The peepal may look like an innocuous tree, and most times it is, but at the stroke of midnight, it turns into a dangerous trap that can devastate the ignorant or the foolish, which I am sorry to say, are found in great abundance.
A man ignorant or foolish enough to walk beneath a peepal in the dark of the night will almost certainly be set upon by the devchaar. This is an indisputable fact.
One night, I was returning home after some pleasant hours with the ladies. I was cheerful of spirit, with some liquor in my belly and a song on my lip, loud enough to rouse the neighbourhood, had there been one. But it was a lonely stretch of road and there was to be seen not a sign of the human. Presently, I reached a length of road that was closeted on one side by a dark looming shape of a mountain. Just ahead of me along the side of the road was an ancient peepal tree.
From a distance, the peepal appeared as a shell of moonlit silver enveloping a core of grim darkness. I became increasingly aware of the brooding presence of the tree slowly approaching me. I sensed its ancient gnarled trunk, the labyrinth of its mighty tentacles swaying menacingly in the windless night and a cold, terrible forboding of evil gripped me, but I could not stop myself. I walked on, as though hypnotized, with a will that was not my own.
No sooner had the black shadow of the peepal fallen on me, than a cold clammy feeling enveloped me. My blood ran to ice in my veins. A terrible maniacal laughter rang out in my ears and an chilly scarf of blackness went around my throat and slowly began to tighten . I staggered a few paces, and stumbled and fell. I screamed without sound and then I must have fallen unconscious out of sheer terror.
When I regained consciousness, my head hurt. There was no doubt in mind that I was dealing with the devchaar.
The thing about encounters with the devchaar is that few survive with their life, or reason, to tell the tale. If you are lucky, the devchaar will merely sit on your shoulders with his legs tightly wound around your neck and make you do his bidding for the rest of your life. If he takes a dislike to you, he will slice your head off your shoulders and run off with it, cackling with maniacal laughter. The devchaar's laughter alone can send men plumbing the depths of insanity.
There is one way to stop a devchaar, and only one. You must propitiate him with promises of jaggery, groundnut and coconut.
The other thing of course is to show no fear, for that only provokes mischief in the devchaar.
Presently, I recovered my breath, and with feigned calmness said, "Oh noble spirit who graces my humble shoulders with his infinitely gracious buttocks, please allow me the honour of offering to you the choicest of jaggery, and the best groundnuts and coconuts that money can buy"
The devchaar hasn't become the most dangerous of spirits known to mankind by being some sort of a gullible fool.
"Ha, you rotten lying human", cackled my occupier. "Do you the honour indeed! What do you take me for?" His evil maniacal laughter rang out once more, echoing around in the black of the night buffeting me with its foul breath.
Gathering courage, once more I made my offer to the devchaar, assuring him earnestly of my sincerity. He appeared mollified. Not even evil spirits are averse to a bit of flattery. He stopped his maniacal laughter and I could see I had given him food for thought. A note of hope crept into his voice. "Jaggery, groundnuts and coconuts? Alrighty!" said the devchaar, "Let's see this jaggery, groundnut and coconut!"
Accordingly, I was on my way again, with the devchaar perched on me. Occasionally, he would prod me sharply with his foot. We reached the village in an hour's time.
We made our way to the centre of the viilage the grocer's shop. We were followed by a couple of barking dogs that ran off yelping when the devchaar delivered a swift invisible kick.
"Oh most esteemed Sir" I said, pointing to the closed door of the grocer's shop. This is where you may partake of the aforementioned delicacies"
With a kick, the devchar crashed open the door. He sprang inside, overcome with greed at the sight of the food. Without losing a moment, I grabbed a stick, and keeping a firm eye and a stern countenence on the devchaar, I stepped back, banging the stick on the ground with every step.
The devchar bellowed with rage, but there was nothing he could do now. When I was twenty paces from him, I turned back and ran and ran, and didn't stop until I was safe home, locked from inside.
In this way, by following my example, you can save yourself from the devchaar, but it is best to avoid the peepal tree at night.
These are some of my experiences with the peepal tree.
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