Of Ghosts, Foxes and other Creatures of the night!

When I was a child, we lived in a house with a huge Neem tree, which grew in our front yard, right by the gate. 

I was a morbid, lonely little child who spent most of her time engrossed in books; by the time I was 10, I was borrowing books from 3 libraries. And when I wasn't reading, I would spend my evenings staring at the skies expecting aliens to show up in a flying saucer; and during the day, would be busy making little matchbox graves for ants and mosquitoes I had killed, all of whom would then be buried with great pomp and ceremony under the trees in the garden. It is a mystery how I didn't turn out to be a serial killer, because to the adult me (and probably to anyone who reads this), it seems like the child me was exhibiting every promise of turning into a she-Dexter!

I spent an inordinate amount of time under trees until someone told me that Neem trees as a rule, tend to be a refuge of sorts for all types of ghosts, demons and spirits as well as being the abode of choice for the scariest Indian demon there is, the "Bramha-daitya" - who comes into existence when a Brahmin priest dies an untimely, violent death (If you thought the priests you encountered in the numerous Hindu temples were obnoxious, then as per legend, these are supposed to be a thousand times worse.) ;)

Once that little nugget of information got stuck in my brain, my morbid, over active imagination started conjuring up scenarios where in the ghostly denizens of the Neem tree would creep up at night, stick straws through the open window, suck my blood through the straw & turn me into a zombie (Didn't I warn you I was morbid, though it makes me wonder now just how much more morbid my friends must have been to make up stories about ghostly spirits sucking blood out through straws!!)

Anyway, I was so terrified, I would never sleep with the windows open; and after almost 2 and a half decades, I still don't. On nights when it was my turn to lock the gate, I would sing, croak more like it, given me being completely and hopelessly tone deaf, Bhajans (devotional songs) dedicated to Lord Rama, who I was told, has the powers to chase away all evil spirits. My mom used to tell me on those nights, people living even a km away would know that it was my turn to lock up for the night thanks to all the devotional songs that I would be belting out at the top of my voice!!!

I grew up, went to a hostel, moved out of that house & that little town. While I may still sleep with my windows tightly shut even on sweltering hot summer nights, years of living alone & watching Criminal Minds have taken their toll; I am now more scared of serial killers & axe murderers than of ghosts, demons, poltergeists, witches whose feet move backward when they walk!

Along the way, I also acquired a ghoulish love for horror movies, most of which I watch alone, on TV and late into the night. I get scared, I scream and I watch them with my eyes half shut, I put the sound on mute when something scary is about to happen but I continue to watch them nevertheless!! 

But with most of these movies I don't suffer from any residual after effects (except the Ring which really, really scared me & I couldn't sleep for atleast a week) - I almost never sleep with the lights on or stay up nights waiting for something to jump out of the cupboard and I don't jump in fright when the door creaks. In my mind, I was secure in the belief that ghostly spirits tend to prefer living in large, old houses rather than apartments; atleast that's how it was until Ram Gopal Verma tried his best to sabotage this entire belief system with Bhoot!

So when we moved into this 100 year old house with an attic - which usually is the centre of all spooky activity in old houses, I was understandably a little apprehensive and scared.

One night, after a couple of weeks post having moved in and not encountered any scary experiences, I gathered up the courage to sit up late, all alone in the ground floor, working on my blog. But I was a wee bit jittery & with every strange noise I heard, my heart would skip a beat; and let me tell you that there were quite a few strange noises I heard, like the wind rattling the windows or the foxes howling in the neighbourhood - seriously spooky stuff even by a non horror movie addict's definition. 

And then it happened..... 

Just as the howling of the foxes started to freak me out, I heard a new sound - that of someone whimpering. At first I thought I had imagined it but it continued and gathered momentum. I gathered my courage & came out of the room to check the source of the sound, all the while reciting the Gayatri Mantra. Then I remembered what a friend had gleefully pointed out while I was living in Indonesia - according to him, only Hindu ghosts would understand the significance of the Gayatri Mantra. But the ghost of a person belonging to another religion would not know what the words in the mantra meant and thus, the mantra would be useless against them!! 

So here I was in the middle of the night, in a large, old English house which had been empty for the last one year. Now what were the chances that I would run into a spirit perfectly capable of understanding the Gayatri Mantra? Not very good I guess. So I decided on the next best option - to flee for my life! I gathered up my laptop and other stuff and ran up the stairs. The whimpering sound seemed to follow me up the stairs. It seemed to be coming right behind me, except there was NO ONE behind me. Holy Mother of God, I was being followed by an invisible spirit!!! At best I would end up like the kid in M. Night's Sixth Sense, going around whispering "I see dead people". At worst, I could end up ...... Oh I didn't even want to get down to imagining what the worst could be, the possibilities were endless, and each scarier than the last!

But as I continued to run up, it hit me - Wait, something's not right with this scenario!. Why was this whimpering sound so close? Almost as if it was coming from within me! Was I possessed already?? Petrified I stopped to glance down, only to discover myself holding a baby monitor, from whence all the whimpering had been emerging all along!!!! 

Now we may not have any ghosts in this new home of ours, but we do have a resident fox who very generously provides a spark of adventure to the place. He has half a tail and so is quite easily recognisable from the other foxes who meander in once in a while to rummage in our garbage bins. He is a cheeky little fellow and is not shy of humans unlike the other foxes who run away the minute they see you. The Vs are fascinated with him and call him the Fock! (making this mispronunciation, the source of quite a few laughs). 

Now while I do feel pangs of worry about his existence; after all I have 2 children running around in that garden the fox frequents, I also have discovered many fringe benefits of having this little wild creature around. My 2 brats happen to be quite scared of him and so I drop his name liberally each time I want them to eat their food, to not pick flowers, to not throw the pebbles from the driveway at each other. Every time they say No, they throw attitude, they dilly dally, they pluck my flowers, they try to walk into the hedge of holly, all I need to do is drop the F (fox) word and then watch them immediately fall in line! :))

And because of that, as potentially dangerous as he may be, he is currently the best Boogeyman a harassed mother of twins could hope for!

Its been raining all day. 
As I look out of the window, I find the Fox crawled up in the garden.

I try to shoot pictures from inside but am not happy with what I get.
So I carefully tip toe out side and walk up to him.
He still continues to sleep as I click pictures

I make a noise that startles him.
He wakes up and sprints away and watches me from a safe distance

When he realises I am not following him, he yawns and stretches.
And goes back to keeping himself warm (didn't I say he is a cheeky little fella!)

At this point I feel sorry for the poor guy and ask Vj to get  him some bread.
Vj throws a fit when I ask him if he could toast the bread before we can give it to the Fox.
"For heaven's sake, that creatures eats out of garbage cans! And you want me to .... what!!" he yells. :(
But Fox doesn't seem to mind the cold bread

He takes it and moves off, back into the hedge.