The Woman Near The Handpump

Namaskar folks.

This incident, as narrated to me by my mother, occurred to my late maternal grandma, whom I would refer to as "nani" for the rest of the story.

This dates back to the 80s, when my mom was still a kid. My mother's family used to live in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a locality where many families used to live. The locality was not the sort of 'colony' that we'd imagine, but was instead, a closely knit group of houses, where people shared verandahs and roofs with each other. Those houses now lie in ruins and seem to be a hotspot for paranormal activities, since every family migrated to some other place in the early 2000s, leaving those houses unoccupied.

As per my mother, there had been a number of paranormal activities in that area, like there used to be a house where many people would faint, and would later claim that they felt a gust. But none of this was so frightening, as compared to my Nani's experience.

It so happened, that there was a sacred thread ceremony being held. Since everyone lived near to each other, all of them used to live like a single joint family. Our house was a bit bigger than the rest of the lot, and hence, some kids, who were relatives of the family that had the ceremony at their house, came to sleep at our place. My mother, her sister and three other girls (the ones related to the family hosting the ceremony) were sleeping in the outer room that was just next to the verandah and my nani was sleeping in the room behind it. She felt thirsty at night and went to fetch a glass of water from the container, which was kept in the outer room.

While she was having water, she saw someone using the handpump just outside. Although, someone using hand pump isn't unusual, but at 3 o'clock in the midnight, was a sight someone wouldn't take easily. My nani gathered some courage and went outside to take a look, but she got chills down her spine, when she saw that it was a woman, clad in white, and seemed to float in the air. My nani didn't dare call her out, and quietly went inside the room. She closed the doors and windows, and kept a photo of Lord Hanuman beside the kids.

She didn't disclose this to anyone for years. But one day, a neighbour of ours herself told her that she had seen a woman using the handpump at midnight. This cemented my Nani's belief that she did see something paranormal that night. Although, my nani never told this to me, but she surely did tell this to my mother. My mother always wondered why she was not allowed to sleep with the windows open after that particular night, but she too, received the shock of her life after listening to Nani's experience.

I hope you all liked it. For now, goodbye.

Namaskar.