The Night Sugunammal Wouldn’t Leave – A Haunting Yet Healing Story from Ponmanipudi

Why Sugunammal Wouldn’t Leave

(A Ponmanipudi Story)

Even after three months, the house of Suganammal still smelled faintly of incense and eucalyptus oil.

She had fought cancer the way some people fight bowing and praying to God— tightly, desperately — refusing to let go of life even as life slipped through her fingers.

When she finally passed away, half the village whispered,

“She suffered too much… her soul won’t rest so easily.”

But no one expected what came next.

The Whispers in the Night

Her daughter-in-law, Kanimozhi, began hearing it first — a soft whooooosh sound at night, like someone walking past the window.

Then there were dreams — vivid, unsettling dreams with lots of sounds and ranting.....

In one, Sugunammal sat at the foot of her bed, hair loose, eyes tired..

“Don’t close the door,” she whispered. “I’m not ready to go.... I want to live....”

Kanimozhi woke up shaking so hard she fell off her cot hurting her forehead.

Within days she stopped eating.

She refused to sleep.

Her hands trembled continuously.

The usual Mantravadis were summoned. All sorts of poojas, tantra and cock-sacrifices etc were done. The Mantravadis sensed their prey and wanted to increase their collections....But Sugunammal kept coming. She refused to go away....

By the time her husband brought Kanimozhi to Dr. Chari, she looked like a ghost kept alive by fear.

The Consultation....

It was a late winter evening.

Rain tapped against the windows of Sriranga Clinic as Kanimozhi sat before him, shivering.

“Tell me from the beginning,” Dr. Chari said softly.

She spoke in broken whispers — the sounds… the dreams… the feeling that someone sat beside her in the darkness… the shadow that moved near the cowshed at dawn. And the hoarse sounds in the night....

“Saar… I think she has come back,” she sobbed. “I think Amma is trapped… and wants something from me. She wants me too now”

Most doctors would have dismissed it.

But Dr. Chari was not most doctors.

He understood that the mind can summon spirits far more real than anything outside.

He looked at her calmly and said,

“Kanimozhi… sometimes it’s not the dead who refuse to leave.

Sometimes it is the living who hold them back.”

She stared at him, confused.

The Night Ritual

That night, Dr. Chari went with her to Sugunammal’s old house.

The air felt heavy.

The smell of old jasmine oil lingered.

A lamp flickered in the hall though no one had lit it.

Kanimozhi’s breath quickened.

“She’s here, Saar, saar… I can feel her…”

Dr. Chari placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

She obeyed.

Breathe slowly...1..2...3.....Relax...

“What was the last promise you made to her?” he asked.

Kanimozhi’s face crumpled.

“That…that... I would take care of her son. That… I wouldn’t let him be alone.

That… I would keep the house running.

I promised everything, Saar… I promised too much.”

“And did you keep these promises?”

She shook her head, tears streaming.

“No… after she died… I broke down. I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t handle everything. I felt guilty. I thought… she would be disappointed in me.”

Dr. Chari sighed gently.

“And that guilt, my child… is the ghost you are hearing.

Your mind gave it a voice.

Your dreams gave it a face.”

Kanimozhi sobbed harder.

“Then how do I make her go, doctor saar?”

Dr. Chari stood up, lit a small camphor lamp, and placed it before the old framed photo of Sugunammal.

Now he said ...."Relax, breath slowly....Can you see Suganammal? Smile and say goodbye,” he said.

Kanimozhi hesitated.

Her throat tightened.

“Saar… I couldn’t say goodbye when she died. I was outside washing clothes. She left… without me.”

“That,” he said firmly, “is why she lives inside your fear.”

He nodded toward the photograph.

“Tell her what you never could.”

Kanimozhi knelt.

Her voice cracked.

“Amma… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry I couldn’t carry out everything I promised.

But I miss you.

And I love you. I will keep my promises..

Please rest.

Please let me live.”

The room fell still.

The lamp’s flame steadied.

The air seemed to exhale.

And for the first time in weeks, Kanimozhi felt… empty, still......

Not hollow, but peaceful — like something had quietly left her.

As they stepped outside, Kanimozhi whispered,

“Saar… did she really go?”

Dr. Chari smiled, that serene, knowing smile.

“My child… the dead rarely linger.

It is the living who hold them captive — with guilt, fear, unfinished words and promises..

Tonight, you set yourself free. And that is enough.”

Kanimozhi wiped her tears.

For the first time in months, she could breathe deeply.

Above them, the village sky glowed with a faint silver moonlight.

Kanimozhi slept peacefully that night..... Sugunammal did not return....again...

End Note: A Whisper the Village Still Wonders About…

Long after Kanimozhi healed, people in Ponmanipudi continued to speak in hushed tones about that night.

Some said it was only guilt leaving her body.

Some said dreams can take shapes stronger than spirits.

And a few old women, sitting near the temple steps, swore that during the ritual, they saw a faint shadow slip out of Sugunammal’s house and dissolve into the neem trees.

Dr. Chari never confirmed anything.

He only smiled that quiet, mysterious smile he was famous for.

“Some truths,” he said once, “are not meant to be solved. Only felt.”

And in Ponmanipudi, even today, no one is entirely sure…

Was it a ghost that left that night?

Or something far deeper — a sorrow taking its final breath?

No one knows.

And perhaps, no one needs to....right??