The Walking corpse

The most fascinating class I found during my school days was Physics. The reason was that it had both theory and practical. Theory classes tend to be boring after sometime, as you need to closely follow what the teacher said and also understand to retain in memory. Whereas after theory if a practical class is held it is much easier.


Ms. Krishna bai was the teacher. She was a fair looking lady with a somewhat stout constitution. She was from Andhra. While she can talk English fluently, her Tamil was in bits and pieces. She was a good teacher and her theory classes were also interesting. But what I cherished more were the practical classes. I still remember, the first time, our class was held at the Science lab.

While all our classes were held in thatched cottages spread under the canopy of trees in different locations of the school, the Practical was held at the Science lab which was on the first floor of the main building. The main building was a hoary structure probably built at the fagend of 19th century with tall pillars and big halls. The ground floor contained the HM's chamber, school office, teacher's rooms and stores. There was also a huge hall where special meetings were held once or twice a year. There was a spacious veranda as one entered the building which ran almost around the building. In the front was also a big portico where visitors can alight from their cars.

I was a bit nervous, when entering the Science lab, as I had heard lot of stories from my seniors. To my surprise I found it to be a pleasant hall with work tables neatly arranged all round and stools for the students to sit. In the centre there was the teacher’s chair with a portable black board by the side. There were also black round objects on the tables, which were "Bunsen burners" as I learnt later.

One thing which was marring the pleasant atmosphere was an object exhibited at the far corner of the room. It was encased in a wooden box with glass windows on all sides. It was a human skeleton hanging from the roof of the box. It was around 6 feet in height and seemed to be that of a full grown adult. While I and my class mates were watching it with lot of trepidation, the skeleton suddenly swung round to one side. Some of the meeker ones in the class yelled aloud, jarring the serene atmosphere.

Shankar, the intellectual in our class clarified that the movement was due to the wind. We accepted his explanation and were returning to normalcy. The other disturbing aspect of the place was the strong aroma of spirit and mould. There were glass boxes exhibited which contained preserved bodies of crabs, fish and butterflies, which contributed to some of the smell.

Somehow the teacher had not yet entered the class. It was almost 10 minutes beyond schedule, and class became restive. Slowly a murmur started which after some time, turned in to a loud babble of voices.

Suddenly there was pin drop silence as we could hear measured and shuffling footsteps coming from the back of the lab. It was a tall dark faced individual, who had a very thin physique almost like a skeleton. His eyes were blood shot, big and burning. His eye balls were looking as though ready to pop out at any time. He had pulled in cheeks and hanging lips. His arms were thin and fingers were long with uncut nails. He had big teeth which were jutting out as though he was waiting for his first bite of the meat. After our just then experience with the skeleton, seeing the man, who looked almost like a corpse shook all of us to the core and we were fully entrenched in a fear of the worst magnitude.

He came to the centre of the room and without losing his composure told us in a measured voice to maintain silence as the teacher was on her way to the class. This was our first exposure to Sambandam, the attender, also popularly called as the Walking corpse.

I learnt a lot on Sambandam from my class mates and seniors in the next few days. They told me that he had been in the school for donkey’s years and was the CEO of the lab. I was further told that if one wants to pass exams in lab it was necessary to keep Sambandam on the right side.

In the ensuing weeks I had few occasions to network with him. The appearance of Sambandam always scared me. My mind somehow identified him with the hanging skeleton in the lab. However much I tried I could not erase the mental image. I was by nature timid. While I used to boast on my prowess with colleagues, the moment I smelled a problem I used to run away from the spot. The other reason was that I had not mastered the technique of befriending people. My capability in this aspect was not a healthy one and in fact on the negative side. I somewhat had the providential trait of offending people. The reflection made me sad and I was in a deep analysis of what could be the strategy to win over a person like the Walking corpse, since it was the need of the hour.

I had read somewhere that to tame a bull it had to be caught by its horns. I wanted to adopt the same strategy but the only difference was that I wanted a companion to assist me in the endeavour. I chose "Little Kittu" who was also known as "Shorty". While Shorty was as brave or as timid as I was, the plus point he had was his shrill voice. Pushed in to a tight corner, he can let out a siren like wail with a shrill note which can be heard from a kilometer if need be.

I had quite a deliberation with Shorty and it was decided to fix our rendezvous with Sambandam on the next Saturday. On Saturday the classes were held only in the fore noon and the afternoon was free. But usually all teachers and staffs worked throughout the day.

After lunch I and Shorty slowly arrived at our encounter site namely the lab. The place was deserted excepting for our old friend, “The hanging skeleton". As a precautionary measure I asked Shorty to be ensconced in a corner of the lab, to be fully prepared for any action if needed. I was standing outside in front of the lab on the open terrace, waiting for Sambandam's arrival. It was only half an hour later the Walking corpse slowly entered the scene. He was shocked to see me standing there, and fired a rapid volley of sentences, to the effect on the reason for the intrusion on an off time.

I immediately went on the PR phase, doling out sweet and nice words, with plenty of gestures filled with smiles and bows. Sambandam seemed to be fully impressed with my presentation, and enquired the purpose of my visit to his work spot. I told him that I would like to help him with any work he had. The dart surely hit the bull's eye as his mouth widened in to a big grin and he thanked me for the offer. He informed me of having some urgent work outside and his intention of closing the lab. He promised to call me surely when he wanted any help. Sambandam then hurriedly locked the lab doors and went down.

I normally used to have good memory but on that day due to suppressed fear I have forgotten the most important thing. Only as I went to the cycle stand, I realized that something had gone wrong. While raking my brain on the exact issue, I heard a high frequency wail with a shrill note coming out from the vicinity of the main building.

By the time I recognized the wail as one emanating from my entrapped friend Shorty and rushed to the lab, I could see to my utter bewilderment, quiet a crowd in front of the lab. All the teachers, office staffs were standing there. The HM was the last person to enter, but quickly marshaled the help of the office attender Ganapathy to open the lab doors. The whole crowd rushed in to the lab to see what was wrong.

Shorty might had been lacking in courage but one had to give him 100% as for as intelligence and presence of mind were concerned. He knew surely that he would be court marshaled if caught inside the lab. Using the labyrinths of tables and stools, he somehow found his way out through the dark interior of the lab, by crawling out on the floor without being seen. I received a sudden slap on my back and was surprised to see Shorty. Shorty lost no time in letting out a tirade of curses on me for letting him down.

The people who entered the lab were bewildered, as they could not locate the source of the wail. But the craft teacher, who was an old hand in the matter concerning the unknown, came out with an explanation. He said" This is not the first time. Some 20 years back similar thing had happened. This place is haunted and many people have experienced spine chilling adventures here. In fact I surely felt something crawling out and rubbing against my knee as I entered". He was immediately joined by several others who totally agreed with his theory. Some of them also had the same experience of a creature crawling out and rubbing on their legs.

While I had an urge to laugh aloud, I had to put in some extra effort and suppress it. Shorty was not so successful. If anybody had seen his face then, they would have detected a sheepish grin flashing across.

While I was able to win the friendship of Sambandam, the walking corpse, I lost the precious friendship of Shorty after the episode. The reason was that Shorty had been all alone in the unenviable company of the hanging skeleton for more than 15 minutes.