The journey
This happened in 2005..It happened with my friend..I was also in that trip and also involved in it somewhat..So lets start
The journey
I was in 3rd year of eng. then.. A college trip was planned to ooty with our batch and our seniors batch..2 buses were booked..We started the journey from Bangalore....I will make the starting little brief and come to the incident directly as the incident it self was a long story
The journey
We left Bangalore around 1 am IN THE MORNING..We were supposed to leave at 5 :30 PM in the evening..Then comedy of errors occurred..The buses which were booked stood canceled..coordinator was desperately searching for a replacement and the time everything was be arranged was very late. Anyways, We left at 1 AM.. We headed for destination Ooty..Young mates..going to a college tour..You can imagine the electricity in the air..We were enjoying so much..The journey was one to be remembered for a long time. Of course for the right reasons.. We reached ooty next day evening as we had other stoppages in between
OOty
The trip to Ooty was awesome..We enjoyed like kids.. ( Will not include the Ooty part here, as it would be out of context )..While leaving Ooty, it was decided that we would go to Kodai Kanal the next day..The journey was very beautiful..We reached Kodai in the morning the day after..Actually the next day was spent in Black Thunder , the water park..
Kodai..
We reached Kodai in the morning..We were thrilled with the scenic beauty of that place. You can virtually feel that the sky embracing the mountains with open arms. The mountains were misty.. Misty enough to hold the secrets. The secrets never been told to the living.. There’s a waterfall nearby, the place where we stopped for site seeing..
Water falling from the hills were making such a sweet sound..As if some one was tuning a sitar .. The wind passing by the hills were making such a sweet chime.. The tree leaves kissing each other, dancing with the wind..Lovely..
In one place the ground was covered with the dry leaves. as if a fawn color bed to rest in peace.. The trees around that were huge and lovely. Like the guardians of the heaven on earth..
The trip was already a great fun..We were enjoying like kids.. The scenic beauty was already making some of our friends very romantic and everyone was enjoying the outing. However, I was not feeling very comfortable. May be because if the extensive journey that we were subjected to..Many of our friends were enjoying and playing in one of the water falls..I decided to get into the bus and do what I do best..I decided to have a sound sleep
“hey dubmbo get up” said Rahul (name changed)!!! I suddenly got woken up and found that Rahul was standing near the seat and waiting for me to give him the passage to his seat..I hurridly gave him the way..Now I saw everyone were back on the bus and we were ready to go..I checked my watch and it was 5 pm..”We are going to the lake dude!!” , Rahul again..
“Lake??!! So are we suppose to stay here tonight?”, came from me. “No buddy! We’ll go to the lake and head for Bangalore at night” , said Rahul.. What the hell ? Now I was starting to get bored of the hills and the falls..They were more scary than amazing to me then,, Not sure of the reason though..May be because the light was fading and the beautiful green hills were becoming the high dark walls of a forbidden fort..
We reached the lake around 5 :30.. The light was almost gone.. The Sun was going down the hills as if a small boy is hiding slowly behind the walls..not to look back again soon...
The lake is again a creation of which the God must be proud of.. The lake is surrounded by the hills..Its a huge lake.. The boating on the lake was closed by the time we reached but there were many more things to do there.. The parameter of the lake is encloded with a beautiful hilly road..One side of the road you’ll find the huge hills and the other side is the lake..The road is having british fashioned street lights with every 50 mtrs separation.. They were like candles on a delicious B’day cake... I usually love to give a romantic description of the surroundings , the way I look at nature..This time I will keep it short.. We are coming to the main story now ..
Near the lake you could rent bi-cycles for Rs. 10/ hour.. So all our friends including me decided to enjoy the nature riding bi-cycle around the lake..The lake was huge..Most of my friends started towards the right side of the lake with bi-cycles.. Me and Rahul decided to take the opposite way. The lake was a huge one so to complete the entire parameter of it would certainly take an hour if not more on the bi cycle..We started our journey..A journey which is still remembered by 2 persons and they dearly wish to forget it...one of them is writing the story..
