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The Jingling Sounds

 

This is my 3rd story here in this site, and like the first two, this one is also one of my father's many paranormal encounters. This incident took place in the late 70's.

My father spent his childhood in a village and he did his college in a small local town near his village (will avoid writing the names of the town and the village, sorry). During his college days, he (in his early 20's) used to stay in a small, rented room with one room-mate. It was quite a small town. There were a few houses nearby but at that time, there weren't much occupants. His room-mate was a job-holder. Earlier that person used to stay alone in that room, and was joined by my father later on. So that way my father didn't know much about the area that he was staying in.

One evening, his friend needed to go somewhere for some work and there, he had to make an overnight stay also. Before leaving, he asked my father whether he is okay staying alone for that night, and will he be scared to do so. He asked that just like in a caring tone as my father was younger than him. My father had absolutely no problem staying alone so he said there's no problem at all.

Those days there wasn't a regular electricity supply to 'all' homes, only a few houses in their town had that connection, and so my father used to study under oil-lamp. So that night my father, after studying, was about to retire to his bed. It was close to midnight. Before sleeping, my father used to lower the flame of the lamp to a small level and then went to sleep. But before that he came to know that the houses nearby did not have residents for that night so it was literally like he was the only one in that about 50 meter radius area, with no electricity. The nearest house with residents was about half a kilometer away.

According to him, it had been just 2-3 minutes that he laid down in his bed that he started hearing jingling sounds of 'Ghungroo' (something similar but bigger than 'anklets'). 'Ghungroos' are items worn around the ankles that people wear/use generally for classical dancing in India. They are like a bunch of 5-6 anklets worn together. So their sound is much 'heavier' than anklets make. My father had not even closed his eyes that these sounds in a pattern- 'Shring'-1 second pause- 'Shring'-1 second pause-'Shring'-1 second pause-' started coming from outside, as if someone is slowly walking wearing 'Ghungroos'. He started listening to them carefully. He felt like the sounds were coming closer to his room. So close, that within 10-15 seconds, my father said he felt that the 'sounds' totally 'stood' outside the room's door!

First, my father waited for a few seconds for that person to call him/or knock the door. For if he/she has got any work with him, the person will definitely 'say' something. Seconds passed... No knock... Minutes passed... No knock. But he had this constant feeling that something/someone was definitely 'standing' outside his door, because he felt there was a 'movement' at the door. Now my father started getting curious as well as a bit scared. He thought if 'it' had been a human, it would never stay 'silent' like that at the door! Still, my father waited like that for about 10 minutes, waiting to see what happens next. Nothing - no sound, no knock, no words.

My father, during those days, used to keep 2 things beside his bed every night before sleeping - a flashlight torch and a 'Khukri' for his personal protection. (Please check wikipedia images to know what a 'Khukri' is). My father's curiosity did not let him stay at rest. He was quite a brave guy and so next, what he did was- took God's name, got hold of his torch in his left hand and the Khukri in his right hand. He opened the door and 'chased' whatever 'it' was outside. To his surprise there was no-one and nothing to be 'seen', but even more surprising was the fact that he did 'chase' something/someone! The direction in which he chased that 'thing', the ghungroo 'sounds' made by an 'invisible' entity were also running ahead of him as in the act of 'being chased'! And no, it was not any stray animals like cat/dog/goat etc. If it were, he would have seen it running. Some 15-20 steps of chasing and after that, no jingling sounds were heard of. It felt as if the 'thing' with the sounds just vanished then and there! My father came back to his room, bolted the door and sat down. He tried to sleep but, of course after that incident, you can hardly think of falling asleep. The night passed without further disturbances by anything.

The next day, his room-mate returned and later on, he asked my father was he scared being alone the last night. My father told him about the previous night's incident, to which his roommate replied, "That was the reason I kept asking you whether you will be okay or not, staying alone for the night." He then told my father that he too kept hearing 'Ghungroo' sounds at night when he used to stay alone there and he was actually 'worried' for my father for that night where he would have to stay alone. He also said he did not want to scare my father by letting him know about it beforehand. He said since my father had no problem in staying alone, he left without telling him about the occurrences. He actually hoped that my father would say no to staying alone, so that he could have managed taking care of him by sending him to one of his friend's place elsewhere for the night.

