I had never seen or had anything paranormal until this happened to me. Growing up as a kid I believed, or was made to believe, that nothing evil (a ghost or spirit) could scare me if I wore this medallion of St. Michael the Archangel on it. But as time passed on I lost my interest in religion (being a teenager then) and along with it went the medal.
Coming to the story, this happened in the early 90s. If anyone was from Chennai in India I guess they would know this cemetery called St. Mary's Cemetery. It was summer the month of May and I was on vacation. It was about 11:00 in the night that my dad's friend came over and knocked on the front door. My dad opened the door and the guy was sweating horribly. He came in sat down and told dad that one of their friend's sister had committed suicide and his other friend had called him, so my dad got ready to leave.
I was 17 then, the youngest. My brother, who was elder, was working then; my sister was younger and mom was a homemaker. Mom insisted that my dad and his messenger friend take my elder brother along, but for some reason or the other he refused to go. He was lazy and he had a hard day at work so maybe he felt tired. I told dad I would go along. First he said no but then later gave in.
Anyhow, we reached his friend's house where the suicide had taken place and by that time there was nothing there other than his friend his mother and few relatives. The body of the lady had been taken for a postmortem. Anyone living in India would know the procedure and police investigation that go into it if someone commits a suicide.
We stayed there that night, just sitting out in the yard. The next day with all the confusion as to when the body would be handed over to the relatives, and when the police go ahead to perform the last rites was to be given, it only ended late that night at about 1:00. So now my dad's friend asked dad if he could go to the cemetery and ask the grave diggers to start digging the grave so we could have an early funeral because 2 days had already passed. People from India would know that at that time there were no morgues in India, the only ones were government.
So dad, his messenger friend, and me headed to the cemetery. It was quite far off and we were three on bicycles. It was quite lonely and we were riding at same pace with each other. We reached the cemetery and got down from the cycles. My dad walked over to the gate and kept calling out in Tamil. There was no response so we decided to go in.
Now to explain about this cemetery is quite easy. It just has a mud road running with graves in rows on either side. We looked near the gate from the inside. First there was no sight of anyone. My dad's friend said that most of these guys get drunk so the must be asleep inside. Dad said okay. His friend waited near the gate while we both wen int on our cycles because it seemed long way right down. I, being a cynic and brave, started venturing deeper, although my dad kept shouting at me. Soon he caught up and I told him I had seen a man lying down by one of the graves in the rows of graves deep inside. I decided to go and wake him up, so I got down and started walking. Now we all were alone in different places. When I reached the grave where I had seen the man, I was astounded to find no one there. I just came walking to where my dad was as fast as possible. I was very sure I seen someone that too on a full moon night when visibility was good.
When I came to where my dad was, I told him no one was there now. I was facing him and now he was facing where the row of graves were. All of sudden he just said, "Let's get out of here." We never pursued to find the grave digger and we were heading out. I felt this cold breeze over me the whole time until we reached the gate and a loud bang like noise of something crashing down. My dad heard it and his friend too. We got out and went home.
The next morning at about daybreak, the man whose sister had died and the other messenger friend went and informed the grave digger about the funeral and to get things ready. At the funeral, for which I had been I was intrigued to know what I had seen near the grave whether it was some plants or some cloth or something that I mistook for a person I never found anything, but what I found out was the grave near where I had seen the man was marked three days ago. So then I told dad maybe some coincidence so I urged him to take a look. He came over and to his surprise it was one of his very own cousins. After enquiring from the graveyard digger, dad found out that he was killed when the wall he was sleeping beneath collapsed and fell on him.
While walking out of the cemetery after the funeral, dad told me that when I came to him and said nothing was there that night, he seen a shadow near the same grave. That's when he said, "Let's get out."
Whether it was dad's cousin trying to tell us he was buried there or the bang which indicated the wall collapsing, Whatever I felt and seen that day was true, for I know what I saw.
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