Are they the well-known sisters who
Mean Life-in-Death for the chosen few
That dare to go too close to the two
Never to return whatever they do?

- Anon

During the leisurely twilight hour, my aunt and her sister-in-law would sit outside their gate on the banks of the Periyar River in the small town of Angamali in Kerala. Her husband, a surgeon, used to come home late everyday and there was no better way than this for the ladies to pass their time.

Coming of orthodox but affluent stock, they had a full-time boy-servant named Ramu. The boy was not only obedient, but also punctual and meticulous in his work. The two women therefore had ample leisure and used to while away their time sitting outside their gate facing the sands and the river.

Sometimes the neighbouring ladies would join in and it used to become a sort of women's meeting or conference of the whole locality. Being a small town, all the families were known to each other and the cleverer ones even knew the family tree of each of their friends.

There was a deserted ancient building in this small town, which was not occupied for decades. According to legend, circulated in the women's gathering, that house belonged to a Namboodiri family. Like all prosperous families which should some day face decline, this family too had fallen into bad times. Two young girls who had attained marriageable age and their impoverished parents constituted the family.

In the past, among certain communities, those who could not give in marriage their daughters before they attained puberty could be downgraded to a lower sub-caste. This fear, coupled with the frustration of lack of finances, encouraged the two girls to take their own lives to ease the burden of their parents, or so they thought. They hanged themselves from the wooden beams on the ceiling.

The broken-hearted parents closed the building and went away to their native village, never to return. Their daughters, when alive, used to go for walks along the banks of the river and these walks, it was rumoured, continued even after their death.

In Kerala folklore, it was considered common for spirits in the form of women to ask for betel-leaf lime, and when it was given to them, to grab the hands of their victims and take them away for some evil purpose. Their victims never returned.

One evening when my aunt and her sister-in-law were sitting outside their gate, they saw two Namboodiri women emerging from the mist and walking towards them.

They had knee-length hair let loose and were holding old-style palm-leaf umbrellas. They wore white garments in true Namboodiri tradition. They were indeed the spirits of the two Namboodiri girls who had committed suicide in the ancient building. It was true that they, the undead, used to walk on the banks of the river even decades after they took their own lives. On seeing my aunt and her relative they decided to make them easy targets.

My aunt had a peculiar feeling on seeing them because they were never seen before in the neighbourhood. When they came near and asked, "Can you please give us some lime?" my aunt understood who they were and shouted for the boy-servant, "Rama! Rama!"

The boy replied, "I am coming just now."

On hearing 'Rama', (the name of a God) the two spirits panicked and turned back hurriedly.

Usually these visitors from the realm of the supernatural surprise their targets by their sudden appearance so that the victims lose their mental balance and succumb meekly. But her presence of mind and quick wit saved my aunt and her sister-in-law from a fate worse than death.

As for the spirits, from mist they came and into the mist they went.