Maya typed furiously into her computer. She kept glancing at the wall clock from time to time. She had started writing the article at nine pm itself, but, it was taking an eternity to finish. She hoped to publish it before 12am midnight. Infact, she wished she had started writing much sooner and completed it already; but, sigh, it didn't happen that way. And here she was, trying to meet her self-imposed deadline. It was an article on the unique astrological event that was happening on that night itself, so, it had to be published on-the-dot. The article dealt with 'Pichaas Yog', an inauspicious time period caused by the conjunction of the planet Saturn ( when it enters Pisces zodiac ) and shadow planet Rahu. And it was happening as she typed. It was also the 'amavasya' or new moon night which was already touted as amplifying paranormal activity. On Amavasya night, all evil spirits and entities become twice as powerful and roam the earth looking for vulnerable souls to torment and possess.
Maya shrugged, she didn't want to think all that, but such was the time and her article that those thoughts came rapidly in her mind. It was almost 11pm, she nearly finished it; but, there was still editing and proof reading left to be done before it went online. Phew, she thought, it'd be almost post mid-night that she'd finally get to sleep. And that rooster - that noisy neighbourhood rooster will start crowing exactly around 4.30 am spoiling her sleep altogether. She had to get whatever sleep she could and hurried through the draft of her post. By 12.30am she finally clicked the 'publish' button. Oh, what a race against time that was. Job finally done, she got ready to sleep. The mega celestial event had already started to occur by that time - the pichaas yog on the dark amavasya night! The words 'pichaas' and 'amavasya' kept hovering in her thoughts although she tried dismissing them.
As she lay on her bed and looked up her ceiling, a sense of unease and queasy feeling crept on her. It started from her gut then slowly moved upwards. Were it the effects of the pichaas yog already happening or just general unease, she couldn't fathom. She did feel weird. She tried closing her eyes and getting some sleep. Last she looked at her watch it was almost 1am before she slowly drifted off.
Something heavy pounced on her from the back. It was not one, but, several. A flock of them infact. They pressed onto her. Maya had these nightmarish episodes often in the past; so, wasn't scared initially. She tried to push it away. But unlike previous times, they were double the strength and almost grabbed her from all sides - mostly, from the back. They were heavy and intense. She was mentally awake yet not awake - physically. It was that twilight zone of being semi-awake - when most spiritual attacks happened. Maya was accustomed to these attacks and had her St.Michael prayers rehearsed. She started praying mentally. It always worked. But, as though making a mockery of her prayers the beings just grabbed on to her - they were an army of them. Attacking her - spiritually, to give up and surrender. Exhausted of fighting them away Maya almost gave up. But, one last try - she had to make one last try. She started chanting 'Om NAMAH SHIVAH' over and over. Suddently, after utterance of the mantra, the grips on her loosened and one by one these malefic entities left. Her prayers worked and she was set free. She felt light and relieved. She looked at the watch - it was 3am - that witching hour.
Maya knew what happened to her. It was not hallucinations. It was attack of the Pichaas! They were let loose that Amavasya night...and they saw her as easy target because her last thoughts that night before going to sleep was on the very subject - she had also written the same on her post. She always slept with the windows open, so, those entities who are always on a look out to ravage human souls found it easy to attack. Maya was happy the Shiva mantra helped. She however didn't close the window. They won't dare to come back - she had Shiva's protection. She looked at the watch again. Oh no, the rooster would scream at 4.30am, she had only just an hour and half of sleep left. That rooster was really annoying. It screamed the whole day, starting from break of dawn. How she wished the rooster didn't exist. Why people kept rooster in residential areas, she never understood. Anyways, she tried going back to sleep. Every second of sleep was precious. She had already lost many hours that night.
When Maya finally woke up it was almost 8am. Strange, she didn't hear the roooster crow. By this time in the morning, the rooster would crow madly below her building. But, she heared nothing. She went back to sleep. One or two more hours of sleep won't harm, especially, when it was so rare that the rooster didn't crow. When she finally got up at 10 am she looked out her window to see where the rooster usually sat - a neighbour's roof below. There was no sign of it. It was the first morning in the last several months that Maya didn't hear the rooster's crow. And now, it wasn't in sight as well. She never saw the rooster again. Did the pichaas grab it off last amavasya night?
( Images - Google )
