This popped up on my page this morning so sharing for those who may have missed it.
Not for thefaint-heartedd
Disclaimer
As you all know I worked in The Bishop’s school, Pune for twenty years and lived on campus, in five different flats over the years. Now, I am not implying that the school was haunted when I was there. No harm ever came to me or my family, and I was never terrified or any such thing. I also believe I am a bit of a psychic but then again …….
You can attribute this story to a very fertile & vivid imagination, poor eyesight, or just an old schoolmaster pulling the legs of his pupils.
Whatever your interpretation – I am just amusing myself, so do not read too much into it, or ask me to elaborate.
On the other hand, it could be thought-provoking- it may bring back memories – it may awaken the senses, and may make you say “Oh goodness me, so that was it.’’ Or you may just pass it off with a guffaw and a smile …………. whatever Sir!!
“Maybe all the people who say ghosts don’t exist are just afraid to admit that they do.”
- Michael Ende, ‘The Neverending Story’.
Whether you believe these stories or not, does not matter. However, innumerable people at my time maintained that the school campus had its fair share of supernatural happenings. Staff and pupils did often discuss some strange occurrences in and around the campus, but it was all passed off as a joke. I did meet a few pupils who had passed out in the sixties and seventies and even before that – all boarders – I must say that some of them told me some creepy & bizarre stories too. However, none could ever be substantiated- nor can mine for that matter. This could be the joke of 2023!
Now let me attempt to jog your memory.
Just close your eyes & think about the innumerable times you had to carry piles of chairs and put them back, under the stage, after the Friday movie. All boarders and a few day scholars. How did you feel? Eerie? Creepy? Felt someone was staring at you from a dark recess? Heard a strange noise?
What about that narrow, dingy passage near the infirmary and past grade 9 A and B? Most boys avoided it after dark! I wonder why? I did too and so did the school support staff!
What about when you were sent to get the Logbook from the MOD’s table after dinner, and the area was unlighted and gloomy– and then you had to pass the Billiard room? Somehow the wind howled louder around that building, didn’t it? Going home after filling in the MOD logbook after dinner, I often looked over my shoulder as I felt someone was following me. I was once practicing billiards all alone – I could have sworn I saw a shadow leaning over the table at the opposite end. It happened in a split second, but I suddenly felt cold – never practiced alone ever again.
Mark my words- I am not using the word haunted, because haunted somehow has evil connotations for me - let me just reiterate – I was in Bishops for 20 years, and yes, we did feel peculiar at times. However, there were no ghastly apparitions, no phantoms, or specters but I think I know what I saw, heard, and felt and the term I will use is ‘spooky’. I could be wrong, and it could be my imagination but read on if you care.
Am going to divide this article into a few parts, as this is a story with no beginning or end – not even a middle for that matter.
The Lunn block terrace
As a young family back in the early 80s, we often slept on the terrace of Lunn block, during the summer vacation, as I was the dormitory in charge and lived on the second floor just beside the dormitory. It was cool, fresh, and mosquito free on the terrace, and sleeping under the starlit sky was exhilarating. I owned a ‘Bush Two in one radio cum tape recorder’, so there was music too.
The cool breeze ensured a good night’s sleep. We had a Pomeranian as a pet, and often she would bark at night, and charge about in a frenzy but we thought nothing of it.
At first, we would scold her for disturbing us, but one night is extremely vivid in my memory. It was a cloudy night and very still. We awoke with a start, to the dog barking very differently, and looked around to try and see what had provoked her. She seemed to be scrutinizing the corner of the terrace near and under the water tank- barking ferociously, backing off, and yelping at the same time. I tried to call her back, in vain. She then suddenly charged toward the terrace door and began jumping up in the air as if to catch something. I stood up, picked up a hockey stick I kept nearby, but saw nothing. Then the unexpected happened – the dog made one last lunge, barked uncontrollably, and then, bawling, with her tail tucked between her legs, she ran backward, towards our beds, and sat down, crying out loud. She refused to budge, despite my coaxing. We folded up the bedding and went downstairs immediately & never slept on the terrace thereafter. When I told the watchman about it, he said it was probably a monkey. I still do not know what to believe and yes it could have been a monkey for sure!
The Simba dormitory
This was another place where something rather bizarre once took place. I was the dormitory in charge and lived on the second floor just beside the dormitory.
We returned rather late from a party. To keep the rather skillful boarders inside, and make sure that they did not try and slip out for a midnight meal, we had started locking the three gates – at the entrance to the dorm; just before you descended the steps, and then downstairs at the entrance to the building. Not sure if they had made duplicate keys, as some were quite devious and were up to all the tricks.
Anyway, as we entered the building, we clearly heard footsteps going up the steps ahead of us. At first, I thought it was an echo but was wrong. I called out “Who’s there’. There was no reply.
