Grave humour
A village in Andhra Pradesh finds itself in fighting a spirited battle against, well, spirits.The provocation is the frequency of deaths. Rationalists may say there is a ghost of a chance of super-normal activity and dismiss their belief as superstition. But the villagers of Mittooru hamlet in Chandragiri mandal - located 28 km west of Tirupati with 300 residents living in 68 houses - cite statistics to buttress their claim: the death toll touched 20 in the last six years.
According to the villagers, six persons died due to age factor, five in road accidents, three due to excessive alcohol consumption, three committed suicide unable to bear health complications and one died of cardiac arrest.The devil is in these details sir, they aver. There is a host of ghosts out there which we don't want to host, they assert.
A village in Andhra Pradesh finds itself in fighting a spirited battle against, well, spirits.The provocation is the frequency of deaths. Rationalists may say there is a ghost of a chance of super-normal activity and dismiss their belief as superstition. But the villagers of Mittooru hamlet in Chandragiri mandal - located 28 km west of Tirupati with 300 residents living in 68 houses - cite statistics to buttress their claim: the death toll touched 20 in the last six years.
According to the villagers, six persons died due to age factor, five in road accidents, three due to excessive alcohol consumption, three committed suicide unable to bear health complications and one died of cardiac arrest.The devil is in these details sir, they aver. There is a host of ghosts out there which we don't want to host, they assert.
The villagers are showing team spirit in driving away the spirits. A priest advised them to leave the space behind the local deity vacant by demolishing the houses. A farmer whose house is located exactly behind the statue, is ready to shift his residence. “If the priests and elders decide so, I will move out in the interest of our village,” he said.
Belief in supernormal activity is not confined to the remote village nor to any age.
Macbeth actually saw one. "Confronted by the spectre of his murdered victim he loses all self-control, and before the assembled nobility breaks out into speeches which must inevitably betray his guilt," as a Professor said.
The GHOST OF BANQUO enters, and sits in MACBETH's place
| MACBETH: Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect, | |
| Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, | |
| As broad and general as the casing air: | |
| But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in | |
| To saucy doubts and fears. |
And there was a gentleman who befriended one, sold his soul to it to quench his thirst of knowledge and is remembered forever in the expression - Faustian deal. The devil, quoting the scripture that he would face severe consequences if he failed to honour his word, takes control of his soul. It would not allow the rule to be broken in spirit or letter!
Whether they believe or not, people are curious. We can guage it by the huge success of films like The Exorcist, The Omen etc. Many people watch it with the devil may care attitude. We are all familiar with the haunted houses and some haunting tunes too of these films! A generation of TV viewers is familiar with the Onida devil.
Be that as it may. One belief is the ghosts - wearing Prada or not - appear in the dead of night (pun intended) with their feet turned inside . A black cat is also associated with it. It could be a White Devil too as Webster would have it in the eponymous book. Not all people are put off by them as are some devil's advocates who always believe a known devil is better than an unknown angel Some people choose to discuss this topic when it's already ghastly: cyclone raging, winds howling and shadows darkening.
Think of the devil and lo there appear opportune astrologers and sundry exorcists offering many suggestions to put the final nail in the coffin. They threaten the gullible all hell will break loose if they don't adhere to their advice. For the week kneed, it's really gettinh caught between the Devil and the deep sea.
While the belief in vampires is common across climes and people. methods to drive them away differ from one place to another. Some witches were simply burnt down; many people believe in removing teeth of people they suspect of practising black magic. It would render their speech defective and they would not be able to recite the spell accurately. A report said consecration of “'Bottu Rayi”(sanctified stone) is a Dravidian practice to ward off evil forces and ensure prosperity of the village. Eight stones are also placed in eight different directions as advised by Vasthu experts to fix the village boundary.
Halloween is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic fest of Samhian, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. This day marked the end of summer and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, often associated with death. To avoid being recognised by the ghosts, people wore masks when they left home after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. They would place food outside their homes to please them and prevent them from entering their houses. [Source: Google]
Some high-spirited people claim they can be mediators with these visitors from the nether world. Sceance is described as "a meeting at which spiritualists attempt to receive messages from the spirits of the dead [esp of dear ones].
And not all feel out of spirits when they encounter a phantom here or a visitor from the nether world there. After all, Vikram not only visits the graveyard, the abode of the evil genius Betal, as we read month after month in Chandamama, and answers its questions.
But not all answers may satisfy you. Like this gentleman who went to a park and asked a guy sitting on a bench: "They say this park is haunted. Do u believe it?" The other replied, "I don't know sir. I died some 10 years ago!" Dead men tell no tales? Grave humour.
The inspiration for the article: http://www.thehindu.com/todays
