It was around half past ten when we all trudged back to our college Hostel. The nine of us (Yes, we had a big gang ) had been out for a Romantic Comedy “50 First Dates”, followed by hearty dinner at a local eatery and thus had managed to cross the 10 pm deadline set by our “khadoos” Girls Hostel warden Vimlaji. The watchman, Bahadur Kaka was our pal, so he let us in with smile. He was used to our mischievous activities. Slowly each one of us tiptoed up the staircase and into our rooms, lest we awake the monster warden. Once inside, we let out a huge sigh of relief “Whew! That was quite close. I’m happy that monster didn’t wakeup” I said to my room-mates. “I swear!” replied Shreya “I didn’t want to spoil the after-taste of a fantastic movie and dinner after bumping into the Big Bhootni of our Hostel!” Everyone broke into laughter at Shreya’s comment but soon hushed up at the thought of waking up Vimlaji with all that noise.
As we prepared for bed, the movie was evidently still running on our minds. “Hey Anu!” Preeta broke my train of thoughts “How did you find the movie? Adam Sandler is so cute, isn’t he?” “The movie was funny” I replied “But I’m not a big fan of Sandler and his humour. Give me Jerry Seinfeld or Matthew Perry anytime! ” “Hmmm so Anu would prefer Chandler over Sandler ha!” Shreya chirped in. After some more banter and gossiping, we all fell asleep. It had been quite an enjoyable evening.
I don’t quite remember how it all started. I was deep asleep, when all of a sudden I felt someone touching my forehead. I couldn’t actual decipher the touch, but it was as though someone was patting on my forehead – as though lulling me to sleep. My first reaction was irritation on being woken up like this. But as much as I tried I just couldn’t get my eyes to open. I tried to move my hands but to no avail. I was flabbergasted! I was not able to move my hands, nor my legs, could not even open my eyes. Some kind of invisible power had paralyzed me all over. It was the most frightening thing that could ever happen to me. To add to it there was that feeling of some hand patting on my forehead. I started saying all the prayers that I knew – the Ganesha stotra, Hanuman chalisa…even the Our Father in Heaven! Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But at that moment of time only I knew what I was going through. I don’t know when I fell asleep again. I guess that bizarre event stopped in a short while and I was induced into a dreamless slumber.
When I woke up the next morning, I was still shaken by the previous night’s incident and spoke about it to my friends. “Hey Anu, don’t worry!” my friends consoled me “Must have been some bad dream. Just forget it.” Thinking it was the best to forget it all, I washed my hands off that incident as a nightmare. A few months later when I was home during vacation, it happened again. One afternoon, during siesta I felt that hand patting my head again, touching my neck. My mother was sleeping next to me. I tried to call out to her, but was just not able to neither open my mouth nor move. I willed my eyes to open with all the courage I could muster. And then in a few minutes, it all stopped! I woke my mum up and told her about it all. “Goodness Anuradha!!” mum exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me all this before? Hey bhagwaan! This is not a normal thing. I will have to take you to Guruji as soon as possible.” She frightened me even further with more old wives tales.
I didn’t believe in all these Gurujis and Babajis, but for the sake of my mother’s faith I went along with her. Even I was curious to know what he had to say on this. This particular Guruji was an educated, middle class guy who was sans all the garbs of a Sadhu but he was melodramatic nonetheless. “Bum bum bole!” he muttered after listening to my mother’s narration, “Anuradha beti, you have been struck by an Evil eye – Boori Nazar!! This all has happened because of that Boora Saaya(Evil shadow)!” My mother got scared, “Guruji please save my daughter! Is there anything we can do to end that Boori Nazar” “Don’t worry Behenji” he replied after a dramatic pause “I will give her a Taveez (amulet) to wear which will ward off all evil eyes! I will also perform a small pooja if you don’t mind, which will make sure your daughter is protected from all kinds of evil!” My mum was happy “Don’t worry about money Guruji! Please conduct that pooja at the earliest!” I wasn’t very happy with this, but there was no point in reasoning it out with my mum – she just wouldn’t listen. We had the pooja conducted soon and I got a ‘blessed’ Taveez tied to my arm.
After some days, I removed it and threw it away. After reading so much, I wasn’t satisfied with all this hog wash. I wanted to know the real reason behind what had happened to me. I knew what I had experienced and it was something “surreal”. I wanted to get to the root of this and the Guruji’s boori nazar story was as bogus as could get. One of my friend’s brothers was a practicing neurosurgeon and I went over to his place to find out more.
On hearing my tale, the first thing he asked me was “Anu, how do you sleep?”
I smiled “Just like everyone else! Do you mean to say how do I position myself?”
“Yes, that’s right I want to know whether you sleep face down, sideways, face up,…”
“I usually sleep with my face upwards!” I replied.
“Hmmm…and do you use a good pillow?” he asked me.“No. As a matter of fact, I don’t use a pillow at all. Don’t find it comfortable!”
“That explains it…” He said with a smile.“Ok! So you understand why this could be happening?” I asked him.
“Yes, I think it’s quite simple. What you’ve been through is a mild version of something termed as ‘Sleep Paralysis’. It has got nothing to do with evil eyes or ears.”I was curious, “Is it something serious?”
“In your case, I don’t think there is anything to be afraid of. I would suggest you to change your sleeping position. Preferably sleep sideways. And try to use a small pillow in order to support your head when you are asleep. ”
“Why is that required?” I was interested to know further.
“When you tend to sleep without a pillow and that too face up, the oxygen supply to your brain gets cut off; which results in a temporary paralysis often accompanied by hallucinations. Like in your case you felt a hand on your head. Avoid sleeping face up, do not indulge in excessive caffeine or smoking, do not eat large quantities of food before you sleep. Stress levels can also be a factor that causes it. But in your case it is just the wrong sleeping position”
“Okay, I will try to avoid that from now on” I nodded my head.
“Does this ever happen again I would suggest you try to break off it. Try to move some body part with your will, like a finger or a toe or even your eyelids. The moment you move a body part – the sleep paralysis will cease instantly! If sometimes you are unable to do so try to imagine you are moving your head or fingers and your mind will become active and the sleep paralysis episode will end.”
“That sounds interesting! I will surely go ahead and attempt that.” I felt better.
“See Anuradha, You are a brave lass. Don’t let such small things get you down. Medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds. It is time for everyone to sit up and think rationally.”
His words made a lot more sense then all those superstitious stories. I followed his advice and it worked.
Take a Quarter teaspoon of Courage and a Quarter teaspoon of Will power, Add half a spoon of Proper Counselling and Guidance and you will be able to chase all your nightmares away.
Say Goodbye to all Taveez, Babajis and Boori Nazar!!