We started off..The light was almost gone..The street lights were beginning to wake up after a long sleep.. The beautiful wind across the lake was driving us further. It was a very very nice ride..The scenic beauty , the cool breeze, the view of the lake..All in all , just a superb experience. At the left side was the tall dark hill, seemingly looking bigger in size the more the evening was settling down to the dark night..We were enjoying our ride. Me and Rahul were chatting and paddling our way to trouble..It was almost 25 minutes since we started our cycle ride, It was already dark by then. The street lights were glowing but not to there full intensity..May be that was there full intensity which was certainly not enough but was adding to the excitement..
We reached a place..From here the lake was little further towards the right..The road took little curve toward s the left and than straightened again after 100 meters. The road was closer to the hill rather than the lake in that spot. I felt very much unpleasant and disturbing in that place. From my past experience I had noticed that a place in trouble always gives many telling signals which we most of the times ignore. There was a burning smell in the air..Not very strong but neither very weak. There were no one in the vicinity and no way there could something be burning. Moreover, I was feeling a strange chill in that place.. I immediately told Rahul, “Buddy this particular place is not very comforting! There must be something unknown here, We need to hurry from here.” I told Rahul..Rahul didn’t put my words to dustbin , however he didn’t seemed to bother much about it either. I started paddling heavily and both of us crossed that place. I was still feeling the chill..Anyways after 19 more minutes we crossed our friends who were coming from the opposite direction and after 30 more minutes we reached the place from where we started initially. We saw our friends already reached there,
We returned the by-cycles and went for some tea..Most of the friends from the gang joined us..We were nearly 10-12 guys in the gang..While having tea, we decided to get one more ride and everyone together..It was around 7:40 pm then..We were scheduled to get assembled near our bus at 9. So we thought we had ample time in our hand to get going again. Moreover, it was already misty and very chilli so it would add to the excitement. Very few persons were on the road that time..We went again and rented a bi cycle each..We decided to start from right to left this time. Last time me and Rahul took the opposite direction. WE STARTED OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER..AGAIN
The road to hell !!
After we moved for 20 minutes..One of our friends Bi – cycle got punctured..We decided to carry on..That guy shared the ride with one more guy and supported the cycle in one hand..We continued like that for 5 more minutes..Than one more guy had a cycle chain malfunctioning. Now we decided we couldn’t go around in double seating (cycle sharing) like that. So we decided to walk. Now the question which aroused during that time was which way to go..whether to go forward or go towards the backward direction.. We didn’t reach the suspicious spot till that time. It was decided to return back by the same path which we took as it would be much lesser compared to the way forward..
However, Rahul wanted to proceed further. I personally objected but Rahul wouldn’t listen. He was a guy who loved adventures and so did I. But it would be a foolish decision to go that way as we were already getting late. After some argument he left..He went ahead without caring about my continuous requests.. Slowly but surely I could see Rahul getting out of my site..He was getting lost in the mist and the dimed stree lamps light..The way was now totally covered by mist..Rahul wasn’t visible any more..We started the other way...
Each second was taking hours to move..I realized how violent the environment was becoming..It was really chilli at that time..The temperature falls substantially in hills as the night gets younger and younger. Smoke was coming out of our mouths..The walk was turning to be a good exercise for all of us..It helped keeping us warm..
The silence of the Kodai hills
We reached the place from where we hired the cycles. We returned and paid for the cycles. We were waiting for Rahul to return. We reached the place in approximately half an hour as we were on foot.. Rahul should have reached there or would arrive shortly.. So we were enjoying one more round of tea in the chilli weather and waiting for Rahul..It was 8:45 and 10 minutes past since we were waiting for Rahul..He didn’t show up. Even our co-ordinators were calling us to get back to the bus as we were ready to leave..We started to get worried about Rahul and in a way I was getting furious on him for the delay..
We all were worried..It was 9:00 PM then..Our coordinators were beginning to lose the patience. They were furious. I decided to go and search for him..I went to the cycle hiring shop again..He denied me a cycle saying no one goes there at that time. He said it would be foolish to go that way at that time.. I was adamant ..I was starting to get nervous than and so was my other friends.. I convinced the guy and managed one cycle.. I went the opposite way..From the way Rahul was expected to arrive..
