*1983 - Journey of Horror*Lalthan Village (Continued2)

Surya, steps out of the room, feeling a twitch in his shoulder & legs as soon as he gets off his rested bed. He flap opens the door of his room; Bhaleram, on spur of the moment, hugs him in a mingy, only to realize his discomfort}
Surya (tears rolling down his cheek): “How…Did I rough-up myself to the extent of fainting? Where…where’s…Rakhi, is she dim fit? How did…!!!”
Bhaleram: (Holds his arm. Pacifying): “lull down…just settle down…”
{In due course, Damayanti gets a cup of local shrub tea and serves Surya}
Bhaleram: “Rakhi is in a pink of her health, she was bitten with disturbance, and I wanted her to mingle with Kapil . They’ve just left towards our farm yard to pluck-off fresh chickpeas…”
Surya (while sipping the tea his dish didder’s): “uhhh…are you sure she is ok…well, for how long was I asleep? What’s the time now? How did I reach home? I feel a static in my mind and nerve, we just had a journey of horrr…”
Bhaleram: “She’s fine; you calm down its mid-afternoon. I’ve extracted the details of your journey through Rakhi; I was awaiting your consciousness, I deep heartedly regret that you had to go through abounding journey of horror. I will ensure this grief is momentary…”
{While Surya was benumbed, Bhaleram had sent an emissary towards the nearby Adivasi village and invited one of the leaders of their community, incidentally a good friend of Bhaleram, to transpire the fact of demonic episodes if he could...}
Dundiya-Daa (tribe leader) arrives in a ghastly robe, his thin torso, blanket of beard and depraved aura makes Surya feel quandary about his existence in the situation. He sits on the floor folding his legs, as his cadaverous knee cap faces the ceiling, he holds his legs firm by interlocking finger’s of his hands
While Dundiya-Daa pays due heed, Surya retrospect’s the journey and narrates the journey of horror.
Post narration, Bhaleram is astounded and struck with dread. Dundiya-Daa intermits.

Bhaleram divulges few facts about the village affairs and following is concluded:
During their journey, electricity supply was intermittent; Batteries died out. There were numerous instances when the bag they carried fell down, at time, dissected, which consumed their time and attention. They even had to go down the slope in opposite direction, to find the lost bag on one occasion. Apparently, off late, the Electricity Circuit Board of the village belt did load-shedding during this time of the evening. It resulted in every village, losing electricity after regular intervals, resulted in such a way, that the closest village (from Surya) would shed electricity first. ST department (Bus Service Department) had recently contracted the locals to rid off the dry well along with Rusted metal board and make way for the ST's U-Turn Stop. This created an identification barrier for surya and made the journey appear longer, as they apparently bypassed their destination...
Surya: “Bhau, the lights kept on crawling away, in gradual sequence…well…uhhmmm…that makes sense, what does not make sense though, was the awful holocaust episode...”
{Surya looks at Dundiya-Daa with a frown. For a brief moment Dundiya-Daa sustains silence, exhales audibly, he stands-up firm, he walks towards the door, in opposite direction of Surya and Bhaleram, rests his right shoulder on the corridor, and his eyes sight a tree…
Dundiya-Daa (utters ponderously): “For years now, we’ve adopted the concept of Gram Panchayat. Our established customs exist beyond the realm of legal justice. The government does not have any visibility of tribal affairs & crimes. We organize Adivasi Panchayat every 3 months for all 27 villages that we administer in this region and judge all the affairs along with criminal acts. Leaders of adivasi tribe pass the judgment and confine the culprits of our society. Our justice is profound and rigorous.”
Dundiya-Daa: “We live in exile and strive for basic necessities every day. In our society there are no defined rules and laws. We are distant from the clutches of local police. We don’t have any deity to worship but our culture believes in faith, we respect life and that probably is the reason why those who don’t respect it are severely punished...”
{Dundiya-Daa elaborates…Infants were baby girls slaughtered recklessly by their fathers and family members with heedless minds. All from the same family dumped the petite portions in their own backyard over a period of time. The family treated baby girls as burden and Jinx. The act was exposed when neighbors infiltrated in the backyard sensing the unholy act. They confined 3 out of 11 perpetrators, unfortunately rest fled beyond our reach…}
Dundiya-Daa (Continues): “Men were tormented, chocked to death and trussed for not respecting life.
We don’t believe in ritual killing, if need be, we sacrifice our own blood; all the ill-fated infant body parts were individually placed in a pot, besprent blood, indicated survival of life on a growing tree, they would continue to survive in our hearts…”
{Bhaleram knew tribal rituals were taboo but was astounded and taken aback}
Surya (Stupefied): “Why don’t you account such incidents to police, explaining them the gravity of the act would certainly…?”
Bhaleram (interrupts): “Tribal’s don’t utter a word to police, have abolished them. In the past, policemen themselves have created bordellos (house of prostitutes) in few of the adivasi villages. Some promised to marry the illiterate, under-aged woman and fled untraceable after the change in postings (reporting area), post bigamy…”
Dundiya-Daa: (Chewing his teeth with accelerated hate. Fouls them …)
Dundiya-Daa: (Continues) “Those men were cruel, barbarous and inhuman, so was the woman who seduced her husband’s, 14 years old, brother in law and committed adultery for years. She, believed to be pregnant with him, aborts the unborn intentionally and axes her husband while asleep, disposes him tactfully, seeks marriage with brother in law, who apparently confronts in front of those who’d beget him and succumbs to tyranny of a woman, exhausting his own life in the bargain…”
Women reciprocated inevitable heartlessness; we made her heart shallow…”
Surya: (pauses for brief, looks at Bhaleram, Stoned & Pale, he squints in one direction and submerges himself in glacier of thoughts…)

Dundiya-Daa (Continues) “We buried vicious women who swallowed life of her loving husband (Tirthank) who had distinctly transmitted the fact of infertility before they bonded ritually. Tirthank also quoted her to elope with his beloved friend and bear responsibility of the child. When she realized, after bigamy, it was her who’s barren, she accounted her husband to have transmitted the abnormality, and it was such a waste thought, though such situations are rare. She damaged Tirthank’s head to death while asleep and exhausted him to death burying him in the heart of our holy turf…”

Surya (is astonished by a storm, listening to the scandalizing reality of indiscreet tribal society!!! Still floatingly occupied in the world of thoughts…)

Bhaleram (Feels ill-fated for those bearing pain…)
Dundiya-Daa (Continues) “The old women (Janki-baa) had been requesting to perish her life for few years now. She was suffering & scuffling with pain in perpetuality…
Bhaleram (interrupts) “Ohh, I realize that, Vishnu had taken her in the city and they established ailing element of cancer that was few years ago, i think pain must have gone way beyond her threshold…”
Surya “May her soul rest in peace inside the shielded gates of heaven, away from pain and exile…”

Dundiya-Daa (continues…) “I realize it must be hard for you to absorb facts, especially ‘Bhaleram’, while being close to our society…We have been living in poverty and our only source of livelihood is Honey extraction wandering through dense forests, fishing & meals offered from landlords after working in their farms. We are hard working and skilled, in recent times we are struggling for basic survival due to intermittent draughts, even honey extraction involves lot of risk, and there is rare medical aid here both from existence & affordability perspective. Our women are skilled, the stack of women you sighted, tumbling inside the river, were the chosen few to perform a complex ritual that’s beyond my explicit capacity of annotation.
What you really need to imbibe though is a fact, that’s all of them existing (surviving) even today…
Surya “what about the girl in the river…?”
(Dundiya-Daa looks at Surya with captivating stare and walks away after uttering inaudible words in Bhaleram’s Auricle {Ear}. Surya alters unawareness. He is astonished why Dundiya-Daa left in haste. Bhaleram conveys to Surya about the unfortunate fact. The adivasi tribesmen have sighted her irregularly and her mystery is still unsolved. Bhaleram affirms to Surya that darkness absorbs things which are beyond explanation; they unfortunately sighted such an event. Surya literally beseeches for fact however decides to hide the truth with Rakhi)

Bhaleram reveals Surya, about him, falling unconscious 4 & half kilometers away from their native village, Rakhi had to halt her journey on the wicked road, after few hours of exhaustion, fear and strain, one of the villagers elevated him and guided Rakhi home in early morning hours

The Revelation (Few Years Later)…

Surya is sitting along with Rakhi & Dundiya-Daa, all of them at the comfort of the chair, on a bright day, in Veranda, Smiling…
Dundiya-Daa (while cuddling Rakhi & Surya’s son and talking to him…)
“Son (Suryaraj), those who begotten you, have contributed immensely to the tribal society. Education & Medical aid has truly made a difference in our lives, our hope towards freedom and better life will continue to survive…”

*Post the Journey episode Surya & Rakhi had decided to stay-on in village, built local school, worked laboriously & innovatively to create development and awareness for adivasi Society…*

