I do not really decide whether I believe in ghosts or not. There are many instances that come to mind but I would like to state one that shook me when I was just a child of ten.

Along with mine and my aunties family I left for old digha during the winters. It was November and it was quite cold. We were supposed to leave Calcutta (Kolkata) at around 8 am in the morning and reach by evening. But somehow my father could not arrange for the van that would take us to Digha. We got the van around 2 o clock and we left at 4o clock in the evening.

After plenty of stops and a memorable journey we reach Digha at 1 o'clock at the night. Then began the search for Hotels and Guest Houses. It was very tough to get accomodation. Suddenly the face of my father popped from behid the window and he asked my Aunt whether she would somehow manage in a government-run lodge. My Aunt persuaded my father to look for something else but to no avail we boarded at the lodge. After keepin our belongings we rushed for lunch since we all were very hungry. While we were having dinner my mother asked my father 'What will happen at three?". But then my father shrugged her off stating that "Dont behave like a kid in front of children".

I and my sister were very suspicious. My suspicion got even better when my cousin refused to open his room door and asked us to knock five times and to call everybody name. This was the time I felt a bit scared and all my happiness vanished.

At around 2: 30 am in the morning we went to bed and father switched off the light. With so many question into my mind I just could not sleep. Finally the time arive. It was 3 a.m. and then what I experienced made me shocked for hours. There was this big clock which gave the 'Ding Dong Ding' three times. It was then I could hear unnatural voices. Some walking past my corrider with an iron built heavy leg (I know it sounds absurd). It was stopping and the moving. I hid under my mother. It continued for 5 mins and then there was pin drop silence. Not a work. I could not speak not move.

About twenty minutes later I heard my aunt shout from the pther room from the suite 'Aami bolechilam ... eikhene na thakte '. I never slept the whole night and after dawn when my father got up for sunrise, I asked him what it was. He and my Mom shrugged it off saying that it was just a nightmare. It was then I went to my uncle who was a doctor who told me that a women had committed suicide in one of the rooms after eloping with her boyfriend, when her boyfriend left her and took all her belongings. I do not know whether this storyof the girlfriend and boyfriend (that my uncle told me) is true or but the experience remains as one that remains with me still. I love the beach of Digha and now whenever I go with my son and wife to Digha I make it a point to stay at any other hotel but never at the lodge. The memories still haunt me.

Disclaimer: This is a reader-driven feature. The views expressed by the readers are their own, and not that of Rediff.com. Rediff.com has not altered the material presented here and does not endorse it in any way.

Have strange circumstances ever caused you to believe in ghosts or in the supernatural? Mail your experiences and beliefs to getahead@rediff.co.in, and don't forget to add your name, age, occupation and contact details -- we'll publish the best stories righ here.

Next