Nevertheless, his room-mate was quite surprised to know about my father's dare-devil act the previous night of being able to 'chase away' the entity. My father replied that even he himself does not know what made him open the door and chase 'that thing' away with his flashlight and khukri. He said the only thing he did before going out was that he took God's name for his protection. But my father also said that he was not surprised to have come across such an unnatural 'thing' cause he had been encountering paranormal incidents since his childhood. His room-mate went on to say that even some residents nearby had told him about such Ghungroo sounds outside their houses at night. They even tried searching for the source but they could never find out what it was.

I still get scared even imagining about the incident that my father went through that night. Really, so brave was he. Khukri is a weapon made of iron and according to our customary beliefs, evil spirits are scared of rods/knives/any weapons made of iron. And the only confession I want to make in here is that, "Thank God, you helped and saved my father that night without any harm! Anything could have happened right?"

Thanks everyone. Please forgive me for my mistakes in English, if any.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Bluerose19, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

bunz (2 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-04-09)
jaiGorkha...khukuri le chudelni lai bhagayo... Meaning the warrior knife of the Gorkhas... Thd infamous khukuri is so fierce a weapon that it can ward of evil spirits as well... This being the sole reason that in nepali hindu funeral the foremost man in the procession weilds a khukuri in one hand in order to ward off evil spirits on the way to the funeral pyre of the deceased...
IRON man...iron...so strong a metal that its metallic properties react rinversely to less photo visionic properties of surreal energies...
Iron maiden... You rule... Bruce...Harris...keep rockin in the free world...
Bluerose19 (3 stories) (164 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-04-05)
Hello everyone. Sorry for coming in after 2 years, something took me away from this site. But I am not here to make heroic of my father because of the guts he showed in this incident or anything, but as a matter of fact,no, it can't be a porcupine because of various reasons:
1.) this animal is not common in my place. I mean to say my region has 'never been',nor is a habitat for porcupines.
2.) The animal you are talking about is very rare in India except for special habitats, sanctuaries or zoos. You will never find them roaming around just so casually as had been in the case of where my father was staying at that time (it was a town).
3.) If this incident would have taken place in the village my father grew up, I would have given the chances of reasoning an animal like porcupine (still that's such a rare animal in my region!) quite a probability but at least not in a sub-urban India in the late 70's!
4.) When an animal or a porcupine is chased, will not they make any sounds, the sounds from their mouth?...like huffing? Or panting? Or even when it was standing/moving outside father's door? How can it be so unusually silent all the time?
Also,most importantly, my father added one more thing then and there (of course I forgot to mention about that, only remembered reading those probabilities being talked about as an animal sound) that ghungroo sounds are quite heavier, and also, you know what kind of sounds are produced from a bunch of bells (ghungroo),when you firmly keep your bare foot/feet on the ground while walking or running (the 'dham'! Dham'! 'dham'! Sounds!)! I am talking about the 'kachcha' ground that time and that they were not plastered with cement etc. Can porcupine, (animal with small feet!) make 'dham'! Dham'! 'dham'! Sounds? On that surface, a human/or an entity's feet makes more sounds, especially while running. My father heard that kind-of sounds. And to talk of that, porcupine sounds can never be at all similar to the sounds we make when we or for that matter when a human/entity makes sounds while walking or running.
Dip1904 (115 posts)
 
9 years ago (2014-11-16)
skeptic ari - most of the feeds do fit in - ja bolcho monay toh hocche milay jabe facts and figures. I was just curious as to the events occurred specifically at those hours - or the time of occurrence is spread out throughout the night. Because if it is the latter I am fully inclined with ari's conclusion. It is just strange that 1) it happened when someone is alone in that home, 2) never happened when bluerose's dad lived with the guy 3) despite attempts of more than once, no one even tracked a trail or something that relates to any animal let alone a porcupine.

