There was a village where no one lived anymore.
Something happened there one night that made everyone leave the village immediately.
What happened that forced the entire village to be abandoned in a single night?
What catastrophe came that caused all the villagers to flee?
"This is a very old story. I am from that village, and now I will tell you about it."
Listen carefully...
Something happened in my village so terrible that a hundred people died in a single night.
Nobody knew who killed them, but their bodies remained while their skulls vanished.
The whole soil of the village turned bright red.
My village's name is Chandnagari, and it used to be very beautiful.
This was in 1910. I was very small then. I used to play different games with my friends and had a lot of fun.
Everyone in the village was content — people were happy with their work and had no complaints.
The villagers thought our headman (the sarpanch) was a good man. They had no idea he was wicked and cruel. Only he knew the truth.
The villagers were innocent and simple; they didn't know much.
Whenever someone discovered the headman's secret, he made sure that person was killed that very night.
No one realized that every month a young man from the village was being killed. Nobody understood how it was happening.
I was very small. One night I needed to go to the bathroom — in 1910 people usually went out to the fields.
I felt desperate, so I went out with my father carrying a lamp.
We walked to the field together. I filled a pot with water and we started back.
It was very dark, so I asked my father, "Papa, it's getting late. Will you keep the light on?"
My father replied, "No, son. The battery will run out quickly. I'll turn it on now and then."
"Okay, Papa," I said.
While I was in the field, something passed over my foot. I screamed in fear, "Papa! Papa!"
My father switched the light on and we saw it clearly. It was very large — about two meters tall — and it was shining.
When the light hit it, it looked completely white.
I was terrified. We started walking back toward home, but on the way we saw the same creature again.
I said, "Papa, isn't that the same creature we just saw in the field? How did it get here so fast?"
Father said, "These beings can't move much in towns, but in fields and forests their speed is very fast."
Then he added, "Look how beautiful it looks — completely white, shining in the light.
Why don't we catch it and sell it in the market? We could make some money."
Papa said, "No, son. They have the same right to live as we do."
He spoke kindly, and we went home.
I fell asleep again, but I couldn't sleep well. I kept thinking about that white creature. My mind kept returning to it for no reason.
I don't know why, but even though I didn't want to, I kept thinking about it until I finally fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up, washed, brushed my teeth, and sat outside. I saw that white creature again.
It felt as if I had taken something from it, or had done something to it, and now it was following me.
From that day I saw it three times. I didn't know why it kept appearing to me again and again.
I told my father, "Papa, I saw that creature again."
He asked, "Where did you see it?"
I replied, "Outside our house, in the yard."
Father came outside to look, but by then it had gone.
He said, "Son, that creature is not here. You must be seeing things.
You've been thinking about it since last night — maybe you dreamed about it. Don't worry."
I insisted, "I'm not lying. I saw it here. I came inside to tell you, and maybe it left, but something is odd.
When it passed over my foot, I felt something — that's why I screamed. And then on the road we saw it again.
It couldn't have moved that fast otherwise."
Father replied, "There may be many of that sort here. It's possible you saw another. Also, you hadn't seen such a creature anywhere in the village before. Maybe it's simply appearing more often around here."
I said, "Papa, I have never seen such a creature in the village before, and I've never seen anything appear so many times. Something must be going on. Maybe it needs our help, or it's trying to tell us something."
That's why it kept appearing in front of us again and again.
Dad said, "Son, it's an animal… how can you understand its sounds? Do you know its language?"
I said, "But Dad…"
He cut me off —
"Don't say anything now! I've been watching you since yesterday. Leave that snake alone and go study.
I'll go and kill it… or else I'll catch it and sell it in the market."
I replied, "Yes, Dad, that will be fine. With the snake gone, it won't appear to me anymore. Please catch it and sell it."
Dad said, "All right, now go and study."
Then Dad went out to look for the snake.
He searched around the house and the nearby places, but the snake was nowhere to be found.
Dad asked, "Son, where exactly did you see the snake? I've looked everywhere; it isn't here. Maybe you were mistaken."
I said, "No, Dad, I saw it with my own eyes leaving from here. Please believe me — I'm telling the truth. If we catch it and sell it, we could make a lot of money. Our family's condition would improve; please understand what I'm saying."
Dad was silent for a while, thinking deeply, then said,
"You may be right, son… but how will our household be fixed by selling a single snake?
At best, we'd get five or ten coins."
...