Uncle's scary home

That time I was 9 years old. It was the day of Ganesh Chaturthi. We had visited the town of Dadar because we had been attending our families Ganesh puja. In the evening dad informed us that we were going to visit his cousin Avi kaka's place. He to used to live in Dadar.

We had started walking towards Avi kaka's home. As soon as we reached his building I felt something was off. My stomach dropped. My heart started racing. All my instincts where telling me not to enter. But I had no control over where we would go. I had to follow my parents.

Avi kaka's building was a very old architecture. It was dark and dull. The vibe and energy of Ganesh Chaturthi was no longer being felt at that place. It felt as if the enthusiasm and positive energy has been sucked out by this dreaded building. It felt really negative there. As my dad guided we continued walking towards his home. As we entered the building the feeling of negativity kept growing. The corridors and always wear dark and dimly lit. There was no festival feeling in the hallways. We reached his home. My uncle and aunt where standing in their doorway waving at us and welcoming us. Despite their gesture I felt as if the home does not want to invite us and welcome us. Every step that I was taking towards that home felt like disappearing into oblivion. My gut was telling me to run but I could not do that without my family. I had to stay with them.

Helplessly I looked at my parents. My parents were relaxed and it seem like they did not feel anything unusual. I look at my sister. It appeared that she did not feel anything unusual, she was just bored because of the long day. Looking at all of them I started to question my own thoughts and feelings. Why only I was feeling something unusual? Why only I felt a sinister present in that place? Why Was nobody else bothered? Am I abnormal? All these thoughts started gathering. I was unable to understand if my instincts and thoughts are correct. I started doubting myself.

We sat in the same room where the Ganesh Idol was. Somehow I was still not feeling the spiritual energy that is generally felt in the homes where there is a Ganesh puja going on. I was still sensing negative energy in there. I was unable to understand the reason for it. That home made me feel suffocated. Each second spend in that house felt like hours. I wanted to leave from there at soon as possible. I was impatiently looking at my parents signal in them that we need to leave. "Just 10 minutes" my mom told me and I started the countdown. They felt that I was just bored, hence I wanted to leave. They did not know that I was scared. Even 10 minutes felt a lot in that home.

When we had been there some more guests started arriving. With that clue we left from his home. At soon as we exited his home and his complex I started feeling better. The positive energy of Ganesh Chaturthi started to make me feel better. I started to breathe better. I felt as if I had returned from a life threatening situation. That is when I promised to myself that I will never visit Avi Kaka's home again.