The End

*1983 - Journey of Horror*Lalthan Village (Continued1)

Surya (Takes a deep breath & judder’s Rakhi): “The truth is, we are still together, like always, we’ve always believed in moving on and have never succumbed to evils of life…”
Surya (Continues…): “I know, maybe we’ve lost and surpassed our people and village in the journey, we saw devils heinous playground, and it may influence our thoughts but wouldn’t conquer them. What we haven’t lost though is faith, its dark, we have hope, hope will continue to survive within us, it will illume us, if we reach out to those de-glazed lights at least we would know where we are”
Rakhi (pauses for sometime…): “Hmmm (sighs)…I realize you’ve been burdening your shoulders for long, let me help you…”
Surya (firmly lifts the belt of the bag): “It’s not the bag but the journey for both of us. Let’s continue…”
Rakhi: “do you really think we should continue the blind walk or halt on the unblessed road unto morning?”
Surya: “I believe, to unfold the blindness, we need to reach the faded lights…” 
{They continue walking, with depleted strength, exhausted minds and galore of questions for what they envisioned. Tormenting thoughts of bedevilment were creeping and crawling every moment. They cover some distance and rakhi pauses abruptly, drags Surya towards her left and walks swiftly, stripping-off the bushes, both of them sight a twiddling illumination from fire, they realize, have stepped-up on a trodden road, which is diagonally and gradually moving up the hill}
Rakhi: “Do you think we could seek help, sighting fire means locality, it means people and people who can help us, and should we go off the main road and follow the trampled road…”
Surya: “The mouth of hill seems to be strikingly close, much closer then the de-glazed lights. Fire is an element of life; hope to get salvation unto dawn…”
Rakhi: “Let’s walk firm and light…”
{As they walk the rugged turf on the trodden road, they faintly vision a horde; they appear to be tribal people holding wooden torch abiding to unknown ritual}
Rakhi (while holding Suryas hand, walks faster): “let’s walk in pace, we finally have saviors…”
Surya: “Rakhi!!! The road is unknown, the people are unknown, and adivasis don’t like interference. Slow down, there are myriad bushes around us, we are off-road, and there might be crawling creatures in the shrubs, let’s cut our pace, we are just few meters away from them…”
{They gradually progress in the vicinity of ritual, only to get flabbergasted with what they see, a catastrophe, an episode of holocaust...}
They gradually progress in the vicinity of ritual, only to get flabbergasted with what they see and hear, they witness a horrendous catastrophe, an episode of holocaust which literally intoxicates there heart and tears it in horror…
Adivasis (tribal’s) carrying wooden torches, it appears to be a beginning of their demonic ritual, all of them in ecstatic state, grumbling in unknown language, torches are long enough to be thumped on the ground, they pound the torches in rhythm creating a demonic vibration on terra firma (solid part of earth’s surface). They watch a series of holocaustic episode in front of their naked eyes, while keeping themselves invisible.
They watch a series of holocaustic episode in front of their naked eyes, while keeping themselves inconspicuous.
The episodes are scattered frantically…
Sight 1: Pile of degraded infant body parts lying on the surface, as if slaughtered recklessly, are collected by one of the tribal women’s, she attempts to identify the tiny limbs, abdomen, fingers etc,. while catering them orderly, has 7 pot-like muddied vessel besides her, holds one of them, walks damply while sounding malevolent towards the heap of ill-fated infants, slits her index finger and sprinkles few drops of blood in the vessel, conceals entire muddied vessel with a piece of cloth, continues the act unto all of them are bundled-up. All vessels are fastened with a firm rope; one of the Adivasi men mounts up on the distinguished tree within the vicinity and knots them resolutely (quick and firm) on various branches of the tree.
Sight 2: Women is being impaled from the bottom with a sharp log, before impaling she’s motion-less (possibly dead), the penetrated log birthing through her chest oozes thick red paint (blood) which gushes through her naked body and accumulates on the surface, she’s been erected vertically, few feet above the ground with steady support through sharply pierced log submerged in the heart of earth. Though she’s dead, horde of men continue to nail her with sharp and thickly palm-sized piece of crooked wooden object vigorously all over her body, while malevolently revolving around unto she appears stapled all over…
Sight 3: 3 men being dragged singly, as against their vain resistance, trembling convulsively and flip flapping there naked limbs, arms and torso. They are tangled in knots while being aggressively dragged through the bushes, they appear to have dense bruises all over there body. As they reach the Terra fir-ma, flock of adivasis appear in a whisk and start pounding them with bare legs in extreme violence, the savagery act continues, as they shout in vociferation unto extremum of pain and almost drained to death. As their strength surrenders, their hands and legs are unlaced but the same are knotted around their necks, all 3 are dragged-on through the firmly gripped rope around their necks near a strong branched tree, as they continue to battle & survive pain are choked to death and are abandoned on the various branches of the tree...
Sight 4: A women is dragged insignificantly through the bushes, pulled by her hair, she is brought near a sizable pit which narrowly descends toward its mouth. She yells and cries hysterically, in immense agitation, shivering pain and turbulence, while being dragged towards the mouth of a pit. Three women start striking her and pound her aggressively with long wooden torches, they sound malefic and confine her in the direction of the pit unto the time she is incapacitated and accommodated completely inside the pit. Gradually, her hysterical outcry desolates and mutes however an aged women continues to smash her head and neck; Other 2 gather stone & sand and shallow the pit, the helpless lady runs out of her last breath as she’s tortured to death and buried alive…
Sight 5: Aged women, who earlier was smashing the women’s head in piecemeal, lies down on a rocky slab, wearing a thin grisly robe, develops a heavy breathing, breathing erupts muffled voices, a woman stands demoniacally besides her, the women appears to be fiercely possessed, she sprinkles an alien liquid on the old women from the ugly bowl she’s carrying, as the act continues, all the nomads populating the ritual look up and bang there torches on their turf and follow the archaic language used by possessed women, gaining rhythm in their pounding and voice, entire vicinity appears to be in a state of enigmatic enchantment. The possessed lady slits her vein and disperses blood in the bowl, stirs it gently and hurls the liquid in old lady’s mouth, forcing her to gulp entire solution. The ritual continues, rhythm continues, ripe old aged women gradually though stops breathing; she vomits blood after feeling a sudden & impactful choke, she continues to pour out blood and eventually passes out, the breathing stops completely and she passes away…
{All the episodes occur in a flash, Rakhi & Surya are in a state of shocking perplexity. Their bodies shiver, Jaws tremble in intoxicated fear, heart beats are accelerated, in a state of trauma, hearts and soul gripped with petrifaction, the episodes don’t stop, they continue…}
Their bodies shiver, Jaws tremble in intoxicated fear, heart beats are accelerated, and they’re in a state of grappled trauma, hearts and soul gripped with petrifaction, eyes filled with horrifying repugnance. They knew, uttering a word means horrendous punishment through nomads. Surya clasps Rakhi’s arm and literally drags her back towards the road, the demonic ritual doesn’t end it continues. The pair though, quickly moves away, running and panting blatantly, on the road, they continue swift footrace, appearing fanatically insane and seethe, unto Surya’s bag gets interlaced between his legs and he rolls around and roughs up on the road, fells unconscious…In a blink he opens his eyes and…
Their bodies shiver, Jaws tremble in intoxicated fear, heart beats are accelerated, and they’re in a state of grappled trauma, hearts and soul gripped with petrifaction, eyes filled with horrifying repugnance. They knew, uttering a word means horrendous punishment through nomads. Surya clasps Rakhi’s arm and literally drags her back towards the road, the demonic ritual doesn’t end it continues. The pair though, quickly moves away, running and panting blatantly, on the road, they continue swift footrace, appearing fanatically insane and seethe, unto Surya’s bag gets interlaced between his legs and he rolls around and roughs up on the road, fells unconscious…
In a blink, he opens his eyes; only to get flabbergasted… scintillating bright light fill his eyes, unable to restraint the sparkle, squeezes his eyelids for split of a second, and finds himself well-heeled. He ecstatically looks at the window pane which pours sunshine and feels resurrected…

*1983 - Journey of Horror*Lalthan Village

Location: Lalthan Village (approx. 113 Kms from mumbai)
Year: 1983 (Incidentally my birth year)
Village Population: 9 Houses (landlords & farmers) + Approx. 20 hutments of local tribal's (adivasis)
{This incident was described by a very close relative, have attempted to narrate it in the best of my capacity}

