Talli Bidda Bavi
Mother-Child Well
Setting: Nalgonda district (Hyderabad / Telangana).
In English: Mother-Child Well. A Lighted Tales original Telugu horror story, written in Romanized Telugu (Tenglish) with Telangana dialect.
Mother-Child Well
2023 April 25, Hyderabad Madhapur lo oka tech campus cafeteria, Vasanth — a 30-year-old senior software engineer — oka Reddit post draft chesaadu laptop lo:
r/IndianParanormal · posted by u/sound_bit_bro Title: 30-night audio dataset — Nalgonda rural baby-cry anomaly. Do I publish raw files or not? Hi all. TL;DR — I spent 30 consecutive nights (March 27 to April 25, 2023) timestamping 10:47 PM audio recordings at a well in my ancestral village in Nalgonda district. The local name is "Talli-Bidda Bavi" — mother-child well. Locals claim a baby's cry rings from it at exactly that time. I built a small Raspberry Pi setup with a directional mic, sampled continuously 10:30-11:00 PM each night, timestamped with GPS-locked atomic-clock sync. Result: 28 of 30 nights registered clear audio of a crying infant, 10:46:58 PM to 10:47:24 PM average, ~25-second duration, spectrogram consistent with a human baby aged approximately 3-6 months. Two nights the well was empty of sound (April 2 and April 17 — both nights a heavy pre-monsoon thunderstorm rolling through the region, rain noise dominant). I now have 26 clean spectrograms, all nearly identical. Before I proceed — I need community ethical input. Do I publish this dataset? Will it invite exploitative ghost-tourism? Or do I consult the local elders first? Advice welcome.
Vasanth aa post publish cheyyadaaniki mouse ni hover chesthunnaadu — 2 seconds. Cancel chesaadu.
Reason — aayana aa moment lo oka memory vacchindhi. 30 nights lo Day 22 ki (April 17, ironically also a silent night) aayana grandmother Parvathamma (79, Nalgonda district Nakrekal mandal, ooru peru Dharmapuri — aayana maternal family ooru, Vasanth's own childhood summer destination) oka specific warning icchaaru. "Koduka, aa bavi ni scientific ga chudavaddaani neeku istam. Kaani proper ga chuddaamu. Aa cry audio ni public ga publish chesetho mana ooru ki oka tourist curse raavadamani. Talli-Bidda Bavi ni 80 years ga mana family silent ga guard chesthunnam. Reasons undi."
Ee story reverse ga unfold chesthunnadi — April 25 ki draft-cancel moment nunchi March 27 start date ki unwind ayyaali. Kaani full reverse ki mundhu oka flash back — original 1943 kossam. Aa year aa bavi dug ayindhi. Ooru peru Dharmapuri (fictional village peru, closest actual neighbour Nakrekal or Chityal area). Family elder Rangaiah thaata — Vasanth's great-great-grandfather — aa bavi tavvincharu. Aa year end ki, aayana younger daughter-in-law, peru Sitamma, 23 years age, oka infant tho (3-month-old son, peru Pullaiah) complications lo mentally unstable ayyaaru — post-partum psychosis as we'd call today, 1943 lo aa diagnosis possibility levu. Oka evening aayana infant ni teesi, aa newly-dug bavi lo drop ayyindi, tarwatha self ga jumped. Rendu bodies aa rathri retrieved ayyaayi. Village police (Nizam administration appudu) ki reported — "mother's grief, post-partum instability." Family lo aa tragedy oka permanent grief bindu. Sitamma husband — Rangaiah's son Narayana — aa bavi ni seal chesadu complete ga next 40 years ki. Aayana 1983 lo chanipoyina tarwatha, Rangaiah's grandson Ramachandra (Parvathamma's husband, chanipoyaaru 2005) aa bavi ni re-open chesaaru, village's water needs tho — kaani bavi ki family-elders memory ga oka specific daily prayer practice installed chesaaru. Aa bavi peru "Talli-Bidda Bavi" ani formally assigned aipoyindhi — 1985 ki.
Baby cry phenomenon village lo 1985 nunchi reported ga. 10:47 PM exact time — adhi 1943 November 12 actual incident timestamp — witnessed ayaadu oka sweeper manishi oka grocery shop close cheyyadaaniki walking pass chesinappudu. Aa time point family's internal records lo preserved. 40 years silent, next 40 years cry ga. Village community normalized aipoyaaru — "Talli-Bidda ikkada ippatiki sorrow ga untaaru, mana respect matrame ivvagalam."
Now, reverse to March 27, 2023. Vasanth's project start day.
