"Welcome to the seventh chapter. In the previous chapter, I told you how the village's strongest wrestler fought a ghost all night long. Even after knowing that the man he was fighting was not a human but a ghost, he showed immense courage and fought with all his might.
Yesterday, we saw that the wrestler had become unconscious and his body was drenched in blood. After a while, when people started moving near the wrestling pit, everyone saw the wrestler in a very miserable state—lying unconscious and covered in blood. It looked as if someone had beaten him brutally. People quickly splashed water on the wrestler's face and tried to bring him back to consciousness.
The wrestler slowly opened his eyes and was very surprised to see the crowd of people around him. He saw that the shadow he had been fighting had now vanished. The wrestler took a deep breath because he was finally free from that fight. Everyone asked the wrestler, 'What happened to you? How did you end up in this state? And whom were you fighting here so early in the morning?' People were astonished that the village's strongest and cleverest wrestler had finally lost today. Who could have defeated him so badly? The wrestler was terrified; he told the whole incident to the people, explaining how a haunting event had occurred with him.
My grandfather told me that from then on, the wrestler gave up wrestling, and it is also said that he suffered from a fever for several days. No matter how strong or courageous a human is, 'fear' is something everyone feels.
Two such incidents had happened with my grandfather as well, which he told me himself, and it was then that my grandfather also became convinced that ghosts and spirits truly exist.
Let me tell you that even today, my grandfather sometimes dismisses stories or anecdotes; he doesn't believe them easily. But the incidents that happened to him—he has no answer for them. I feel that he dismisses stories because he wants to stop superstition in the village or society, and children get scared listening to such incidents. However, his advice is always the same: no one should go out of the house at midnight or wander on any road, otherwise, they will surely become a victim of some incident in the village.
Now, I will mention the first incident that happened with my grandfather—
My grandfather used to make clay pots, though he doesn't anymore. To get clay, he had to go far away to the fields from home. Grandfather had several donkeys on which he used to load the clay and bring it home. He used to do this work alone. He had quite a reputation in the village, which remains even today; people still call him 'Chaudhary.' Usually, he would finish the work of bringing clay by evening. But one day, he got very late.
While he was bringing the clay, a donkey's leg got badly stuck in some bushes. There were thorns in the bushes and no one was around to help. My grandfather sat there for hours trying to get the donkey's leg out. Because of the thorns, he had to be very careful, and thus it got late. To put it simply, it became night. Home was quite far away; grandfather sat on an empty donkey and started heading towards home.
Because of the darkness, grandfather even lost his way. At first, he kept moving while asking people for directions, but as time passed, people stopped appearing on the road. Wandering around, grandfather finally found the right path. He increased the speed of the donkeys and moved forward while lighting a torch. Grandfather was surprised when he saw a pond near the road.
He used to encounter this pond often, but that day there was something special about it. He saw someone standing right in the middle of that pond! Grandfather now started feeling fear deep inside. He quickly lit a Bidi (traditional cigarette) and further increased the speed of the donkeys.
I will tell you the further incident in the next chapter. Until then, thank you!"