Friday, November 20, 2009

The Not-So-Innocent 'Paying Guest'

I'm a little bit spooked out. There's this "paying guest" (or PG) resident that lives in the flat across from us, who I never got to meet earlier as she was travelling Delhi. I was looking forward to meeting her as she's apparently a lot of fun. Well I finally met her today and used some of my broken Hindi with her; she's very nice, young, hip and vibrant. I noticed that she's pretty popular in our building, whether it be the vegetable vendor or Sattlelite residents, she's liked by all, and is already getting plenty of house visits.

My cousin casually tells me afterwards not to be surprised if PG's eyes suddenly turn red and her body begins to shake uncontrollably. She goes into trances - Hanuman-Dada and Shakti-Mata (Hindu gods) come to visit her sporadically in the evenings around puja time. She's sort of a "chosen" one amongst the two gods. If Shakti-Mata is mad than PG is also mad for that day and it's best to stay away from her. Or if Shakti-Mata decides to sit on PG's head, sometimes for the entire day, than PG suffers from terrible headaches. PG doesn't remember anything once she's out of the trance, but while she's possessed, witnesses can ask Mata-ji whatever they like and they will receive their answer.

I've been told not to be afraid as it is a blessing that gods come to visit her. PG gets a lot of of visits from people who've heard about her. She offers blessings and advice to those who seek it.
I'm taking this in as another new experience. But I really hope I won't be witnessing any trance-like events.

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