Today Amruta had to rush to the office for work and yet vinayak bhatji had not arrived. It was a relief that she had her mother in law at home. Her husband too had a shop close to the house so he could take some time off. The children were almost ready for school now.
Everything for the annual Ganesh Pooja was ready. Except for Amruta who will not be able to take part this time in the Pooja with her husband, mostly due to work place pressure. So their regular family bhatji , vinayak bhatji told her that it would be alright for her to skip this time. Only thing she will have to follow through with the fast and rules as far as the diet was concerned.
Now just as the Pooja was starting, Amruta rushed with the kids to the car and all of them left for work after taking the blessings from Lord Ganesha and the bhatji.
Just when Amruta left and her husband was all relieved. As now they could relax and start the Pooja, Vinayak bhatji started telling him about an incident that happened to him last year. Then , he was going to more houses, some of the houses were far and he got late by the time he was back home.
Now he had started following rule since then that he would only go to certain places which were very close to the village and go to those houses first. He especially told them that only for them he had made an exception and was here early.
He now was very keen on telling the experience. Itseems last year, on the way back from the nearest city. It got very late. He always carried his cycle and got down once in a while when he was tired.
It must've been around 10 pm. But the people from around the place never stayed out late at night and the town on the outskirts became very ghostly.
And rightly so, just as bhatji was about to go to cross the final area of that village he got down from the cycle. And as he was walking he just thought it would have been nice had he accompanied a fellow bhatji from the nearby village.
Just then he saw a number of people with a lot of goats and things, men and women ,going towards the city. They were all busy talking to each other , there was a noise of sorts. They looked like village folk. But there were no villages nearby who wore that kind of old clothing and neither were there people who owned goats nearby.
To find out the truth of the matter Vinayak bhatji decided to go and ask them. But none of them answered him. They just ignored him ,he felt a sting of insult at that. And decided to ride his cycle and leave the spot.
But after sometime the curiosity made him look back and the talking noise was now gone. As he looked back he could see no one.
He rushed his cycle knowing what it must've been.
The story went on for sometime and then finally when he saw everyone in the room dumbstruck. He finally started the Pooja.
Even now when Vinayak Bhatji comes to the house , Amruta's husband still asks him whether it was true. As the place he said is a nearby place, which does not seem to be ghostly at all.
