Mar-April 1997
Ramanathpuram is about 25 minutes away. It's a typical small village with green fields, thatched huts, hard working farmers, stray dogs and clean air. It's not far from Pondicherry at all but all around this place, there are hardly any lights and nearly no traffic at all, and just 20 minutes from civilization, it can seem like half a world away. The village also has the Rural Health Centre (RHC) run by the Community Medicine Department in Jipmer and where Interns like Rahul are posted for 6 weeks at a stretch.
According to hearsay, a lot of these 6 weeks are spent in rural bliss with long walks, cricket in the evenings, toddy in the mornings and budding romances.
Ramanathpuram, or more specifically, the RHC, is also apparently occupied by ghosts. This reputation is quite old and has been "substantiated" by numerous independent reports of "seeing something in the night", "locked doors found unlocked", "doors banging in the night", "strange sounds", "a light breeze when there is no wind" etc. I am quite sceptical frankly, but the belief runs strong and I hear that the Community Med Department had even organized a prayer to rid the RHC of these ghosts. The villagers are also in the know apparently and are well aware of our haunted RHC.
Ramanathpuram, or more specifically, the RHC, is also apparently occupied by ghosts. This reputation is quite old and has been "substantiated" by numerous independent reports of "seeing something in the night", "locked doors found unlocked", "doors banging in the night", "strange sounds", "a light breeze when there is no wind" etc. I am quite sceptical frankly, but the belief runs strong and I hear that the Community Med Department had even organized a prayer to rid the RHC of these ghosts. The villagers are also in the know apparently and are well aware of our haunted RHC.
Around 11 PM one cool evening, Plaha, Vinay and I get our respective bikes- 2 Yamahas and a Suzuki -and start off. Ram, a batch junior and with nothing to do either, joins us. It's a nice evening, typical of a seaside town with a lovely breeze to keep things cool. We exit from the main gate, turn left and go down till the Muruga crossing 2 km down. Straight from here will take us to Raja theatre and eventually the beach, but we turn Right, past the Arcot Biryani and the adjacent mosque.This road, which is beginning to see some development, has some factories on either side and very soon we can smell soap coming from the Hindustan Lever factory. A short distance away is the Hush Puppies factory where shoes were on sale for Rs 700 last year. I know Chetan bought about 5 pairs there but I was too lazy to even go.
This road is not well lit and has a few holes here and there. Traffic is light and we weave in and out avoiding the holes, and, after a traffic check post, are soon on a clear road under a brilliant starlit sky. Wide open spaces on either side, no traffic at all, no lights and apart from our bike engines, no sound. We are only 10 minutes from the College Campus. The road is fine and we trundle along in silence. It's quite cool, chilly even and the conversation drifts from general College chatter to the awesome night sky and finally, naturally, to Ramanathpuram and it's haunted history.
It's just aimless, nightime biking on less well travelled roads, a favourite past time. Right now, a small, roadside shack with a "Master" making tea/coffee and some puffs or biscuits would have been perfect but there's just empty fields for miles. A few minutes later, we spot the faint outline of a church like building on the Right. It's in the middle of some fields and has a Red Light glowing on the top. I've never noticed it before and the combination of the haunted gossip, the chilly air and the slightly misted over church with the Red Light makes everything a bit spooky. There is no other artificial light anywhere and when we turn off the engines, that light is the only thing we see.
There is utter silence. Plaha wants to take a detour and go into the fields to explore this "church" or whatever ruin like thing it is. Vinay and I are a bit spooked, though we cite time as an excuse and Ram will go along with whatever is decided. We linger on for a bit and decide that if Plaha wants to see if it's haunted, then he's welcome to do that alone. Which, he decides, is not much fun and we carry on, feeling slightly more chilly than normal.
Soon, the road dips a bit and I find Ousteri Lake starting on the Right. A small bus stop on the Left and some tied up buffaloes mark the gradual winding Right turn the road now takes.
Ousteri is a big water feature and has some villages scattered around it. Ramanathpuram is not far away and I can see some lights far in the distance on the other side of the lake, probably coming from the Pondicherry-Tindivanam Road.
