On Parallel Lives and Parallel Belief Systems

An essay on Superstitions, their role in the Burari deaths and what it translated into for a millennial like me.

Wondering about the weird, worldly and other-worldly!

I never know what it is that I have seen or watched, listened to, smelled, tasted or experienced, that could become something that I end up writing pages and pages of unfiltered thoughts about. But once-in-a-while, something comes along that I cannot shake off. That happened after I watched the recently released Netflix docuseries called House of Secrets: the Burari Deaths.

An aside here:

If you have access to Netflix India, I implore you to watch it and then come back and read this again. This essay is not a review or critique of the series so I will not comment on the technical aspects of the production, film-making etc. But from a pure storytelling perspective – I found it to be riveting and could not switch it off even when I wanted to!

If you are Indian, and/or someone who was residing in the country back in 2018, the odds of you having never heard of the Burari case is practically zero. It is not an exaggeration to say that the baffling tale was an obsessive and sensationalised national news story for nearly a month. I was living and working in Delhi back then, and vividly recollect the day I learned about this tragedy. I also recall the many hours (days even!) of office conversations that followed, singularly focused on the gory and bizarre nuances of the case.

Nonetheless, for context’s sake – here are the facts.

(Trigger Warning: Unnatural deaths, Suicide, Murder, violence, will be disturbing to read and may cause trauma)

On 1st July, 2018 the dead bodies of 11 members of the Chundawat (also: Bhatia) family were discovered in their home in Burari, which is a locality in the North District of Delhi.

10 of the 11 bodies (2 men, 6 women, and 2 teenaged boys) were found hanging from the iron mesh ceiling that was in the corridor area between the 1st and 2nd floor of their three-tiered house. Their hands were tied with wires, faces covered, ears plugged with cotton wool and some of them were gagged too. The body of the oldest member of the family, Narayani Devi (77 years) was found, face down and on the floor of her bedroom. The post-mortem report indicated that she had been strangulated.

What could have possibly led this picture-perfect, normal and well-settled family, according to their neighbours, relatives, and friends, to collectively hang themselves in one night? The docuseries attempts to answer this question – which is, aptly summarised by clinical hypnotherapist Anita Anand, as “not at all simple, it is quite complex.”

IMHO, the investigation that followed, which the series unravels, “solves” the mystery, but it doesn’t tie up everything into a neat little box with a bow, that should leave you satisfied.

The case was unprecedented and bizarre. A fact remains that what actually happened inside the four walls of the Burari household will be forever unexplained, because the deadly secret also died with the eleven of them, that same night.

But seemingly, a psychological autopsy that was conducted suggests the family had folie-à-deux (Shared Delusion Disorder) that their late patriarch, Bhopal Singh, who had died in 2007 was leading them into prosperity and salvation. A salvation that could be reached so long as they obediently followed the rituals, practices, and orders as directed by Lalit Bhatia, his youngest son.

Lalit and the resident family, quietly and genuinely believed that he was possessed by his late father’s spirit, for well over a decade, and in performing a badh-puja (banyan tree ritual) that night, their Daddyji, as Bhopal Singh was fondly called, would return to them, alive.

The police termed the case as ‘accidental deaths’ of an occult practice gone wrong, which was evidenced by the last entry in the 11 diaries discovered that mentioned “after the puja is complete, they would all help each other untie their binds.”

After I finished watching all three episodes back-to-back, I felt unsettled to a degree that it felt like I had swallowed a bunch of live frogs that kept jumping around my insides. My palms and feet were ice-cold, even though the sun was shining. And I had to rush out of my house just to get change of air and alter the sensory vibe around me.

Bangalore’s delectable weather and the comforting, repetitive action of walking on a familiar route that is around my apartment complex, slowed down my racing heart.

Gradually, some fully-formed thoughts came to mind :

• “7 women lost their lives to that cultish ritual, and they had no agency at all…”

• “Such a huge secret that stayed within the 11 family members for 11 years, 11 diaries, 11 pipes, whether it was a coincidence or not - the numerology angle was just too peculiar to be ignored”

• “How does anyone have such unquestioning faith in rituals and superstitions, customs, and religion?”

• “Superstitions are called ‘andh-vishwas’ in Hindi- learned a new word there -so that is literally “blind faith”, isn’t it?”

• “Well, at least superstitions do not have a place and presence in my universe – take comfort in the fact that this will never happen to you.”

I was smiling to myself, more assured and relishing that last thought - when I suddenly noticed that in my building’s parking lot were three different cars with identical numbers on their license plates. And all those cars had 7 chilies with one lemon stitched together, which hung from the bumper moulding. One knows that this is a popular superstition in India to ward off Nazar (An evil eye or bad spirits).

There I was thinking that I am cocooned in a bubble of the urbane, and I suddenly see something that gently reminds me that superstitions could manifest anywhere. In fact, almost everywhere.

I stepped into the elevator and for the first time in the 7 months since I moved into this building, I observed that it does not have a button for the 13th floor. In fact, my building has skipped a 13th floor entirely – as is also the case with the neighbouring apartment complex, and several other buildings in Bangalore too.

