Then something that he spoke made me sit up and pay attention. He mentioned something about his interests in supernatural existences. He said he had experienced one himself, when he was once working late into the night in his office with no one to give him company. That was when he heard someone, a woman it sounded like, screaming and wailing. He was surprised by the proximity of the sound. It sounded as if he heard it from the room besides him. His gut feeling told him that not everything was fine on the floor. He was still thinking about what he had just heard, when the chair in front of him started rocking like as if someone was holding the back of the chair, pulling it backwards and then dropping it back to the floor with a thud! This happened at least 6-7 times before he got unnerved and fled from the place, all the while praying hard to God to get him out of the office before he fainted mid way… I was very skeptical to believe his story initially. He continued saying his Process Head, a woman named Kelly collapsed the following day after seeing something so horrifying that she could not remember what it was after being forcefully bought into consciousness, due to shock. He told me of another girl who came running and screaming out from the rest room, saying she saw a strange apparition on the ceiling of the restroom. It was much later, he said, that he learnt of the violent end that a laborer had met in that very place, where his office building now stood. He told me that such souls find no peace and that it would take a long time before they could attain salvation. I shrugged. He concluded by saying ghosts or spirits surely exist & that he has personally felt their presence on several occasions. I was very,very unsure if I had to believe whatever this stranger was telling me, but then something about this guy made me feel he was genuine & what he was talking about was also genuine. There was definitely some truth in what he had narrated. I was beginning to ponder over all that he had just shared with me and was also contemplating on asking him a question or two about it, just to confirm the truth in the stories.
But then it was his time to alight the bus. He bade a quick goodbye and went his way. I had not realized that I was now nearing my destination too, thanks to all the non stop talking of this stranger, it actually helped take my mind off the snail-paced journey. When I got off the bus and walked towards my office, I was re-running in my mind, all that this guy had told me about. I suddenly realized on an instinct, the hidden message of this whole incident that had happened.
Firstly, life was all about forgiving. It is as true as it is human to err. The more you hold on to a grudge, the more stronger, darker and meaner it becomes. Like a great man had once said- “To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it”. We must always be quick to forgive our loved ones and not harbour any ill feelings towards anybody for that matter. The reason being- none of us know the exact tiME & place of our death. It could come suddenly, so suddenly that we might take time to even realise that we are no more now. We would never be able to move on from this life in peace. All our ill feelings, hatred, grudges would hold you back like gravity, not giving you a chance to leave these dark vibrations behind.
Secondly, I came across this stranger for a reason. He was there to subtly warn me from harboring any sad feelings towards love ones. Forgiving makes us light, it rids us off our emotional baggages and makes travel to another land (read: salvation) easy & light. The laborer woman who had died on this stranger’s office plot was still there- haunting the place because she was unable to let go, let go of her mortal remains, mortal existence, unwilling to forgive. This messenger in the bus today, warned me about what not to be doing. He happened for a reason and his purpose was achieved, for I turned out to be a good student and heeded to his far from direct, warning.
That evening, when I went home, I kissed and made up with my husband (much to his surprise, of course). He asked me confused, if I was possessed by some ghost or something, that was making me do all these unbelievable things. Adding more confusion to his already confused & perplexed mind, I smiled and replied that I was doing all these so I would not become one myself! 😉 I thanked the stranger in my mind and hoped that he would receive my thanks in the form of positive vibrations around him. He was a classic example of how even seemingly negligible incidents in our lives could mean a lot if only we paused to give them a second thought!