Last time, I mentioned how I visited some of my family in a small village in India, only to be accosted by a spirit on the way home. Well, about four years later, my family made another trip back to India and I was looking forward to spending some time with my cousins, especially Gopal.
It turns out that Gopal had decided to move to another village close-by to help them out with a few problems. Gopal was pretty smart and really handy around farm equipment and machinery, and he ended up working on some of their cars and other machines. At any rate, he wasn't really around much, which was a bit of a disappointment to me. Instead of staying at his place with his dad, we ended up staying with one of my mom's uncle's, Viru.
We all got along great with my mom's Viru-mama. (Most Indian languages have different names for your four kinds of aunts and uncles. 'Mama' is your mother's brother, and 'mami' is his wife.) He was actually only about ten years older than my mom, so all of us kids called him 'mama,' too. His wife was really awesome, like a second mother, and her name was Sushila. He was really down-to-earth. His older son, Kalpit (about 32), daughter-in-law Jaya (about 30, Kalpit's wife), his younger son Bankim (about 26), and daughter-in-law Prabha (about 26, Bankim's wife) all lived with him. He had a pretty spacious house and though the village wasn't a farming one, they did grow a lot of their own stuff themselves. Kalpit and Bankim were pretty ripped from doing a lot of work outside.
We all got along well despite my brother and I being much younger than them, and we spent a lot of nights playing card games into the wee hours of the morning. Usually Bankim and Prabha would be up with us, but Kalpit and Jaya would go to bed early. Kalpit would usually take care of the earlier chores, and Jaya took care of breakfast, now that Sushila was getting older. Since they had a nice sized family, everything was pretty well-managing in shifts and things got done easily, at least until some children came into the picture a year or two later.
Well, we joked and teased my family back and forth, especially since Jaya and Kalpit hadn't had any kids and they were 30 (well-past the normal age in rural India). They laughed along saying they'd get to it and so forth, but something seemed amiss. My dad seemed to notice it first, but wouldn't really say anything. My mom talked to Sushila-mami the next day and then told us not to tease them so much. They had had some problems in that area, miscarriages and so forth.
Jaya was pretty skinny. She wasn't malnourished, but she had a really high metabolism and she was also a little on this shorter side, only about 5'3" (1.6m), and it seemed that this was the root of the problem. After we found out, we started to try to help by getting her to eat some more, drink more water and milk, and in general offer some emotional support. I got really close to her and she felt like she could confide some her fears and secrets to me, and over a few days she seemed to be in higher spirits.
A few nights before we were supposed to leave, we were all up late playing cards and eating some home-made sweets when Jaya just up and drops her glass of milk. Indian household (especially rustic ones) often use metal plates (called thaalis) and cups, so when it fell, out rang this metallic clang and hum. The milk was everywhere and we all turned to see Jaya slumped on the floor.
Kalpit and I rushed over and lifted her by her arms and put her back on her chair. Her head lolled. Prabha went to get some cool water and Viru-mama helped us move her over to the sofa, which was more like a daybed. Sushila-mami sprinkled some water on her since she was burning with a fever, and she suddenly screeched.
Her eyes snapped open and she flicked her arm away, pushing me several feet in the opposite direction. I looked back and she didn't really look like herself anymore. Bankim had taken my spot, at her hand, but he was holding her down now, as was Kalpit. A look of sadness filled both of their faces. Prabha told my parents and my brother to check on me, and to stay back. Sushila-mami brought out a book from somewhere and Prabha brought some holy water (from the Ganges).
Apparently, they were used to this scene. I watched on, as Jaya started screeching and thriving on the bed, trying desperately to throw off Kalpit and Bankim. Prabha started chanting from the book, tears streaming down her cheeks. It was a collection of some hymns, a few I knew from the Rig Veda, some parts from the Bhagavad Gita. I had started studying some Sanskrit at the time, enough to the point where I could recognize some of the verses here and there.
All through this, Jaya kept shouting and screaming.
"SHHHHHHEEEEEEEEERRR!!! SSSSHHHHHHEEEEEEEERRR!!"
Like I said, she was on the small-side. Bankim and Kalpit should have easily been able to hold her down, but she used some ridiculous strength to fight them. She actually managed to throw off Kalpit at one point and was working on Bankim when I ran up and tried to help restrain her. Up close, even I could feel her intensity. Then I noticed her eyes.
Jaya, like most native Indians, had brown eyes. Big, beautiful brown eyes. Only what I was looking at weren't brown. They were a bright, brilliant blue. Her eye color had changed completely. And in that spotless, brilliant blue, I didn't see rage or anger, I saw fear.
