Bhooooot

My flatmate is out and will be out this week. I am all alone in the apartment. And to top it all, it is Halloween Week. Never really mattered before, but there’s something different this time. Maybe I’ve been in India all Halloweens where we barely knew when this ghost-fest of the west came and went. This time I can see Halloween masks and costumes and blah-blahs being sold everywhere here in the UK. I also managed to bump into a grumpy kid at Tesco on Friday who looked like he just finished his debut movie with the Ramsay bros. Don’t ask me the reason for his grumpiness, but I guess the Ramsays’ might have got his character killed before he got to suck enough ketchup (a.k.a blood in the movies).

Not that I am afraid of ghosts or believe in these what I presume are ‘awkward manifestations of human’s over-imaginative mind’, but the incident to be described sure ran a chill down my spine. On the uneventful Friday night (luckily, date wasn’t 13th), I sat munching crisps, watching TV like the usual couch potato fatsos (yeah ok ok.. I am one too!). The incessant channel navigation didn’t help much because all they could show on the 18 freeview channels were Rosemary’s child, Dracula, The Loch Ness monster, The 100 scariest scenes of all times and similar freaky stuff… nothing mild nothing comic, no good movie. In short, nothing worth whiling away time. The sleep monster in my yawn and droopy eyes took control and led my legs to the bed where I slept instantly, I guess.

When the arrival of next afternoon broke my sleep, I could hear noises from the living room. I swear, there was no one in the house. I went to check out and behold, the TV was on and so was the light. I like to think of myself as energy conserver and I was sure, I had switched off the TV and lights before I went to bed. I looked everywhere in the house including the vacuum cleaner and geyser closet, but nobody was there. For half an hour, I was shocked on how this had happened. Like everybody, I attributed it to my sleepy state, and went about the task of whiling away that day. Went to a friend’s at night and got back home after a movie. Doubly double checked that TV and lights were switched off before I went to bed.

Next morning at 11, I still heard noises from the hall. Whoa…there really was a ghost in my house. Clutching the little Hanuman statuette, I went to the living room and found the telly ON. Brr….chatterrrr (those were my teeth)…and my vocabulary fails to explain the electricity sort of thing that ran down my spine.

I bet there is a ghost in my apartment which loves to watch TV and does not pay for the electricity. I have informed the Ghostbusters Inc to take out that bugger before he starts eating my food and wearing my clothes too. Till then, I am staying clear of my apartment.

[P.S.: People in UK, please set your clock timing back by one hour for daylight savings. Do set it on your TVs as well but make sure you don’t mistakenly set the ON TIMER, atleast not for early morning. ]