The moment I started my ride, nervous and worried..I could see from far that Rahul was appearing from the deep mist and dark night..He was paddling fast..He came very fast ..We accompanied him..returned the cycle as soon as we could and rushed towards the bus..“I am sorry!! I..I ...”, said Rahul..I stopped him in between..”Lets hurry, we can discuss later!!” We boarded the bus ..Rahul was fully wet with sweat, in the chilly night, it was looking like he just had a sweat bath..He was shivering..His eyes were full of fear..He sat beside me..He didn’t utter a word..I choose not to disturb him..I was sure something had happened.. Then after half an hour or so he opened his mouth..What he spoke made me numb... I will narrate it in his words only,,,
Before he started speaking..I was looking outside the window..It was a hilly highway..Bus was in cruising speed..I could see the dark black mountains..As if calling me secretly..Trying to whisper something in my ears..I could see from the window, the trees coming and vanishing..However, the darkness kept on whispering in my ears..I was enjoying it though..I t was like we were playing teasing games with each other..me and nature..”Deb..I want to say you something!!”..I suddenly came out io my dream world..It was Rahul..He was starting to feel better and talking to me..”Yes Rahul..I am listening..”, I said to him..
Rahul's story
Now the narration will go as per Rahul’s words...“Dude, after I started from where you all went back, the road seemed much more beautiful and attractive. I was enjoying my ride. The lamp posts, the lake at night, the trees, the hill..Everything was so beautiful..so appealing.. I kept on paddling..Then I reached the spot about which we discussed earlier..There my misery started!! “, he stopped and drank some water from the water bottle, took a deep breath and started again!!
“I was crossing that place..Didn’t think anything else..was just paddling away enjoying the nature..Suddenly I felt like someone was following me..I thought it would be an act of my witty mind..I tried to scrap that thinking away and move forward.. However the feeling was becoming stronger and stronger with each moment passed!!”..He drank some more water again and started to speak..
“I felt like someone was talking to me, someone near the hills..” his eyes started to grew big as he spoke..I could really see the fear in his eyes while speaking!! “ It felt like all the mists were clubbing at same place near the hills and taking some shape!! Some unknown shape..”, He continued..
“Then I started to move forward, without looking at the back..I felt like something was still following me.. All of a sudden some dogs started to chase me from the roadside.. I didn’t know exactly how many of them were there..may be 3 or 4..They started chasing me..I was so afraid..I started paddling very quickly..I suddenly recognised the road lamps were going off as I was moving forward..Some 3 or 4 lamp post were off..I stared back..I could only see mist behind..The dogs were still chasing me..I was sweating like hell..It seemed to me like I was paddling at the same place..It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion with respect to me..” I could feel the chill up my spines by what I had already heard from Rahul..
“ Do you believe me”, said Rahul.. “Of course, I do Rahul..Please continue”, I replied. By that time he did relax a bit as the mood in the bus was of a party..Everyone singing and enjoying..Only we 2 were out in some other world..Scared..
“I then felt like the mist was getting closer. I felt chill around me at the same time I was sweating heavily. On top of that the devils were still chasing me. I still had a doubt that they were not dogs but foxes. When I looked back again..It was confirmed.. I kept paddling heavily and started saying my prayers loudly..I felt like I would faint..The mist was getting closer to me..It would catch me any time..The foxes still chasing me..As if dying to tear me apart..I was the lonely victim..I was saying my prayers and thought I would never return alive..The mist was too close to me..I felt like someone laughing loudly..I was surely going to die..I closed my eyes and heard my name being called loudly”..
The climax
“I kept on saying my prayers..Again I heard my name..I was paddling heavily. Then little mist cleared in front and I saw you coming my way..Ever so slowly..I looked back and saw the mist was not there..That was the time I actually reached near you guys and saw you calling my name..” He stopped..
The End
I calmed him down..By that time Our bus stopped for dinner..We were not out of the range of hills yet but came down considerably..The dark high hills were standing there proudly..Like the walls of a forbidden fortress.. Protecting the secret inside its heart.. A secret not to be told..a secret to be saved for years to come..