Ram is sitting behind me and starts a theory about how ghosts can take the form of fires and follow you around. He seems very serious about it, but with Ram, one can never say if he's serious or bullshitting. About 5 seconds after this, and with the expanse of Ousteri on the Right, trees and fields on the Left and darkness all around, we see a big fire on the side of the road.
I have to admit, this is very spooky. With muffled whispers (lest the ghosts should hear) of "Bugger!", we quickly carry on, with Vinay glancing back every few seconds just to make sure no ghost is riding pillion. The road winds around the edge of Ousteri, and a huge banyan tree and 5 minutes later, we're glad to see the Pathukannu bridge which will lead us to Ramanathpuram. We take a small breather here and being spooked ourselves, we see no reason why we should not share the spookiness and decide that Rahul, blissfully unaware of our trip and sleeping in peace, cannot be spared.
We make a short right and go across the Pathukannu bridge which leads onto a small road from where an even smaller side road to the Right will lead directly to the village. If we were to skip the bridge and keep on this Ousteri road, we would have been on a 2 Km stretch of empty, dark road leading to the village of Villianur. Eventually, we would have got back to Jipmer. Here, as they say, all roads lead to Jipmer.
But we're across the Pathukannu bridge and on a small dark road with a small canal on the Right and fields on both sides. There is a lone hut with a bare naked yellow bulb in the distance and this marks our Right turn into Ramanathpuram village proper. We bike across the small bridge and are immediately met with the smells of fresh cow dung and fresh green grass. The village is alseep and there is just a dim street light marking the short Left turn and a couple of twists and turns which take us outside the Main Gate.This is a walled compound and the gate is locked. Inside are some Interns, a Chief Medical Officer, a cook and some sundry other people. And maybe some ghosts.
By this time, thouroughly spooked and feeling a bit sheepish, our original "Meet Rahul and have tea" plan has changed to "Let's scare the bejesus out of him". Just beyond the main gate, to the left, is the Main Hospital/OPD complex. This is a smallish structure with some rooms for OPD, a Minor OT, a Delivery Room, some rooms for Health Workers and a place for a fridge with vaccines etc. Directly opposite the main gate, on the other side of an open space, are some more rooms for the cook and his flunkie. A small path leads from the main gate, turning left and leading to the Intern and Medical Officer Quarters. This path runs between the OPD Block and the Cook House and at this time of night is deserted.
We shut off the engines and quietly park the bikes outside the OPD, out of sight from the Intern Quarters where an unsuspecting Rahul is fast asleep. Or so we hope. Silence is maintained as we walk down the path, stopping to pick up some small gravel and stones by the side. The roof of the Dorm is asbestos and can get really hot in the day. But at night, when there is complete silence, small stones bouncing around can be pretty noisy also. No lights are on and it's all quiet. We stop right outside the Dorm boundary, marked with some wire and punctuated with a small gate leading upto the Dorm, and flick a small stone onto the roof. Nothing happens. Some more stones, at intervals and not too many. A gap of about 5-6 seconds between stones is deemed appropriate.
There is no sound for the first few minutes. And then...a small, slightly shaky voice...
"Abe, Rahul, get up. There is something there". This is Moharana, Rahul's co-intern and on Call for the night. The fact that he says Something as opposed to Someone is encouraging and we continue flicking some stones, making sure to suppress any unwanted giggles.
A few seconds pass. A couple more stones and the voice is slightly more urgent.
"Oye, Rahul. Get up Man. There is something outside..."
Rahul is very well built and is over 6 feet so one would imagine that not much would faze him. After a few more stones, well spaced, there is a groan and he says
"Go to sleep, Moharana, it's nothing".
But the noise continues and after 2 minutes Rahul is wide awake too.
"Yeah, man, there is something there". His normal strong dismissive voice has taken on an uncertain tone.
The lights are still off. Moharana offers to turn them on but Rahul says No. We all sit in silent suspense for a while.
Moharana: "Oye Rahul, can you go outside and check it out please?"
Rahul: "No bugger. Just sit here."