Lalthan is located in extreme interiors of Maharashtra. Its hard to imagine, such an extreme country side, within the proximity of city. 'Extreme' simply means the village lacks electricity supply intermittently, water is drawn through well which appears to have a matted green flora, frogs survive with harmony & poison-less green snakes sprawling in peace, dwelling besides age-old mango tree. The village is located near the footsteps of range of mountains, rocky terrain and dense forest. Reaching this village through a stretch of stones & sand-built, so called road, itself is a horrendous travelling experience.
Adivasis (considered to be of lower caste and intelligence) were used by Hindus to run errand, help in farming & irrigation, domesticate cattle's and milk them in early dark hours.
Bhaleram's (Occupation: Farming) brother Surya is walking towards the gloomy village. He had to walk approximately 3 kilometers, There is no direct transportation due to terribly rocky and worn-out road. There was nothing new about the journey since he's been visiting Lalthan atleast 3 times a year. Surya was carrying a heavy bag filled with clothes, extra torch, biscuits etc,. He is accompanied with his wife Rakhi, while its pitch dark, Rakhi is anguished due to thick dark bushe's towards left, steep slope towards right descending in serene river, dark deserted road sloping up and down and mystical noises of myriad creatures. It was 7 pm in the evening and Surya is torchlighting his way, thinking village is on the brink of his reach...
Cold weather in the month of March manifests a short day causing darkness earlier than traditional day cycle. Rakhi in her turquoise sari, following her husband, holding an oversized purse in one hand and lightly holding the belt of the bag Surya is carrying. Rakhi is in a state of belie (i.e. in contradiction with), though she is in anguish, she cherishes the moment while being with her husband. Journey is silent; Rakhi persistently thinks about all the beautiful days Surya and she spent, thoughts took her away from the fear of shivers due to darkness. Suddenly they hear a sound of “hiss” with a great pace, crushing heaps of dry leaves...
Surya cautiously diverts the torch light towards the sound and torch dies out abruptly, Rakhi holds him tightly, Surya loses the grip of the torch and his bag, both fall down and dissect. Rakhi shouts with muffled voice and holds Surya firmly; barely able to see him, she gets terrified. They hastily manage to cater the dissected items from the bag but torch. Surya tries to calm Rakhi who displays her discomforted state of mind by not leaving Suryas arm. Surya bravely pacifies her, hiding his own underlying fear and gives her a steady hug, only to realize her heart beats were literally thumping his chest.
Surya tries to fix the dismantled torch but in vain, while holding his wife’s hand, he tries to dig into the extra torch which was handy as contingent, in the over-occupied bag, only to find that the torch is not lighting up. Surya tries his wit to conquer the dim-out (i.e. - darkness resulting from the extinction of lights), while he’s trying to get the extra torch working, Rakhi is at a standstill.
Surya quotes: “This is my village; I don’t need a gadget to reach my home, hold my hand with trust and we shall reach home safely…”
Rakhil quotes: “I trust my life on you…”
Surya interrupts: “we shall walk towards the faded lights and shall reach the destination”
They continue walking on the rocky road which stretches far beyond their destination (lalthane), there pace is considerably reduced due to unavailability of light form.
Lalthane village is located few meters away from the road towards left, had a ‘dry well’ just besides the road along with a rusted metal board embossed “lalthane” in Marathi language. These distinct identifications would be sufficient to affirm that they have reached their destination...
While darkness continues to be a hindrance, Surya and Rakhi continue walking; they presume, they have at least completed 2 km’s of the total 3 km journey. Rakhi continues to hold the belt of the heavy bag Surya is carrying; they focus on their path and observe silence, after walking few more meters the faded lights of Lalthane village were advert & visible. They continue maintaining silence but ruffle up; increasing their pace, due to the rocky terrain, and uneven road, breaking there rhythm, Rakhi abruptly tweaks her leg and thud!!! Falls down, manages to stabilize the fall, balances her with hands leaning completely down, plucks off one of the belts of Surya’s bag, and avoiding flat fall. Surya instantly holds both her shoulders, while he is bending, and screams Rakhi!!!
Rakhi shrieks (i.e. sharp piercing cry): “My palm…”
Surya lifts her up, touches her palm, and feels its wetness, due to a thin blanket of blood flowing through her palm, quotes: “let’s reach home and sister in law will treat it in blink of an eye” and binds her palm firmly with his napkin.
Rakhi once again hugs Surya, she assures him she is fine, and they continue walking, restricting their pace. Rakhi slightly limps for few seconds but gets geared-up immediately, now that they are about to reach their destination...
They continue walking; the walk which has always been regularly comfortable, appears painstakingly long…
Rakhi asks: “How far are we?”
Surya replies: “Let’s continue walking towards faded lights, almost there, as soon as we see the deserted well, we’re…”
Rakhi (quickly interrupts): “ohh!!! The well, it’s…”
Surya: “No that’s not really true…uhhh, actually part of it is true but…”
Rakhi: “I’m glad you’re with me, won’t be afraid of the legend…”
Surya: “Villagers have traditional thought process, have created a disgusting rumor, height of idiocracy…”
Rakhi: “life in village is slow, they blindly believe in both god & demons”
Surya: “I know you are not worried about demons or ghosts but serpents and rodents…”
Rakhi: “well, what worries me more is the fact that your brother ardently believes the legend to be true…”
Surya (frowning): “It’s bizarre & gives me creeps, my grandmother was not insane, and she got baffled due to prolonged sickness, survived in pain…”

{As they speak they continue walking}
Rakhi: “Do you really think she committed a suicide, jumping in the well, and deterred the illness or…”
Surya: “It was certainly not possession; she was tired of prolonged illness, lack of treatment and deteriorating age”
Rakhi: “Then why did she scream ‘did you hear them, they are tearing my ears, someone discipline them, make them quite…’
Surya: “Sure there is a medical reason for that, after all she was 79 years old and…”
Rakhi (interrupts): “Sister in law (Damayanti) quoted ‘she had almost lost her eyesight, still refused to operate for cataract, her room was scratched all over with unidentified symbols, she used to murmur something all the time, touch forehead of kids and villagers scaring them to death’…”
Surya: “Villagers have methods of exaggerating things, including our family members who crave for attention…”
Rakhi: “Damayanti had also quoted ‘she used to get-up late night, scream disgustedly and bang her head on the door (literally sounded; thud-thud-thud-thud-thud) making monstrous impact, she scratched and bite people who tried to control her, she sometimes left house at midnight only to return at dawn, she was in dreadful condition, stopped taking bath and were stinking’…such a pity…”
Surya: “That doesn’t mean she should be confined to a room for entire day which actually aggravated her state of affairs…”
Rakhi: “That’s true, maybe that was one of the provoking aspects since she decided to shed her own blood by banging her head on wall…”
Surya (stone faced, pauses): “May her soul rest in peace now, the extent of her disturbed phenomenon actually made her pluck-off own ears, she was unconscious in a blood of pool and excruciating pain
Surya (stone faced, pauses & quotes): “May her soul rest in peace now, the extent of her disturbed phenomenon actually made her pluck-off own ears, she was unconscious in a pool of blood when my brothers son (Kapil) saw her shivering in excruciating pain, got her hospitalized…
Rakhi (interrupts): “only to realize later, those disturbing voices continue to haunt her from within, she decided to perish her life and achieve salvation…”
Rakhi (hesitantly): “are you particularly convinced that wicked well has nothing to do with her death? Did anything dwell inside it? Were there any ridiculously blown-up rumors about the well?”
Surya: “No, am equally unsure why the well turned dry unto today’s date, preceding grandmother’s death episode…”
Surya (pauses and continues): “The 'so called legend' continues to affirm, that she still haunts the vicinity of unblessed well…”

They continue walking, the journey appears to be never ending, and faded lights of the village still appear to be distant, Surya wonders why they have to rub their feet for such a long time!!!

Journey get petrifying...

Rakhi: “it’s incidental, those faded lights (which for a moment aren’t visible due to steep ascending slope) are like rays of hope”
Surya quotes “Trust my sight & intuition, we’ve certainly not crossed our village, the identifications are remarkable and cannot be missed”
Rakhi: “I trust my life and my soul on you; we realize the importance of light (happiness) only when it follows the darkness (Sadness), what really makes a difference is hope…”
While they are ascending gradually towards the top of the slope, on the never ending road, almost on the edge, Rakhi visions something towards her right, she twitches (Jerky Motion) towards her husband on her left, just before she swifts left, she pants, almost out of breath, holds her husband with such a force that it sucks-out all his strength, he drops his bag which rolls off the slope…
Rakhi (continues panting): “Girl…Nude…River…”
Surya (attempting to loosen the tension): Rakhi!!! Uhhh… Are you... Are you?
Rakhi (suppressed scream): “Don’t look towards the river!!!
Surya (roughens up): “Rakhi, which girl...”
Rakhi (suppressed scream): “Don’t talk, just walk, where…where is the bag, where is the bag? Don’t utter even a part of a word, this place is doomed, but where is the bag?
Surya simply utters “Hmmm” with a sigh of confusion, both of them desperately try locating the bag, it was imperative. Surya rationally observes that the bag may have slid down the slope and they somehow manage to find the bag, they rub-off the dirt and almost start running. The sudden twitch on top of the slope earlier along with her swiftness causes jerk in her thigh, she doesn’t confide to husband and brisk-up. They cover bit of distance; their breath was speaking more than their minds, they continue to walk in pace until Surya mortifies silence, the language of breath..
Surya (stops, holds his back with one hand, and continues breathing heavy): “what’s going on, why are we running, what girl in the river are you talking about???”
Rakhi (pauses): “I never said girl in the river"

