Shamim (34) lost his job due to COVID and faced major financial losses. However, his relatives and fiancée attributed the series of unfortunate incidents to black magic. "So, I reached out to a maulvi who told me that a jinn had cursed me. He charged Rs 5,000 to make things right. While my situation did not change, I started believing more in black magic," he says.
"Then, one day I heard Jay Alani's podcast, and reached out to him on his helpline. Initially, I was sceptical about his views because he spoke like a non-believer. Slowly, he made me realise magic is inside us and works for us if we want to. He treated me like his own brother, and never charged a single rupee. He sent me links to employment websites, where I applied for a job, and my life changed," he adds.
As with Shamim's case, the helpline (+91 9999518600) by Delhi-based paranormal investigator Jay Alani has touched many lives. It is India’s only paranormal helpline. And since its launch in January 2020, it successfully completed 1,000 calls this week in spreading awareness against supernatural beliefs and malpractices in its name. Alani says, "In these calls, we successfully saved people from falling into the traps on blind faith and superstitions."
Earlier, the callers could ring up the helpline. "India has a lot of curious people, and I would get calls at 2 am, asking me 'Is the demon in The Conjuring [movie] real?' To avoid that, we stopped direct calling. Anyone with a genuine problem can send us audio messages on WhatsApp, and depending upon the gravity of their problem, we call them back accordingly."
The helpline received most number of calls from MP, Delhi, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. "The inflow of calls and queries increased during the lockdowns. The callers are mostly people who are staying away from their homes for one reason or the other," says Alani, adding, "The mindset of the society at large needs to change. All I can do is offer a different perspective to a situation," he reveals, but has chosen to continue doing his bit in bringing this change.
IN A NUTSHELL
The helpline (+91 9999518600) by Delhi-based paranormal investigator Jay Alani has touched many lives. It is India's only paranormal helpline. And since its launch in January 2020, it successfully completed 1,000 calls this week in spreading awareness against supernatural beliefs and malpractices in its name