The Bridge

There is a small bridge near my office which literally connects the areas of Pashan and Baner. On one side of the bridge is my office on the Mumbai Bangalore Expressway which is in Baner and my apartment is located on the road just on the other side of the bridge. That area is Pashan.

I have to cross this bridge every evening and morning to reach office and while coming home. If I don’t then I have to cross the super busy expressway. So I prefer the first option. Deserted and dark this bridge is sinister and the walk from my office gates to this bridge is uphill. I do not have my own vehicle so I walk everyday. There have been times when someone from office has given me a lift home but I prefer not to depend on anyone. You may call me proud for that matter.

I used to be pretty scared of crossing the bridge all alone. So many things can happen. I may be hit by a vehicle; somebody may grab the opportunity of doing just anything. After all I will be a solitary girl taking a risk.

One day I found a fellow traveler on the bridge. Probably another girl like me. As the rain beat upon my face and it was pitch dark, from my torchlight I could make her walking along side. From then onwards every evening used to be the same. I got habituated seeing her but there was only one problem. As soon I crossed the bridge, I crossed the road also and then I used to lose trail of her. Where did she vanish…? I used to wonder often. So there was my sinister companion showing me the way. I soon stopped using my torch because I used to follow her. She was swift to notice any vehicle before I did.

Then, I stopped seeing her around suddenly. There was nothing between us. We never spoke or looked at each other yet I missed her. My solitary journeys across the bridge resumed.

Then one evening I saw her again. There were lights all around that place now and the bridge was illuminated. That day the lights flickered and the bridge was suddenly engulfed in darkness and I was wondering whether I should take out my torch; I saw her. As usual dressed in shades of some light colored fabric. I did not want to lose my chance this time and called out to her..Hello Excuse me!

She did not stop and I increased my pace and was just about to catch her when the lights came back. There was not a trace of her anywhere and I doubted my own vision. I stood there wondering where she had vanished. Then I saw her on the nearby hill. I do not know what gripped me but I went after her. In the darkness on the slippery stones, I trudged along.

Then suddenly I heard the whistle;there were policemen down. I came back and walked till my apartment.

The Girl On the Balcony

I am one of those people who are skeptical about the paranormal. However last winter I had a strange experience which made me think once more.

This is indeed a true story. I took a job and had to leave my hometown last year. Soon after I reached my destination, I was lodged in the company guest house. The room was great and had white walls and red carpet. It also had a nice balcony. My roommate and I used to stand for quite sometime on the balcony chatting about this and that.

I stayed there for about a month after which I moved to my apartment. My roommate was a very pretty girl in her early 20s. Maybe that was the reason why she was targeted? One night, when I was away on duty she woke up in the early hours of the morning to see a faint figure standing at her bedside staring at her. Through her sleepy eyes she thought it was me and went to sleep again. It was much later, when she realised that it could'nt have been me since I had no duplicate key to enter.

Another night, she woke up again, this time to find a young woman with long silky hair standing on the balcony!! Even though she was tremendously frightened, she had me beside her this time. By the time I made my way to the balcony it was gone. However the place felt very cold but what was very startling was this. I felt an overwhelming urge to jump from the balcony. My roommate was quite angry and said that whoever it is should back off.

This must have annoyed the thing. Soon after, one night my roommate woke up to the feeling of someone kicking or hitting the end of her wooden bed frame with a hard object. Thinking that it was just her imagination, she just ignored it and went back to sleep. The next day, she found marks on the end of her bed frame that appeared as though it was caused by something hard! After all these horrifying incidents, she finally decided to talk to the owner of the guesthouse who lived next door.

It was only long after we had moved out from there that we learned of a possible explanation to all those disturbances. A girl of about 24 who was staying in that very room had fallen from the balcony and died. This incident did not happen a long time back before we had arrived at the guesthouse. Alcohol was found in her stomach and it was assumed to be an accident. Many people however thought that there was some foul play but did not open their mouth in public.

In the new year our office threw up a grand party at a local boating club. As I was standing on one of the balconies overlooking the lake a girl turned up. She was in her 20s, beautiful with long silky hair. She was wearing a green suit and was sipping from a goblet. I wondered who she was since I had never seen her in office before.

"Shonali Malhotra", she said and suddenly left but not before a warning. She told me, "Don't go so much towards the edge of the railing."

I was to make the shocking discovery the next morning when I was cleaning up my drawer in my office cubicle. There I found a card with the name "Shonali Malhotra". The designation of the person was the same as mine. So I thought that this person was working in my position before me. Thinking she was promoted, I asked my boss about it. His face became dark and he asked that how did I know. I told him of the balcony encounter with her. His eyes stared at me with disbelief. He said," Someone played a joke on you or you were drunk. Shonali died a year back."

When I asked how, he told me that she fell from the balcony of a room of the very guesthouse I had stayed. He even said that he was present there along with other colleagues and they were invited by her." Was she wearing a green dress ?" I asked. At this he shuddered and whispered-" Who told you?"

Still unsolved mysteries remain. Why did I feel like jumping from the balcony that night? How was Shonali killed actually? Was it a conspiracy? Did she want to tell me something? Why did she appear to me during the party?

Lost Love

Its been a long time since I have walked on Sundane avenue. However used to frequent it a lot during my Varsity days. Reason…huh my better half used to live there. Now why did I say my better half.