Still as lesser facts are available, (as in whether they disposed their food garbage after 11 or not etc could have helped more as information)

[skeptic-ari] deduction ta bhaloi diyecho guru.:D
SmokenMirrors (6 stories) (78 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-06-03)
well that's a first on both counts for me.
I've never heard ghungaroo bells or the rattle of purcupine quills. They do sound very similar though.

I listened to the bells first and the first thing that came to mind was a field of insects.
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2013-06-02)
The porcupines are killer! They even maim full grown tigers and leopards!
As a general clarification, I did not put forth my theory to belittle anyone (I know Val that you know that and this is not a reply to your comment, believe me).
Bluerose19's dad showed what the real meaning of being brave is;borrowing my words, to persevere inspite of adversity. He is a real hero.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-06-02)
Ya know... Even if we're right... It still takes nothing away from Bluerose's dad. I still think he was very brave! And good thing he didn't catch up if it was a porcupine - them quills HURT!
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-02)
There you go folks!
I can always rely on dear ole Holmes to back me up if (ahem) she finds my theories to be plausible.
There remains nothing more to say. My friend here has filled all the gaps, I presume.

Fist-bump Sherlock πŸ˜‰
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+2
11 years ago (2013-06-02)
Ah! I see where you're coming from with this, Watson! πŸ˜‰ Porcupines shake their quills to ward off predators and that produces a kind of rattling sound. They aren't very social creatures, and tend to stay away from people, how ever it could have been scavanging for food. For some reason most wild animals think of human 'trash' as picnic lunches. This may have also been a large/ older porcupine. Their quills can be quite large and rattle with their movements. However my inquiring mind wondered if porcupine rattling could be mistaken for ghungaroo bells. Neither is a 'common' sound here in the suburbia midwest. So I did a bit of research and came up with these samples for folks to compare.
Ghungaroo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ouDQln6rv4 (first minute or so of video)
Porcupine rattling: http://www.hark.com/clips/wcrlrcjkqq-porcupine-animal-sound

Obviously there are differences in the sounds clips- recording equipment used, natural accoustics, things of that nature. So one has to actually LISTEN to compare effectively.
Evidently what may have happened here is called the mere-exposure effect. That is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. In social psychology, this effect is sometimes called the familiarity principle:
Often the mind will take the unfamiliar and 'translate' it into something familiar, especially words and sounds. So it is possible that the people in that local 'heard' the quills rattling as ghungaroos. Which I assume are far more common then porcupine rattlings?
That's pretty good deducing! High Five!
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-02)
Now,after I have consulted with my father, who was a country boy in his younger days, I am confident enough to fearlessly go where no one has gone before.

Gather around children πŸ˜‰

" He opened the door and 'chased' whatever 'it' was outside. To his surprise there was no-one and nothing to be 'seen', but even more surprising was the fact that he did 'chase' something/someone! The direction in which he chased that 'thing', the ghungroo 'sounds' made by an 'invisible' entity were also running ahead of him as in the act of 'being chased'! "
Let's suppose, he pointed his flashlight directly infront of him, just as he would usually do to focus on a 'ghunghroo' wearing damsel in distress
😜 (or a charming chap even) standing at the door. And also, that he expected to see a dog/cat/goat,but no other animal came to his mind.
In your answer to my questions, you said the area was eastern India (I am there too) and there was greenery all around.
My friend and mentor in sleuthing,Ms. Holmes aptly inferred that since the residents of that area had been hearing 'The Jingling Sounds' time and again, it must be a recurrent phenomenon.
Basing my theory in all that has been provided to me, and also in the confirmation provided by my father, I can be 99% sure that it might have been a porcupine.😲

I am here for all the questions that will arise. Please feel free to ask.
Regards
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-01)
Dear SmokenMirrors,
Thanks for the encouragement. I am happy that you too are following with interest 😁

