Ajji

Ajji had been ill for more than a week! It had all started with a fall she suffered in the bathroom. The external bruises healed, but her health went for a toss. The boisterous grama was now a quietly aging creature with bouts of vomiting and bad appetite which rendered her fragile. Even the doctors were of little help.

And the housemaid intervened! "It must be an evil spirit that’s bothering her", she said. "I will take off the Drishti (the ominous sights of the demon) off her, just get me a handful of chillies and salt" It must be a baby demon, he mused. It was probably a spirit of a child that’s been haunting Ajji for she had transformed into a cranky toddler since the fall! She would call out to him for the simplest of tasks, pee in the saree, steal almonds and cashews from the shelf and would throw up all over herself right after eating them.

She had mellowed down a lot, obeying to whatever he said, and smiling for no reason. She would sit at the balcony for hours waving at the passersby until they disappeared down the street. He had surprisingly grown fond of her now.

"There! The spirit should stop bothering by the evening and would vanish by Amavasya", said the maid, drowning the chilli and salt into an urn of turmeric water. Though hopeful things will get better, he was scared! He seriously did not want the baby spirit to leave, which meant Ajji would get back to her bossy, quarrelsome and cunning self. He had a feeling he would lose her, the moment the spirit was gone!