Of Ghosts and Ghostbusters

Lately, there have been rumors about how people in Nepal have been terrorized by a digital spirit, a “Kichkandi” who calls people on  their Ncell numbers (a telecom company), displaying their numbers  in red, and if they pick up the phone, they are very likely to die! My household help and her sisters and a few of my neighbours and shopkeepers swear they know of so-and so- from their  hometown  or village who is in a coma because  they answered the call of a “Kichkandi.”

Nepalis are a superstitious lot, and have a plethora of very colorful ghosts, spirits in-betweens and ghostbusters and exorcists  and clairvoyants to get rid of them.

 Growing up, while most of our friends grew up being terrorized by “Bhakundey Bhoot’,’Kichkandi’,’Bokshi’’Teen Ghantey”’Khyak”, by their parents or elders, our mother terrorized us with Pradhan Nyayadhish(supreme court justice)and Jogi(religious mendicants), because she felt that they were the ones we were least likely to need in life!

We were not supposed to fear the police or doctors  let alone imagined spirits, unlike our friends  who had a real fear of the dark and of doctors and the police.

Because our mother told us that there were no ghosts and no spirits, I whole heartedly believed her, although my brother was not entirely immune to “Teen ghantey” and “Rakey bhoot”.

At age  9, I discovered the previous occupant of my room in  the new house we moved into, had died in his bed -young and troubled, but I stayed in it . It had already been 6 months of no “ghostly” activity, I loved the room, and maybe, like the Otis family in Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost ,he had tried and failed to scare us!

Everyone in Nepal has a story or two about encounters with  ghosts and spirits, and according to the tales I’ve heard, I have tried to classify some of the ghosts and the way their  neutralization/elimination is possible-

Kichkandi-

The most famous type of ghost in Nepal at the moment is believed to be the ghost of young women who have died at childbirth or a young woman who committed suicide. The first mention of a Kichkandi is during King Pratap Malla’s reign (1624–74 A.D.).there is a statue in Ranipokhari of a king on an elephant who is trampling a Kichkandi underfoot, and a temple dedicated to her near Kasthamandap in durbar square.

She has  long black hair , long nails, dressed in white sari, with her feet  turned backwards .She is beautiful and can run like the wind,  I hear, in any direction. She will appear to young men who wander about at night, as a damsel in distress, and follow them. This beautiful ghost  will suck the life out of the men, lead them to cremation grounds ,or just scare them silly by letting them  see her feet!

In modern times Kichkandi have been sighted around Thapathali, Chabahil and have taken rides in ambulances cars and motorbikes of vulnerable young men, and of course ,called them on N-cell numbers!

You can save yourself by not  talking to or giving lifts to unknown young women(sound familiar?), keeping a bunch of keys which you can jangle at them, and best of all, keep dozens of womens’ glass bangles in your car(I don’t think its practical to keep them on your bike handlebar).A Kichkandi does not scare  children, women and married men  by the way!

Rakey Bhoot and Teen Ghante

Rakey bhoot(a moving blue light)  and Teen Ghante (-3- houred) are both  known to call you by mimicking the voice of someone you know very  closely. They even knock at doors or  ring the bell. It’s best not to answer them for at least 3 times. If you answer or talk back before this, they  will say “Tin Ghante” and you will die in three hours, or you will die immediately after you see the blue light of the Rakey Bhoot!  If you don’t answer, they will leave you alone.  So always answer only after the third call, and be prepared for a really long wait outside the house or the loo even if you are not Rakey Bhoot or Teen Ghante .

Murkatta

A Murkatta is a headless ghost. It may also be a headless skeleton, like that of Ranodip Singh(Rana Prime minister of Nepal who was murdered by his nephews in 1885 ) .The temple of Ranamukteshwar is said to have been constructed to appease his ghost . A murkatta travels in a straight line and men who wear nepali ‘topi’ are somehow immune to it, because it is accompanied by a khyak (poltergeist)who will knock off your cap signaling the murkatta’s approach .When you bend down to retrieve your cap, you are saved from the murkatta!

Bahkundey Bhoot ,Chauda  and Khyak

These three types of ghosts are not that harmful because they will give you a really good scare but are unlikely to kill you. They are more like poltergeists, accosting you on stairs(bhakundey)dragging you out of bed, throwing cold water on you, slapping you silly ,or even granting wealth, like the white Khyak! Chauda are the ghosts of little children who appear and disappear at will.

  The Ghost busters

If a ghost or spirit troubles you ,there are a number of steps you can take to save yourself or make peace with the ghost.

The most popular of the ghostbusters are the Dhami and the Jhankri. There are the Gubajus and  Janney(one who knows).  Then there are the ‘Birs’ who are the devotees of Hanuman and who are capable of finding lost items, lost people, thieves,  and occasionally help possessed  people. They use a young impressionable adult as medium.I have sent many acquaintances to the Birs, and have witnessed their work firsthand.

My  favorites are the Pheri Lagauney jogis who go around from house to house getting rid of ghosts and spirits twice a year in Kathmandu and surrounding hilly areas. As an anthropologist, I wanted to witness firsthand the work of the Pheri Lagauney man of my neighborhood. I conversed with him every time he came to collect his fees the night after an exorcism, and tried to take videos of any ghosts that might be captured on camera, unsuccessfully. I listened to the distinctive sound of the human fibula he blew on, chanting mantras to rid our compound of ghosts.it is not advised to look out or to stay awake while he goes about his business, in case the ghosts and spirits reveal themselves. This year, a new man came to collect the fees, and  when I enquired  about my old Pheri Lagauney, who had promised to allow me to witness his work, I was told  that the shaman was in jail! It seems he was so enraged that someone else had collected his fees, he beat the impostor to death. The newcomer told me that as it was involuntary manslaughter, the original man would be out in a few years. My husband was horrified and added numerous I-told-you sos, while I countered that he was such a nice fellow, who had never even spoken in a loud voice to me, and that he had nothing to fear from me anyway!

So I’m still waiting for a ghostly encounter. Until then, I  am open to ghost stories, encounters and mild mannered exorcists for my incomplete video!