They sit in silence and we can hear some suppressed murmurs. Now Rahul offers to turn the light on but Moharana declines. There is no one else in this campus and with it's history, Ramanathpuram has become very spooky and our plan seems to be working. The pebbles continue, spaced at just the right intervals. Just one "Thunk" on the asbestos, followed by 10 seconds of silence and then another. More murmurs from inside, separated by long periods of suspenseful silence.
This goes on for about 15 minutes and is danger of being an endless stalemate, so we decide to make some ghastly ghoulish noises to accompany the stones. Just for variety. A short howl. A small yelp. More stones.
The murmurs are louder. "Rahul, I'm scared."
"Shut up bugger. I'm scared too".
After 15 more minutes of this, something has to give and the lights come on. We can now see the two of them, sitting on their beds, staring outside to see what or who is there. We take cover behind some bushes and continue the sounds.
This can't continue indefinitely however. Ghosts don't win in real life and finally there is some activity and noise. Still hidden out of sight, we see Rahul and Moharana, clutching hockey sticks and cricket bats, walking very carefully towards the main OPD block. Our bikes are parked. Rahul hates to be woke up at any time of the day and especially, I would imagine, here in the middle of the night. He is also spooked and that is not good news for our very identifiable bikes.
The weapons are omninous and we run out in surrender before major trauma is inflicted on our beloved bikes.
There is no question Rahul is spooked. He is not on call and was giving Moharana some company, but he now wants to immediately come back to campus with us. Moharana is less than thrilled at being left alone to fend off the ghosts but has no choice. It is compulsory for Interns on call to stay on campus and sudden emergencies like bullock-cart deliveries can arrive with no warning. So he really has no choice.
We are quite happy that Rahul wants to come back with us. It gives us a sense of "Mission Accomplished" and having spooked the 6 foot Rahul, we head back on the same route where the fire is still burning and the road looks as ghostly and beautiful. The ride back is faster and Vinay needs to still check back over his shoulder to keep flying ghosts at bay
20 minutes later, we arrive at Johny's shack where even at 2 AM, a hot cup of tea and some biscuits wait. The constant rattling of the "Muttha Paratha" guy is reassuringly familiar, the terribly burnt tea tastes of a sweet successful mission and the potential tragedy of Final Year is relegated to the distant background, to be tackled inside the Campus gates, not at the shacks where one escapes from the drudgery lurking right round the corner.
The Surgery posting is still on though. My Ward Leaving comes and goes and I pass-not great and not a disaster.
What is a disaster is that half my Final Year is over and in about 5 months, I will face the toughest set of exams that perhaps exist anywhere.
As we sip our burnt teas and eat the Mutta Parathas, dawn breaks, slowly turning the black, partially lit night sky into a more uniform yellow and orange glow. The next five months are like the night and it will be up to me to end it.
I feel self-empowered and disembowelled at the same time. Impending doom overwhelms me.
The 2 week Summer Vacations could not have been timed better.
I start my 2nd lot of postings after my Summer Vacation. And it's back to Labour Room after that, the first pit stop on the home stretch.
It's just aimless, nightime biking on less well travelled roads, a favourite past time. Right now, a small, roadside shack with a "Master" making tea/coffee and some puffs or biscuits would have been perfect but there's just empty fields for miles. A few minutes later, we spot the faint outline of a church like building on the Right. It's in the middle of some fields and has a Red Light glowing on the top. I've never noticed it before and the combination of the haunted gossip, the chilly air and the slightly misted over church with the Red Light makes everything a bit spooky. There is no other artificial light anywhere and when we turn off the engines, that light is the only thing we see.
There is utter silence. Plaha wants to take a detour and go into the fields to explore this "church" or whatever ruin like thing it is. Vinay and I are a bit spooked, though we cite time as an excuse and Ram will go along with whatever is decided. We linger on for a bit and decide that if Plaha wants to see if it's haunted, then he's welcome to do that alone. Which, he decides, is not much fun and we carry on, feeling slightly more chilly than normal.
Soon, the road dips a bit and I find Ousteri Lake starting on the Right. A small bus stop on the Left and some tied up buffaloes mark the gradual winding Right turn the road now takes.