This happened in 2005..It happened with my friend..I was also in that trip and also involved in it somewhat..So lets start
The journey
I was in 3rd year of eng. then.. A college trip was planned to ooty with our batch and our seniors batch..2 buses were booked..We started the journey from Bangalore....I will make the starting little brief and come to the incident directly as the incident it self was a long story
The journey
We left Bangalore around 1 am IN THE MORNING..We were supposed to leave at 5 :30 PM in the evening..Then comedy of errors occurred..The buses which were booked stood canceled..coordinator was desperately searching for a replacement and the time everything was be arranged was very late. Anyways, We left at 1 AM.. We headed for destination Ooty..Young mates..going to a college tour..You can imagine the electricity in the air..We were enjoying so much..The journey was one to be remembered for a long time. Of course for the right reasons.. We reached ooty next day evening as we had other stoppages in between
OOty
The trip to Ooty was awesome..We enjoyed like kids.. ( Will not include the Ooty part here, as it would be out of context )..While leaving Ooty, it was decided that we would go to Kodai Kanal the next day..The journey was very beautiful..We reached Kodai in the morning the day after..Actually the next day was spent in Black Thunder , the water park..
Kodai..
We reached Kodai in the morning..We were thrilled with the scenic beauty of that place. You can virtually feel that the sky embracing the mountains with open arms. The mountains were misty.. Misty enough to hold the secrets. The secrets never been told to the living.. There’s a waterfall nearby, the place where we stopped for site seeing..
Water falling from the hills were making such a sweet sound..As if some one was tuning a sitar .. The wind passing by the hills were making such a sweet chime.. The tree leaves kissing each other, dancing with the wind..Lovely..
In one place the ground was covered with the dry leaves. as if a fawn color bed to rest in peace.. The trees around that were huge and lovely. Like the guardians of the heaven on earth..
The trip was already a great fun..We were enjoying like kids.. The scenic beauty was already making some of our friends very romantic and everyone was enjoying the outing. However, I was not feeling very comfortable. May be because if the extensive journey that we were subjected to..Many of our friends were enjoying and playing in one of the water falls..I decided to get into the bus and do what I do best..I decided to have a sound sleep
“hey dubmbo get up” said Rahul (name changed)!!! I suddenly got woken up and found that Rahul was standing near the seat and waiting for me to give him the passage to his seat..I hurridly gave him the way..Now I saw everyone were back on the bus and we were ready to go..I checked my watch and it was 5 pm..”We are going to the lake dude!!” , Rahul again..
“Lake??!! So are we suppose to stay here tonight?”, came from me. “No buddy! We’ll go to the lake and head for Bangalore at night” , said Rahul.. What the hell ? Now I was starting to get bored of the hills and the falls..They were more scary than amazing to me then,, Not sure of the reason though..May be because the light was fading and the beautiful green hills were becoming the high dark walls of a forbidden fort..
We reached the lake around 5 :30.. The light was almost gone.. The Sun was going down the hills as if a small boy is hiding slowly behind the walls..not to look back again soon...
The lake is again a creation of which the God must be proud of.. The lake is surrounded by the hills..Its a huge lake.. The boating on the lake was closed by the time we reached but there were many more things to do there.. The parameter of the lake is encloded with a beautiful hilly road..One side of the road you’ll find the huge hills and the other side is the lake..The road is having british fashioned street lights with every 50 mtrs separation.. They were like candles on a delicious B’day cake... I usually love to give a romantic description of the surroundings , the way I look at nature..This time I will keep it short.. We are coming to the main story now ..
Near the lake you could rent bi-cycles for Rs. 10/ hour.. So all our friends including me decided to enjoy the nature riding bi-cycle around the lake..The lake was huge..Most of my friends started towards the right side of the lake with bi-cycles.. Me and Rahul decided to take the opposite way. The lake was a huge one so to complete the entire parameter of it would certainly take an hour if not more on the bi cycle..We started our journey..A journey which is still remembered by 2 persons and they dearly wish to forget it...one of them is writing the story..
