The Freaky Bong Bhoot
Yesterday night's experience was one of the strangest I have ever had and I still don't know how it does not send a chill down my spine. In my mind, it borders between the natural and the supernatural. Though my head is sure it is the handiwork of some hostelite I still don't rule out the possibility of a supernatural element. Without any more beating around the bush let me come straight to the point. Here's what happened yesterday night at around 0030hrs-0100hrs. Technically speaking, today early morning.
I was in a friend's room- three of us were studying together when there was a power cut only in our alcove. The rest of the hostel had power. This is not unusual since there have been numerous instances in which the fuse of only some rooms blows off. We were cursing our fate since we didn't get to finish what we had planned to for the night. It was quite dark in the room with only a dim light streaming through the window from a lamp post far-off. We gave up the idea of studying in candlelight since we had been studying for quite some time.
We decided to take a break till the fuse was repaired from the main circuit box downstairs and started chatting about arbit stuff when we suddenly heard a knock.
Since we were too lazy to get out of the bed, we asked the 'person' on the other side of the door what she wanted but got no answer. So Maddy finally got up and opened the door to find nothing but pitch darkness. We dismissed it as a prank of a bored hostelite. At the same time, we noticed the doors of the rooms of the other two (that is, my room and Monisha's room) open. Since it was dark and there was every possibility of a theft (yes, it is not unusual in the hostel) occuring, I locked my room and Maddy latched Monisha's room right which was next to her room.We went back to Maddy's room and closed the door since we did not want our talking to disturb the others in the alcove who were fast asleep.
A minute or two later there was another knock. This time too there was no answer. Nobody opened the door for some seconds and I (only I) heard a door unlatched. Finally, Maddy mustered courage and opened the door to find nothing but pitch darkness. And Monisha's door was wide open. (we had latched it just a minute ago.)
By this time Maddy was quite scared but Monisha and I still believed it was some jobless perosn in the hostel who chose the inmates of the only dark alcove in the hostel to play a prank on. For sometime after that there was nothing spooky or unusual and our fears were dispelled. However, Monisha said this was the best time to talk of ghosts and narrate ghost stories and suggested we talk of ghosts.
Though I was quite against the idea Maddy lapped it up readily and started telling us about a prevalent Bong(short for bengali) belief about spirits.
Apparently, it is believed by Bengalis that spirits sometimes choose to make contact humans. This they do by knocking at people's doors in the dead of the night. This spirit usually knocks thrice. If the bloke of the house founds nobody outside the door after the first two knocks he can be sure it is a spirit knocking. Then he is not supposed to answer the third knock. In case the bloke chose to answer the third knock, there are two possibilities:
(a) It could be a 'good' spirit the bloke apparently gets an answer to any question unanswered or usually hears his name called out by the 'good' spirit.
(b) It could be a bad spirit the bloke finds a lighted candle outside his door.
For the ignorant, a lighted candle outside the door is an extremely bad omen. So basically, there is something bad awaiting the bloke.
Maddy said it had been told to her in her childhood and that the belief had been prevalent since ages. She had just finished narrating this when I inadvertently turned towards the closed door to find, for the shock of my life, a yellow/golden light (in short, candlelight) through the slit between the door and the wall. I was really more surprised than shocked because the alcove had been pitch dark and the power wasn't yet back. I drew the attention of the other two towards the light. Maddy wouldn't believe it at first since she thought I was pulling her leg as she had just then talked of a spirit and a candle light. But she had to believe it when she saw the candle glow through the ventilator. Before we could realise what was happening there was the omenous third knock.
I was sure it was a prank and proceeded to open the door but Maddy stopped me. She was just too shocked. Finally, she mustered courage and opened the door to find, yes you guessed it, a lighted candle. It was really freaky. I went out and found nobody in sight. I started wavering from my belief about a prank because it was a huge coincidence to find a lighted candle outside your door just when you are talking about it.
Yes, the Bong Bhoot (as I would like to call it) had struck!
Maddy wouldn't get out of her room. I was, I must admit quite shocked and decided to kick the candle away rather than hold it in my hand and put it off. I really didn't know what Monisha was thinking because she doesn't say anything. But I am sure she wasn't as scared as Maddy was. Neither was she she ready to brush away the whole thing as a prank as easily as I did.
We decided to keep the door open but were yelled at by a sleepy inmate of the alcove who was woken up by our babble. So we had to close the door. Maddy was very scared and all my efforts at convincing her it was a prank were in vain. She had decided that an evil spirit was out there keeping candles outside her door and this surely wasn't a very pleasant thing.
Suddenly, we heard Monisha's windchimes in the next room. This is really very strange because Monisha's windchimes are very heavy and produce sound only when there is a strong wind. In any case, if Monisha's windchimes made noise Maddy's windchimes had to necessarily chime which did not happen in this case. This was very strange.