Rakhi (continues sounding stern): “you saw her, you saw her right?
Surya (holds Rakhi’s arm firmly): “I tried to tell my mind, it was just a harmless apparition”
Surya: “I did…I did vision her dark & nude physical aura, her hair distinctively long and dense, she was like a rogue…I don’t want you to be afraid, every individual is responsible for its own destiny, what I ardently know is no one can harm you, no one dare harm us, have faith in lord Ganesha the savior”
Rakhi (while the tears gush off her cheek, Sighs): “I’m scared!!! Am tired!!! Our journey is disgustingly long…”
{Both continue walking, Rakhi continues to hold Suryas arm…}
“I’m in a state of confusion, unable to grasp the situation, where did she arrive from? How did she illume in darkness and ecstatically made herself visible? She immersed herself in cold water mystically? Did she commit a suicide or was it a lost soul? Or…
Surya: “She was far beyond our understanding!!! Saving her was out of question, even on the mouth of river, due to sand rigging business, the waters run deep…”
Rakhi: “Her turbulence and boisterous state disturbed me; dense hair reaching her calf, her dark aura has gripped my mind, I saw her for split of a moment, this moment would haunt me throughout my life, it’s a feeling of being enigmatic…”
Surya: “The moment is over now; the evil has vanished, we need to move on, demons lay within, they exist only if we think about them, like you said ‘after darkness follows the happiness’ it’s time to go home now…
{Rakhi walks silently; she reconciles Surya’s statement. The gloomy lights still appear to be distant but visible. Darkness continues to grip time; they walk with desperation and cover some distance again, both certain, they have covered more distance then required to reach their destination. Rakhi altercates…}
Rakhi: “We have crossed miles, transitioned from mild evening to fall of night; we are still walking, making buffoons of ourselves, knowing our destination lags behind…”
{Before Surya tries to pacify Rakhi, they see something which terrifies there soul, there heart clogs and they shiver to glory of hell…}
they get petrified!!! Rakhi tries to dampen her tone, but fails, screams loud with intoxication, breaths laboriously while Surya is stone faced, he feels choked due to adrenaline rush in his heart. Rakhi wobbles and whisks on the turf due to extreme fright. Surya deflates the adrenaline before Rakhi could fall down, manages to grasp the bottom of her forearm as she swirls due to imbalance. They managed to erect there posture in haste, Charged towards the mystified light…
On the run, Rakhi screams with steady lungs in husky voice “Help!!! Help!!! Help!!! Someone…
Help!!! Help!!! Help!!! Help please Help…
Her outcry continues, Surya fetches for help too, he assumes rhythm in running and shouting for help, for a miniscule second, he thinks he would actually receive acknowledgement for his plight but only to his dismay, an impulsive thought. They continue running and screaming for help, cover herculean distance vainly, by now sure they’ve, way surpassed their destination...
They continue running and piercing there voice in air for help unto their bodies renounce strength. They eventually halt, blatantly grab each other and try to discipline there agony through silence and aggression, they breathe out continuing to be vociferous for few moments…}
Rakhi (almost passes-out, manages to stand with sheer courage. Continuing to pant): “That’s brutal, that’s vicious, stupendously horrifying, and that’s barbarism!!!”
Surya (breathing heavily): “What we saw again was beyond our rational understanding; they appeared like slaves of devil in enchantment, performing an atrocious ritual...”
Rakhi: “That was agonizingly real, my breath appears to quit, you saw her and you saw them, we witnessed events which will intoxicate our minds in fear forever…”
Surya (Sighs. Appears in disbelief): “They…uhh…all of them nude, maybe 17 of them, dark hue & faintly visible, gruesomely rolling over, like human waives, with laced (tied) hands, tumbling down, into the hotbed of gothic river, it gives me creeps to even describe about their ferocious hair & muffled cries…”
Rakhi (screams): “We saw a stack full of witches!!! Like a flock rolling over, one-by-one, and perishing them, drowning themselves into the river. This is not true…This cannot be true…Our journey is a farce…its journey to insanity”

Ghostly Experience of Shaniwar Wada (Continued2)

"Sahab , jack kharab ho gaya tyre badalne mein thoda aur time lagega , andhere mein kuch dikh nahi raha " Tukaram shouted. Vishal replied "Theek hai". This worried us as we might have to wait longer.

The old man started getting up and asked "why don't you stay with us tonight , its already raining and its cold" "We are 5 people including driver" "Koi baat nahi" said the other man "I am care taker
of Lal Mahal this other person is watchman , we will make arrangement for all of you in our quarters , you may leave tomorrow after tea" "Alright then" said his companion "Ask you friends to comre here , its 12'o clock already, we will drop you at the quarters and then we have to get back on duty"
I agreed and sent Vishal to bring down the girls. I thanked the old men "Its so nice of you sir to offer us shelter. Thank you very much sir" Those two men got up and started walking "Follow us" said one of them. I was following them and they were entering in a dark alley. I heard Jahnvi shouting , "Chetan ruk ham aa rahe hain" I turned back and stopped for them for a while , when they reached closer , I looked for the watchman and caretaker. Watchman was standing there , I asked "Where the caretaker has gone?" "He went ahead to make arrangements for you" replied the watchman coldly. He was a bald old man in his fifties very much like Om puri. We started following him Aditi broke silence "Sir how long you are working as watchman?" Watchman turned back and looked at Aditi narrowing his eyes "Since very long , I don't remember exactly" he turned back started walking."What a weirdo he is" Janhvi giggled "Shut Up" said Vishal "Buddhe ne sun liya to sadak pe rat bitani padegi" watchman entered in other alley. The watchman stopped and entered in an old house we followed him , we saw that caretaker has laid down beds and filled a pot with water. "Here you are" said caretaker looking at us "I have made all the arrangements , toilet is in the backyard" and with pensive tone he said " remember do not go near the backyard under any case as it might be risky" "why" asked Vishal "On the other side of backyard near banyan tree there is Narayan Darwaza ,don't go there" and both of them left. We had some water and settled down , none of us was feeling sleepy we were talking and cracking jokes, when suddenly Aditi asked all us to be quiet for a while.
None of us was feeling sleepy we were talking and cracking jokes, when suddenly Aditi asked all us to be quiet for a while. We heard someone groaning with pain. Every body was terrified , I tried to go out and see who was groaning , Vishal and Tukaram accompanied me. We came out it was raining again , while making our way in the direction of groaning sound we saw caretaker lying under banyan tree "Ahhhh , please help me I was passing through the road just then I got slipped" "where is the watchman?" Tukaram asked "He has gone on the round". "Its OK we will take you to the quarter" We supported him , he tried to stand but he couldn't "I think its a fracture" said Tukaram "There is a clinic nearby drop me there tomorrow" "sure" I said we again helped him to stand we began walking supporting his shoulders."I forgot the keys , they must have fallen under the tree could you please get them?" "Fine" I saidI turned back and went towards banyan tree , I tried searching key bunch under the tree but as it was dark and raining so couldn't find any."Run Chetan Run" shouted somebody I looked forward and was shocked to see the caretaker in front of me. "How the hell is he standing there?" I said to myself and turned to face Tukaram 'Noooooo! Don't you turn back" but it was too late...
"Noooooo! Don't you turn back" shouted care taker but it was too late I saw that the duplicate care taker dissolving in air and it fused in to Tukaram. He fell down , Tottaly scared when I went to see him , he got hold of me and I saw that Tukaram was laughing hysterically and he twisted my left hand. I groaned with pain. I was unable to understand why is behaving in such manner "He is possessed , everybody run for your life" shouted caretaker on looking at Jahnvi, Aditi and Vishal coming out. He was beating me and was abusing me. He clasped my neck and began twisting it . I looked at others crying for help , but saw horror in their eyes their faces turned stark white in fear. SPLAT! Vishal threw a brick on Tukaram's back but his grip didn't loosned. Tukaram did not even looked at him.Without releasing his around my neck , he elongated his hand snapped his arm straight back and grabbed Vishal by the shirts' collar and I saw him flying over me he fell down on the ground and lost his conciousness
I could feel the bad hot breath of Tukaram on my neck, He was grinding his teeth, he firmly held my neck and increased pressure .I tried to getaway but it was impossible, I began chanting God's name as this was the last hope. All my friends were looking at my awful situation. I looked up wards at the banyan tree and shouted "Ram" at top of my voice collecting all my strength seeing my death was nearing."Hrrrrrrrrrrrr" snarled Tukaram rolling his eyes wildly. I could literally hear my heart beats thumping in my ears. He was tightening his grip by each passing second. He tried to strangle me. My eyes began to pop up. In state of helplessness I saw watchman coming running towards me, he hurled his stick to hit possessed Tukaram , and it struck right on his nose. Tukaram at once released me, watchman hurriedly pulled me and asked dumbstruck caretaker "Get me the gangajal hurry up make it quick! Caretaker was standing still, Watchman angrily said "GET ME THE GANGAJAL NOW!"
Caretaker was shocked by these words and ran to quarters. Tukaram had fallen on his knees fondling his wound. It was now oozing. By then caretaker had arrived with a small bottle of gangajal watchman seized it and opened its cork, poured some water on his right hand muttered some mantras and hurled the water on Tukaram. As soon as the gangajal was sprayed on Tukaram , he shooked his head violently and slumped . I moved forward to look Tukaram but watchman stopped me "stay away from him, I will see him" Watchman gradually moved towards him. Tukaram had closed his eyes tightly and was breathing heavily , watchman caressed his forehead , Tukaram got up slowly , his nose was still oozing " It’s OK now , seems he is out of danger" said watchman we moved closer , Vishal too regained his consciousness and we together supported Tukaram.....
Watchman handed bottle to Tukaram he emptied the bottle in a moment, he was still breathing heavily and we can listen to his heart beat. We came back to quarters settled down; girls were very scared with this high voltage breath taking incident. I asked them to relax and to retire in bed. Caretaker was still turned pale in figure "Its OK" Vishal said "Chowkidaar chacha ne hamari jaan bacha lee" "I want to stay something" exclaimed Caretaker looking at watchman and turned towards us. "Shhhhhhh" I said "Don't disturb him" pointing finger to Tukaram who was sleeping "We will discuss it tomorrow" "Right" watchman said in a firm voice "Get him to the nearest hospital tomorrow , I have fixed the mess , no need to worry. Good night. I am going back on duty” Caretaker wanted to follow him but watchman stopped him "You look after them, stay with them tonight” Watchman said and left the scene. We thanked watchman for saving us, he smiled and left. Vishal bolted the door. We were very tired and throwed ourselves on bed. It had been a long tyring day.

