Read Online Tales From Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rohinton Mistry
Tags: Contemporary
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I quickly went inside and lay down on my bedding.
It took some time for them to come up because she sat inside the car and locked all doors. Would not come out until he climbed upstairs, put on every staircase light to make sure the ghost was gone, and then went back for her.
She came in the house at last and straight to my passage, shaking me, saying wake up, Jaakaylee, wake up! I pretended to be sleeping deeply, then turned around and said, Happy New Year,
bat
, everything is okay, children are okay.
She said, yes yes, but the
bhoot
is on the stairs! I saw him, the one you saw last year at Christmas, he is back, I saw him with my own eyes!
I wanted so much to laugh, but I just said, don’t be afraid,
bai
, he will not do any harm, he is not a ghost of mischief, he must have just lost his way.
Then she said, Jaakaylee, you were telling the truth and I was angry with you. I will tell everyone in B Block you were right, there really is a
bhoot
.
I said
bai
, let it be now, everyone has forgotten about it, and no one will believe anyway. But she said, when I tell them, they will believe.
And after that many people in Firozsha Baag started to believe in the ghost. One was
dustoorji
in A Block. He came one day and taught
bai
a prayer,
saykasté saykasté sataan
, to say it every time she was on the stairs. He told her, because you have seen a
bhoot
on the balcony by the stairs, it is better to have a special Parsi prayer ceremony there so he does not come again and cause any trouble. He said, many years ago, near Marine Lines where Hindus have their funerals and burn bodies, a
bhoot
walked at midnight in the middle of the road, scaring motorists and causing many accidents. Hindu priests said prayers to make him stop. But no use.
Bhoot
kept walking at midnight, motorists kept having accidents. So Hindu priests called me to do
a jashan
, they knew Parsi priest has most powerful prayers of all. And after I did a
jashan
right in the middle of the road, everything was all right.
Bai
listened to all this talk of
dustoorji
from A Block, then said she would check with
seth
and let him know if they wanted a balcony
jashan
. Now
seth
says yes to everything, so he told her, sure sure, let
dustoorji
do it. It will be fun to see the exkoriseesum, he said, some big English word like that.
Dustoorji
was pleased, and he checked his Parsi calendar for a good day. On that morning I had to wash whole balcony floor specially, then
dustoorji
came, spread a white sheet, and put all prayer items on it, a silver thing in which he made fire with sandalwood and
loban
, a big silver dish, a
loata
full of water, flowers, and some fruit.
When it was time to start saying prayers
dustoorji
told me to go inside. Later,
bai
told me that was because Parsi prayers are so powerful, only a Parsi can listen to them. Everyone else can be badly damaged inside their soul if they listen.
So
jashan
was done and
dustoorji
went home with all his prayer things. But when people in Firozsha Baag who did not believe in the ghost heard about prayer ceremony, they began talking and mocking.
Some said Jaakaylee’s
bai
has gone crazy, first the ayah was seeing things, and now she has made her
bai
go mad.
Bai
will not talk to those people in the Baag. She is really angry, says she does not wantfriends who think she is crazy. She hopes
jashan
was not very powerful, so the ghost can come again. She wants everyone to see him and know the truth like her.
Busy eating
, bai-seth
are. Curry is hot, they are blowing whoosh-whoosh on their tongues but still eating, they love it hot. Secret of good curry is not only what spices to put, but also what goes in first, what goes in second, and third, and so on. And never cook curry with lid on pot, always leave it open, stir it often, stir it to urge the flavour to come out
.
So
bat
is hoping the ghost will come again. She keeps asking me about ghosts, what they do, why they come. She thinks because I saw the ghost first in Firozsha
It took some time for them to come up because she sat inside the car and locked all doors. Would not come out until he climbed upstairs, put on every staircase light to make sure the ghost was gone, and then went back for her.
She came in the house at last and straight to my passage, shaking me, saying wake up, Jaakaylee, wake up! I pretended to be sleeping deeply, then turned around and said, Happy New Year,
bat
, everything is okay, children are okay.
She said, yes yes, but the
bhoot
is on the stairs! I saw him, the one you saw last year at Christmas, he is back, I saw him with my own eyes!
I wanted so much to laugh, but I just said, don’t be afraid,
bai
, he will not do any harm, he is not a ghost of mischief, he must have just lost his way.
Then she said, Jaakaylee, you were telling the truth and I was angry with you. I will tell everyone in B Block you were right, there really is a
bhoot
.
I said
bai
, let it be now, everyone has forgotten about it, and no one will believe anyway. But she said, when I tell them, they will believe.
And after that many people in Firozsha Baag started to believe in the ghost. One was
dustoorji
in A Block. He came one day and taught
bai
a prayer,
saykasté saykasté sataan
, to say it every time she was on the stairs. He told her, because you have seen a
bhoot
on the balcony by the stairs, it is better to have a special Parsi prayer ceremony there so he does not come again and cause any trouble. He said, many years ago, near Marine Lines where Hindus have their funerals and burn bodies, a
bhoot
walked at midnight in the middle of the road, scaring motorists and causing many accidents. Hindu priests said prayers to make him stop. But no use.
Bhoot
kept walking at midnight, motorists kept having accidents. So Hindu priests called me to do
a jashan
, they knew Parsi priest has most powerful prayers of all. And after I did a
jashan
right in the middle of the road, everything was all right.
Bai
listened to all this talk of
dustoorji
from A Block, then said she would check with
seth
and let him know if they wanted a balcony
jashan
. Now
seth
says yes to everything, so he told her, sure sure, let
dustoorji
do it. It will be fun to see the exkoriseesum, he said, some big English word like that.
Dustoorji
was pleased, and he checked his Parsi calendar for a good day. On that morning I had to wash whole balcony floor specially, then
dustoorji
came, spread a white sheet, and put all prayer items on it, a silver thing in which he made fire with sandalwood and
loban
, a big silver dish, a
loata
full of water, flowers, and some fruit.
When it was time to start saying prayers
dustoorji
told me to go inside. Later,
bai
told me that was because Parsi prayers are so powerful, only a Parsi can listen to them. Everyone else can be badly damaged inside their soul if they listen.
So
jashan
was done and
dustoorji
went home with all his prayer things. But when people in Firozsha Baag who did not believe in the ghost heard about prayer ceremony, they began talking and mocking.
Some said Jaakaylee’s
bai
has gone crazy, first the ayah was seeing things, and now she has made her
bai
go mad.
Bai
will not talk to those people in the Baag. She is really angry, says she does not wantfriends who think she is crazy. She hopes
jashan
was not very powerful, so the ghost can come again. She wants everyone to see him and know the truth like her.
Busy eating
, bai-seth
are. Curry is hot, they are blowing whoosh-whoosh on their tongues but still eating, they love it hot. Secret of good curry is not only what spices to put, but also what goes in first, what goes in second, and third, and so on. And never cook curry with lid on pot, always leave it open, stir it often, stir it to urge the flavour to come out
.
So
bat
is hoping the ghost will come again. She keeps asking me about ghosts, what they do, why they come. She thinks because I saw the ghost first in Firozsha
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