In the summer of 1961, when I was about 10 years of age and studying in the fourth class, my family moved to Amritsar, Punjab, India due to my father’s transfer in the Indian Army. We settled into our new government quarters, and I began attending the cantonment primary school. However, our initial excitement was soon overshadowed by a distressing turn of events.
It started when my younger brother suddenly fell severely ill, plagued by a high fever. Despite receiving medical care, his condition worsened with no apparent cause. The doctors ruled out common illnesses like malaria and typhoid, leaving us puzzled and anxious. In times of distress, my late mother turned to her deep religious faith for solace.
Living in our neighborhood was an Army Priest, known as Panditji, who came to our house upon hearing about my brother’s illness. He cast a concerned glance at my brother and proceeded to recite mantras, hoping to alleviate his suffering. What happened next would forever change our perception of reality.
As Panditji chanted the mantras, my brother’s demeanor drastically changed. He became delirious and began speaking in a deep, gruff voice that was far from the voice of a child. The words he uttered sent chills down our spines. He claimed that our house was built directly above his grave and that he was a spirit named Abdul, vowing not to leave my brother until we vacated his resting place.
This revelation shook us to the core, as none of us had ever encountered anything remotely paranormal before. Panditji, undeterred by the bizarre situation, continued to recite mantras, beseeching the spirit to release my brother. In response, Abdul made a demand: he insisted that every Friday, an earthen lamp should be lit in the courtyard of the house.
Panditji, recognizing the urgency of the situation, promised to fulfill Abdul’s request. At that moment, my brother let out a piercing shriek, and just like that, he returned to his normal self. His fever had subsided, and his burning forehead had become cool.
From that day forward, every Friday, without fail, we lit an earthen lamp in our courtyard. Surprisingly, the spirit, Abdul, never troubled us again. Although we were haunted by this episode, there was no logical or scientific explanation for what had occurred. It remains etched in my memory to this day, a testament to the existence of an unknown realm beyond our comprehension.
Indeed, major religions across the world acknowledge the existence of an afterlife, spirits, demons, and ghosts. This experience reaffirmed the belief that there might be forces and dimensions beyond our physical existence that elude human understanding. While skeptics may dismiss such occurrences as mere superstitions or hallucinations, those who have witnessed unexplained phenomena cannot deny the possibility of an unseen world intertwined with our own.
Guchi.
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