STARMOTE

I don’t know how many of us believe in ghosts.

But I’ve always had this thought—
if ghosts exist, then God must exist too.
Why go looking for God directly?
Just reverse the strategy.

During my third year of college, I was staying with my father in government quarters.
It was a big, old Chettinad-style bungalow, with a swing in the backyard under a mango tree.

For some reason, I had this brilliant idea:
If I eat chicken at night and sit on that swing until midnight… maybe I’ll see a ghost.(Yes, I know. i though eating non veg is impure and i would attaract ghosts,.
Think of it as the logic of a very confident 19-year-old.)

But while eating, I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already 1 AM.Suddenly, the same plan didn’t feel very brave anymore. I quietly went inside, got into bed, and decided ghosts could wait.

That period had frequent power cuts. So later that night, I went to my college hostel to get some fresh air and meet my friends. They were all sitting in the college ground.
We talked, laughed, wasted time like usual.Around 3 AM, I went back home.

---

The next morning, I went to college. My friends were absent. So I went to the hostel to check on them. Their faces looked pale.
At the entrance, there were neem leaves tied to the door.

Something felt off.

They told me,
“After you left last night, we suddenly smelled jasmine.”They got scared and started walking back to the hostel—but the smell followed them.All the way.

I laughed.

“Don’t you have any shame?” I said.
“You’re engineering students in a premier institute… and you’re scared of something like this?”

Just then, one of my juniors walked in.

“Bro… yesterday night, we could smell jasmine in the corridor. The whole night. Did you notice it?”

I just stood there. Not laughing anymore. WTF