A curious incident happened during my tenure in Shillong. I was staying in the Officer’s mess, being a bachelor at that time. I had just reported there and was just about finding my way around. Due to the incessant rains at Shillong, there was nothing much to do except to hit the Bar regularly.

It so happened one day, I reached the Bar where a party going on. So I asked the Barman to give me a bottle of the amber fluid along with some snacks to smooth the passage of the drink down my throat. I returned to my room and got the fireside lit up. The combined effect of the warm fire, brandy and snacks had a very soporific effect on me and in no time, I was drowsy.

I was not conscious of the passage of time when I awakened by a peculiar noise in my room- a noise of a man moaning in pain. The sound was consistent and it had a whimpering effect to it. As I looked around my room, the sound seemed to emanate from the armchair placed in front of the fireside. I could see dimly the arms of a man hanging loosely on the sides of the chair. I jumped out of my bed, switched on the lights and got up to investigate. I found the chair empty and there seemed to be no other explanation for the strange noise. I could not ignore the disturbing feeling I had over the entire episode.

The next day, I met a friend of mine at the Bar who had returned from his annual leave. I confided about the incident to him. After I finished narrating, the Barman come up to me with the Bar chit for my signatures. My friend had a look at the Bar chit and laughed at me saying that now he knew the reason behind the strange noise. The word spread around and I was subject to a lot of leg pulling by other members of the Officers mess.

Somehow, the entire episode had left a vivid impression on my mind. I could not ascribe the source of the noise to a drunken delusion and so decided to get at the bottom of the affair. The Garrison Engineer’s office was my first point of call to look for the records of the Officers Mess and in particular, my room. My research bore fruit- In 1931, a Major Spotswood, a resident of the Officers Mess had committed suicide – by slitting his wrists in the very room, I was occupying now.