Ousteri is a big water feature and has some villages scattered around it. Ramanathpuram is not far away and I can see some lights far in the distance on the other side of the lake, probably coming from the Pondicherry-Tindivanam Road.
Ram is sitting behind me and starts a theory about how ghosts can take the form of fires and follow you around. He seems very serious about it, but with Ram, one can never say if he's serious or bullshitting. About 5 seconds after this, and with the expanse of Ousteri on the Right, trees and fields on the Left and darkness all around, we see a big fire on the side of the road.
I have to admit, this is very spooky. With muffled whispers (lest the ghosts should hear) of "Bugger!", we quickly carry on, with Vinay glancing back every few seconds just to make sure no ghost is riding pillion. The road winds around the edge of Ousteri, and a huge banyan tree and 5 minutes later, we're glad to see the Pathukannu bridge which will lead us to Ramanathpuram. We take a small breather here and being spooked ourselves, we see no reason why we should not share the spookiness and decide that Rahul, blissfully unaware of our trip and sleeping in peace, cannot be spared.
We make a short right and go across the Pathukannu bridge which leads onto a small road from where an even smaller side road to the Right will lead directly to the village. If we were to skip the bridge and keep on this Ousteri road, we would have been on a 2 Km stretch of empty, dark road leading to the village of Villianur. Eventually, we would have got back to Jipmer. Here, as they say, all roads lead to Jipmer.
But we're across the Pathukannu bridge and on a small dark road with a small canal on the Right and fields on both sides. There is a lone hut with a bare naked yellow bulb in the distance and this marks our Right turn into Ramanathpuram village proper. We bike across the small bridge and are immediately met with the smells of fresh cow dung and fresh green grass. The village is alseep and there is just a dim street light marking the short Left turn and a couple of twists and turns which take us outside the Main Gate.This is a walled compound and the gate is locked. Inside are some Interns, a Chief Medical Officer, a cook and some sundry other people. And maybe some ghosts.
By this time, thouroughly spooked and feeling a bit sheepish, our original "Meet Rahul and have tea" plan has changed to "Let's scare the bejesus out of him". Just beyond the main gate, to the left, is the Main Hospital/OPD complex. This is a smallish structure with some rooms for OPD, a Minor OT, a Delivery Room, some rooms for Health Workers and a place for a fridge with vaccines etc. Directly opposite the main gate, on the other side of an open space, are some more rooms for the cook and his flunkie. A small path leads from the main gate, turning left and leading to the Intern and Medical Officer Quarters. This path runs between the OPD Block and the Cook House and at this time of night is deserted.
We shut off the engines and quietly park the bikes outside the OPD, out of sight from the Intern Quarters where an unsuspecting Rahul is fast asleep. Or so we hope. Silence is maintained as we walk down the path, stopping to pick up some small gravel and stones by the side. The roof of the Dorm is asbestos and can get really hot in the day. But at night, when there is complete silence, small stones bouncing around can be pretty noisy also. No lights are on and it's all quiet. We stop right outside the Dorm boundary, marked with some wire and punctuated with a small gate leading upto the Dorm, and flick a small stone onto the roof. Nothing happens. Some more stones, at intervals and not too many. A gap of about 5-6 seconds between stones is deemed appropriate.
There is no sound for the first few minutes. And then...a small, slightly shaky voice...
"Abe, Rahul, get up. There is something there". This is Moharana, Rahul's co-intern and on Call for the night. The fact that he says Something as opposed to Someone is encouraging and we continue flicking some stones, making sure to suppress any unwanted giggles.
A few seconds pass. A couple more stones and the voice is slightly more urgent.
"Oye, Rahul. Get up Man. There is something outside..."
Rahul is very well built and is over 6 feet so one would imagine that not much would faze him. After a few more stones, well spaced, there is a groan and he says
"Go to sleep, Moharana, it's nothing".
But the noise continues and after 2 minutes Rahul is wide awake too.
"Yeah, man, there is something there". His normal strong dismissive voice has taken on an uncertain tone.