I woke up next morning with ringing of Alarm I rubbed my eyes and got up, turned off the alarm it was 7:00 in the morning. I throwed a glance on others they were still sleeping. Caretaker was sitting in corner, shivering and he was looking at the ceiling. On realizing that am awake he said “Chetan, I need to tell you something" .....
On realizing that am awake he said “Chetan, I need to tell you something" "One minute” I said "Natures' call. I will talk to you later; tell me where the hell is toilet" "He showed me the direction and I rushed there got myself relieved. I washed and rinsed my face by splashing water saw even Vishal had got up. Wiping my face I came towards him
"Munh haath dho kar fresh ho le, jab tak ye log jaagte hain, hum chai pi kar aate haain" Vishal nodded and left. Caretaker was still eagerly waiting for me "Chetan... please listen to me" It irritated me “Arey uncle kaan mat khao, ruko thodi der ek to kal raat nind bhi nahi aayi sir bhari ho raha hai" I said “I ll talk to you after having tea" Vishal came back and we were about to leave just then watchman arrived " Are you going out for tea?" "Yes" replied Vishal "Just wait for me am coming too" watchman rushed inside. Caretaker was now visibly upset at sight of watchman asked me "Lets get out, I need to tell you something" Vishal looked at him angrily "Arey ye kya natak laga rakha hai uncle? thoda sabr nahi rakh sakte? subah se dimag ka dahi kiye ja rahe ho??? Watchman uncle ko aane to do , arey kal ham sabki jaan bachai unhone" "Arey meri baat to suno" said caretaker pleading.
Just then watchman arrived, caretaker got silent. We walked down the road. It was a beautiful morning . Hawkers were selling papers, and milkman were in hurry. We saw some florists selling flowers and garlands; Vishal in relaxed mood was humming old Hindi song. We reached to Chaai Tapri. Watchman broke the silence "Mashallah! You have got a beautiful voice" I looked at him curiously he continued "So how was your night? I hope all was well" "What are you saying uncle?" exclaimed Vishal "You only saved us from that evil spirit, don't you remember?" "Me?" questioned watchman "Yes uncle you muttered some Sanskrit mantras and sprayed gangajal on possessed Tukaram last night " "How is this possible? I was sleeping in corridor of Laal Mahal after dropping you at the quarters and I don't know Sanskrit, leave vedas , I am muslim" said wondering watchman clearing his position. We were startled by this revelation "Yahi to mai tum log ko bataane ki koshish kar raha hun" burst out caretaker "Then who the hell was he who saved us last night?" Vishal and I asked in unison
"Then who the hell was he who saved us last night" Vishal and I asked in unison
“Calm down boys has a seat “said care taker. We sat on the benches of Chaai Tapri . Vishal ordered Chaiwallah “Chotu 4 cutting lana ” . “Bhaisahab zara khaskiye na itni jagah chore baithe hain “ another customer of Chaiwallah said sitting on the bench and pressing us hard , he threw an angry glance at us .Caretaker continued "He was none other than reagent Raghunath Rao " he said "What???????" we jumped from our seats shouting again. “Isn’t he dead” asked Vishal looking at caretaker
“Arey ye kaun bevade log pi ke aate hain tapri pe savere savere?” The other customer was puzzled. Caretaker and Watchman were smiling. “Are sir kya ho gaya?” Chaiwala came towards us and looked at us “ Har do minute mein aap dono kudi laga rahe ho ? Itni jagah chorr ke baithe ho , jasti chillam chilli nai karne ka baki customer log ko taklif hota hai” said Chaiwallah angrily and handed us water mug. We looked around . I, Vishal and other customer were sitting on the bench, I was wondering where the watchman caretaker duo had gone within second. I took the water mug I splashed some water on my face and bent down to wipe my face , I handed the mug to caretaker , he held it for a sec and I heard it falling down , I looked there and I saw that angry customer was wet. “Are ye kya kar diya , Mere ko bhiga diya” “I am sorry but I was giving that mug to one of our friend” I turned to caretaker and asked him “Mug kyon nahi pakda” “Hawa se bat kar rahe hai pagal” customer said , I saw caretaker smiling
And suddenly a street dog came there and started barking looking at the corner where Care taker was standing. “What the dog barking at?” Chaiwalla was puzzled.
Chaiwala looked around the corner to see as why dog was barking . "There" other customer pointed the direction Dog was barking at . I saw that Chaiwala passing through the body of caretaker and caretakers' body split in to two parts like a jelly , when Chaiwala walked forward it squeezed through like a viscous toothpaste. I was watching this was crazy enuff to see something like this happen , I was stunned. It seemed that Caretaker and Watchman were only visible to us.One was laughing while the other was screaming. A terrifying, inhuman siren of a scream teared our ear drum those two transformed into an old Maratha warrior and then bike riders so fast that human eye could barely follow it
.We reacted instantly, we started walking fast looked back and , we broke in to running and leaped away from them and it seemed both of them were disappeared. We reached the quarters and found that door was closed I kicked the door and it opened. "What happened?" said Janhvi. Aditi and Tukaram were looking at us in surprise.
"Lets get out of here , this place is haunted" Vishal shouted "and that caretaker , watchman are ghosts". "Whaat????" Janhvi and Aditi cried "Yes believe me , run for your life . We stayed there for some more time while Vishal got the car repaired. "Hurry up these Ghosts may hardly let anyone go , I know , am reciting Hanuman Chalisa." said Vishal "Yes please do it " I was worriedly "but I don't think it will be of much help " "so run , run for your life" shouted Janhvi "before these ghosts come here" . "Its Ok Janhvi relax" I said "let him complete his recitation , this will protect us from evil powers atleast"Girls got ready , all this while Vishal was reciting Hanuman Chalisa , nothing bad had happened. We came out of the quarters waved hand to get an auto rickshaw. "Excuse me" an old person said I turned to look the person. It was an Old lady "Did you spend last night in this quarter?" "Yes" I said "We stayed in these quarters last night , but.." The lady interuppted me "Oh my God!!" rolling her eyes and then she asked " Have you experienced something abnormal" "Well , yes , I did" Suddenly then a taxi arrived , door opened and Vishal dragged me "Come in the car , lets get out of this haunted place" he asked Tukaram who was sitting in the drivers’ seat . All the others sat on back seat . We locked the door . The lady laughed hysterically , ignoring her laughter Tukaram slammed the car in to reverse punched it, lighting up the tires on the footpath and we drove away with highest possible speed. I looked at Vishal he was still reciting his hanuman chalisa , while the girls were stunned. Aditi broke in to tears “I have never experienced such horror in worst of my nightmares” Janhvi consoled and stroked her cheek “Its’ OK Aditi , alright? The worst has gone” “God is great” I sighed and uttered those words “Yeah… 2-2 bhooton ko itne pas se dekhne ke baad samajh aya tere ko” Vishal taunted and even in that situation nobody could resist their smile.