Vasanth: Vasanth software engineering side product manager role ki recent transition planned, pre-transition leave 40 days secured. Aayana Nalgonda grandmother tho time spend cheyyaali + parallel ga oka technical personal project — "Village paranormal claim ni proper instrumentation tho verify cheyyadam or debunk cheyyadam." Ambition — publish on GitHub, write a Medium article, maybe oka conference talk.
March 27 ki aayana Raspberry Pi 4 + directional mic + GPS module + 128 GB SD + portable battery setup. Intlo basement space lo pre-tested weekend. Carried to Nalgonda.
Grandmother Parvathamma ki project explain chesaadu. "Amamma, naa motivation , aa cry ni scientifically document chesi, local residents ki oka validation ivvaali. Community recognition ki an objective evidence kaavaali."
Parvathamma: "Vasanth, nee intention correct ga undi, kaani chinna warning , aa bavi ki family's internal memory attached undi. Public ga external-world lo tisukuvellaavu, aa memory's privacy ni break aipothundi. Community awareness internal ga chalu. Nuvvu record cheyyi personal ga, kaani publish ki decision aatoppudu chaala ga think cheyyi."
Vasanth: Vasanth aa warning ki partial ga listen chesaadu — project proceed, publish decision later ga defer.
March 27 to April 25, 30 nights. Each night 10:30 PM setup, 11:00 PM pack-down. Data collection excellent. Dataset grew.
April 17 (Day 22). Silent night. Thunderstorm. Rainfall 45 mm in 2 hours. Setup ran as scheduled but audio dominated by rain, no cry detected.
April 18 ki Parvathamma ki Vasanth data summary show cheppadu — 21 out of 22 nights cry recorded, consistency 96%. Aayana excited.
→ Idey theme lo inka oka katha: Cherla Daggara Cheruvu
Parvathamma aa roju aa explicit warning icchaaru — publish cheyyadu ante community ki danger. Vasanth 22 nights data set meedha pride of ownership ga, "Ammamma nenu neeku proper ga answer isthaa final decision before publishing." Continued.
April 17 silent + April 2 silent earlier — both thunderstorm coincidences — aayana data lo outliers ga considered. April 25 ki 28/30 success rate ki closed project. Reddit draft written.
Ippudu back to that April 25 cancel moment. Vasanth mouse hover, cancel, close laptop. Aayana ee decision ki reasons — rendu specific ga: (1) Parvathamma's warning ni ignore cheyyadaaniki tempting kaadu, aayana's wisdom has always held; (2) aayana technical analysis lo oka subtle pattern emerged — 28 clean recordings lo aa cry's audio fingerprint oka specific infant's vocal signature match chesthundhe consistently. Signature's natural characteristics — tongue placement, oral cavity shape estimate from formants — unique ga oka individual infant ki. Ante aa cry oka non-replicable, non-synthetic, ongoing-emission kaadu, but a specific historical infant's cry. 1943 lo Pullaiah. Vasanth's own great-great-grand-uncle. 3-month old Pullaiah's voice.
Aa realization lo Vasanth ki oka shift — aayana project objectively ni "debunk or validate" ga framed chesaadu initially, kaani actual outcome inka beyond validation. Aa audio family's own lost child's memory ki direct access. Publishing ante aa baby's memory ni clickbait world ki expose cheyyadam.
Vasanth laptop close chesi, aa roju evening Nalgonda ki train pattukuni velli. Parvathamma's intlo reach ayinappudu aayana ammamma aa shocks tho chala calm ga — "Vasanth, nuvvu raavadam naaku teliusu."
Parvathamma: "Aa hard drive ivvu."
Vasanth: Vasanth aa 128 GB SD + backup drive rendu ammamma ki icchaadu.
Parvathamma rendu drives ni aa rathri aa bavi gatu daggara oka simple prayer tho aa bavi lopala drop chesaaru. "Pullaiah thatha, Sitamma mamima, mee voice ippudu mee family lo protected ga untundi. Public ki vellaledu. Peace ga chudu."
Vasanth aa moment lo oka closure. Tech engineer's instinct "preserve-and-publish-everything" mode nunchi "know-what-not-to-externalize" mode ki shift. Aayana Reddit draft permanently deleted. Medium article kuda cancelled.
Aayana grandmother tho 3 more days spent. Parvathamma aayana ki Rangaiah thaata original 1943 incident story ni detail ga cheppindhi. Family records — aa specific 1943 November 12 date proper ga preserved ga undhi oka old brass vessel lo. Vasanth aa records ni photograph chesi private ga backed up (not published). Family heritage — internal knowledge — aayana ippudu custodian.
