Welcome back, readers. Here I am with my new write-up.

The last week was sultry. This week started with a cloudy sky, and as the week progressed, rains increased. It is Saturday evening; it's raining outside. I and my spouse were enjoying hot tea. It was a perfect day for spooky stories. 

In earlier days, story telling was everyone's favourite past time. Now in the smart phone era, live story telling is a long-forgotten memory. 

Bengal has a rich literary tradition. There is no dearth of spooky stories in Bengali literature. On YouTube, there are plenty of storytellers available. But my favourite is Mr. Mir Ansar Ali. Earlier, he used to present stories on the radio. Now he started a YouTube channel dedicated to story-telling. 

To complement the weather outside, we chose to listen to eerie content. The story is about the paranormal experience of a mystic. I am narrating the story in a nutshell. The story is set in rural Bengal in the time dated back to the early nineteenth century. It was one of many prosperous villages in Bengal. It was prosperous in the sense that villagers do not have a dearth of grains, vegetables, fish, and milk. The villagers were content with good meals two times a day. In such a village the mystic man arrived. The mystic man was travelling aimlessly in search of a spiritual guru. His name was Taranath Chakroborthy; later he became famous as Taranath Tantrik.

Taranath sat in the verandah of a village shop. The sacred thread of Taranath was revealing his Brahmin identity. On those days, people consider feeding Brahmin a work of virtue. So the shopkeeper requested the mystic man to be his guest for that night.

Tired Taranath was happy to oblige the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was from a lower caste. So he insisted Taranath cook the meal for himself. After dinner, the guest and the host were conversing about many things. 

In between the conversations, the shopkeeper revealed his paranormal experience with Tatanath. The shopkeeper claimed to have seen first a jackle, then a bull, followed by a snake, a dog, and lastly a cloudy human figure. All the creatures behaved abnormally. Their entry and exit to the premises of the house raise suspicion.

Tarath were well versed with mystic scriptures. He already knew the root causes of the paranormal incidence. The next day Taranath enquired with aged persons of the villages about the precedence of the area where the house of the shopkeeper stood. One aged boatman confirmed that about sixty years ago a yogi stayed in the land for some time. 

Now everything becomes clear to Taranath. The yogi has done his mystic practices by sitting on a seat of five skulls. But after completion of his practice, he did not dismantle the seat of the five skulls. So the souls of these five creatures could not attain liberation. These souls are suffering for a very long time. 

Taranath and the shopkeeper dug the skulls out of earth and immersed them in the river. 

The story was perfect for a rainy evening. The presentation of the story was top-notch. 

What you like to do on a rainy evening, please share in the comment section.