The Haunted Bell

I was sitting down in the jaali-kamra, one cold day in the month of February. I was a new bride, unfamiliar with the “TEA” ways of life. Right after my college days, coming into a huge bungalow from a family of five and eventful evenings- this particular evening seemed to hang on me. It felt as if time stood still. This was just a few days after a lot of welcome parties had been hosted for the ‘new bride’. So new that I felt very lonely… I waited patiently for my husband to return from his ‘kaam-jaari’. It was only around 5 in the evening. The crickets were stridulating and far far away there was a long drawn howling- awoooooooo… maybe the wolves or my fear, I was not sure.

Tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt a lump building up in my throat but I desperately tried to hold back the tears. I longed to hear some human voice or wished that I could fly and reach back to my parents and now would do anything to not trouble my siblings. My husband's two dogs sitting next to me offered some comfort. Suddenly, the dogs began to bark piercing the silence of the bungalow. I cannot even begin to describe how lonely I felt at that moment. I decided to walk to the kitchen and saw the lone cook chopping vegetables in a slow slow-motion, in the huge, dimly lit kitchen. The scene and his action itself gave me an eerie feeling. Nonetheless, I offered to help him but he refused.  

Despite my dampened spirits, I braved the silence as my husband had warned me about it. So there was no room for complaints. I went to the bedroom and started watching TV to do away with the sickening silence. Just about 10-12 minutes had passed when the cook walked in, saying that the main door calling bell has been ringing but there is no one at the door. On hearing this I was scared stiff and asked him to recheck and report to me. However, his report does not provide me with any relief as he swore that there was indeed no one at the door. Despite the February chill, I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

(P. S. this story dates back to almost three decades, when there was no facility of landline phones, let alone cellphones.)

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