The Haunted Room

Today was indeed a long long day for me . Reason , being a part of the crowd looking to book their seat in the hostel . Majority of the students reached the management block as early as 4 in the morning as no one was ready to take a chance . There are only 104 rooms available in the E block and students were more , causing a rush for the hostel allotment .

I , being a part of the crowd was sitting at the stairs for a long part of the morning . The whole environment was filled with the sound of chit – chats , buzz and occasional verbal outbursts from few desperate ones . But at 7’o clock , when the doors were being opened and the much enthusiastic students entered the block , there was a new sound to be heard . CRAASSHHHHH …….. The glass partition in the middle of the hall was unable to bear the pressure applied and thus , came down with a loud thud on the floor .

I have not seen such a rush in my life , not even during the counselling .The college management failed in handling the whole situation .It was panic everywhere . It was clear that its not worth being a part of the pulls and pushes and we would be better off coming back after some time .

Now comes the interesting part of the story . There is a room on the first floor ( E-231 ) where a student committed suicide a few years back . This room has not seen an inhabitant for many years . Last year , a guy dared to go for this room but eventually , he backed off after 2 months declaring that the room was haunted and the spirit in the room was not allowing him to live there peacefully . Now after that incident no one was ready to book that room .

12’o clock . After a lot of efforts , being thrown out a multiple number of times , being scolded by the Dean and warden a couple of times , initiating a number of quarrels among the students , finally we were able to enter the room where the allotment was under process . Slowly but surely the queue was moving . A number of dudes were entering the queue from the sidelines , decreasing the probability of the people behind them of being allotted a room . I kept watching .

1’o clock . Only 3 students between me and the window and after waiting for so long , I knew now it was just a matter of time .

10 minutes later , a declaration came from the warden , ” Room in the E block are full . Rest of the students are advised to go back now .”

After waiting for so long , a news like that was heart breaking for me . I was late and now it was not worth staying here . I mumbled in my mind ,” I should go back now and rethink on what to do now .” I just reached the doorsteps when a thought flashed into my mind ,” Have someone gone for E-231 .” I rushed back to check . It was still vacant .

Me : Sir , E-231 is still vacant . Please give me that room .

Warden looked at the cashier and both of them smiled .

Warden : Are you sure ? Do you know that ……….

Me : Sir , I know everything and I am not afraid of living there .

Warden : Ok then . Lets do it . Btw , whats your percentage ?

Me : its 79.2% aggregate right now . (thinking , what percentage got to do with that)

Warden : Excellent buddy . (Shaking hands)

Me : Sir , why did you ask me that ? Does the spirit give a consideration to the studious ones ?

Many student approached me with “Are you mad ? ” …….”You must be joking right” …… ” Do you even know the history of that room ?” …….”Just get the pooja done before entering the room and it will be ok ” ……. “Don’t worry , these are all rumours” ……. “Once again you got a double seater and now your room partner is a spirit.” …….. ” I will nominate your name for the bravery awards this time . ” …….

One of the guys asked me ” Why so serioussss ??? ” …. I felt like shouting at him and asking ” Won’t you be so serious if after toiling for 12 hours or so , you get a room which everyone had deserted and the guys ( even the warden ) is acting as if I have made the last mistake of my life ” …. but I was too tired to reply . I made my way back to the hostel . The scorching heat of the sun was ineffective . The campus which was full of students appeared empty . All those things which were troubling me (internal viva , project submission , the LAN bug in my laptop ) were out of my mind . My clothes were soaked with sweat . My body was tired , both physically and mentally . My eyelids were shutting down due to the lack of sleep .There was one and only one thing I was thinking about .

“Me and My Haunted Room”