I had decided it was somebody in the hostel doing all this and was just waiting for another knock. Apparently, the spirit knocks only thrice and I had just given up the idea of catching the 'prankster' red-handed at the next knock when there was another knock! Without waiting for the others' reaction, I let out a yell and opened the door suddenly to find nobody outdside. But I distinctly heard a girl's laughter and somebody running away. I chased the voice and the footsteps but everytime I ran forward the girl turned around a corner. And when I too went to the corner there was nobody. I was sure it was somebody in the hostel laughing at us and running but then, wouldn't I find her? The corridors are really long so she couldn't run down all the way disappear round the corner before I could reach even the beginning of it.
Yes, there was a flight of stairs next to the corridor which I didn't check because I suspected a particular person of playing this 'prank' (she is notorious for playing pranks esp. on gullible people like me) and like a fool, ran towards her room. Yet, the stairs too were at quite a distance from the beginning of the corridor and she couldn't have turned there before I could even reach the corner.
Ultimately we confronted the person I suspected. She provided us explanations which we couldn't disprove to her disadvantage. Well, the details are not important. She was in fact instrumental in consoling Maddy and she got us to speak to another Bong in the hostel who confirmed Maddy's belief. (I did not belive the Bong Bhoot story.)
Well what followed is unimportant. The power was back by then and the rest of the studying planned was done in my room, door wide open. An hour later, we went to sleep after having made sure Maddy was alright. Unimportant stuff....
Anyway, I am still not able to accept that it was indeed the Bong Bhoot in action. I am inclined to believe it was somebody in the hostel- inclined being the operative word. There are moments when I am absolutely sure we fell for a silly prank but I must say I am not convinced. Sometimes reason gives way to the heart which says it was indeed the Bong Bhoot. In any case, why should I assume that believing in the Bong Bhoot necessarily means being unreasonable?
That there are spirits is not in question here. The question is whether it was a spirit in action yesterday. Whether we were indeed subject to a spirit's caprice yesterday.
That is was a prank is also not in question here. But that it was indeed some'body' who played it on us is in question...
I was in a friend's room- three of us were studying together when there was a power cut only in our alcove. The rest of the hostel had power. This is not unusual since there have been numerous instances in which the fuse of only some rooms blows off. We were cursing our fate since we didn't get to finish what we had planned to for the night. It was quite dark in the room with only a dim light streaming through the window from a lamp post far-off. We gave up the idea of studying in candlelight since we had been studying for quite some time.
We decided to take a break till the fuse was repaired from the main circuit box downstairs and started chatting about arbit stuff when we suddenly heard a knock.
Since we were too lazy to get out of the bed, we asked the 'person' on the other side of the door what she wanted but got no answer. So Maddy finally got up and opened the door to find nothing but pitch darkness. We dismissed it as a prank of a bored hostelite. At the same time, we noticed the doors of the rooms of the other two (that is, my room and Monisha's room) open. Since it was dark and there was every possibility of a theft (yes, it is not unusual in the hostel) occuring, I locked my room and Maddy latched Monisha's room right which was next to her room.We went back to Maddy's room and closed the door since we did not want our talking to disturb the others in the alcove who were fast asleep.
A minute or two later there was another knock. This time too there was no answer. Nobody opened the door for some seconds and I (only I) heard a door unlatched. Finally, Maddy mustered courage and opened the door to find nothing but pitch darkness. And Monisha's door was wide open. (we had latched it just a minute ago.)
By this time Maddy was quite scared but Monisha and I still believed it was some jobless perosn in the hostel who chose the inmates of the only dark alcove in the hostel to play a prank on. For sometime after that there was nothing spooky or unusual and our fears were dispelled. However, Monisha said this was the best time to talk of ghosts and narrate ghost stories and suggested we talk of ghosts.
Though I was quite against the idea Maddy lapped it up readily and started telling us about a prevalent Bong(short for bengali) belief about spirits.
Apparently, it is believed by Bengalis that spirits sometimes choose to make contact humans. This they do by knocking at people's doors in the dead of the night. This spirit usually knocks thrice. If the bloke of the house founds nobody outside the door after the first two knocks he can be sure it is a spirit knocking. Then he is not supposed to answer the third knock. In case the bloke chose to answer the third knock, there are two possibilities:
(a) It could be a 'good' spirit the bloke apparently gets an answer to any question unanswered or usually hears his name called out by the 'good' spirit.
(b) It could be a bad spirit the bloke finds a lighted candle outside his door.
For the ignorant, a lighted candle outside the door is an extremely bad omen. So basically, there is something bad awaiting the bloke.
Maddy said it had been told to her in her childhood and that the belief had been prevalent since ages. She had just finished narrating this when I inadvertently turned towards the closed door to find, for the shock of my life, a yellow/golden light (in short, candlelight) through the slit between the door and the wall. I was really more surprised than shocked because the alcove had been pitch dark and the power wasn't yet back. I drew the attention of the other two towards the light. Maddy wouldn't believe it at first since she thought I was pulling her leg as she had just then talked of a spirit and a candle light. But she had to believe it when she saw the candle glow through the ventilator. Before we could realise what was happening there was the omenous third knock.
