This is one of my favourite threads at TBHP and always feel excited reading a new post.
Some of the posts here are indeed very engaging and scary and for a long time I have been thinking of posting my experiences and stories!!
Our family, especially on my mom's side are replete with ghost stories. Everything from scary, to bizarre to the heartwarming stories. Almost as family tradition, all my uncle and aunts would perform the Plainchit whenever they would get together at our ancestral home in Lucknow! We never had an Ouija Board or anything but used to write out the hindi alphabet and an inverted cup or glass served as a pointer. The experience itself never spooked me, I was too young to understand what was happening and for the longest time I had no idea what the hell was going on!! This was till my cousin explained to me that the damn cup was moving on its own or rather on the accord of a “spirit”. I never believed it and still find it hokum but the entire practice was very fascinating.
Understandably, whenever these séances were carried out, everybody seemed to get into the mood and out tumbled ghost stories which everyone shared – so in a manner of speaking, I found it very comforting and homely!! If I recall and start to narrate all the stories I have heard from my relatives, we will probably have to start another thread but I wanted to share a couple of my personal experiences that I have never been able to explain. Both are not exactly spooky and definitely not scary but are very much of a paranormal nature.
I, my sister and mom and dad have been living in Delhi for the better part of my life. Dad was in Govt. Service and would often be posted for years on end, at times in rather far off locations. During one such tenure, my dad was posted in Lakshwadweep but we continued to stay in Delhi as both my sister’s and my schools were in Delhi. We were living in Kidwai Nagar East at the time, which was next to south extn in south Delhi. The colony was an old one with all the houses being only two stories tall each attached to a big garden surrounding 3 sides of the house. Since, dad was away and my sister would usually study late into the night for her 10th board exams, I would go to sleep with my mother in my parent’s room!
The three years that my dad was away, I continuously felt that a presence was in the house. The typical poltergeist stuff would occur. Doors would shut and open on their own accord, taps would start and at times even shut off. We never paid much attention to these occurrences and they never alarmed us. What was rather strange was that I never felt any feeling of dread or ill feeling associated with the presence or with whatever was happening around the house.
What follows is even stranger – I, my sis and mom would go for after dinner walks and one day as expected the conversation veered itself to the paranormal. During the conversation, I remarked that I thought that our house was haunted and almost simultaneously both mom and sis remarked – “yes, by a young girl”!!
This was very startling, coz I too always felt that the presence I had always felt was specifically of a girl in her late teens. Moreover we all agreed that whoever or whatever was there was a very benign, almost comforting presence.
My sis who studied late into the night, had her study desk in the corner of a room and facing a window which opened out onto our lawn. She said that late into the night she would very often feel that someone was standing behind her and peering over her shoulder or looking over her. But she never felt alarmed or uneasy or startled by this and never had the urge to look back. The feeling that someone had come, was there, would stay for some time and then disappears soon after.
Almost 20 years later, I can still vividly recall once I was just dozing off to sleep and just before my eyes shut I distinctly saw a girl with her hair open pass along our corridor facing my bed. Again, I had no feeling of dread or alarm – it felt as if there was just one more family member, who although was very silent.
Now comes the climax!! Our kitchen was a little separate from the rooms and attached to the Dining Hall. We had a maid who would do the cooking and cleaning and work in the kitchen. One day, Mom heard the maid speaking to someone in the kitchen and since there was no one else in the house (my sis and I were watching TV), mom went to investigate. To her surprise our maid was alone but seemingly talking to the walls!! When my mom asked why she was blabbering all alone – the maid said that sometimes this girl comes and stands in the kitchen while she is working and since she felt uncomfortable with the silence, she would talk to her!!
Thank god – no one replied back but soon after this incident my dad returned for good and once he came back and for whatever reason, good or bad, we never felt the presence ever again!