Then Prabha started chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, and Sushila started to sprinkle some Ganga jal on to her every so often, and she immediately started writhing a bit. She had severely calmed down, but she kept rocking her head and limbs back and forth, mumbling softly.
"The worst of it is over," Kalpit said, as he let her go. Her arm slumped down, though our Jaya wasn't back. I looked up at him, stunned, and he said, "It's been like this since we started to try for kids. Every so often, she goes into these fits. Prabha's Sanskrit is good, so she chants some prayers, and she calms down. Eventually Jaya comes back and she's fine for a few months."
He dejectedly sat down. My mom, being ever the pragmatic one, asked, "What is she saying?"
Viru-mama said, "We don't know. We can't understand her. Prabha thought she said 'kshiira'."
Jaya moaned next me, "Sheer. Sheer." She looked up and her eyes met mine, longingly.
Bankim took up the story. "That means 'milk' in Sanskrit. We gave her some milk, and then she started talking, but we only picked up a little. It sounded like Hindi, but was really different at time. It definitely wasn't Gujarati, and if it was Sanskrit, then Prabha would've known."
"Sheer."
I couldn't bear it anymore.
"Bhai, get me some milk, quick." My brother dashed off, and I asked Prabha to stop. I guess she was sort of listening, cuz she nodded, but the kept the book open in case Jaya started a fit again.
Jaya stopped writhing and lay still, but she didn't try to fight us.
"I have to meet him. Please, let me go. I have to meet him tonight." Jaya's eyes locked on mine.
"Dad, it's Urdu." Common Urdu and Hindi are essentially spoken the same way nowadays, even though their scripts differ. Hindi in the news is largely Sanskritized, so as to be more "Indian," but Urdu is largely Persianized. My ears perked at some of the borrowed Persian words, and her pronunciation.
"We're getting you milk. Who do you need to meet?" I tried to respond in Hindi, my effort embarrassingly clumsy at best, but she seemed to get it.
"My fiance. He's at home and I need to get back. He said he'd come meet me in the city and he never came! I need to meet him, TONIGHT!" This was definitely not Jaya's voice. It was much deeper, still womanly, but more breathy. Some of the sounds she was making were definitely Persian. The way she said "mulaaqaat," for example.
My dad talked to her and tried to get more info, but she just kept repeating herself.
My brother brought the cup of milk and gave it to her, but she didn't drink it. She started to move and Prabha started to chant again, but my mom stopped her.
"Let's help her up, and see where she goes."
Bankim and Kalpit basically carried her out of the house towards the road, her pointing with her hand, and my dad and me trying to help translate. We went up the road a bit until she asked us to stop.
Fuck, if I thought things were weird before...
The dew was setting, and a low fog sort of came up the road. Jaya apparently got her strength back, because all of a sudden, she ran forwards a bit, pushing Bankim and Kalpit out of the way. She didn't even spill a drop of milk.
About 10 feet ahead, she beamed and started talking really excitedly. We didn't want to move closer and we couldn't really hear well from where we were, so we just kind of watched. She lifted up her cup and tilted it forwards, as if she were making someone drink from it. We watched as the whole cup tipped until it was almost horizontal, and no milk came out. Then, she fell over.
We rushed to her side to see if she was okay but she was totally passed out. We looked around for the glass, and it was set straight up in the dirt, empty. There was no milk anywhere around.
She came to a little while later, after she was carried back inside. She had no recollection of what happened at all.
When we saw them on our next trip, 4 years later, Viru-mama said she hadn't had any fits and things were good, especially with her 3- and 2-year old kids making mischief. At one point, Jaya and I were alone, and she mentioned that she had had some really vivid dreams that she only told Kalpit about, and another incident.
The whole family had gone with Gopal's parents to the next village over to see him. She and Prabha stayed home with the kids for a night or two, and some of the older kids around the village helped them out with the chores. Jaya heard Prabha screech in the middle of the night and went to go find her, but she was gone.
Jaya wandered around the whole house, and then ran outside and noticed her in the middle of the road. When she got close by, Prabha just collapsed. Jaya's eyes widened a bit and as she whispered in hushed tones -
"There was a cup, floating in the air nearby. I've never seen anything like it and I was so afraid! Then, it slowly floated down and set itself on the ground. After that, Prabha woke up. She never remembered anything, either. I guess I see why you were all so afraid, too."