*************************The End*************************

Ghostly Experience of Shaniwar Wada (Continued1)

Raghav looked upwards and with a deep sigh started narrating the story in a low tone "After Panipat war Peshwa dynasty had suffered alot . Their crown prince Vishwasrao and Peshwa's brother and Commander in Chief Sadashivrao Bhau died in the war. After listening the news of humilating defeat of his army , Shrimant. Nanasahib Peshwa too passed away of shock. His son Madhavrao succeeded him and ruled for quite some time . Raghunathrao , younger brother of late Nanasahib was appointed as a regent to the young Peshwa, but he tried to interfere with the administration. He soon fell out of favour with the Peshwa, and even tried to conspire against him by joining the Nizam of Hyderabad against the Peshwa. The alliance was defeated and Raghunathrao was placed under house arrest. After Madhavrao's death in 1772 his younger brother Narayanrao a 13 year old succeeded him. Raghunathrao was released from house arrest. He then became the regent of Madhavrao's younger brother Narayanrao. Together with his wife Anandibai, Ragunathrao plotted to arrest his nephew Narayanrao , he sent a letter to royal gaurd Sumer Singh Gardi in marathi to arrest Narayan rao , the message was intercepted by Anandibai his wife and she replaced the word word "dharaa (धरा)" and make it read as maaraa (मारा) or 'kill'. The miscommunication led to the Gardis killing him in the presence of Raghunathrao.Thus Anandibai went down in history for changing ‘dha’ to ‘maa’ and abetting the killing of the young prince. On seeing the guards coming after him the young prince fled inside the fort towards his Uncle’s place Badami Mahal crying “Kaka! Mala vachva!” (Uncle! Please save me! His uncle stood and watched Narayan Rao being killed. Narayan Rao was hacked into so many pieces that it had to be carried in a vessel through the door.
After listening to this story a chill ran down my spine. "How sad!!" exclaimed Jahnavi . I looked at the wrist watch "Its 7:00 pm we should get back to work now" and we came to our desk. I performed health check. Aditi's call had ended so she wanted to go out for a break but it started raining. Aditi came at my desk , I was telling Jahnavi about our daily activities and project plan. Aditi asked "So how is it going?" Jahnavi replied "God.There are so many applications and so many scheduled jobs to monitor , I don't know how I will be able to do it" Just then whole floor flashed in a lightening "Thuddddddddddddddddddrrrrrrrr" somewhere outside the building the lightening had struck. With the thundering sound of lightening Jahnavi startled "Take it easy" Aditi said and patted her.

"Anyways , Is anyone coming at the canteen? I want to have a coffee" said Aditi. Vishal said " Are you crazy? In such a weather you want to go down? Bheeg jayegi. Better have coffee from vending machine and its 8:00 PM already , please wait for 20-25 minutes , it will stop raining or we'll call up canteen and place the order" "OK fine" Aditi said. Raghav finished his work and came at my desk.

Aditi and Jhanvai went to coffee machine and retrurned with mugs. Aditi brought some biscuits , she offerred us and said "Chetan , Vishal and me are in your cab tonight. Cab vendor called me when you guys were out for tea and asked that other cab has gone for repair" "Fine , even Jahnavi will have a company" I said picking up one biscuit. "Hey bye the way where do you stay?" Aditi asked Jahnavi "I stay at Ganesh road, its close to Shaniwar Wada" Jahnavi replied and politely refused the biscuit "Thanks for the biscuit but I can't take it, I am fasting today you see its Pitru Amavasya......"
"I stay at Ganesh road, its close to Shaniwar Wada" Jahnavi replied and politely refused the biscuit "Thanks for the biscuit but I can't take it, I am fasting today you see its Pitru Amavasya......"

We started discussing about our job and office politics. I asked Raghav and Vishal if they would like to join me tomorrow for outing. Vishal agreed but Raghav denied as he had other plans on weekend.Suddenly I remembered Raghav's story about young prince and said "Hey Raghav , Shaniwar Wada is on our route, its also an amavasya today whats the chance if the ghost of young prince appears today ?" at this Aditi started coughing terribely , the biscuit had choked her throat and she was breathing heavily. Jahnavi gave her water bottle. She emptied the whole bottle and snarled at me "Forget it. I am not coming with you , I will call vendor and he will arrange separate cab for me" "Comeon , Aditi don't act like a child , you know we have just one cab tonight and we won't let you go alone , you know how risky it is for woman associate travelling alone in late hours" I tried to persuade her "Alright , but don't go from that Shanivarwada route its haunted , today is newmoon day and spirits are likely to be seen either on newmoon day or a fullmoon day" She said in trembling voice "And yes, today is Pitru Amavasya , so its damn sure young prince will be waiting for us" said Vishal teasing Aditi. Jahnavi was surprised
and said "So you also know about Shaniwarwada haunting?" "Ofcourse I know it" exclaimed Vishal "Everybody in Pune knows it , but I haven't come across any such spirit till now" everybody was now listening him "I had been to Shaniwar wada and seen its light and sound show , the fort is almost in its ruins , a fire broke out in 1818 and nothing left inside the old fort" "Still people believe it haunted" Raghav said. "People believe anything , as long as I don't meet a ghost, I won't believe these stories" Vishal said firmly , I backed him "Yes same goes with me".
Suddenly the lights were gone , due to heavy rain it was lightening. "Satyaanash! maine abhi abhi job chalaya tha , ye light ko bhi abhi jana tha" Vishal asked in a disappointed tone "Ye generator bhi chalu hone mein ghanto lagate hain" It was 8:45 PM , Raghav said "I have called in the canteen , they will be delivering the food on our desks" he looked at Jahnavi and said " I have orderd potato chips and lassi for us" . It was still dark only 2-3 lights were there as they were backed up by generators , my desk was in dark so I couldn't do routine checks. Food arrived and we had our dinner together. Just then support cell rang it was Avinash , Vishal picked up the phone "Haan bhai bol. Kya late ho jayega?" Vishal spoke to him and then informed "Avinash had called and said that today they will late as the new driver has arrived for pickup and also it is raining heavily" "Yes , abdul had informed us that there will be new driver" replied Jahnavi.

