Have you ever heard true tales stranger than fiction ? This is one bone chilling incident from early 1980s was narrated to me by a close friend when he was growing up as a teenager in Bombay (not Mumbai yet).
A young man in his neighborhood was in an extremely precarious health condition. My friend had seen him vomiting blood, so much so that the famous Jaslok Hospital where he was admitted returned him back considering his hopeless situation. The doctors advised him to spend his last days with his near and dear ones as the hospital has given up all hope.
As a last resort his helpless, desperate guardians approached a local OJHA or TANTRIK (sorcerer) to see if he can make any difference to their lad's health. The Tantrik after checking opined that the young man was under the influence of some evil spirit which has led to such malignancy in his body and if not treated immediately was going to perish soon.
He queried his patient if he remembers anything unusual around the time he fell sick. The boy was a GWALA or BHAIYYA (milkmen as addressed in Bombay) who used to deliver milk at wee hours of the morning. One day when it was still dark outside, he ventured out on his usual route. Suddenly he came across a woman wearing bright Saree and a huge circle of Red Sindoor (vermilion) on her forehead walking on the opposite side of the road.
The youthfulness in him gave away to play a prank. So he started whistling from his snorted mouth and made some catcalls at the approaching woman. As he trudged ahead, the lady responded by cursing him to immense suffering. It was loud and clear enough for him to hear her voice. He turned around to take a peek. The woman who was only a few feet from him moments ago wasn't there anymore - as if she simply vanished into the thick, humid early morning Bombay air.
The Bhaiyya ignored this incident and moved on. But now he remembered that no sooner this encounter happened than he fell ill. The Tantrik told him not to worry and went ahead with his POOJA PAATH (Prayers and Rituals). He then assured the boy that the bad energy inside him has been cured and he is going to recover.
Exactly the same happened. The boy who was left for dead by the doctors of the famed Jaslok Hospital not so long ago, miraculously started feeling better. In a few days my friend saw his BHAABI (sister-in-law) helping him to take a bath. In a week he was walking around and in a month he was back to his usual chore of distributing milk. Some tells are truly stranger than fiction. They really are.
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