Then her 3-year-old ran into the room. She put her arms around him, smiling and saying, "Looks like you and your brother will have some more playmates soon!"
Original Post
It turns out that Gopal had decided to move to another village close-by to help them out with a few problems. Gopal was pretty smart and really handy around farm equipment and machinery, and he ended up working on some of their cars and other machines. At any rate, he wasn't really around much, which was a bit of a disappointment to me. Instead of staying at his place with his dad, we ended up staying with one of my mom's uncle's, Viru.
We all got along great with my mom's Viru-mama. (Most Indian languages have different names for your four kinds of aunts and uncles. 'Mama' is your mother's brother, and 'mami' is his wife.) He was actually only about ten years older than my mom, so all of us kids called him 'mama,' too. His wife was really awesome, like a second mother, and her name was Sushila. He was really down-to-earth. His older son, Kalpit (about 32), daughter-in-law Jaya (about 30, Kalpit's wife), his younger son Bankim (about 26), and daughter-in-law Prabha (about 26, Bankim's wife) all lived with him. He had a pretty spacious house and though the village wasn't a farming one, they did grow a lot of their own stuff themselves. Kalpit and Bankim were pretty ripped from doing a lot of work outside.
We all got along well despite my brother and I being much younger than them, and we spent a lot of nights playing card games into the wee hours of the morning. Usually Bankim and Prabha would be up with us, but Kalpit and Jaya would go to bed early. Kalpit would usually take care of the earlier chores, and Jaya took care of breakfast, now that Sushila was getting older. Since they had a nice sized family, everything was pretty well-managing in shifts and things got done easily, at least until some children came into the picture a year or two later.
Well, we joked and teased my family back and forth, especially since Jaya and Kalpit hadn't had any kids and they were 30 (well-past the normal age in rural India). They laughed along saying they'd get to it and so forth, but something seemed amiss. My dad seemed to notice it first, but wouldn't really say anything. My mom talked to Sushila-mami the next day and then told us not to tease them so much. They had had some problems in that area, miscarriages and so forth.
Jaya was pretty skinny. She wasn't malnourished, but she had a really high metabolism and she was also a little on this shorter side, only about 5'3" (1.6m), and it seemed that this was the root of the problem. After we found out, we started to try to help by getting her to eat some more, drink more water and milk, and in general offer some emotional support. I got really close to her and she felt like she could confide some her fears and secrets to me, and over a few days she seemed to be in higher spirits.
A few nights before we were supposed to leave, we were all up late playing cards and eating some home-made sweets when Jaya just up and drops her glass of milk. Indian household (especially rustic ones) often use metal plates (called thaalis) and cups, so when it fell, out rang this metallic clang and hum. The milk was everywhere and we all turned to see Jaya slumped on the floor.
Kalpit and I rushed over and lifted her by her arms and put her back on her chair. Her head lolled. Prabha went to get some cool water and Viru-mama helped us move her over to the sofa, which was more like a daybed. Sushila-mami sprinkled some water on her since she was burning with a fever, and she suddenly screeched.
Her eyes snapped open and she flicked her arm away, pushing me several feet in the opposite direction. I looked back and she didn't really look like herself anymore. Bankim had taken my spot, at her hand, but he was holding her down now, as was Kalpit. A look of sadness filled both of their faces. Prabha told my parents and my brother to check on me, and to stay back. Sushila-mami brought out a book from somewhere and Prabha brought some holy water (from the Ganges).
Apparently, they were used to this scene. I watched on, as Jaya started screeching and thriving on the bed, trying desperately to throw off Kalpit and Bankim. Prabha started chanting from the book, tears streaming down her cheeks. It was a collection of some hymns, a few I knew from the Rig Veda, some parts from the Bhagavad Gita. I had started studying some Sanskrit at the time, enough to the point where I could recognize some of the verses here and there.
All through this, Jaya kept shouting and screaming.
"SHHHHHHEEEEEEEEERRR!!! SSSSHHHHHHEEEEEEEERRR!!"
Like I said, she was on the small-side. Bankim and Kalpit should have easily been able to hold her down, but she used some ridiculous strength to fight them. She actually managed to throw off Kalpit at one point and was working on Bankim when I ran up and tried to help restrain her. Up close, even I could feel her intensity. Then I noticed her eyes.
Jaya, like most native Indians, had brown eyes. Big, beautiful brown eyes. Only what I was looking at weren't brown. They were a bright, brilliant blue. Her eye color had changed completely. And in that spotless, brilliant blue, I didn't see rage or anger, I saw fear.
