There was a haunted area near "Baruipara" (the area's local name) where it was rumoured – there was never any substance to it – that ghosts or perhaps some other paranormal figure roamed around a pond each new moon in the late afternoon and evening. It was a solitary place as it turned into a narrow path towards a Hindu cremation area. I came to know about the area when our maidservant's daughter died mysteriously, her body was filled with water and totally submerged in the pond. She was in her teenage years and a good swimmer, so that people started to talk that she hadn’t listened to her mother's advice and dared to cross the road passed beside the pond. An evil ghost had then snatched her body into the pond causing her sudden demise.
It was also rumoured that many years before someone had lost his control of his car and accidentally driven into the pond. Nobody was present at the time of his drowning apart from one or two who couldn’t swim; they said his right hand could be seen rising from the water as he tried to get help. Afterwards, if anybody fell into the pond, it was said he or she was seen drowning in the same manner, raising their right hand!
That particular summer vacation, my cousins and I decided to visit the place in order to discover the truth. Our eldest cousin was by far the bravest among us. It was the evening of the new moon, but there was still light in the sky and as we reached the pond side. We felt a force compelling us to get down into the muddy area on the bank of the pond, but we clung tightly to each other’s hand while one of us pronounced repeatedly in a religious tone "Hare Ram Hare Krishna", after which we felt the force loosen.
Later, we ran home after our frightening experience.
This story, which was translated into English, was edited by Gordon Lawrie.