The night was eerie as October 31 crawled towards mankind. Bats swifted through the violet skies and the crickets screeched from the ground. The moon was at its full, it's light casting a mystical look to the elements stuck to the earth. The town was in darkness and the inhabitants slept peacefully, unaware of the happenings around them.
When, the leaves rustled.
From within the shadows rose a figure, with a glowing head, it's eyes as bright as fire. It neared the town, the confusion on it's face never dying. It glowed, as bright as the Jack O' Lantern in front of it.
"What in the universe is this?" it gasped.
Casper creeped slowly through the lanes of India Forums. He didn't know where he was, and after a coconut had fallen on his head a few minutes ago(Indian soap style), he could not remember quite a few things.
"Seee!! I am dressed like Sriti Jha!" exclaimed one human.
"You know who I am dressed up as! Nina Dobrev! For obvious reasons" gushed the other.
"I'm taking the Halloween theme seriously and my costume is of a zombie!" one said doing the zombie walk.
Casper wondered why people were dressed. Casper thought that maybe they did not like theirselves that much, and dressed up as someone else instead.
"I'm not dressed up as anyone because well I like to be me! I'm a ghost!" he muttered to himself.
Everyone looked vaguely around them and didn't know who talked. The looked in the general direction of Casper, shrugged, and went off to their respective tasks.
"Hmph, I guess people in India Forums do not like to talk to supernatural beings?"
Casper continued to walk along. He soon learned that each of the neighborhoods in the city ofIndia Forums were called forums. 
He decided to come to the bustling Bollywood forum neighborhood. In the crowd that filled this neighborhood, there was bound to be someone who could explain things and help him around.
He saw a trail of people knocking on people's doors, and the owners of houses offered the people who came up, lots of candy.
"Maybe it is free candy day or something. I should go and try my luck... " Casper went up to the door and knocked on it. The door opened, and the person handing out the candy looked around wildly for a few minutes.
"This is the third time this evening that I've been pranked. People just knock on my door and run! It must have been a Salman fan, a Shah Rukh fan, a Sonam fan, (lists 50 other actors names) or it could be a Konkona fan even! Whatever!" the person said clearly annoyed.
The door was slammed shut on Casper's face.
"I guess they just really have something against ghosts."
A figure came behind Casper.
"Or maybe they are not really into conversing with people who are invisible." Trish said placing a white blanket on him, and suddenly he became visible.
"It would have helped if I knew that earlier! Anyways what is with the costumes and taking candy from people?"
"Today is October 31st, the day of Halloween." she explained to him.
"So basically Halloween is celebrated so that one could dress up in costumes and get candy?"
"Well..I guess.." she trailed off.
Sameera joins in on the conversation.
"Well, no. Halloween has a deeper significance. They say that Halloween originated from theCeltic festival of Samhain. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit today. The Celtics would light bonfires, wear costumes, and make loud noises to ward off evil spirits and roaming ghosts on this day."
"Roaming ghosts" he shuddered.
"Then when the Romans conquered most of the Celtic lands, the Romans combined the Celtic holiday of Samhain with their traditional holidays. Around 609 A.D, Pope Boniface helped establish he Catholic feast of All Martyrs' Day in the Western Church. Later on, Pope Gregory IIIchanged the festival to include all saints as well and moved the date from May 13th to November 1st and it was referred to as All Saints' Day. By 1000 A.D, the church made November 2nd, All Souls' Day to honor the dead. The church has been suspected of attempting to replace the similar Celtic holiday with All Souls' Day as they also are celebrated similarly with bonfires, costumes and etc. With
All Saints' Day also being known as All Hallows' Day, the day before All Hallows' Day was known as All-Hallows' Eve. The rituals of All Souls' Day was slightly combined with All-Hallow's Eve because of the proximity of the days, and then we finally get what we know today asHalloween. " Sam continued explaining the history of Halloween.
"Long and complex history, hmm...By the way, is Halloween still celebrated to ward off roaming ghosts?" questioned Casper.
Nishi walks up to Casper.
"Don't worry, Halloween has become a more secular holiday over the years. It spread over to America during the formation of America itself, but became widely celebrated when millions ofIrish came to America to escape the potato famine in Ireland of 1846!"
"But how did this holiday become less religious? And how did all these traditions develop?" he asked, curious to know more.
"Trick-or-treating developed from an old Irish-English tradition of dressing up, going to others houses, and getting a piece of soul cake in return for praying for their dead relatives/ancestors. The many other things we do on Halloween, evolve from pop culture or the interaction of people from different cultures . By the early 1900s, Halloween evolved into a more community-centered and fun-oriented holiday. Halloween parties were common for adults and kids in America. From the1950s onwards, Halloween has gradually been changed to be directed mainly at younger childrenand today, Halloween has been largely commercialized. Although Halloween is mostly popular in the United States, Ireland, Canada, and England, it is also celebrated around the world.
In Latin America, they have their own version of Halloween called Dia de Los Muertos to honor the dead."
"Fascinating! But one more question, aren't humans obsessed with beauty? Then why would they choose to dress as zombies or skeletons and as scary beings? Especially now that it is a more secular holiday!"
"I can answer that one! Well you see humans are paradoxical. Actually, our whole life is a paradox. Beauty is..." Trish added.
"Looks like Trish is going into a deep philosophical rant again. I say you should run away before you get bored to tears. Free advice hai... lena hai toh lo... nahi toh jaane do." Viz sang.
"Yup!". Casper was ready to leave.
"Oh yeah, one more thing" Viz said throwing a coconut at him.
"Ouch, what was that for?!?!" he screamed in pain rubbing his head.
"Didn't you say that you lost most of your memory after the coconut fell on you head? So, if I throw a coconut at your head, you will gain your memory back. Just a little trick I learned from Indian shows." Viz explained the nonsensical logic to a much confused Casper.
"Well I better run out fast before I get hit by another coconut!"
| somergasm.| -Trishh-| sameera_12| Rhapsody.|
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