Lights came back and we started our routine healthcheck monitoring jobs etc , 2 hours passed and next shift people arrived "How is everything today?" Avinash asked me "Arey jab Chetan bhai shift mein ho kya darna? have fun Good Night!!!" Vishal said urned to me "Mujhe naye driver ka miss call ayaa hai , inko HandOver de do mai niche ja raha hun" Avinash said "I am feeling sleepy yar is everything OK with the system?" I given him proper Hand Over and he went to his desk he saw Jahnavi and greeted her "Hi Jahnavi" "Hey Hi Avinash" replied Jahnavi. "Jahnavi" said Aditi "Am going downstairs , Chetan is also going down , come we are already late today" "Ya , ya coming!" said Jahnavi and rushed towards us. We took our seats in the cab Raghav had already leaft as he came with his bike. "Aye Please driver bhaiyya , shaniwarwada ke pas se mat lena" pleaded Aditi to driver Tukaram. I asked him "Do you know the directions?"
"Aye Please driver bhaiyya , shaniwarwada ke pas se mat lena" pleaded Aditi to driver. Jahnavi started her prayers. Vishal said jokingly "Matlab aaj bhoot se mulaqat ho kar rahegi" I laughed , Aditi got irritated at this "Shutup both of you" She said angrily "Vishal kabhi to serious huaa karo , hame 20 kms jaana hai aur mausam kharab hai" I looked at Jahnavi she was engrossed in prayers.There was silence in the cab no body spoke. We had reached the university circle , just before the e square , I saw driver was not in his senses we were about to collide with a divider , just then I pushed him. "Hey" I screamed , he opened his eyes and on seeing the flyover divider he stopped the car by pressing the lever with his legs. Car stopped with a screech. "What nonsesne?" Aditi shouted at driver "You were sleeping , abhi accident ho jata to?"
"Sorry madamji wo jara aankh lag gayi thi please aap meri complaint mat karna" driver was frightened on looking Aditi. "I will drive the car , you go and sit with Vishal" I said and came on drivers seat "Aao brother" said Vishal to driver "jara ghadi to ghadi jhapki maar len" "Isko har waqt majak hi soojhta hai , abhi driver se majak kar raha hai abhi accident ho jata to?" asked Aditi. Jahnavi was shocked too "Are you sure you will be able to drive in such a stormy weather? Should I call Avinash? He will arrange separate cab for us?" She asked worriedly."Don't worry I have drived in worse weathers , this is cakewalk for me" I replied. I started the headlights and pulled the handbreak. I started the car and applied gear. I turned on the radio. We were heading towards Shivajinagar ST stand , just then we heard announcement in radio that Dengate bridge and other bridge are submerged under water and river mutha has crossed the danger level. "Bad news folks" I said. "It means that we now have to go from Shivaji Bridge and pass through Shaniwar Wada" Vishal said
"Shittttt" both the girls shouted. "Sirji raat mein wahan se jana thik nahi hai upar se aaj kali andheri amawas ki rat hai , bekar mein risk mat lo" driver tried to dissuade us. "Kya naam hai aapka?" I asked the driver "Tukaram" he replied "Haan to tukaram, hamare sath ladies hain itni raat ko inhe lekar kahan jayenge? Inke ghar pe log pareshan honge" I explained him our condition "Wo to thik hai Sir ji lekin jaan hai to jahaan hai , abhi sare pul pani ke niche ja chuke hain, Shivaji bridge bhi pani ke niche chala gaya to kya kar loge?" "Shubh Shubh Bol" Vishal said angrily and exchanged glance with driver. Driver got quiet at this. "Please Chetan" Pleaded Jahnavi "Man jaao" "No way , my uncle is heart patient, he will worry for me if I don't return home" I changed the gear and accelerated the speed. "Tell him that you will be coming tomorrow, call him right now" Aditi suggested. "No use" said Vishal showing his mobile "Network is gone. we don't have any other option but to pass through Shanivar wada" We had crossed the Rahul Cinema and were heading towards Sangam Bridge road , just then I saw some bikers coming from opposite direction , I slowed the car , they approached towards us , I lowered the glass window "Don't go forward the river is flowing over the bridge" "But we have to cross the river we have to go home" said Vishal "Take right turn and proceed through Shivaji Maharaj Road , we are going on that way, you may follow us if you want to" said those strangers. We agreed and I drived following them. We were now approaching towards Shivaji bridge . Just then I applied break. Car stopped with screeching sound...........
Car stopped with screeching sound. "What happened? shouted all "Nothing a black Cat just came in the way" I said we saw a black cat with ferocious yellow eyes crossing the road. "Its a bad omen" Jahnavi scared "Lets go back Chetan" "No need to worry dear we are following the bikers I turned towards her and said , I turned back and saw that those bikers were waiting for us on the otherside of bridge. They were waving hands as if they wanted to convey us something. I started the car again and moved towards bridge. As our car was passing through bridge we saw a water column rushing towards us. "Sir ji , Press the accelarator padel with full force , baadh aa rahi hai , kisi bhi waqt pul pani ke niche chala jayega" I was dumbstruck at the the sight of rushing water and my left leg pressed the accelerator padel , the car zooomed and with in few seconds we were standing on the other side of bridge. As soon as we crossed the bridge we saw water column devouring the bridge. Shivaji Bridge had gone under water . We escaped within few moments. "Thankgod" we said "Mujhe to laga tha ki yahin jalsamadhi ho jani hai" Vishal said "Shutup Vishal" Aditi scolded him "Aren't you guys feeling cold?" Jahnvi asked shivering . We experienced that the September night was as cold as December. "Really" said Aditi just then I heard Tukaram calling me from back "Chetan sir where are those bikers by the way, it seems we have missed them?" all turned to face Tukaram. We were shocked to saw that we were hardly 50 meters away from Shaniwar Wada
"Chetan sir where are those bikers by the way, it seems we have missed them?" all turned to face Tukaram. We were shocked to saw that we were hardly 50 meters away from Shaniwar Wada "Chetan lets go its so cold out here" Janhvi reiterated then Aditi came forward her eyes widened with terror , She was trembling with fear "H..Have yy..you ggguys noticed?? We are standing in front of Shaniwar Wada?" She holded my left hand tightly and shouted "Lets get out of here" "OK , OK Aditi we are going but we have to see where those bike riders have gone" I answered her "To hell with bike riders , I am feeling damn scared lets get out of here" Aditi was about to cry. We approached towards car and taken our seats , Tukaram sat on drivers seat and was sitting besides him. He turned the key in ignition , a security key flashed on the dashboard , started cranked slowly and its exhaust pipe smoked , this happen 2-3 times. "What happened?" I asked "I will have to look again" replied Tukaram. He tried again and car started we felt relieved , he took a left turn and we entered in alley , Shaniwar Wada was on our right side. Just when we were passing through alley the car wobbled and Tukaram applied brakes with full force. "Sir Tyre is punctured" We got down annoyed , we were standing on lonely road besides Shaniwar Wada. The eeriness of traquil moonless raining night made us uncomfortable , we were wet and shivering. Girls were sitting in the car,I and Vishal had opened the dickey , Tukaram came there and pulled out the jack and spare tyre. He began replacing the tyre.He said "Sir I will do it , you don't worry" Vishal was searching something in his pockets , I asked "what happened?" "Cigarette ke liye machis dhund raha hun" replied Vishal "Sir ji gadi mein padi hai le lo" Vishal extended his hand and took matchbox. "Stay away Vishal" Aditi warned him "I don't like smoking"
"Stay away Vishal" Aditi warned him "We don't like smoking" Vishallooked at her angrily and said "Tukaram bhai aap in ladkiyon ke sath yahin tuk ruko , jab tyre replace ho jaye to hame bula lena , ham zara sutta mar ke aate hain"
"Jyada dur mat jana sahab" Tukaram said in concerned voice . We began walking , Vishal offered me one , I lit it and took a puff , we saw a bike lying on the ground , we gone there and I realized "This is the same bike those guys were riding ,I remember the vehicle number its MH12 ET 9448" "Ya man" Vishal replied in a low tone. We saw two men on the otherside of road sitting and they had made a temporary fireplace. They had covered themselves with a shawl were wearing turbans. They were appearing like Old villegers. We reached to them "Have you saw two people passing through the road , they have left their bike" I inquired. "We didn't see any" replied one with a chilling voice. We stood there for a moment thinking how to react just then the second person asked Vishal "Who are you? What brings you here at such an unearthly hour?" "We are employees of an IT company we were coming from work , we were late due to bad weather" I narrated our situation and pointed finger towards our car "and now our car has broken down , driver is fixing it" "I see" said the old man.

"Sahab , jack kharab ho gaya tyre badalne mein aur time lagega , andhere mein kuch dikh nahi raha " Tukaram shouted. Vishal replied "Theek hai". This worried us as we might have to wait longer.

Ghostly Experience of Shaniwar Wada

This incident happened last year , when I was working in an IT Company at Pune. I was staying near Budhwar Peth, and since am in to Support jobs so had to work in 24x 7 shifts. The company had availed cab facility for the associates working in shifts so I used these cabs to commute from/to office.

I had recently moved in this area as my maternal aunt had to rush to Phoenix , US , where her son lived with his wife . As my bhabhi suffered miscarriage and there was no one to take care of her , my aunt had no other option but to go there and look after her. Before leaving she insisted me to come and stay there till she comes back and to look after her husband who was heart patient. I moved at her place in late August 2009 after dropping her at Mumbai Airport.

I still remember the day when this incident happened. It was 18th September 2009. Uncle had gone for Yoga classes and on Fridays he used to visit hospital for routine medical check ups.

I was given evening shift that day. It was a Friday and I was pretty much relaxed as I was planning to go out with friends next day. It was 11'o clock in the morning when I was awakened , my cell phone ranged.
It was 11'o clock in the morning when I was awakened , my cell phone ranged. I missed the call , I was surprised to see the cab drivers' number , I called back and
he picked up the phone
"Chetan saab apka pata kya hai? mai abdul driver bol raha hai" I was pissed off .

"Are abdul bhai abhi 11 baja hai , pickup 12:45 ka hai" said I. Abdul replied "Mere ko pata hai sahab mai us area mein naya hai islliye direction puchne ke liye phone kiya" I explained him directions to reach home. I took shower and had lunch. I looked at the clock it was 12:30 PM. I received miss call from Abdul, I came down and we started heading towards office.

