Why I am afraid of Bamboo trees

This happened when I was in the second standard.

My grand mother had passed away the previous year. Since we were living very close to my grandfather’s place, my mother made me stay with my grand father every night. Just so that I could give him company, and he would not feel lonely.

So every evening after I came back from playing with my friends, my mother would make me take a bath, then I would have a glass of hot milk, and then I would be sent to my grand father’s house which was just around the corner.

I loved it at my grand father’s place. He was a wonderful person, and he loved me very much. Every day after I reached his home, I would find him just finishing his evening prayers. Then he would get some fresh fruits for me, every single day. My grand father loved gardening, and there were all kinds of trees and vegetable plants in the backyard. Mango, litchi, guava, jack fruit, black jamun, and what not. Me and my younger sister have spent many of our summer vacations on top of the mango tree. It was our favorite spot.

Every evening, my grand father would collect the fruits from the back yard, and I would eagerly eat them till I could eat no more. He was also a very intelligent and learned man, and had won a gold medal for his outstanding score in mathematics from his university. I was weak in mathematics, and my grandpa would make me practice sums for an hour everyday. He was a very good teacher, but he was quite strict too. I always used to solve the sums nervously, lest I make some mistake.

He was also a man of great discipline. He would get very angry if he did not find his things in the proper place. He had a fixed place for everything. His shirts, his books, his pair of glasses, everything was always in its allotted place, and he made sure that he could find them even in the dark too.

“Moni, you should always practice discipline in your life” he would tell me.
“Be it any work that you are doing, you should always be disciplined. You should always be truthful. You should never lie to anyone.”

Yes, one thing grandpa hated was lies. He hated liars and lies with equal contempt. None of my uncles or my mother ever lied to him, and we children too never dared to lie to grandpa. He could easily see through your lies. I have never been able to understand how he could catch even the faintest of lies. Your voice would quiver if you even tried lying in front of him. He had that effect on people.

There was a young boy named Ganesh who used to stay at grand father’s place. He would cook food for grand father and do the odd jobs around the house too. He helped grand father in his gardening, and did the grocery shopping and stuff.

Ganesh was about five years older to me. He was a very adventurous spirit. And because he was from the village, he was quite a tough guy. At least that is what he liked to believe. He could climb trees with ease, and fix the electric switches too (which I used to think was a big deal at that time). He loved roaming about in the streets, and throw stones at the street dogs. Ganesh was a dare devil, and loved ghost stories. Sometimes he would tell me scary stories at night after dinner. He was very good at telling stories. He would describe the situation and plot so well that I would be shaking with fear by the time grandpa would come and shoo me off to bed. I would cling to grandpa on the bed, and would not go off to sleep for a long time after that.

I hated Ganesh. He always used to treat me like a one year old kid. He was just five years older than me, but behaved like he was a thirty year old man. Whenever I would ask him for tea, he would say “No kiddo, you are not allowed to have tea. Kids of your age should be drinking milk”.

And when I asked him to accompany me to the toilet at night, he would laugh at me like I had just told him the funniest joke of all time. I mean, wasn’t it normal for an eight year old kid to ask somebody to accompany him to the toilet at night. The toilet was far away from the main house after all.

One night I was woken up by the sound of someone shouting vey loudly. I woke up and saw the wall clock. It was three in the morning. I could hear grand father shouting at the top of his voice from the back of the house. I went to find out what was going on.

“Don’t you dare lie to me boy.” grand father was shouting at Ganesh.
“I am asking you one last time. Where were you?” I had never seen grandpa so threatening. I was scared. I knew for sure that Ganesh must have done some grave wrong.

“I told you grandpa. I had gone to the toilet”, Ganesh was very scared. He was lying. Even I could see that. He covered his face as soon as he said that.

The very next moment there was a loud sound as grandfather’s hand connected with Ganesh’s cheek. Grandpa slapped him two more times.

“Do you think I am a fool? I know you had gone out after I had gone off to sleep. I found the front door open. And I never forget to check all the doors before going to bed.” Grandfather looked very angry.

“Tell me where had you gone?” he asked again.

“I went to the movies grandfather”, Ganesh finally admitted.

Grandpa didn’t hit him any more. He went on scolding the boy for a long time after that.

“What kind of boy are you, sneaking out of the house at night? Are you a thief or something?”

The next morning after breakfast I went to see Ganesh.
Somehow it made me feel very happy that the Ganesh who was always bossing over me had got some thrashing from grandpa.

I found him sitting in the sun in the backyard. He was still sulking.

“What happened last night, Ganesh bhai (brother)?”, I asked with a mischievous smile on my face.

“Go away kid, before I beat you black and blue. Then you would go crying to your momma.” Ganesh said angrily. Then he did a stupid imitation of me crying and complaining to mother.

