STRANGE SOMETHING OF THE NIGHT

I am a self-confessed believer in God and also in ghosts. No, I haven't seen either but I'm sure both exists like the sun and the moon does. I have often been assured of my belief in God's existence by answered prayers. But the ghost factor still remains an illusion. After watching scary movies, I'm often scared to the extent of not being able to sleep on my own in my room and end up seeking refuge at my landlord's, but thats another story for another day.

Yesterday night even though I slept with a happy state of mind, yet towards the early hours of the morning, I felt I was fighting with some strong external force which was trying to throw me off the bed to the ground. I could also feel some pulling of my hair by that external force and some wind-like noise just next to my ears. I tried to open my eyes and throw the blanket off my face, but I could not. I was gripped... with sleep and fear. I didn't know what to do, but in an instant second, without even trying any further to open my eyes, I chanted the Gayatri Mantra over and over again in my mind and I felt the 'evil' force perish into nothingness slowly. When I felt assured that there was nothing around me that could harm me in any way as I was protected with the strong power of the Mantra, I opened my eyes and threw the blanket off. I was perspiring and was soaked with sweat all over. But I could see or feel nothing out of the ordinary. Out of the window on the left of my bed, I could see the bright moon-lit sky trying to mix colours with the breaking of dawn. I looked at the wall space near the window where I hung the sketch of shiv-shakti with 3 rudraksh beads tied around it. On the right side of my bed, there on my book-shelf stood the small statue of Ganesh-ji in bronze (a gift from my friend Safal).

And then I asked myself, would I have dared to come in here and mess around if I were a ghost? Never! So obviously I must have had a nightmare. And then I drifted off to sleep again still chanting the Gayatri Mantra in my mind till the last few winks of my wakey moments....