There was a Ghost in my Room

Nearly two decades back, I was told to visit Hyderabad, as one of our projects was on-going there. Tickets and hotel booking was done by our admin team and they shared details with me. I was surprized to see my booking in a five-star hotel. When I enquired about it, they replied that the hotel had given a very good corporate price which was within my entitlement. I was at a very junior level and staying in a 5-start hotel was a dream come true for me. My flight was late in the evening, so I reached late night at Hyderabad airport. During those days, Hyderabad airport was within the city and my hotel was just a few kilometres from the airport. I took a cab and soon reached the hotel. At the hotel, I was expecting a huge crowd, dancing shows, people dining at hotel restaurant etc. I couldn’t see anyone in the hotel except a receptionist. Since I had taken my meals in the aircraft, I didn’t ask for the restaurant. However, I did ask him why he was alone at the reception. In fact I also asked him that being a 5-star, I was expecting many people here. He simply answered that it was late and people usually prefer to go to sleep early in Hyderabad. Not being aware of the culture in Hyderabad and being my first stay in a 5-start hotel, it was an acceptable response for me. I then asked for some helper who can accompany me to my room. His answer was again a simple one mentioning that as of now no bell-boy was available. He showed me the lift and also gave me certain instructions to reach to my room. I did so and was in my room after a couple of minutes.

After wandering in the room for some time, I changed my clothes and slept. I felt someone was in my room while I was sleeping and I remember this undoubtedly. This happened at least at three occasions that night. I couldn’t muster enough courage to stand up and have a look, but I just pulled my blanket over my head as we usually do when we are in such a situation. I presumed that some thief had entered my room. Since I was not carrying much cash, I decided not to interfere in his business.

I woke-up in the morning, had a bath, changed my clothes and then went to the reception for check-out. I found the same person all alone at the reception. Even though I was thinking of asking him the same question, which I had asked him last night, but I thought that the answer would not really change. I did not bother him. My plan was to have breakfast at the office with one of my friend, who had come to pick me up at the hotel gate. I stepped out of my hotel, saw my friend in his car and then stepped-in into his car. He started driving and suddenly asked me how my night stay at the hotel was. I said that it was OK. He again asked the same question with some curiosity, to which I responded again in a casual way that it was OK. When he asked his question a third time, I got panicked and told him that during the night it seemed that there was someone in my room. He had an ironic smile on his face and then told me that the hotel was a haunted place. As per him it was shut for almost 20 years and I was probably the first guest after the hotel had been recently re-opened. I was shocked and could not speak a word until we reached office. I realized that I had companion(s) in my room and I was not at all alone for the whole night.

Few years back I was having a project related discussion with my team when team manager told me that for a specific project they were observing failures. We called the scientist who was working on that project and as per him he had just started the project and had observed some failures. He had also done root cause analysis, but could not ascertain any reason for failures. He told us that he had a word with the scientist who had previously worked on this project and that person had also seen failures. We called that person as well in the meeting room and his answer was same that there is some problem in the project and they have observed failures. I then asked to bring the person who started the development work on this project and I was being informed that the person had left the organization.

After a lot of discussions and realising the situation, I told the project team a story which my grandfather had told me when I was very young. The story goes like this. Two friends were having a conversation in a village about the ghost in the graveyard that was in their village. One friend told his friend that people are saying that there is a ghost in the graveyard. His friend (who seemed to be brave) said that he did not believe in ghosts and also mentioned that they should not listen to the people who are spreading such rumours of existence of ghosts. First friend after listening to the brave comments of his brave friend challenged him that if he goes to that graveyard at night, certain reward in terms of money will be given to him. But the condition set was that he should fix a stick in the ground so that next morning it can be verified that he had indeed gone to the graveyard.

The brave friend took the stick and during night time went to the graveyard as per conversation between him and his friend. It was a cold night and the brave friend was wearing a shawl. Somehow he reached the exact place where he was supposed to fix the stick. Looking here and there, he bowed down on his knees, took the stick and started fixing it in the ground. When he stood-up, someone or something held his shawl in the front and he had a cardiac arrest which proved fatal, resulting in his sudden death.

Next morning his friend while looking for him reached the graveyard as he was aware that his brave friend was supposed to go there after a bet with him. He found him dead. When observed carefully, he found that his brave friend while fixing the stick in the ground had fixed it along with the shawl. The problem was that his brave friend while standing up had thought that the ghost had held his shawl rather than realising that he had fixed the stick along with the shawl. Even though he showed bravery in front of his friend, but the ghost was in his mind which resulted in his death.

After listening to this story, my team suddenly stood-up and with confidence told me that they now knew the problem. They continued the project and believe me there was no failure after that time. If we correlate my first incident and the story which I narrated to my team, it is evident that the ghost is actually in our mind. I was with the ghosts, but ghosts were not in my mind and I came alive. In the story, ghost was in the man’s mind and his fear killed him. My team understood that there is ghost in the mind which was the root cause for failures.

When I was in school, in fact even when I did my graduation in college, one thing which I was really afraid of was to deliver a speech in front of an audience, especially on stage. I never tried to confront that fear during those days with an assumption that I am what I am. During my earlier days of life, I couldn’t muster courage to do challenging things. There was a fear of getting scolded by my parents, there was a fear of getting negative comments from people known to me and there was a fear of failure.

One day while I was sitting in my office, one of my team member entered my room. He looked like he was shivering. When I asked him why he looked so upset, he told me that he was afraid of whether he will get selected or not, during an interview process for lateral transfer within the organization which was planned on the same day. He was looking so nervous that I felt sorry for him. I asked him a question what if he was not selected today. He couldn’t answer. I simply told him that if he was not selected today, he will have to continue his job in the current role. The problem is, he was in a job, in fact a good job. Then what was he afraid of? Was he afraid of failures or was he concerned about the reaction of his friends and colleagues.

Personality of a person gets developed over years from the nature and the surroundings in which a person spends time and the way he/she is nurtured. Even though it is not very simple to change one’s personality, but as per recent scientific research, personality of a person may change with effort. These things I realized during my senior position in the current organization. I did put effort, I changed my behaviour, I changed my attitude and I tried to confront the fears. Today at least I am confident enough to talk to an audience without any hesitation. Today at least I am not afraid of what people will say. Today I am not afraid of taking challenging tasks. Today I am not afraid of failures. Today I am pointing my finger towards my head and saying loudly “Fear is Here”. I am sure there will come a time when fear will say that I am not meant for you, in fact I am looking forward for that time.

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By

Dr. Arshad H Khuroo

Head Bioavailability and Bioequivalence