Amongst horrid shapes, and shrieks and sights unholy
Find out some uncouth cell
Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous wings
And the night raven sings;

- J. Milton - L'Allegro

Kulamakkara, a sleepy little town in Kerala, had nothing much to boast about nine decades ago. There was no electricity, no transport except bullock carts and not even a good eatery. Basic facilities like a government high school and a government primary health centre were, however, available.

Subrahmanya Shastri was the head master of the high school and one of the highest office bearers in this small town. He was a great scholar, an efficient teacher and administrator, but, in his private life, he was a narrow-minded and bigoted person. He would follow the scriptures to the letter but not in spirit.

His only son's marriage was performed very early, when the boy was only 18; his bride was 14 at that time. This little girl, who had just come of age, also had to undergo the restrictions and follow the rules of her new home.

When she did not conceive for the first couple of years, she was declared barren by the ladies of the house and also their neighbours. Later on when she did conceive and delivered a still-born child, to add to the sorrow, they accused her of having "devoured" the baby.

Soon after, Shastri lost his son due to an attack of cholera and though the young wife looked after him with utmost devotion and care, the entire blame was put on her by his relatives. They said she had brought bad luck to the family.

Subrahmanya Shastri decreed that despite her tender age, she should observe all the customs which widowed Brahmin ladies were required to follow. These included shaving the head once a fortnight, wearing only while saris without blouse, observing fast on auspicious days and keeping away from sweets.

The young widow subjected her head to the local barber with monotonous regularity and also obeyed the other dictates of her strict and revengeful father-in-law. When the torture became unbearable, she ended her life by jumping into the well, just inside the compound wall bordering the main road.

Bad luck visited the Shastri household again soon after that; the cattle perished, his wife died, he himself had bouts of depression and lost his job. Then, one day, Subrahmanya Shastri left everything and went to some unknown destination dressed in tatters. The scriptures could not save him.

The deserted house fell into disrepair and soon crumbled along with the compound wall and bushes grew around the well. Many more unhappy souls are reported to have drowned themselves in it subsequently.

Apparitions were seen or felt near the well; sometimes a peculiar fragrance, sometimes horrid shapes and often strains of some wailing instrument and pathetic shrieks. This area was avoided by people from nightfall till daybreak.

Some small children who played in the compound of the dilapidated building during the twilight hour were missing. Later on, they were found lying in an unconscious condition under a bush. When they came to their senses, all of them had some vague idea of a widow-in-white with shaven head accosting them. They had also heard pathetic shrieks from the direction of the well.

Then it was the turn of my aunt who was only 5 years old. There was a wedding ceremony to be performed next morning in her house, which was hardly quarter of a kilometre away from the disused well. Pandals were erected both at the front and back of the house. There was intense activity the whole night; people rushing here and there, cooks busy cutting vegetables and grating coconuts; all these were seen by my aunt during her disturbed sleep, as if in a dream.

The priests got ready for the rituals, after their bath, before dawn and they arranged flowers, incense and other items required for the ceremony. The family members were also rushing to get ready; only the small children were asleep.

My aunt, aged five, who wanted to ease herself, got up and went to the road, right in front of the house. There were no attached bathrooms or toilet facilities those days, especially in small towns, and small children eased themselves either by the roadside or at a far corner of the back yard. Just then, in the darkness, my aunt saw a widow-in-white, her shaven head covered by one end of her sari, passing that way. In her half-asleep condition, she though the widow had called her. Aunt, as if in a trance, followed the widow.

When they reached some distance, a priest coming opposite saw my aunt and asked her where she was going alone at that unearthly hour. She replied, "Can't you see whom I am accompanying!" The priest could not see anyone but he guessed that it was the spirit of the young widow who had ended her life in the well. Many who could sight supernatural being had seen her before in that locality. He told my aunt, "Go and sleep," held her by hand and took her home. Looking back, she saw the widow had reached and vanished near the well.

God had thus saved my aunt from grave consequences. Even when she narrated this tale late in life, she could vividly remember the widow's features. The well was the young widow's new home, there she had drowned her sorrows but her desire for company of children had not been quenched.

Regarding Subrahmanya Shastri, no one knew where he went or what happened to him.