That made me very angry. “Serves you right. Grandpa should have hit you some more.” I told Ganesh with a scorn on my face.

Ganesh looked back at me. He didn’t look angry anymore. There was a glow on his face now. He was smiling actually now. I could not believe it. There was a look of great excitement on his face.

“Kid, you want to know where I was last night?”, Ganesh asked me.

“You went to the movies”, I said, but somehow I felt maybe Ganesh had been successful at lying to grand father last night.

“Who would go to the movies, idiot? There is no good movie playing anyway.” Ganesh replied with a twinkle in his eye.

“So where had you gone?” I asked him.

“You think I will tell you that? You will be running to grandpa after that. I don’t want to get any more beating”, Ganesh said, and turned his back on me.

I was very excited now. “Ganesh bhai. I promise I wont tell grandpa. Please. Tell me na.”

“No”, Ganesh said without even looking up at me.

“Please. Please Ganesh bhai”. I went on pleading for another minute or so. I was very excited now. I had to know about Ganesh’s latest adventure. I just had to know it.

“Ok”, he said finally. Then he made me swear on my mother’s life that I would not tell anyone. Then he made me take an oath that I would take the secret along with me to my grave.

I could not bear the suspense any longer. I agreed to all his terms.

“Ok. I will tell you where I went last night, he finally said. He had never looked more excited in his life.
“Me and Shyamal went out after a ghost last night”, he said, and then he paused to watch the affect on me. Shyamal was another boy of the same age as Ganesh who worked as a domestic help in the next house.

I was even more excited now. I didn’t doubt him even for a second. I mean, that was exactly the kind of thing Ganesh would go around doing at night. He was not the type of guy who was very excited about watching movies.

“Where? Where?” I asked excitedly.

“Near the graveyard. It was wearing a white sheet, and was floating in the air. Both Shyamal and me saw it with our own eyes. Its feet never touched the ground. And it had a big knife in its hand.”, Ganesh was jumping excitedly now.

I was scared, but requested him to tell me more.

“Its nails were very long and dirty. They never get time to cut them, you see”, Ganesh said knowledgably. “And its hair was so long it almost touched the ground. And there was blood oozing out of its chest”.

I tried to picture the image, as Ganesh went on. But it was too scary.

“Shyamal and I had been following it for a week now. We are going tonight too”, he laid the trap for me.

I instantly fell for it. “Please Ganesh bhai. Can I come too?” I was almost begging him.

“What? Are you crazy? No”, he said sternly.

“Please. Please bhaiya. I want to see it too”, I said.

“No. You will go and tell grandpa and your mother.”

“I swear I wont”, I was almost crying now.

“But you will be scared. You are only a kid”, he said it so methodically.

“No. I won’t be scared. Promise”, I said.

So it was decided. The next night after grandfather was deep asleep we would sneak out of the house, this time from the back door. We would go to the nearby graveyard, which was just half a kilometer from our house. We would hide behind the bushes, and would wait for midnight when the scary white ghost would make the appearance.

I suggested taking torches with us, but Ganesh pooh-poohed the idea. He said that it would scare the ghost away, and told me that if I wanted to see the ghost I should do just as he says.

So the next night after dinner, I said an early goodnight to grandfather.
He looked up at me suspiciously. Usually I had to be practically dragged to bed by grandfather. I was always watching the television with Ganesh till grandpa had to come and switch off the television set.

“You are not going to watch TV tonight?” grandfather asked suspiciously.

“No grandpa. I am feeling very sleepy.” I said rubbing my eyes.

I lay there on the bed for a long time, but I could not sleep. After about an hour I felt grand father climb up to the bed beside me. I started snoring. I was very excited. I should not get caught now. I remembered grandfather’s slaps last night. I was scared too. I should wait till I was sure that grandfather was deep asleep. For what seemed an eternity, I lay there on the bed.

Finally I could hear grand father snore. I got up slowly, and removed the blanket from over me. Slowly, very slowly I started sliding on the bed. The old bed creaked, and for a moment I thought grand father must have woken up. I remained frozen for about a minute. Seeing no movement from grand father, I started sliding again. I climbed over grand father’s legs, and very slowly climbed down from the bed.

Then I ran to Ganesh’s room. He was already asleep. I shook him awake.
“Ganesh bhai. Ganesh bhai. Come on lets go.”

He woke up instantly, and sat up on the bed.
“Yes. Come on, lets go”, he said.

We slowly opened the back door, and silently, very silently stepped out side. Ganesh closed the door again.

It was a cold night, and there was no moon in the sky. It was pitch black. I was very excited, and my heart was beating very fast now.

“Come”, he said, and held my hand.

He then helped me climb over the compound wall, and very soon we had successfully made it to the streets. So far, so good, I thought to myself. I was still scared of getting caught by grandfather.