I was sure it was a prank and proceeded to open the door but Maddy stopped me. She was just too shocked. Finally, she mustered courage and opened the door to find, yes you guessed it, a lighted candle. It was really freaky. I went out and found nobody in sight. I started wavering from my belief about a prank because it was a huge coincidence to find a lighted candle outside your door just when you are talking about it.
Yes, the Bong Bhoot (as I would like to call it) had struck!
Maddy wouldn't get out of her room. I was, I must admit quite shocked and decided to kick the candle away rather than hold it in my hand and put it off. I really didn't know what Monisha was thinking because she doesn't say anything. But I am sure she wasn't as scared as Maddy was. Neither was she she ready to brush away the whole thing as a prank as easily as I did.
We decided to keep the door open but were yelled at by a sleepy inmate of the alcove who was woken up by our babble. So we had to close the door. Maddy was very scared and all my efforts at convincing her it was a prank were in vain. She had decided that an evil spirit was out there keeping candles outside her door and this surely wasn't a very pleasant thing.
Suddenly, we heard Monisha's windchimes in the next room. This is really very strange because Monisha's windchimes are very heavy and produce sound only when there is a strong wind. In any case, if Monisha's windchimes made noise Maddy's windchimes had to necessarily chime which did not happen in this case. This was very strange.
I had decided it was somebody in the hostel doing all this and was just waiting for another knock. Apparently, the spirit knocks only thrice and I had just given up the idea of catching the 'prankster' red-handed at the next knock when there was another knock! Without waiting for the others' reaction, I let out a yell and opened the door suddenly to find nobody outdside. But I distinctly heard a girl's laughter and somebody running away. I chased the voice and the footsteps but everytime I ran forward the girl turned around a corner. And when I too went to the corner there was nobody. I was sure it was somebody in the hostel laughing at us and running but then, wouldn't I find her? The corridors are really long so she couldn't run down all the way disappear round the corner before I could reach even the beginning of it.
Yes, there was a flight of stairs next to the corridor which I didn't check because I suspected a particular person of playing this 'prank' (she is notorious for playing pranks esp. on gullible people like me) and like a fool, ran towards her room. Yet, the stairs too were at quite a distance from the beginning of the corridor and she couldn't have turned there before I could even reach the corner.
Ultimately we confronted the person I suspected. She provided us explanations which we couldn't disprove to her disadvantage. Well, the details are not important. She was in fact instrumental in consoling Maddy and she got us to speak to another Bong in the hostel who confirmed Maddy's belief. (I did not belive the Bong Bhoot story.)
Well what followed is unimportant. The power was back by then and the rest of the studying planned was done in my room, door wide open. An hour later, we went to sleep after having made sure Maddy was alright. Unimportant stuff....
Anyway, I am still not able to accept that it was indeed the Bong Bhoot in action. I am inclined to believe it was somebody in the hostel- inclined being the operative word. There are moments when I am absolutely sure we fell for a silly prank but I must say I am not convinced. Sometimes reason gives way to the heart which says it was indeed the Bong Bhoot. In any case, why should I assume that believing in the Bong Bhoot necessarily means being unreasonable?
That there are spirits is not in question here. The question is whether it was a spirit in action yesterday. Whether we were indeed subject to a spirit's caprice yesterday.
That is was a prank is also not in question here. But that it was indeed some'body' who played it on us is in question...
posted by Krits at 9/25/2004 06:27:00 pm
6 Comments:
Of course its a spirit. Spirits are there. You only need an eye to see them. There is no doubt. Call it bong bhoot or whatever. (Btw I think it is derogatory to address bengalis as bongs.) It has been there. We bengalis have believed it. And you experienced it today.
nice small post :P keep 'em coming.
One of the more interesting blog posts. But come on Krits, surely u dont really take all this bhoot thing seriously. It was a prank I am sure. I have pulled off many like this, so dont get all freaked out. Be a brave little girl and phooey on any Bong Bhoot. I have some nice 'horror' stories (is that an oxymoron) that I can narrate to you the next time around we meet. Till then, be brave girl, be brave :)
thats the Spirit !!! ;)
I am NOT freaked out or anything. I have always believed it was a prank. The only thing I am saying is that it was too much of a coincidence to see a candle outside just when you are talking about it. In this case I am sure it was a prank. I am only unable to comprehend how the prankster could escape without a trace. I am amazed at the perfect timing and the neat way in which it was carried out.
Hey Krits darling..........
Anwesha here... yep after u told me of the incident last nite (wit lights off, post-midnite for added effect) i jus HAD 2 check out ur blog ASAP... hmm all i can say is best of luck with ur investigations of the 'para'normal n LOVE the way u handled it! Congrats girl ur gettin 2 b not THAT gullible nemore. PROUD of ya! ;)
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