We started off..The light was almost gone..The street lights were beginning to wake up after a long sleep.. The beautiful wind across the lake was driving us further. It was a very very nice ride..The scenic beauty , the cool breeze, the view of the lake..All in all , just a superb experience. At the left side was the tall dark hill, seemingly looking bigger in size the more the evening was settling down to the dark night..We were enjoying our ride. Me and Rahul were chatting and paddling our way to trouble..It was almost 25 minutes since we started our cycle ride, It was already dark by then. The street lights were glowing but not to there full intensity..May be that was there full intensity which was certainly not enough but was adding to the excitement..
We reached a place..From here the lake was little further towards the right..The road took little curve toward s the left and than straightened again after 100 meters. The road was closer to the hill rather than the lake in that spot. I felt very much unpleasant and disturbing in that place. From my past experience I had noticed that a place in trouble always gives many telling signals which we most of the times ignore. There was a burning smell in the air..Not very strong but neither very weak. There were no one in the vicinity and no way there could something be burning. Moreover, I was feeling a strange chill in that place.. I immediately told Rahul, “Buddy this particular place is not very comforting! There must be something unknown here, We need to hurry from here.” I told Rahul..Rahul didn’t put my words to dustbin , however he didn’t seemed to bother much about it either. I started paddling heavily and both of us crossed that place. I was still feeling the chill..Anyways after 19 more minutes we crossed our friends who were coming from the opposite direction and after 30 more minutes we reached the place from where we started initially. We saw our friends already reached there,
We returned the by-cycles and went for some tea..Most of the friends from the gang joined us..We were nearly 10-12 guys in the gang..While having tea, we decided to get one more ride and everyone together..It was around 7:40 pm then..We were scheduled to get assembled near our bus at 9. So we thought we had ample time in our hand to get going again. Moreover, it was already misty and very chilli so it would add to the excitement. Very few persons were on the road that time..We went again and rented a bi cycle each..We decided to start from right to left this time. Last time me and Rahul took the opposite direction. WE STARTED OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER..AGAIN
The road to hell !!
After we moved for 20 minutes..One of our friends Bi – cycle got punctured..We decided to carry on..That guy shared the ride with one more guy and supported the cycle in one hand..We continued like that for 5 more minutes..Than one more guy had a cycle chain malfunctioning. Now we decided we couldn’t go around in double seating (cycle sharing) like that. So we decided to walk. Now the question which aroused during that time was which way to go..whether to go forward or go towards the backward direction.. We didn’t reach the suspicious spot till that time. It was decided to return back by the same path which we took as it would be much lesser compared to the way forward..
However, Rahul wanted to proceed further. I personally objected but Rahul wouldn’t listen. He was a guy who loved adventures and so did I. But it would be a foolish decision to go that way as we were already getting late. After some argument he left..He went ahead without caring about my continuous requests.. Slowly but surely I could see Rahul getting out of my site..He was getting lost in the mist and the dimed stree lamps light..The way was now totally covered by mist..Rahul wasn’t visible any more..We started the other way...
Each second was taking hours to move..I realized how violent the environment was becoming..It was really chilli at that time..The temperature falls substantially in hills as the night gets younger and younger. Smoke was coming out of our mouths..The walk was turning to be a good exercise for all of us..It helped keeping us warm..
The silence of the Kodai hills
We reached the place from where we hired the cycles. We returned and paid for the cycles. We were waiting for Rahul to return. We reached the place in approximately half an hour as we were on foot.. Rahul should have reached there or would arrive shortly.. So we were enjoying one more round of tea in the chilli weather and waiting for Rahul..It was 8:45 and 10 minutes past since we were waiting for Rahul..He didn’t show up. Even our co-ordinators were calling us to get back to the bus as we were ready to leave..We started to get worried about Rahul and in a way I was getting furious on him for the delay..
We all were worried..It was 9:00 PM then..Our coordinators were beginning to lose the patience. They were furious. I decided to go and search for him..I went to the cycle hiring shop again..He denied me a cycle saying no one goes there at that time. He said it would be foolish to go that way at that time.. I was adamant ..I was starting to get nervous than and so was my other friends.. I convinced the guy and managed one cycle.. I went the opposite way..From the way Rahul was expected to arrive..
