Halloween reminds me of a Supernatural incident I read in a book a while back. Normally I don't give a whole lot of credence to these, but I couldn't ignore this in its historical context. One is free to believe it or not, but let me narrate it in my own words.
This was personally experienced by the daughter of Raja Ram Mohan Roy (King reformer of 19th century Bengal), who later became the MAHARANI (Queen) of Cooch Bihar. She encountered it when she was barely 10 years old. The time this incident took place was soon after Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
One summer she was doing what her renowned reformist father used to do - travelling around, teaching people to reform themselves from social evils prevalent widely in India those days. One evening their travelling entourage which included the young princess decided to stay overnight in a Bungalow near Kanpur in the present day UP.
After a long tiring day and evening meal the servants put on hammocks inside the long hallway before deciding to call it a day. Earlier that evening the girl had noticed stains of dried blood on the wall close to the floor but did not pay much attention to it. After midnight the princess was suddenly awake after she felt abnormally cold around her, very unusual for a North Indian summer.
She opened her eyes and looked around. Everybody was in deep sleep. She started hearing foot steps moving towards the wall. There was sound of marauding invaders, clanking of swords, followed by muffled cry from women and children begging for mercy. This continued for a while and finally stopped. The room was pitch dark and see did not see a thing. She lay still, was too afraid to close her eyes or call anyone.
Next morning she narrated this experience to folks around her. After some inquiry they found that during the Sepoy Mutiny barely a year ago, a group of English women and children took shelter in that hall in the night when they were trying to escape Kanpur. They were soon discovered and mercilessly butchered. All the sound she heard and the dried blood stains on the wall spoke for itself.
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