Then Prabha started chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, and Sushila started to sprinkle some Ganga jal on to her every so often, and she immediately started writhing a bit. She had severely calmed down, but she kept rocking her head and limbs back and forth, mumbling softly.
"The worst of it is over," Kalpit said, as he let her go. Her arm slumped down, though our Jaya wasn't back. I looked up at him, stunned, and he said, "It's been like this since we started to try for kids. Every so often, she goes into these fits. Prabha's Sanskrit is good, so she chants some prayers, and she calms down. Eventually Jaya comes back and she's fine for a few months."
He dejectedly sat down. My mom, being ever the pragmatic one, asked, "What is she saying?"
Viru-mama said, "We don't know. We can't understand her. Prabha thought she said 'kshiira'."
Jaya moaned next me, "Sheer. Sheer." She looked up and her eyes met mine, longingly.
Bankim took up the story. "That means 'milk' in Sanskrit. We gave her some milk, and then she started talking, but we only picked up a little. It sounded like Hindi, but was really different at time. It definitely wasn't Gujarati, and if it was Sanskrit, then Prabha would've known."
"Sheer."
I couldn't bear it anymore.
"Bhai, get me some milk, quick." My brother dashed off, and I asked Prabha to stop. I guess she was sort of listening, cuz she nodded, but the kept the book open in case Jaya started a fit again.
Jaya stopped writhing and lay still, but she didn't try to fight us.
"I have to meet him. Please, let me go. I have to meet him tonight." Jaya's eyes locked on mine.
"Dad, it's Urdu." Common Urdu and Hindi are essentially spoken the same way nowadays, even though their scripts differ. Hindi in the news is largely Sanskritized, so as to be more "Indian," but Urdu is largely Persianized. My ears perked at some of the borrowed Persian words, and her pronunciation.
"We're getting you milk. Who do you need to meet?" I tried to respond in Hindi, my effort embarrassingly clumsy at best, but she seemed to get it.
"My fiance. He's at home and I need to get back. He said he'd come meet me in the city and he never came! I need to meet him, TONIGHT!" This was definitely not Jaya's voice. It was much deeper, still womanly, but more breathy. Some of the sounds she was making were definitely Persian. The way she said "mulaaqaat," for example.
My dad talked to her and tried to get more info, but she just kept repeating herself.
My brother brought the cup of milk and gave it to her, but she didn't drink it. She started to move and Prabha started to chant again, but my mom stopped her.
"Let's help her up, and see where she goes."
Bankim and Kalpit basically carried her out of the house towards the road, her pointing with her hand, and my dad and me trying to help translate. We went up the road a bit until she asked us to stop.
Fuck, if I thought things were weird before...
The dew was setting, and a low fog sort of came up the road. Jaya apparently got her strength back, because all of a sudden, she ran forwards a bit, pushing Bankim and Kalpit out of the way. She didn't even spill a drop of milk.
About 10 feet ahead, she beamed and started talking really excitedly. We didn't want to move closer and we couldn't really hear well from where we were, so we just kind of watched. She lifted up her cup and tilted it forwards, as if she were making someone drink from it. We watched as the whole cup tipped until it was almost horizontal, and no milk came out. Then, she fell over.
We rushed to her side to see if she was okay but she was totally passed out. We looked around for the glass, and it was set straight up in the dirt, empty. There was no milk anywhere around.
She came to a little while later, after she was carried back inside. She had no recollection of what happened at all.
When we saw them on our next trip, 4 years later, Viru-mama said she hadn't had any fits and things were good, especially with her 3- and 2-year old kids making mischief. At one point, Jaya and I were alone, and she mentioned that she had had some really vivid dreams that she only told Kalpit about, and another incident.
The whole family had gone with Gopal's parents to the next village over to see him. She and Prabha stayed home with the kids for a night or two, and some of the older kids around the village helped them out with the chores. Jaya heard Prabha screech in the middle of the night and went to go find her, but she was gone.
Jaya wandered around the whole house, and then ran outside and noticed her in the middle of the road. When she got close by, Prabha just collapsed. Jaya's eyes widened a bit and as she whispered in hushed tones -
"There was a cup, floating in the air nearby. I've never seen anything like it and I was so afraid! Then, it slowly floated down and set itself on the ground. After that, Prabha woke up. She never remembered anything, either. I guess I see why you were all so afraid, too."
Then her 3-year-old ran into the room. She put her arms around him, smiling and saying, "Looks like you and your brother will have some more playmates soon!"
Original Post
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