The Dead Man…Concluded

and they all ran away like the wind. The ones who had seen, ran fast and, the ones who had not seen ran even faster, for the fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of what is known.

Once the people had run a fair bit they stopped to decide on the course of action to be taken. Some one said that they ought to call a priest so that the ghost could be pacified and sent away, and someone suggested something else. In a large gathering of villagers it is impossible to know who is saying what, and hardly ever does a decision get taken. And if at all a decision is taken, one can be sure that it will be the strangest one. This time it was no different.

In this case, they were agreeing on getting some sticks and stones and guns and every kind of weapon they could think of, to kill a human and also a supernatural being, if the occasion so demanded. They decided to ensure the demise of the ghost of Rohit this time. But, before words could translate into action and actual preparations could be made in this regard, the man himself came there and, called out:

“Hey, why was I in the dead room?”

There was a stunned silence. The wind that was gently blowing and whispering in the nearby forest could be heard now. The popular belief is that a Ghost can take any form it wants and now, the villagers thought, they were witnessing it first hand. If they had sticks and stones and guns now, they would have fallen upon him in no time, but weaponless and unarmed no one dared to move or, even whisper.

Rohit, seeing his wife in the crowd, continued in the same irritated tone:

“…and what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be home cooking my breakfast”

She was braver than the rest and ventured, “Why are you come back to haunt us?”

“Is this woman mad? Is that why we are here? Haunt you I will as long as I am alive.” he asked, addressing the crowd in general.

By now the crowd had begun to get a little bolder. One man moved forward and repeated what the woman had said.

“You are dead…leave us in peace.”

The man laughed and said, “I am sure you wish me dead. I will teach each of you a lesson that you will never forget for the rest of your life.”

He would have been better off had he not said these words. His laugh and his words were taken by people to be those of a ghost. They all stepped away. Some of them picked any stones that were lying nearby.

Rohit, when sober, was an intelligent guy and seeing the expression on the faces of the men surrounding him , he realized he was in danger of being stoned to death, and that they really thought him to be a ghost.

He quickly changed his tone and line of argument.

“I have no idea what you are talking about but I am no ghost. Who said I was dead in the first place?”

At this question everyone was stumped and pointed a finger at the other. In the end it turned out that no one had actually verified that he was dead, but just believed what the first person had said. Starting from that and building upon the logic, Rohit was able to convince them that he was not a ghost but the real he. It took some time, but in the end he did manage to convince them and the crowd dispersed.

Though some in the village, to this day, believe that the new Rohit is not him but a ghost or some other soul that go into his body after Rohit’s original soul had left it. The belief was strengthened by the fact of Rohit not touching liquor since that day. He had realized how close he had come to being burnt alive and, that no one cared if he lived or died, not even his wife. And he realized that he could not blame his wife for that. She had dutifully served him for many years and he had given nothing back in return. So, he had decided that he would be a good husband, and a good father, and he got his children back and now they are a very happy family. Looking at them now I feel that that little incident was a life changing moment for him and fate does often give one a chance to make good the wrongs that one does. All one has to do is look out for such opportunities and grab them with both hands. Sometimes one hand is just not enough.