April 30 ki aayana Hyderabad return ayyaadu. New role transition — product manager — May 1 start. Aayana technical curiosity ippatiki active, kaani a new ethical filter added. Any data collection project lo "who owns this memory?" ani first question.
2024 March 27 (one-year anniversary) ki Vasanth Nalgonda velli Parvathamma tho paatu aa bavi daggara chinna family-only prayer conducted. Villagers invited ga kaadu, intra-family matrame — Parvathamma, Vasanth, aayana mother Saraswathi, 2-year-old cousin. Small diyas. Silent 10:47 PM moment. Aa rathri cry — usual ga — vinipinchindhi. Family silent ga listened, namaskaram chesaaru.
Cry stopped at 10:47:22 PM. Normal pattern. Pullaiah's voice acknowledged, peace ga recognized ga accepted. Bavi community's sorrow still present, but honored privately.
→ Pakkana ee story kuda chadavandi: Penalu Mooyani Gadi
Parvathamma 2025 winter ki chanipoyaaru — 81 years old, peaceful. Aayana last words Vasanth ki — "Koduka, aa bavi's responsibility ippudu nee generation ki. Scientific ga curious ga undu, kaani aa memory ni family lopala matrame carry cheyyi. Mana lineage vidiga."
Vasanth ippudu ooru ki prathi Sankranti visit chestaadu — minimum 3 days. Aa bavi daggara ippudu ooru's memorial marker Parvathamma's memory kuda add aipoyindhi — "Sitamma (1920-1943) · Pullaiah (1943-1943) · Parvathamma (1944-2025)" ani small granite stone. Vasanth aa stone tho personally namaskaram chesthaadu prathi visit.
Aayana 2026 ki oka small change chesaaru personal habit ga — aayana Hyderabad apartment intlo oka framed Polaroid print pettaaru, aa bavi gatu meedha 2024 March photo — moonlight, small diyas line, nobody visible in frame. Aa photo aayana work desk paina. Colleagues ki aayana casual ga chepthaadu, "Ammamma intlo ancestral memorial. Chinna grounding reminder." Beyond that, no detail shared publicly. Ee specific katha oka blog post ga kuda ayindhi ippudu — kaani core audio files, original spectrograms, family's 1943 documents, all remain within aa bavi and aa family. Internal memory.
Vasanth oka reflection aayana 2025 year-end journal lo rasaadu — "Data's value ni external distribution tho measure cheyyadam oka engineering bias. Oka family's 83-year-old grief dataset ki distribution value zero. Internal stewardship value infinity. Aa difference learn cheyyaadaaniki naaku 30 nights patti." Aa journal entry private ga undi — kaani aa insight aayana subsequent product management career ki oka foundational guiding principle ga.
Author's note
Real-world context: Wikipedia — Telangana
Maa amma family Nalgonda district side oka chinna ooru lo, maa thaata intlo oka very-old bavi undedhi — chinnappudu summer holidays ki velli nenu aa bavi ni chaala curiosity tho chusevaanu. Maa thaata 2010 lo chanipoyina tarwatha bavi slowly disuse ayindhi, ippudu family house lo oka minor feature. Kaani aa bavi gurinchi maa mamayya oka story cheppaaru — 1950s era lo family lo oka tragedy undi aa bavi lo. Details teliyadu, family lo chaala private ga. Ee story ni aa oral tradition inspiration ga construct chesaanu — fully fictional names and locations, but the "family-secret buried in a well + modern descendant instrumentation curiosity" structural seed nijam nunchi. 2024 lo oka Hyderabad-based developer friend ki oka side hobby tech project — paranormal audio analysis — gurinchi cheppaaru. Aayana kuda oka family-heritage water body ni record chesaadu, kaani publish ki decide kaaledu. Aa conversation ee story's final shape ki influence chesindhi. Maa Sanjana kuda ee topic meedha chaala interested — aayana social work background lo "community's private memory vs public knowledge" tension frequent ga face chestaaru aayana field ga. Meeku ilaanti family-secret water bodies stories untey comments lo share cheyyandi. Full privacy OK — details optional.
— Sai Kiran · Lighted Tales
© 2026 Sai Kiran Pandrala / Lighted Tales · https://teluguhorrorstories.blogspot.com
Original Telugu horror fiction. Folk-source material where referenced is public domain.
Modern characters, apartments, companies, and phone numbers are fictional.
Any resemblance to real persons, businesses, or events is coincidental.
Audio version: youtube.com/@Lightedtales
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