The haunted haveli
In the port town of Visakhapatnam there was a big haveli that was coming to ruins. The owners of this mansion now lived in the U.S and they had appointed a care-taker to look after this property. The care-taker was an old man who came and watered the lawns during the day and his grand-daughter would sweep the portico of the haveli. They never opened the mansion and had never ventured inside. They would put on a small neon light for the night near the entrance. People around believed that the haveli was haunted.
The view of the haveli was obscured by huge trees to the road-side passersby and with the dim lights it really looked like it was haunted. Some time ago the owners had decided to let the haveli for rent. They had even quoted an absurdly low rent but there were no takers. The care-taker was asked to keep a to-let board so as to attract prospective tenants who would be interested to rent out the place. But for a long time no one came.
Then one day two young men from Tamil-Nadu came looking for an accommodation. They saw the to-let board hanging outside the gate of the mansion. Expecting that the rent would be too high they asked the care-taker nonetheless. The care-taker replied that it was a meagre eighty rupees. The two men were shocked. They could not believe what they had just heard. After re-confirming the rent they asked the care-taker why it was that the rent was so low. The care-taker told them that the people around believed that the house was haunted. But the two young men had made their decision. They were going to move in. They were game for adventure. More-over they could not afford more money for an accommodation and if they could get such a huge haveli for such a low rent they were not going to let go of the opportunity.
So they moved in. The younger of the two had enrolled in a junior college while the elder was a contract labour in the port-trust. In the evening when the two returned the younger one helped his elder brother in the cleaning and cutting of vegetables while the elder set about preparing their dinner. The two were tired and decided to retire to bed early and they were soon snoring in their beds by the time it was ten in the night. Suddenly there was a big clanging of the iron-gate to the house. The two were rudely jerked out of their slumber and rushed to investigate. They switched on the lights and saw that the clanging sound stopped. They waited for some time and were again in deep sleep when the clanging of the gate resumed. This time the sound was more vigorous and more violent than before. The brothers this time took their torches to investigate and they switched on the light at the gate and saw that the gate was shaking vigorously by itself. No human element was involved and this incident sent the shivers down their spine. The younger of the two was frightened and he pleaded with his brother that they abandon the house. They could live in a far smaller house. He implored his brother. But the elder brother was brave and he consoled the younger that they could not be intimidated by these things and he said that he was there by his side like a rock and he would not let any harm come to him.
The next day again when they lay down on their beds to sleep they were actually waiting for the sound to begin but this time there was no sound. It was well past mid-night when they were fast asleep. The elder brother felt as if a huge weight had been placed on his chest. He tried to sit up but he found that he could not. Some-thing was pinning him down. He could only open his eyes. He saw a female figure with red blood-shot eyes wearing a red sari and hair strewn all over her face laughing loudly. ‘Ha – Ha – Ha – Ha - Ha-----‘. The elder brother remained however calm and composed. ‘Who are you’, he asked. ‘Mohini Pisachi’, the spirit replied. This house belongs to me. No one dares stay in my house. Tomorrow at the break of dawn vacate my house or else i will kill you – she screamed and laughed her toothless laughter again. The younger brother was wide awake and he was crying with fear. After some time all was calm but the brothers could not sleep again. They set about their duties calmly and in the morning the younger brother left for his college while the elder brother went to meet a Tantrik baba who lived in a mosque near the hill. The brother told him about the Mohini pisachi and the baba muttered some prayers and tied one taaveez on the arm of the eleder brother. He gave him another one and asked him to tie it similarly on the arm of the younger brother. The Tantrik assured him that all would be well and no spirit would be able to come and trouble them further after that. True enough Mohini pisachi could not venture near them. All it could do was make rumbling sounds in the back-ground. The brothers soon got used to them and paid no heed to them after that.