To know that, we have to take a flight back memory lane. Joe and I went to the same college though separate faculties. She was studying philosophy. You must have seen a winged insect leaping into flames. My attitude to Joe was just like that. I knew she was seeing some other guy called Don. But I had to slip…and that also right in her arms. We had a whirlwind romance that lasted a little over 2 years and then I guess…Out of Mind..Out of sight.

Some things just haunt you forever…Its all about haunting that I want to tell you about.The incident occurred a few months back.

I was standing on Sundane Avenue just facing her house.I was drunk and dizzy that day.So as I sulked and looked dreamily at that familiar balcony, so many memories flooded my mind.Memories of a rain soaked afternoon…and many more.

It was also raining today.Suddenly I saw Joe coming out on the balcony.Our eyes got locked for a moment as I decided to stay there no longer but as soon as I turned away to leave, I found my self face to face with her.

I never ever thought that Joe had such a nimble foot. It was simply amazing.There was something in her eyes. Some sort of intimidation..something which made me follow her in the house.I have gazed in them so many times but never ever felt so much of immediacy. Once in the house the rain and thunder coupled with our repressed longing for each other scorched us away.We met as though like the angry passionate sea breaking over rocks. A little after evening I left. As the effect of liquor started waning out, I realized what I had done.

I remembered why Joe and I had broken up in the first place. She got married somewhere outside town in a different state. To Don of course. The woman I had promised never to touch again…How could I? A sense of guilt and disgust overtook me as I trudged home.

It took me another two months to know the truth. After work I was sitting at a bar when I had a chance meeting with Liam. Liam happened to be a distant relative of Joe. From him I came to know about Joe. Joe died in an accident on a visit to her maternal home on Sundane Avenue. It was a rainy afternoon when the old balcony on which she stood collapsed. She died instantly, the fall having crushed her skull. Liam was speaking to one of his chums as I overheard the conversation. But he said something else."Joe did not die alone. Mat was with her and to this day we can't figure out how he got to be with her. Perhaps Joe was cheating on her husband. They got laid on graves beside each other at St Peter's."I wondered what about Mat. Who is this guy with my name?

Curious and disturbed I almost sped up to St Peters only to find the worst.

Joe Flints and Mat Bigs lay side by side. But Mat Jason Bigs(MJ) - 1976-2004??

If MJ was dead who am I?

The Darkness of Truth

I am putting here some spooky stories based on personal experiences which I wrote way back in 2004-2005. I have travelled a lot and still do so much is yet to come. So stay tuned.

It was some station where the train had screeched to a stop. The effects of alcohol had taken its toll on me . I was dozing off under a terrible hangover when I heard an agitated voice calling to me- Nikhil Nikhil get up. Sun raha hai tu?

With bloodshot eyes I looked at Avik. The compartment was relatively empty and I was on the upper bunk. Kya yaar ?Avik told me to get down. He had a sinister ordering tone that compelled me to do as he said. I got down and looked out through the window to the direction he pointed out. In the foggy darkness I could see that it was a small station, dimly lit.

Avik pointed towards the name- ‘Paanchmari’

What, I said.

Avik: Come on Nikhil its Paanchmari, the place where Jugs got lost.

Jugs is our co-worker or rather was our co worker. We were all working as journalists for a reputed news channel. Jugs was stationed at Paanchmari for 3 months doing a scoop. He ran into trouble with some locals over his affair with a girl. But then one fine day he just vanished. No trace nothing. No one would open their mouth though the case is still open. He never had any family except us.

Avik said that there was some problem in the rail tracks just ahead and it will take around 2-3 hours to get fixed. We can utilize that time to take a look around. I said that he was just crazy. I failed to budge him from his decision so reluctantly followed. We left Bonny our photographer to give us a call on our cell as soon the tracks were ready.

Avik told me that he remembered Jugs saying that Paanchmari police station was near the railway station. But how to look for it at night? We started out and it was quite some time when Avik’s phone rang. It was Bonny’s agitated voice on the other side of the line asking us to return. Hearing this, both of us made our way towards the platform. As we approached it we found that our worst fear had come true. Our train had left. We tried to call Bonny. Soon Bonny called again and asked us: Where are you guys this train can leave at any time. It was a joke or what since there was no train in sight. Avik reproached him by saying that how can the train leave without us when we had informed him. Bonny sounded thoroughly confused and so were we. He told us that the train was to leave in a short time but then Bonny was not drunk. We just stood bewildered on the desolate station with nothing sight. Just then we heard a scream and agitated voices of men. Someone was being chased by a group of blood thirsty men.

They were coming towards the platform. I just looked at them when I felt a strong hand pulling me behind a bush. The man who was being chased looked very familiar. Who was it? It looked like Jug ! I tried to leap out to save him, Avik’s strong muscular hands kept me back. What are you doing, just keep still he said. With tear filled eyes I watched Jugmohan lynched and chopped to pieces. Avik all this while was taking pics in his night vision camera mobile. How cold blooded one can be!Nikhil just chill Man, just chill.

I just couldn’t believe what I just saw. Suddenly I heard the distinct whistle of a train. Right at that time my cell rang and Bonny asked: Where are you guys, have been trying to call you for so long. As we came out of the bush we saw Bonny right in front of us asking what we were doing behind the bush. We became the butt of ridicule for all.

No one hardly knew what we had seen. We never had any scope of finding the answers to our doubts…the questions. The whereabouts of the train which was not there though we stood on the same platform. The sudden emergence of it and our trance like state. At least Avik and I know one thing.

The fate that befell Jugs in Paanchmari.