The lights are still off. Moharana offers to turn them on but Rahul says No. We all sit in silent suspense for a while.
Moharana: "Oye Rahul, can you go outside and check it out please?"
Rahul: "No bugger. Just sit here."
They sit in silence and we can hear some suppressed murmurs. Now Rahul offers to turn the light on but Moharana declines. There is no one else in this campus and with it's history, Ramanathpuram has become very spooky and our plan seems to be working. The pebbles continue, spaced at just the right intervals. Just one "Thunk" on the asbestos, followed by 10 seconds of silence and then another. More murmurs from inside, separated by long periods of suspenseful silence.
This goes on for about 15 minutes and is danger of being an endless stalemate, so we decide to make some ghastly ghoulish noises to accompany the stones. Just for variety. A short howl. A small yelp. More stones.
The murmurs are louder. "Rahul, I'm scared."
"Shut up bugger. I'm scared too".
After 15 more minutes of this, something has to give and the lights come on. We can now see the two of them, sitting on their beds, staring outside to see what or who is there. We take cover behind some bushes and continue the sounds.
This can't continue indefinitely however. Ghosts don't win in real life and finally there is some activity and noise. Still hidden out of sight, we see Rahul and Moharana, clutching hockey sticks and cricket bats, walking very carefully towards the main OPD block. Our bikes are parked. Rahul hates to be woke up at any time of the day and especially, I would imagine, here in the middle of the night. He is also spooked and that is not good news for our very identifiable bikes.
The weapons are omninous and we run out in surrender before major trauma is inflicted on our beloved bikes.
There is no question Rahul is spooked. He is not on call and was giving Moharana some company, but he now wants to immediately come back to campus with us. Moharana is less than thrilled at being left alone to fend off the ghosts but has no choice. It is compulsory for Interns on call to stay on campus and sudden emergencies like bullock-cart deliveries can arrive with no warning. So he really has no choice.
We are quite happy that Rahul wants to come back with us. It gives us a sense of "Mission Accomplished" and having spooked the 6 foot Rahul, we head back on the same route where the fire is still burning and the road looks as ghostly and beautiful. The ride back is faster and Vinay needs to still check back over his shoulder to keep flying ghosts at bay
20 minutes later, we arrive at Johny's shack where even at 2 AM, a hot cup of tea and some biscuits wait. The constant rattling of the "Muttha Paratha" guy is reassuringly familiar, the terribly burnt tea tastes of a sweet successful mission and the potential tragedy of Final Year is relegated to the distant background, to be tackled inside the Campus gates, not at the shacks where one escapes from the drudgery lurking right round the corner.
The Surgery posting is still on though. My Ward Leaving comes and goes and I pass-not great and not a disaster.
What is a disaster is that half my Final Year is over and in about 5 months, I will face the toughest set of exams that perhaps exist anywhere.
As we sip our burnt teas and eat the Mutta Parathas, dawn breaks, slowly turning the black, partially lit night sky into a more uniform yellow and orange glow. The next five months are like the night and it will be up to me to end it.
I feel self-empowered and disembowelled at the same time. Impending doom overwhelms me.
The 2 week Summer Vacations could not have been timed better.
I start my 2nd lot of postings after my Summer Vacation. And it's back to Labour Room after that, the first pit stop on the home stretch.
Good one, Nishikanta. It, of course, brings, memories of RHC back.
ReplyDeleteOne notable memory I have is: It so happened that we had a middle-of-summer posting, very hot.. And I remember I used to have this extraordinary post-lunch wave of sleep overtaking me, and the heat envelope somehow added to the drowsiness- needless to say a 15-20 minute nap was inevitable, put an end to by shouts and entreaties of my colleagues, or the ward boy, for the afternoon OP. - Dr. B. Giridhar, Batch of 1979.
well ! i was dead serious, u should have seen your face when the fire came up on the road
ReplyDeleteI wanted to describe the way to Ramanathpuram also. I hope I did some justice..
ReplyDeleteur spot on memory sometimes gives me the creeps
ReplyDeleteVinay had to nudge my memory for the fire and the church. :)
ReplyDelete