Anand is my best friend since school and one of the few ones whom I have
been in regular touch. Like me, Anand too is interested in the paranormal and
we have experienced one such occurrence together as described in my story
"The Ghostly Hitchhikers". Anand and I are both Engineers by
profession and hence life is very hectic. We rarely get a chance to meet each
other though we are in constant touch on phone or via e-mail.
This incident happened couple
of years back when we were in Mumbai, India. Due to a couple of public holidays
in India falling in line together, we had a long weekend of around five days
ahead of us. Since we had not taken a holiday for quite sometime due to our
busy schedules, my wife immediately suggested that we go to a beachside resort
for a couple of days to unwind. I immediately called Anand to check his
availability. Anand and his wife Jyo immediately agreed and the plan was
finalized within minutes.
We decided to go to a
beachside resort at Murud which is around 180kms away from Mumbai and takes
around 3 hours to reach. Murud has a pristine beach and is a very popular
destination among tourists. There is also a fort named Janjira in the middle of
the sea. Janjira fort is also famous for being the only fort along India's
western coast that remained undefeated. Since all of us are interested in
history, it seemed like an interesting proposition for us. Another thing to be
noted at this point of time is that Murud is just 7kms from Kashid and one has
to pass through Kashid to reach Murud. The highway leading to Kashid is where
we had met the Ghostly Hitchhikers a couple of years ago. Though this incident
was at the back of our mind, we nevertheless decided to go ahead with our plan.
We started for Murud at 7.00
am in Anand's "4X4" SUV. It was a clear morning and we managed to
reach the resort at around 10.00am. Anand and I were very careful not to
mention our previous experience to our respective spouses since it would
frighten them and dampen their spirits. We checked in at the resort which was
really very beautiful. It was situated on a hill very close to Murud beach. It
had a great sea facing view from the front and a dense forest cover at the back
which made us feel one with nature. We immediately rushed to the beach where we
had a great time swimming and splashing around in the water. We came back to
the resort at around noon, had a quick lunch, rested for a while and then set
off to see Janjira fort which we were all anxious to see. The visit to the fort
was great and we were back in the hotel by around 8.00pm. After a lavish dinner
consisting of several local delicacies we decided to retire to our rooms. I was
tired but Anand insisted that we go to his room for a game of cards before
hitting the sack. My wife and Jyo too didn't mind and so we went to Anand's
room.
Immediately after entering his
room I suddenly felt a chill in the room which made me feel uneasy. I told
Anand about it but he shrugged it aside and suggested that it might be the cool
sea side breeze which might have made me feel that way. We played cards for
around 2 hours and really had fun. At around 12. 00 am we decided to call it a
day. We had however not reckoned that this would be the start of our ordeal and
chilling events to follow.
The long day had taken its
toll on us and my wife and I immediately fell off to sleep. It must have been
around 1.30am when I heard a knock on my door. I cautiously opened the door and
was surprised to find Anand outside. He looked a little worried and told me
that after we left Jyo suddenly started feeling very cold and started
shivering. Anand had found it surprising since he felt no such chill. I asked
my wife who is a doctor to accompany me to Anand's room with her medicine box.
Upon entering his room, I felt uneasy and could immediately sense that
something was amiss. Two woolen rugs had been wrapped around Jyo but she was
still shivering and her teeth were literally chattering. When my wife examined
Jyo, she was stunned to find that though Jyo was feeling feverish and her body
had become icy cold. Shrugging aside her fear my wife gave her a couple of
tablets which would put her to sleep and give her a much needed rest. We did
not want to leave Anand alone in this condition and decided to be with him.
This was perhaps the best decision which I took considering the events which
happened subsequently.
Anand was sitting on the bed,
caressing Jyo's hand gently to put her at ease. My wife and I made ourselves
comfortable on a couple of chairs available in the room. It was around 3.00 am,
my wife had dozed off and I was about to follow suit when something really
creepy happened. Jyo suddenly sat up straight in her bed with a look in her
eyes which we had never seen before. Anand, who was sitting beside her tried to
put his arm around her to comfort her. She suddenly shrugged herself free from
Anand, caught him by the neck and pushed him. The force with which Anand was
pushed was so great that he was literally flung like a puppet, six feet away
from the bed. To do that to a person like Anand who is close to 6"3 inches
tall and weighs around 90 kgs really required extraordinary strength. Jyo
suddenly said the following words "Mujhe Jaane Do... Jaana hai " (Let
me go... I have to go!) This still is a mystery to all of us. The voice that
said those words certainly wasn't Jyo's. Jyo stood up as if in trance and was
trying to go to the balcony. I have to admire the courage shown by both my wife
and Anand at this point of time.
Anand and I used all our might
and pinned down Jyo to her bed while my wife ran out to get help. We got a
couple of housekeeping staff from the hotel in the room within a couple of
minutes. I immediately told them to help us shift Jyo to my room. It took five
of us to lift Jyoti and shift her to my room. All this while Jyo was only
uttering the words "Mujhe Jaane Do... Jaana hai ".As soon as she was
laid on the bed in my room things started to return to normal. Jyo stopped
resisting and soon fell asleep much to our relief. All of us were shaken by the
turn of events. We thanked the bewildered Hotel staff for their help. I noticed
that it was around 5.00am at that time and perhaps with the coming of daybreak
the hold of the spirit on Jyo had weakened OR Shifting her out of that room had
helped.
We decided to check out the
next morning. Though a little tired, Jyo was perfectly fine the next morning
with no recollection of the previous night's events. She was however surprised
to find herself in our room. Anand however put her at ease and told her that he
would explain everything once we left the hotel. While Anand was settling the
hotel bills, I was called aside by one of the hotel staff who, under the
condition of anonymity told me that the room had been the scene of a gory
incident a couple of months back.
A couple had checked in, they
had a big fight which lasted late into the night. The man walked out off the
room leaving the lady behind. After sometime the lady flung herself from the
balcony of the room killing her instantly. The police had made some enquirers but were unable to trace the man who had accompanied her that night. The case
was subsequently closed. The housekeeping staff had themselves felt a creepy
feeling sometimes in the room, though no incident was reported by any of the
occupants who occupied it after that.
We decided to let the matter
rest but before leaving, advised the manager of the resort to do some sort of
purification or a cleansing ritual to free the tormented soul. Whether he performed
the ritual or not is not known to us since we did not visit the place again. We
were just happy at that moment to have escaped without any harm.
Anand subsequently told her
the events which had occurred that night. She was shaken at first, but has now
come to terms with it.
However what would have
happened if Anand and I would not have been able to subdue Jyo that night is a
thought which still gives me the shivers.
