Nale Ba: The Mysterious Ghost Legend of Karnataka

Have you ever experienced a story that even thinking about opening the door at night makes you shake with fear-so much so that you wind up crapping your pants?
Here's one that does the same to you. A strange, mysterious story that has been around for ages. Though it is known by many names, the most popular of which is ‘Nale Ba’ (meaning "Come tomorrow" in Kannada), this tale is about a mysterious woman who visits the city at night and terrifies the living hell out of them.
But it has transformed into many forms, and one of the most common is as an evil spirit that calls your name in deserted streets when you stroll at night, behind you. It replicates your friends' or relatives' voices to make you turn and look at it.

The Tale of Nale Ba

Folklore says that a strange woman used to walk up and down the neighbourhood streets at night, knocking on doors and calling out their name. It was said that she could replicate anyone's voice as she was attempting to enter.
It was said that a man heard a knock and a woman's voice of his relative at the door at midnight. When he got up to open the door, his wife stopped him from opening it. The two remained behind locked doors through the night until in the morning, and the knock had gone. Because she heard a story in her home neighbouring village, a man was found dead as he answered a woman's voice at night. They told the neighbour about this, who told it to their neighbour, and they spread the story to other people in the whole community.
As the story spread across the city, residents found a way to stay safe, or so they believed. They wrote the phrase "ನಾಳೆಬಾ (Nale Ba)" on their doors and walls. According to the residents, the ghost lady would come to a house, and if she saw the message, she would vanish and come again the next night, leaving the words behind, "telling" her to come tomorrow again. And thus, residents started writing "ನಾಳೆಬಾ" on their doors and walls, creating the eerie legend of the city's urban myth.

Why Is This Strange Story So Interesting?

Since then, it has become one of the most famous legends of Karnataka's oral history, particularly in the city of Bengaluru. As this story was spread through the townsfolk, it underwent many modifications in each retelling, and this was what made the legend all the more peculiar.
The most recent versions are of a spirit or a witch which haunts the city streets at night. Some versions even tell us that it was the people who opened their doors and answered the spirit's call. Either way, though, the haunting tale theme lives on. Locals believe that the spirit can be kept away if they write the words "ನಾಳೆಬಾ" on their doors and walls, and it was also this story that explained the peculiar sounds and knocking heard at night.