The more I reflected on some ordinary things that were omnipresent in my every day- it struck me that my own multiverse is an inescapably superstitious one too.

An overwhelming and incorrect bias is to associate superstition with an elderly, illiterate or rural person. So even as I am young, educated, and urban - Is my life a result of mindful decisions that always stem from rational thought or a “scientific temper”? To “develop the scientific temper” is a Fundamental Duty of every Indian citizen as written in the Constitution of India.

In a moment of eerie discomfort – I think of the oldest of the third generation of the Chundawat family, Priyanka Bhatia who was around my age (33 years old), working for an MNC and had just gotten engaged. She and her cousins who were aged 25, 23, 15 and 15 respectively – were all educated, young, city dwellers who had chalked out many plans for their future lives that were vigorous and full of promise. When I allowed it to permeate for just a moment longer, it led to the inevitable question – am I really “different” from them? More so, is my life all that different from theirs?

Unconsciously, I was already guilty of the precise phenomenon that was stated in the docuseries by Barkha Dutt -

“The collective salacious appetite for scandal comes from the kind of “othering” of dysfunctionality. It is much easier to pretend that this happens to other people and it doesn’t happen to you.”

So, in the pursuit of having a difficult conversation about some uncomfortable truths, let’s discuss superstitions, its role in the Burari deaths and what that translates into for an urban, educated, Indian millennial - not unlike me.

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Simply put, superstitions are like the superset of a Venn diagram of a large number of “behaviours, rules, possibilities and probabilities that all rely on mysterious powers beyond human endeavour” [Cryer, M (2016)].

Modern word-association with superstition is mostly negative - eponymous with dread, excessive fear, ignorance and a belief that is largely incompatible with truth or reason.

But a gentler interpretation would be that superstitions per se, are not always irrational. Some superstitions actually have very specific and scientific origins. But the blind faith that people have in them – in the powers above and beyond the concept of “known earth”, or the supernatural is what is illogical and (in the case of the Burari deaths, tragically) problematic.

In the past few weeks that I have been writing this essay, I have been astounded to learn of the sheer number of everyday behaviours and practices whose origin can be traced to superstition.

Black cats, not cutting your nails in the evening, broken mirrors or not walking under a ladder – these are examples of superstitions that depending on whom you are speaking to, would be called sensible or silly, but are still mainly categorised as “superstitions”.

But consider the practices such as wearing your wedding ring on the third finger, candles on a birthday cake, clinking your glasses before a toast or simply saying ‘touchwood’ every time you hope something will remain or happen. These are behaviours that are considered ‘normal’ today, but are all 100 per cent superstitious [Cryer, M (2016)].

Herein, they have been adopted as a consequence of peer pressure or cultural habit, instead of conscious belief. This suggests that if the superstition doesn’t require much effort, following the superstition is often easier than consciously resisting it [Vyse, S (2017)].

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I reminisce a childhood adventure connected to a superstition. It involved a 14-year old Vishal (a family friend) travelling with his mother and grandmother, and a 7-year old me travelling with my Aaboo on a 30+ hour train journey from Bangalore to Ahmedabad. When the train was finally crossing the Narmada, I recollect us rushing to the vestibule, and rushing past a few people who were gathered there already. Some were sipping chai, but the people who usually thronged by the door were the beedi-smokers.

Despite their languorous stance, one of them was mindful enough to quickly catch hold of me, and reprimand me to not to run about here, so that I do not accidentally fall out of the train and plunge to my death. He was a kind-eyed but stern-looking gentleman in a navy-blue uniform - The Travelling Ticket examiner or TT Uncle, I later learned.

You see, the train’s door was wide open (it should not have been!) and as it approached the bridge – there was that distinct rumble of the depth below. I could see the greyish-blue waters sparkling in the distance.

I plastered a cherubic smile and said in Gujarati “Kind sir, my brother and I would like to toss a coin into the river. May I please be allowed near the door?” all doe-eyed and imploringly. “We’ll be careful, I promise!”, I added, while showing him the shiny 1-rupee coin as proof of my well-intentioned hooliganism. It worked, and with one arm each grasping Vishal and me tightly, he let us stand by the open door!

In my recollection of this childhood memory, this is the moment that I remember vividly:

The deep rumble of the train on the tracks – the noise changed from a rhythmic chug-chug to a bellowing whale that was dissonant, the massive crisscrossing cantilever bridge, huge pillar like structures and the grey waters that were very, very far below. Vishal tossed the coin and I yelled “Ambe Maat ki Jai!”, jumping and cheering as I saw the coin flying out.

All my excitement and conduct that day was based on a desire to imitate what I had observed people do all day, every time the train crossed a rivulet, canal or stream. I did not know why people did it – actually, I did not even know who Goddess Amba was!

And believe me when I tell you that 7-year old me asked everyone.

Some people replied “It is a custom, so we do it!”

Others said “It will bring you blessings!”

“What blessings? I countered.

“Just blessings– now enough questions, or your wish won’t come true!”

“But I didn’t make a wish… I just said Jai-jai to Ambaji…”

Those were the days pre Google and the internet, so I never actually got an explanation from anyone about why should coins get tossed into a river every time you cross it. Not the kind of explanation that befitted my insatiable curiosity on the why or how of things anyway!

