Thendan.

Thendan.

“We were coming after the second show. It was pretty late, but then there was moonlight streaming in. We were four of us in two bicycles. I was riding the cycle with, Rajan or was it Madhu who was sitting in front. We passed the turn after the Government hospital when suddenly Madhu (or Rajan) screeched something. It wasn’t that legible but he was asking me to stop. He was hysteric. When I asked him why, he pointed his chin towards the road in front of us. Then I saw it. It was sitting with its back towards us, it heard us and turned its head to us. It was only as big as a kid, but had a huge head, with pointed ears. And it let out a demonic laugh. I knew what it was, I have heard stories about it. All of us had a sudden impulse to turn around and run. But, thankfully, we didn’t. When you see a Thendan we are not supposed to turn our back to it. We are supposed to walk backwards, always looking at it. We dropped our cycles, somehow, Raghu on the other cycle, also had the presence of mind to do that, we slowly backed off till it was out of our sight and then ran for our lives. Next morning all of us woke up with a terrible fever, which lasted for 3 days. Those were the days, at least 30-35 years passed. Those were the days!

Yeah, Rajan could never get that incident out of his mind, I believe, poor guy. We were so close, all the four of us”

“I really was not in a mood to watch any movie, but Madhu insisted. So we went and while coming back we found this Thendan on the road. It is not a devil, it is a lesser one. It won’t kill you or attack you. But,the moment you turn your back to it, it will bounce like a ball and somersault backwards and attach itself on to your shoulders. It will hold tight around your neck with its long legs. Some say it becomes invisible when it attaches itself to someone. It will never let you go, never, till you die. That won’t be long too. I haven’t known anyone personally to die like that, some say they die early, they have heart-attacks!

Well we were fine, but Rajan was never the same.”

“The movie was good I remember, and this Thendan story, I am not sure if it’s real. See, it has been 30 years or so, and it was late night and dark, not a bit of light. How can one be sure? What I remember is that the other three were backing off and startled as if they saw the devil himself. I just followed suit.

No, I don’t remember having a fever; as a matter of fact, I never fell ill during my younger days.

No, Rajan was never the same, he never came out of it.”

*Thendan is a village superstition of a small kid like nocturnal creature which jumps and attaches itself to any person who turns his/her back to it.