told me about a 3 storeyed yellow house across the park where a middle aged lady stays with her daughter. I had noticed that the house is always dark and looking at it you can't say whether it is habitated or not. He said that the lady has been deserted by her husband and there is something not good about that place. 

Here I was, all oblivious to my surroundings, happy with my cocooned life, and there I was in the midst of a semi-horror plot with proper spirits, ghosts and witches, within a matter of minutes. 

One thing is there. You might be all secure in your faith in modern world with all the bright lights and wi-fi broadband, but it just takes a person who is deeply convinced about occult and evil to rock your boat for that night at least.