Dear Val,
Thanks for signalling the go-throughπŸ˜‰

Yeah (rubbing his palms together, cracking knuckles)
SmokenMirrors (6 stories) (78 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-31)
Go for it Ari. I'm actually intrigued to find out what your theory on this is.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+3
11 years ago (2013-05-31)
Ari, normally in postulating a theory, I would say that you need to have all the facts first. However Bluerose did say, "...some residents nearby had told him about such Ghungroo sounds outside their houses at night. They even tried searching for the source but they could never find out what it was," as well as the room-mate having experienced it at another time, and apparently more than once. From this, I think it would be safe to assume that the Ghunroo incident was a repreating event. Taking that into consideration, I think you can proceed with your theory.
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-31)
Sorry for being late, again 😐

Dear Bluerose,
Thank you for answering the queries to the best of your ability. Of course, I shall wait for the last one. Do take your time.
Eastern part of India you say...hmmm...and green too!
Wow!Everything really adding up! I think my theory would hold up to scrutiny. Just need a few more answers. Please let me know when you contact your father.

Now an opinion poll:Should I put forth my theory at the present juncture or do I hold it off for later after all my queries get answered? (Open to all who have some idea about what we are discussing here and esp. To Val, WishfulNull and Bluerose19.)

Regards
Bluerose19 (3 stories) (164 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-29)
Ari- I am sorry I do not want to disclose the name of the area, but I can tell you that the place was in the Eastern part of India. The area he was staying was a 'little' greeny, but I am terming it greeny because of the grasses and not because of trees. The place was NOT woody, as the house was close to the highway. I can answer your question no. 3 only after I get to catch up with my dad hopefully sometime later, as I live with my husband. I will definitely ask him about that and let you know after that.
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-26)
Sorry for being late, got stuck in an exam😨

Dear Bluerose,
It would require you to answer some questions for this theory to be successfully put forth. Try these for starters.

One;which part of India was your father staying at that time?
Two;nearest house being at the least 50 metres away, was the area green and a little wooded?
Three;did your father extend his stay there or he left? If he did still stay there, how long, and did he ever again hear the ghunghroo?

Regards
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-26)
Bluerose - nothing to forgive 😊 We figured out some time ago that when stories and comments are typed in Word and then copy/pasted in the YGS format, they don't always "paste" exactly right. Which is why a lot of stories and comments end up with contractions that look like this: don't and this drives me completely insane when I'm editing πŸ˜† (You really should see me on the other side of the screen when this happens LOL)

So a few "smileys" in your comment that morph into characters and numbers, not a big deal πŸ˜‰
Bluerose19 (3 stories) (164 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-26)
Well,I am so sorry again for those codes #61514 and # 61516 that have appeared in my last comment. 😒
Actually those were nothing but 'smileys' that were typed on MS-Word document before copy-pasting the entire comment here. Sorry Moderators! 😒 I hope you people will forgive me for that! 😒
Bluerose19 (3 stories) (164 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-26)
Hey,Hey,Hey!...Hello Everyone...!...Apologies,Apologies,Apologies Please!...I am extremely sorry for coming late, as I had been so very busy with my exams and so didn't get time even to notice my story in publish!...Thank you Moderators, for publishing it, and by God's grace, I am here to reply all of your comments, Thanks for all of your feedbacks! 😊

Val- Thank you dear, for liking my story and yes, it must have felt extremely strange to my father about chasing an 'invisible' entity!

Ari- Please proceed with your theory, I am eager to know about it.

Miracles- Yeah, thanks for publishing my story  I didn't know about that Greek mythology that you talked about, thank you again for that information.
Shady4u- Thank you for liking my story. And exactly, even I can't imagine what would happen to me if I would hear 'ghungroo' sounds at my door one night! ...So scary! Please read my other 2 stories-'Constant Dream' and 'Ghost Babies', both incidents that took place with my father. My father has encountered many paranormal incidents right from his childhood so I have tried sharing a few of them on this site. Thanks again!

SpiritChild- Thank you so much for your compliment! I will surely read your story and would love to put my view on that. Thanks friend!

