Hinglish version
Experience (5)
Jaisa ki maine pehle bataya tha ki Nani ke ghar mein sab kuch thoda alag hai, par wahan ki seedhiyan sabse zyada scary hain. Hum sab ne kayi baar discuss kiya hai ki jaise hi koi upar jaate waqt teesri seedhi (3rd step) par pair rakhta hai, mahool achanak bhari ho jata hai. Bilkul aisa lagta hai ki koi theek aapke piche khada hai aur aapki gardan par uski nazar hai.
Zyadatar log dar ke maare wahan se seedha niche ki taraf bhaag nikalte hain, lekin ek baar maine himmat dikhane ki koshish ki thi.
Uss din jab main un seedhiyon par thi aur jaise hi mera pair us teesri seedhi par pada, wahi purana dar wapas aa gaya. Aisa laga jaise piche khada koi insaan mujhe chhu lene wala hai. Mera dil bahut tezi se dhadak raha tha, par us din maine decide kiya ki main dekhungi ki aakhir piche hai kaun.
Maine apni saans roki aur poori himmat juta kar ek dum se piche palat kar dekha.
fir jo maine dekha or mehsoos kiya wo batana bahut mushkil hai. Jaise hi main palti, mujhe aisa laga ki wahan koi saya ya koi dundhli si cheez thi jo bilkul mere paas khadi thi, lekin mere palat-te hi wo ek dum se side ho gayi... jaise koi bahut tezi se kone mein dubak gaya ho ya gayab ho gaya ho.
Wahan koi insaan nahi tha, par kisi ke hone ka ehsas itna pakka tha ki mujhe jor ki ghabrahat hogai thi. Us pal mujhe samajh aa gaya ki hum sab jo mehsoos karte hain, wo koi veham nahi hai. Wahan koi hai jo hum par nazar rakhta hai aur jaise hi hum use dekhne ki koshish karte hain, wo andhere mein kahin chhup jata hai. Yeh Wali baat main vahan per bahut Logon Ko Bata chuki hun aur Sabke Sath hi aisa hota hai.....
Experience (6)
Aaj main aapko us ghar ke structure aur wahan hone wali un ajeeb baaton ke baare mein bataungi jo hum sab ne mehsoos ki hain.
Nani ka ghar bahut bada hai. Beech mein ek bada sa aangan hai jahan ek purana khamba (pillar) khada hai. Aangan ke chaaron taraf kamre hain—ek taraf do kamre hain, aur samne bhi do kamre aur ek dusra kitchen hai. Deewar ke andar se seedhiyan upar chhat ki taraf jaati hain.
Wahan ki sabse darawni cheez hai upar chhat par bana 'Jhingla' (lohe ki jaali) jo ventilation ke liye hai. Mere mama aur mummy batate hain ki jab bhi koi upar chhat par hota hai aur us jhingle se neeche aangan ki taraf dekhta hai, toh saaf mehsoos hota hai ki neeche koi hai. Aisa lagta hai jaise neeche aangan mein koi ek kamre se nikal kar bahut tezi se dusre kamre mein chala gaya ho.
Sirf upar se hi nahi, jab hum neeche kamro mein baithe hote hain, tab bhi aisa lagta hai ki bahar aangan mein koi lagatar idhar se udhar chakkar kaat raha hai. Ghar ke andar jo 'Bhandariya' (deewar ke andar bane store) hain aur jo Atic (taand) hai, wahan andhere mein hamesha aisa ehsas hota hai ki koi andar se humein jhaank raha hai aur bas abhi nikal kar bahar aa jayega.
Yaha tak ki washroom mein bhi sukoon nahi hai. Wahan jo aadhi deewar ka partition hai, use dekh kar hamesha darr lagta hai ki koi uske peeche se nikal kar samne aa khada hoga. Ghar mein do bade store rooms hain jahan din mein bhi akela jaane mein jaan nikalti hai.
Sabse bhayanak waqt wo hota hai jab raat ko light chali jati hai. Nani ka ghar jis area mein hai, wahan street lights bilkul nahi hain. Light jaate hi poora ghar aur chhat andhere mein doob jaate hain. Us sannate mein chhat par bane store room ki taraf dekhne ki bhi kisi ki himmat nahi hoti. Itne bade ghar mein jab andhera hota hai, tab samajh aata hai ki wo halchal sirf hamara veham nahi hai...
Experience (7)
Ye kissa meri choti mami ke saath juda hai aur ye itna real hai ki sunkar aapke roye khade ho jayenge. Jaisa ki maine aapko nani ke ghar ka structure bataya tha, wahan jo ek bada kamra aur kitchen tha, use partition karke mami aur mama ke liye ek naya room banaya gaya.
Ye baat tab ki hai jab mami pregnant thi aur unka teesra mahina chal raha tha. Kehte hain na ki is waqt bache mein dhadkan aane wali hoti hai aur aurat bahut zyada sensitive hoti hai.
Ek dopahar mami apne usi naye kamre mein aayi aur bed par baithi. Wo kamra chhota hi tha aur wahan deewar aur bed ke beech thodi si jagah bachti thi. Aksar mama wahan us niche wali jagah par baith jaya karte thhe, toh mami ko laga ki aaj bhi shayad wahi wahan baithe hain.