It was only on my 9th birthday, when I met the unforgettable Prof. Deshpande, who was the then Registrar of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) at Pune, did I get a real answer to my question.

Prof. Deshpande had explained to me that… “in the olden days, the legal tender of monies amongst the public was always made of copper, and not gold or silver. Trace amounts of copper in water has proven scientific benefits. Back then flowing rivers and streams were the steady source of potable water in India – thus a practice of tossing copper coins into the water would have been encouraged by the King’s Court as a periodic purifying process. The practice became a custom, and that the custom is now a modern-day superstition.”

Prof. Deshpande is one of those rare people who also told me – “Never stop asking questions, Chitu- Finding out the why is what life is all about!” Needless to add, he became my go-to-encyclopaedia for all my queries on India’s history, Indian customs, superstitions and traditions for many years to follow.

Children today are luckier – knowledge like that is a click away, and for any kid who is keen on knowing the science behind many Indian superstitions, I strongly recommend a YouTube channel: After All Its Science.

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The more I look around me, I notice that multiple or parallel belief systems could be the norm, rather than the exception. Whether it is in organised religion, astrology, tarot cards, numerology, customs or probing deeper into myths, films or fiction – we intuitively seek answers that are ‘miraculous’ to allow us to continue having an illusion of control, over phenomenon that is well-beyond our control.

And in most cases, it is benign. A bonafide belief that could bring very welcome outcomes because karma, as widely understood, edicts that individual and collective good actions will bring you good fortune.

So, how does something as innocuous as hundreds of people simultaneously tossing a coin into a passing river, become into something as horrifying as an entire family hanging themselves like the roots of a banyan tree?

Surely, the two phenomena cannot be compared?

A quote from the docuseries comes to mind here. Dr. Monisha Pradhan, the Autopsy Doctor at Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi remarks of how this particular case made her think deeply about her own beliefs and our society.

“There is such a thin line between faith and delusion. Where does faith end, and where does delusion start, you know? Where do you draw the line?”

Right there lies the deeper questions that we might need to occasionally ask ourselves:

• Whatever your belief system, religion and practices – is it causing you harm?

• You may not be able to tell, but is it causing harm to those around you?

• And can trusted people around you, tell you without fear or favour that it could be causing you harm?

• Is someone wielding control over you externally or are your beliefs of your own choosing?

• In the likelihood of denial that an authority figure is controlling your behaviour, ask yourself what is the consequence of behaviour opposite to the diktat advised?

Heartbreakingly, we learn from the series – what none of the television media zeroed in on, when this case was in our nationwide headspace.

Lalit Bhatia had been a victim to steadily deteriorating mental illness as a result of a near fatal accident in 1988 and being nearly killed in 2004. The PTSD he would have endured, worsened at the death of his father in 2007. Friends, family and relatives believed he had found solace in spirituality, but the mental trauma and illness was just never discussed.

And when 11 members of a modern-day joint family who are alive, obey and respect the authority of what they believe is their late patriarch - I cannot help but ponder the fact that more women than men died that night.

Patriarchy and steadily deteriorating mental health underpinned the cult-like status of Lalit Bhatia.

Those are ‘demons’ that I have battled myself. One could argue that there is hardly anyone that I know who has not faced these demons in some degree or form.

What made that story so scary is that if we consider a ‘sociological autopsy’ – ours is a society so dismissive of prioritising mental health and well-being, and so patriarchal - that if you tweak your circumstances a bit, maybe you find yourself in a household of dark secrets of your own.

And as for superstitions - think of the ever-snappy, ear-worm of the theme song of the Addams family:

“Their creepy and their kooky, Mysterious and spooky, Their altogether ooky, The Adams family”

Replace those lyrics with these words here that had me consider the good, the bad, and the ugly of the superstitions around us:

“Their powerful and kooky

Habitual, old, or spooky,

Their altogether quirky,

Superstitions- as they be!”

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REFERENCES:

1. TED. (2008, April 15). Why people believe weird things | Michael Shermer [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8T_jwq9ph8k

2. Vyse, S. [TED-E. (2017, March 9). Where do superstitions come from? - Stuart Vyse [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/quOdF1CAPXs

3. Cryer, M. (2016). Superstitions and why we have them (Large type / large print edition) [E-book]. ReadHowYouWant.

4. After All Its Science – YouTube Channel (Launched in 2019)

5. House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths – Docuseries by Netflix released on 8th October, 2021 (Leena Yadav and Anubhav Chopra)

6. Bhandari, H. (2018, July 16). Burari deaths: 11 bright people with one dark secret. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/11-bright-people-with-one-dark-secret/article24428709.ece

7. Ayush. (2021, October 17). Psychological Aspects of Burari Deaths | House of Secrets [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/YSXTyj3W5kM

This was the most intense essay I have penned on this blog , and am sure it would bring several thoughts and questions to your mind.

Do you believe in some superstitions yourself? Or are you a Numerology/Horoscope enthusiast? Whether quirky, weird or spooky - am all ears to hear your experience with parallel belief systems as well. Let me know in the comments below!