Shubham- Yes that 'Aami Monjulika' thing... Remembering Vidya Balan's character from that movie still scares me sometimes when I am alone at home!  Honestly speaking, I personally think some one or two parts of horror movies, if not all, are definitely inspired from some real-life incidents,somewhere,somehow,in some part of the country. In India, there were many professional classical dancers, both male and female in early 19th and 20th centuries, when in those days, only 'dancing' in 'kothas' were their only source of income. From what I have come to know from various stories on television and old Hindi movies, some of those dancers had indeed very tragic lives, related to their profession. I am sorry, I am not speaking in terms of all dancers, but about a few, specially those about 60-70 years ago from now.

WishfulNull- Thank you so much for your compliments and wishes,friend. 

Allesgute- Yes, they could be horse-shoe that Shubham is talking about. Thanks for your comment Allesgute.
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-25)
Ah Holmes,
In time, in time. We just wait some more time for the response.

Regards
WishfulNull (151 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-25)
Ari, I can't tell if you really haven't guessed what I'm getting at in my riddles, or if you're kidding me... I thought we were playing a game? πŸ˜‰ Let me take this to your own story to taunt you, since poor BlueRose probably would prefer Actual feedback to her story here... My apologies, Bluerose! 😁

Val, well, the only option would be that it's my margarita straw, since I'm a girl - Lol... That WAS one heck of a BBQ, eh? πŸ˜†
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-25)
Ari, sure we can discuss it. Just tell me where to meet you. 😊
Wishful - is that your nose that keeps poking me? πŸ˜†
allesgute154 (3 stories) (254 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-25)
shubham1120 I think the thing made of iron to scare away ghosts would be the horse-shoe. It is usually nailed to the door/door-frame.
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-25)
Dear WisfulNull,
Small you say!
I say killer.

Creature?What creature? Like a bog monster with a penchant for anklets?

πŸ˜‰
WishfulNull (151 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-24)
[at] Ari, ahhh, you're a sly one, but yes... I have a suspicion... I could say "a little birdie told me"...but it's actually a smaller creature, than a bird.

Hmmm...lets just say... It's almost like my "conscience" told me... That is, unless I'm lying, and if I am, then I guess my nose is getting longer... πŸ˜‰
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-24)
Dear Holmes,
I completely overlooked your reply to my 1st comment, I am so sorry! 😒
I do not know how did I manage to do that!
Holmes,it is really upto Bluerose19 to permit, but we could always discuss it in private.
What do you say?

Regards
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-24)
Dear WishfulNull,
Thanks for acknowledging my theory... But do you know what I am talking about? πŸ€”

Come on. Play the game.πŸ˜‰

Regards
WishfulNull (151 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-23)
Whew, this got my heart pounding! Your English is excellent, and this was a really phenomenal tale. Thank you for sharing your Dad's story with us... He was brave, indeed! It's really interesting that the jingling footsteps "ran away" from him - I'm glad they didn't run AT him! This was excellent, and I hope you do share more in the future! Best Wishes to you,

[at] Ari - I think I'm on the same page as you, and thought about your theory as a possibility as well... But you would need to ask more questions of the situation, and being it's her father's story, I don't know how easy those answers would be to get. I guess it would be up to Bluerose, but it might end up just having to stay a mystery 😊
shubham1120 (41 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-23)
I enjoyed reading this account. I guess Indian villages are full of these "ghungru ladies". Lol! Even in the village where my grandparents live, such stories prevail. Also, they have this thing on their entrance door (made of iron) to chase away such spirits. I don't know what's that called though. One more thing, this incident reminds me of a movie "Bhulbhulaiya"...remember the famous "amhi manjolika"? Lol! Thanks for sharing... SI
SpiritChild7234 (2 stories) (7 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-22)
Very brave of your father to go chasing the entity. Have you or he experienced any further paranormal activity? If so you should write more stories you have a talent for writing. Also if you could read my story I would love to hear the comments. Thanks for sharing
Shady4u (2 stories) (188 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-22)
Hey there! Thrilling story really. I admit I got the creeps LOL. Your father is indeed amazingly brave. Talking of the khukri, ghosts repel anything made up of iron or salt, plus your father already had the almighty to his protection. I guess it was a spirit of a dancer. I admit if I was your father, I would've been under the bed LOL. Can't wait to read more about your father's other experiences. Keep posting. Awesome story. Thank you so much.
-Shady

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