We walked silently on the road. There was no body on the road. It was completely empty. Only a few dogs were howling far off. My heart was beating very fast now.

Ganesh took me through some short cut he said he knew. There were lots of bamboo trees on that path. It was really very dark under the bamboo trees. The bamboo trees formed a very thick outgrowth on that side. There were tall bamboo trees on both side of the thin pathway. The long leaves of the bamboo trees were making eerie sounds in the dark.

I stopped on my path. “Ganesh bhai, cant we go by the other route?”, I asked him? I was very scared. Just thinking about meeting the white ghost under the bamboo tress made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“Look kid, I knew you would be scared. It was you only who asked me to bring you along with me. Now do you want to see the ghost or not?” Ganesh asked me sternly.

I nodded my head in the dark, and caught Ganesh’s hand. The idiot started laughing at me again. “Scared of the dark now, are we?”

We slowly walked under the bamboo trees. I kept on looking on both sides, sure that a ghost was going to jump up at us from the bamboo trees. And it was so freezing cold. I was shivering. My left hand with which I was holding Ganesh’s hand was sweating too.

“Kid, you are sweating in this cold?” Ganesh seemed very surprised.
“Now don’t you shit in your pants. Be a man. You are no longer a kid.”

Finally we reached the edge of the hill. The graveyard was just below us now. And the bamboo trees right behind us.

Ganesh took me to the edge of the hill, and we hid behind some big rocks.
It was very dark. I still didn’t understand how we would be able to see the ghost in this darkness when it makes its appearance.

“Wait here. Do not make a sound. Do not move. If the ghost hears you, he will come and kill you”, Ganesh warned me.

My heart was racing like a car now, and I could even hear the throbbing of my own heart beat. My throat was feeling very dry now. And I wanted to pee now, but I just could not master enough courage to ask Ganesh, lest the ghost hear me, and kill me.

We waited there for about ten minutes. I could still hear the howling of the dogs now. The cold wind was blowing from across the hill. I was still shivering. I could not see anything in the graveyard below.

After another five minutes I whispered “Ganesh bhai. When will he come? I have to go and pee.”

Ganesh didn’t reply. I thought he was too scared to reply. After some time I whispered again “Ganesh bhai.”
There was no reply. I looked at where he was hiding beside me a little while ago. He wasn’t there. I was shocked. I was hiding there all this time, comforted by the feeling of his presence beside me. When I realized he wasn’t there, and that I was alone there, I started crying.

I looked for him some more. “Ganesh bhai. Ganesh bhai”, I called out loudly in between sobs. I no longer cared about being silent. I didn’t care to see the ghost any more. I just wanted Ganesh beside me now.

He was nowhere. I cried louder now. I could not do it any more. Maybe the ghost took him, and I didn’t even realize it. I had to go home and tell grandfather.

I decided to go back alone. I turned and saw the scary bamboo trees ahead of me. It was a choice between being killed by the ghost and walking under the bamboo trees alone. I chose the second option.

I started walking slowly, chanting God’s name. I kept on looking all around me. Sometimes I would feel somebody was behind me. I would jump and look back, only to find no one there, and could only hear the scary sound of the bamboo leaves waving in the air. The bamboo trees kept on moving in the wind, and made scary sounds too.

I started walking faster now. I kept on chanting God’s name.
“Please God, let me reach home safely. I will never lie to grand father ever again”, I cried.

Suddenly the bamboo trees above me started shaking very violently, and then there was a loud ghostly sound from above the bamboo trees.

“Huuuuuuuuuuu……..aaaaaaaaaahhhh !!”

The bamboo trees were still shaking violently.

That was it.

“Mummy! Mummy!!”

I no longer cared about the ghost hearing me. I was shouting now.

“Aaahh. Mummy. Mummy.”

And as I ran off from those bamboo trees, I could hear a loud laughing voice behind me. I didn’t turn back to look who it was. I ran, just ran, as fast as my small legs would carry me. I tripped over a stone, and fell. The laughter became even louder now.

I got up and ran. I didn’t dare look back.

It was only after I reached the lane in front of grandfather’s house that I suddenly realized that the laughter somehow seemed very similar to Ganesh’s.

I found out the next day that it was Ganesh who had climbed the bamboo trees, leaving me behind the rocks. He wanted to take revenge on me for laughing at him when he got beating from grandfather.

I could not even complain to grandfather about Ganesh from fear of getting slapped by grandfather for going out of the home at night without telling him.

Ganesh made me swear that I would never make fun of him ever again. I had no other option but to obey him.

How I hated that boy! I wished I would grow up quickly, and plan a similar revenge on Ganesh. One day I would grow up to be a fearless young man, and then I would scare him in such a way that he could never ever dare to frighten small kids like that again.