Mami ko apne theek bagal mein us niche wali jagah par kisi ke hone ka ehsas hua. Unhone unhe aawaz lagayi, lekin koi jawab nahi mila. Unhone thoda zor se do-teen baar pukaara, par kamre mein bilkul sannata tha. Mami ko bilkul saaf lag raha tha ki koi wahan baitha hai, par wo bol kyun nahi raha?
Jab koi response nahi aaya, toh mami ne himmat karke niche us jagah ki taraf jhaank kar dekha. Jo unhone dekha, wo unki rooh kanpa dene wala tha. Wahan mama nahi thhe... balki unke bed ke theek niche us kone mein ek 'Kaala Saaya' baitha hua tha!
Wo koi insaan nahi tha, bas ek ghana kaala saaya tha jo wahan maujood tha. Mami itni zyada darr gayi ki wo bina kuch soche-samjhe kamre se bahar bhaagi. Us din ke baad unki himmat nahi hui ki wo poora din us kamre mein kadam bhi rakhen.
Mami Kali Maa ki bahut badi bhakt hain, isliye wo poora din unhe yaad karti rahi aur unse prarthna karti rahi ki wo us "cheez" ko wahan se bhaga dein. Us din ke baad se sabko samajh aa gaya ki wo naya bana kamra itna sukoon wala nahi hai jitna humein lag raha tha. Wahan pehle se koi aur hai jo apna haq jata raha hai.
Jab Mami ne mujhe ye kissa sunaya, toh maine hairani se pucha, "Mami, hum toh is ghar mein pichle 50 saalon se reh rahe hain, jab mummy chhoti thi tab ye ghar bana tha... toh phir ye log kaun hain jo humein dikhayi dete hain?"
Mami ne jawab diya, Unhone kaha, "Beta, hum toh yahan sirf 50 saal se hain, lekin ye 'log' yahan pichle 100- 200 saalon se reh rahe hain. Ye jagah unki hai."
Vse bhi mummy ne btaya hai ki is ghar mein kayi baar bade-bade hawan aur puja karwayi gayi taaki ye sab khatam ho jaye, lekin kuch fayda nahi hua. Wo aaj bhi wahin hain. Hum jitni bhi koshish kar lein, unhe yahan se nahi nikaal sakte. Aaj bhi kabhi na kabhi, kisi na kisi ke saath kuch na kuch ajeeb ho hi jata hai. Humne unke saath rehna seekh liya hai, or ab utna dar bhi nhi lgta....
English version
The Terror of the Third Step
In my Nani's house, every corner has a secret, but the staircase is by far the most sinister. There is a common belief among us that the moment you step on the third stair, the atmosphere shifts. It becomes heavy, suffocating. You feel a pair of cold eyes fixed right on the back of your neck.
Most people run down in a panic, but one day, I decided to face it. As my foot landed on that cursed third step, the familiar dread washed over me. I felt someone—or something—standing so close that I could almost feel their breath. My heart was racing, but instead of running, I spun around instantly.
What I saw is hard to put into words. For a split second, there was a faint, misty figure standing right there. But as soon as my eyes met it, it darted into the shadows with impossible speed, as if it had ducked into a corner or vanished into the wall. It wasn't human, but the presence was so solid that I felt a wave of nausea from the fear. I realized then that it wasn't just my imagination. There is someone on those stairs who watches us, hiding in the darkness the moment we try to look back.
Experience (6): The House that Watches
The architecture of the house itself is a maze of shadows. There is a large central courtyard (Aangan) with an old pillar standing like a silent witness. The scariest part is the 'Jhingla'—an iron ventilation grate on the terrace. My mother and uncles say that when you look down through that grate into the courtyard, you see things. You see a shadow darting from one room to another with unnatural speed.
Even when you are downstairs, you can hear the constant sound of footsteps pacing in the courtyard. The built-in wall cupboards (Bhandariya) and the dark attics (Taand) feel like eyes staring at you. Even the bathroom isn't safe; the half-wall partition feels like a hiding spot for something waiting to jump out.
But the worst is when the power goes out. In that area, there are no streetlights. The house plunges into an absolute, ink-black darkness. In that silence, the store-room on the terrace looks like a mouth waiting to swallow you whole. That's when you realize that the movements you hear are not just your mind playing tricks—the house is truly alive.
Experience (7): The Entity in the New Room
This story belongs to my younger aunt (Mami), and it still sends shivers down my spine. When she was three months pregnant—a time when a woman is said to be extremely sensitive to energies—a new room was partitioned for her and my uncle.
One afternoon, she was sitting on the bed. There was a narrow gap between the bed and the wall where my uncle often sat. She felt a presence there, right next to her. Thinking it was him, she called out his name. No answer. She called again, louder this time. Silence.
The feeling of someone sitting there was so strong that she finally leaned over to look into the gap. Her blood ran cold. It wasn't my uncle. It was a dense, pitch-black shadow crouching in the corner! It had no features, just a mass of darkness that didn't belong to this world.
She ran out of the room, trembling, and couldn't step back inside for the rest of the day. As a devotee of Goddess Kali, she prayed for protection. When she told me this, I asked her in disbelief, "Mami, we built this house 50 years ago. Who are these beings that we keep seeing?"
She looked at me with a grave expression and said, "Beta, we have been here for only 50 years. These 'people' have been living on this land for 100 or 200 years. This place belongs to them, not us."
We have had many prayers and 'Hawans' to cleanse the house, but nothing worked. They are still there. We have simply learned to coexist with them. We aren't as terrified as we used to be; we've just accepted that we are never truly alone in that house.