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Summary of the Ghost of Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

Summary of the Ghost of Firozsha Baag 

The Tales of the Feroze Baag (1987, Penguin), Rohinton Mistry's first book, is a collection of stories about the residents of a Parsi-majority apartment complex in Mumbai called Feroze Baag.

Ghost of Feroz Shah Baag; A story full of humour is part of this collection. This is the story of a Christian woman from Goan who works as an Ayah for a Parsi family living in Feroze Baag Her name is Jacqueline, but her employer's family, who have been working for her for decades, called her Jaakaylee. A simple pronunciation of their own.

The plot of the story begins with Jaykaylee seeing a ghost coming down the stairs when she returns to her employer's house in the early hours of Christmas morning, after a midnight gathering. Both the master and the lady of the house, Seth and Bai, rejected the ghost story of  Ayah, and even neighbours made fun of her when they heard about the ghost. The ghost, on the other hand, became bolder and more persistent in its focus on Jaykaylee.  Within a few months, he made it a habit to visit her every Friday night and share her bed. 

Back in Goa, in her village, everyone believed in ghosts, but here in Bombay, already teased about ghosts, for fear of being considered insane, did not risk sharing more details with anyone. Could take and asked to go back to her village. So she quietly endured the ghost's unwise behaviour. The ghostly demeanour reminded her of the village's seductive Cajetan, who cleverly took liberties with young girls like her. That was 39 years ago when she was a teenager. Now that she's sixty-three years old, 'fat and ugly' Ayah. The naughty attitude of the ghost kept disturbing her as he described herself. 

She remained with the secret for almost a year, but as Christmas approached she decided to take on the burden and confessed to the pastor of the church all the details about the ghost's mischief. Father de Silva reassured her that she was innocent because she did not want to be with the ghost and asked for holy blessings on him, and the ghost never came to her again.

The climax of the story begins in a way. On New Year's Eve, the employer couple went to a party, which gave Jaykaylee the responsibility of caring for the children. Unable to sleep, until late at night when she waited for them to return, she stepped onto the balcony outside the flat. Due to the cold, she wrapped herself in a white sheet and covered her head. When they returned in the middle of the night, Mem Sahib was shocked to come out of the car. She looked towards the balcony and saw something in white. For her, it was the ghost! The thought engulfed his mind so completely that neither reason nor assurance could work for him.

 The closing part of the story is about Bai's newfound respect for Jacqueline and her past. Ignoring the neighbours' sarcasm, she arranged for a special Parsi ritual performed by Dasturji. Doubting her usefulness in exorcism, she took matters into his own hands. As a domestic helper, Jaykaylee could not openly mock her employer's obsession with ghosts, but it was certainly her turn to rejoice at her superstitious reputation.

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