Every time we stopped; the footsteps stopped as well. This happened twice or thrice. I thought I heard someone coughing but could not be sure. We went till the top – all sixty-five steps carrying our two young daughters. As we reached the gate at the top, footsteps were heard one last time and then fell silent. I opened the gate to the top floor gingerly, and yes, I think I was trembling. The dormitory was locked, so no one could have been out by any chance. Who was on the steps ahead of us and where did that person go? The door to the terrace was locked hence anyone going up there was out of the question. The person had vanished into thin air. The mystery baffled me. I asked some boarders the next morning, but they all said they were asleep.
The Cambridge dormitory
This dormitory with its creaking staircase, cobwebs, and loose floorboards had its own share of alien footfalls. Mr. Derek Beaman, whom we all remember fondly, was no more, and his quarters in Cambridge block and the entire top floor remained locked up ever since he had passed. We had stopped using the dormitory for over a year or so, hence it was a trifle dark & rather dilapidated. One dim light at the entrance was switched on daily, after dinner, by the watchman.
We stayed in the staff quarters in Simba Block, and could almost look into his flat through the window which was parallel to ours
On a few evenings, we thought we heard the distinct sound of a vessel being washed and put down/ at times dropped – then there was the sound of a tap being opened and water flowing ----------- things that Mr. Beaman did regularly at about the same time, after the boarders’ s supper, while he stayed there. What were those noises and who was making them? Were we imagining? The building was empty. The strange sounds baffled us. We never fathomed them out .
Late one night
Came home past midnight, all four of us on our scooter- driving up from East Street towards the roundabout outside Bishops, past the large palatial Talera bungalow on the left. We could either go straight past the crossing and enter through the wicket gate near the school kitchen, or go right, and enter through the wicket gate near the office. As we approached the small roundabout, we saw something freakish. Standing in the middle of the road which went towards the kitchen gate/ Racecourse, was a very tall fair woman, in a white knee-length dress, carrying a large blue suitcase in her right hand. It seemed light and empty. Her left hand was up - palm facing outwards as if she wanted to stop oncoming traffic and request a lift. I saw her from about twenty meters and my heart skipped a beat or two. Needless to say, I accelerated, turned right, and sped toward the office gate from where I entered the campus. Yes, my wife saw her too.
On making inquiries the next day, I was told by the school support staff that a similar figure was seen on that road once or twice a year and in the vicinity of the army house at the crossing. There is a story about her, they said- it was not a very pleasant one so I will not repeat it here. That sighting was eerie, and it played on my mind every time we came home late at night. Thankfully, we never saw her again. Were we imagining?
The principal’s bungalow
Returning home after a movie one night, and entering on my scooter from the office gate, we saw the watchman sitting at the gate to the principal’s bungalow. He was facing the office gate. About ten feet behind him, lying on his stomach and peering into the bungalow was a figure of a man- his face almost touching the bungalow steps. I rode passed on my scooter but thought it so strange. So, I parked outside the billiard room, reached the family upstairs in Simba block, and walked back to check. The watchman, when asked as to whom I had seen a few minutes ago, feigned complete ignorance, and said that he had no idea. He swore he had not seen or heard anybody. To his credit, he was wide awake and sober.
The wedding
We returned from a relative’s wedding, and it must have been past one am. We were about to go to sleep on the Simba dorm terrace – summertime as usual. Had barely closed the terrace door, when we heard a female voice, distinctly calling out my wife’s name. At first, we thought it was her mother, who was visiting us at the time. When the call was repeated for the third time, I opened the terrace door & went down- I opened the door to our flat and went in. All was completely silent, and no relatives were awake. I then went downstairs to see if there was anyone outside. As expected, there was no one. Who called out and why, we will never know.
The Face on the cupboard
One night, there was a minor fire in one of the residential master’s flats – they resided on the first floor of the Junior school building – it may have been around midnight. I will make this short – I rushed to help & together we managed to extinguish the fire which had begun when a large candle had fallen onto a cushion. When we cleared up the mess in the room, we were shocked when we looked at the cupboard – etched on the front, and very clear, was the face of an old man or woman (my memory fails me here) . “The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies.”
I can tell you who the face resembles if ever you want to know. I presume the family discarded that cupboard the next day!
The Piano
There was a story of the sound of a piano being played in the principal’s bungalow late at night, and this was from a very reliable source. I once asked the principal about the supposed ‘music at midnight’, but he just guffawed in his typical style and said ‘Rubbish- people make up all these stories’. I dare not tell him who told me! She would have been in serious trouble.
I heard several other stories from visiting Bishopites over the years – some eerie and others which made me think and believe that I was not going off my head.
Coming to think of it, I am writing this story here in Dubai – and even if it ever did, all this supposedly happened over twenty years ago – was it just a frightening dream?)
Frankly, I am not sure. Am I an oneironaut?
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