The moment I started my ride, nervous and worried..I could see from far that Rahul was appearing from the deep mist and dark night..He was paddling fast..He came very fast ..We accompanied him..returned the cycle as soon as we could and rushed towards the bus..“I am sorry!! I..I ...”, said Rahul..I stopped him in between..”Lets hurry, we can discuss later!!” We boarded the bus ..Rahul was fully wet with sweat, in the chilly night, it was looking like he just had a sweat bath..He was shivering..His eyes were full of fear..He sat beside me..He didn’t utter a word..I choose not to disturb him..I was sure something had happened.. Then after half an hour or so he opened his mouth..What he spoke made me numb... I will narrate it in his words only,,,
Before he started speaking..I was looking outside the window..It was a hilly highway..Bus was in cruising speed..I could see the dark black mountains..As if calling me secretly..Trying to whisper something in my ears..I could see from the window, the trees coming and vanishing..However, the darkness kept on whispering in my ears..I was enjoying it though..I t was like we were playing teasing games with each other..me and nature..”Deb..I want to say you something!!”..I suddenly came out io my dream world..It was Rahul..He was starting to feel better and talking to me..”Yes Rahul..I am listening..”, I said to him..
Rahul's story
Now the narration will go as per Rahul’s words...“Dude, after I started from where you all went back, the road seemed much more beautiful and attractive. I was enjoying my ride. The lamp posts, the lake at night, the trees, the hill..Everything was so beautiful..so appealing.. I kept on paddling..Then I reached the spot about which we discussed earlier..There my misery started!! “, he stopped and drank some water from the water bottle, took a deep breath and started again!!
“I was crossing that place..Didn’t think anything else..was just paddling away enjoying the nature..Suddenly I felt like someone was following me..I thought it would be an act of my witty mind..I tried to scrap that thinking away and move forward.. However the feeling was becoming stronger and stronger with each moment passed!!”..He drank some more water again and started to speak..
“I felt like someone was talking to me, someone near the hills..” his eyes started to grew big as he spoke..I could really see the fear in his eyes while speaking!! “ It felt like all the mists were clubbing at same place near the hills and taking some shape!! Some unknown shape..”, He continued..
“Then I started to move forward, without looking at the back..I felt like something was still following me.. All of a sudden some dogs started to chase me from the roadside.. I didn’t know exactly how many of them were there..may be 3 or 4..They started chasing me..I was so afraid..I started paddling very quickly..I suddenly recognised the road lamps were going off as I was moving forward..Some 3 or 4 lamp post were off..I stared back..I could only see mist behind..The dogs were still chasing me..I was sweating like hell..It seemed to me like I was paddling at the same place..It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion with respect to me..” I could feel the chill up my spines by what I had already heard from Rahul..
“ Do you believe me”, said Rahul.. “Of course, I do Rahul..Please continue”, I replied. By that time he did relax a bit as the mood in the bus was of a party..Everyone singing and enjoying..Only we 2 were out in some other world..Scared..
“I then felt like the mist was getting closer. I felt chill around me at the same time I was sweating heavily. On top of that the devils were still chasing me. I still had a doubt that they were not dogs but foxes. When I looked back again..It was confirmed.. I kept paddling heavily and started saying my prayers loudly..I felt like I would faint..The mist was getting closer to me..It would catch me any time..The foxes still chasing me..As if dying to tear me apart..I was the lonely victim..I was saying my prayers and thought I would never return alive..The mist was too close to me..I felt like someone laughing loudly..I was surely going to die..I closed my eyes and heard my name being called loudly”..
The climax
“I kept on saying my prayers..Again I heard my name..I was paddling heavily. Then little mist cleared in front and I saw you coming my way..Ever so slowly..I looked back and saw the mist was not there..That was the time I actually reached near you guys and saw you calling my name..” He stopped..
The End
I calmed him down..By that time Our bus stopped for dinner..We were not out of the range of hills yet but came down considerably..The dark high hills were standing there proudly..Like the walls of a forbidden fortress.. Protecting the secret inside its heart.. A secret not to be told..a secret to be saved for years to come..
