SHANEKALA
part 1. When I was a kid, my parents told me that between 5.00PM until 7.00PM, kids should come home immediately, or there is a “Shanekala” waiting for them. What it “Shanekala”? It is a kind of ghost who kidnaped children in my age. Usually, my friends and I play at a public grass field untill late afternoon, then, we usually went to our house after maghrib or at 6.00PM. It has been told that they who went alone to their house usually followed by Shanekala, because Shanekala likes children. In our culture, Shanekala is actually a father who killed himself because his couldn’t face the reality about losing his sons or daughters. So they all who killed themselves because they can’t accept their children’s deaths, usually, in our culture, they become a Shanekala in the end. That story, or that myth, haunted me so much when I was young. Because, basically, I’m not a believer of Shanekala’s existence. For me, that myth is just a tool to make children become more agreeable