He took a turn and we came on main road. "Bas sahab, main road pe aa gaye" Abdul said and started radio. We reached near Shaniwar Wada and Abdul turned the cab in an alley as there was pickup for another associate.
We reached near Shaniwar Wada and Abdul turned the cab in an alley as there was pickup for another associate. Abdul gave a miss call on the given number in the schedule. He turned towards me and said "Nayee madam aaye hai , aaj se apki team join karegi" "Yes , I know" I said I had received the mail of TL few days back but I haven't met her so far as I was working in Night Shift last month. Few minutes later a pretty girl approached towards cab, abdul promptly opened the door , she
got in and said "Hi!" with a smile looking at me , I smiled back and said "Hello. Am Chetan" "Am Jahnvi" she replied "Nice meeting you"

I said. We were now passing through Shaniwar wada , near the bridge we saw several men women were offering obulations on the banks of river.Looking at them
Jahnvai ask "Do you know if there is Durga Temple in nearby area , you see am new in Pune" I replied "Oh yeah , one is near the university circle , its called Chatushringi Temple , you may board the city bus and get down at university circle" "Thanks" She replied with a smile " Tomorrow is first day of Navratri and I am planning to go to temple" "Its OK" I said smiling back "So you are quite religious, right? You must be fasting in Navratri" "Yes" She said blushingly . Our car had to stop as we saw a group of people carrying deadbody crossing the road. Abdul said "Kyaa saab aaj kal bahut
log mar rahe hain" "Thanks to swine flu" I said "and why these people have to perform obulations?" Jahnvi replied "Its Pitru Amavasya , today"
Jahnvi replied "Its Pitru Amavasya , today" "and what is that?" I questioned again She started explaining "Its a newmoon day wherein people offer obulations for their dead relatives and forefathers" There was traffic jam now which mean that we had to wait for another 10-20 minutes, so I just thought to pass the time in chatting about these traditions "and how these obulations are accepted by the dead ones?" I inquired , She replied "They offer food to preists , poor and animals , they believe that their dead relative will come in any form and accept the food" "I don't believe this how is this possible that a dead one will have food?" I said "Its' just a superstition" Jahnvi said "Look Chetan.You don't believe these rituals , but don't call it a superstition just because you don't like it" Jahnvi continued "You see every person is judged according to his karma , the one with good karma go to heaven and the one with bad karma go to hell after death , but there is intermediate state wherein a soul has to travel to their respective destination , these obulations serves as refreshment to these deceased souls" I interuppted her and said jokingly "You mean Ghosts , don't you?" She looked irritated but replied "I only call them as atripta atma" I laughed , at this abdul said "Saab ghosts do exist" I said "Shutup yaar" Abdul said "Nahee saab , ye bagal ke Shaniwar wada mein Kahta hai bhutiyaa hai" Just then a truck behind us blowed the horn. I asked "Abdul ji pahle piche ke bhoot se to jaan chhudao , kab se horn baja raha hai" Abdul moved the car , the jam was cleared "Arey sahab , we are too late , now we have to reach office at the earliest"
Abdul moved the car , the jam was cleared "Arey sahab , we are too late , now we have to reach office at the earliest"

Abdul dropped us in the office and said " Saab main drop ke liye nahi aaunga , chutti pe ja raha hun naya ladka aapke drop ke liye aayega wo aapko miss call deyga aane par" I said "fine" and moved to office. We arrived at our desk and Jahnavi went to meet manager. I was busy in checking emails when our Manager Prakash asked "Chetan" I turned and saw Jahnvi standing besides Prakash " I want you to meet Jahnavi she is new joinee, and Jahnavi please meet Chetan , he is one of senior associates in the team" both of us formally exchanged the glance , I said "I already met her in the cab" I formally wished her and Prakash said "Fantastic, Chetan. Please prepare training plan for her, you know Amit is on leave , Deepak is coming in night so I am tagging her with you for KT sessions" then he turned to Jahnavi "Please do not hesitate to contact me if you come across any problem" and left.
I asked her to take seat "I will have to prepare training plan by the time I do that, you may check the emails, that workstation belongs to Amit, he is on leave" It was almost 6:00 in the evening all people had left for the day as it was friday. Me , Jahnavi and some 2-3 people were the only remaining associates on the floor. I was almost done with training plan had monitored some routine jobs and was about to send helath check reports , I heard Jahnavi screaming...
I heard Jahnavi screaming...

I was startled to listen her screaming , I leapt her desk and asked "What happened? Is everything OK?" She had covered her face with palms and shivering with terror. Other associates arrived at the scene. "Kya huaa , Kaun Chillaya?" asked Aditi "Haan yar, kisi ke chillane ki awaz suni" said Vishal. Jahanavi was trembeling with fear she showed her finger at the keyboard , a lizard was lying there. "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! shooo!!! shooo!!" screamed Aditi "Am scared of lizards" "Let me call the office boy , he will throw lizard away" said Vishal "No need" replied I "I will throw this creature
out" I folded the newspaper looking it lizard closely moved towards it. Lizard left the keyboard and came at desk it unhurled its tongue and captured an insect. Just then with full power I hit the lizard with the folded paper and SPLAT! lizard was lying there upside down and dead. "Its disgusting!!" Jahanavi and Aditi said in unison "You killed the poor creature? Shame on you , now who is going to clean this mess???" "Calm down girls" Vishal said laughing "I have already informed the office boy he will clean it up" he turned to me "and Chetan , good job bro. Manager Parakash ka gussa bechare Chhipkali pe utar diya , this is not fair" I replied "Arey kahan yaar , ek to in
ladkiyon ki madad karne jao aur upar se inki gaali suno" "Well this is the world my dear friend. Jo madad karta hai vahi gali khata hai" Vishal said smilingly "Its almost 6:15, lets go for tea , other job is scheduled to run at 8:00 am CST , I have to monitor it. Jaldi chalo warna canteen band ho jayegi" I nodded and we were about to leave when Jahnavi said "Hey Chetan wait we are coming too" she got up from chair and went to bathroom "Great" Vishal said and whispered "Ladki impress ho gayi bawa!!" I ignored his comment and asked Raghav "Hey dude wanna have tea?" Raghav replied "Ya just a minute , let me lock the system" Vishal was getting impatient now "Chalo yaar! badi zor ki bhookh lagi hai ...
Vishal was getting impatient now "Chalo yaar! badi zor ki bhookh lagi hai, Aditi aren't you coming?" Aditi looked at him and said "No, am on the conference call , You guys go and please get me a sandwich" "Fine" Vishal said and handed her support cell phones "Please take care of these phones , please take the call if it rings". Aditi placed the conf call on mute and said firm tone "No way! am already on an important call , OSC is asking me for inputs , you take care of these cellphones" Vishal made face and took the cellphone , just then Jahanavi arrived and we came down. Vishal looked at Jahnavi "So , this is your first day in the shift , isn't it?" "Ya" replied she Vishal holding my neck tightly said "Our Chetan bhai doesn't shares knowledge and
expertise with anyone , make sure you extract knowledge from him , he is so cunning" "Abey kya kar raha hai? Marega kya?" I said and tried to release myself from him She laughed and said "Yes I will see to it". We reached canteen Vishal took a burger and started eating it. I buyed tea for all and asked Raghav and Aditi. "What will you like to have?" "Nothing" both said atonce " I am fasting today". "Both of you have fast today?" Vishal said "Anything Special? Kis khushi mein bhai Karwachauth hai kya aaj?" "No its Pitru Amavasyaa" said Raghav "Right" Jahnavi said " and people observe fast on this day" Vishal folded his hands and came infront of Raghav "Dhanya hai prabhu sal mein 365 din mein se 300 din aapka fast hi rahta hai" he said jokingly "Comeon Vishal." said Jahnavi "Don't make fun of him" Vishal said "Oh I was just joking , I see both of you are quite religious , tum dono ki khoob jamegi" Raghav didn't said anything and Jahnavi's expressions changed , I just arrived on the scene "Chalo yar Chai aa gayi chal kar kahin baithte hain" We sat around a table , after taking a sip I realized Raghav and Jahanavi had not taken anything "Yar aap logon ne kuch nahi
liya" "Inka fast hai aaj" Vishal said taking a sip "
Vishal said taking a sip "What amavasya was it?" "Pitru Amavasya" said Jahanavi. "Yar tum fir shuru ho gayi?" I said "Kyu kya hua?" asked Vishal , I narrated the whole
incident to him how people were offerring obulations for their dead relatives and caused traffic jam. "Ridiculuous. I don't know why in 21st century people believe in such superstitious ceremonnies" Vishal said , just then Raghav said "Hey , may be you don't believe it but such incidents happen. The spirits get satisfied when their living relatives offer food in their name" "You mean Ghosts?" said Vishal jokingly "Not really , but if the living relatives don't offer the food in the name of dead forefathers , then spirit may turn the life in to hell" replied Raghav."Tell me Raghav , do you think if a dead man will haunt his children and grand children just because they don't offer obulations or food in his name?" Jahnavi said "Its not like that Chetan , you see
when a person dies all the relations get snapped too , after death the last rites and shraddha karma are supposed to be carried out by the elder son and on each pitru amavasya food and obulations must be offerred in his name else these spirit gets disturbed and trouble their own family , you know these spirits only want to get out of their sorry state , this food serves as refreshment to them in journey towards abode of Yamraaj" "Exactly" said Raghav appreciating her explanation. "OK guys , I must go now , the scheduled job is about to start, I must monitor it else Prakash will kill me and no body from our company will attend my last rites" said Vishal "Shutup!" said Jahnavi "and take care , bye" Vishal left the scene. "I don't believe this" I said just then Jahnavi remembered something "Hey Raghav" "Yes Jahnavi" "Your are from Pune right?" "Yes am a localite" Jahnavi turned towards me and asked "You remember Chetan, that cab driver was saying that Shaniwar Wada is haunted?" then she turned towards Raghav and asked him"Is it really haunted?