It was one fine summer morning and I was sitting in my garden that my home phone rang. It was my cousin Puneet who was doing his graduation from Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh. He invited me to come over to Sundernagar as some of his friends were planning a trekking trip to Manali. I was excited about the same and asked two of my friends to join me , who gladly did.
Sundernagar is small town at the foothills of Manali before Mandi and is about 200 Kms from Chandigarh. All three of us packed your rugsacks and got our bikes serviced and left for Sundernagar the next day. There was a lot of excitement as it was after 3 years that I was going to Manali so we were driving like crazy and singing and enjoying the drive.
It took us 5 hours to reach Sundernagar and by the time we did we were dead tired after the long drive. It was around 6.pm. that we reached our destination and met Puneet who was waiting anxiously. We all went to his room which was on hill top and was a cafe turned into a room by the owner , it was the only house on the road side and a big temple "Mahmaya temple" next to it.
We could hear the aarti bells and mantras being chanted in the temple by the time we changed and got fresh. All of us were sitting on the terrace and enjoying the lovely valley site and talking about different things, when Puneet asked about the dinner . All of us wanted to eat at the room than going out to Dhaba. Puneet checked his kitchen and said we will make pulao with curd , everybody agreed and started chopping vegetables and cleaning the utensils, once we started preparing food Puneet realised that there were no rice, so he asked me to get it from a local shop around 250 meters away from the room . I agreed and thought that will get cigarettes also as it was 8.30pm by that time .
I started for the shop and was enjoying the cool breeze and the star lit sky , planning my next day when all of a sudden a strange tinkling sound startled me . It was the sound of anklets coming from the bushes growing by the roadside. To my surprise it was a crickett who was making that sound. I laughed on it and walked to the shop , got the rice and started for the room. I never had thought of what was waiting for me on my way back .
I started for my cousins room uphill and was enjoying the cool breeze that was so refreshing after the long journey but that refreshness was shortlived. As I walked up hill I felt intense pain in my shoulders as if somebody was trying to crush me, the pain din't bother me as I thought that it could be because of the bike ride but to my surprise the pain intensified with every step that I took and I reached a point where I felt I would choke . I struggled and tried to move my neck and shrugg my shoulders to get rid off that pain and was successful to some extent but it was a chain reaction as it led to another nightmare . While stretching my body I turned and look behind and I saw something that was not normal , a thick cloud of smoke appeared from no where atleast 60 meters from where I was and it was still at one point .
That was an odd scene and I was just gazing at it without realising what it actually was. Before anything happened I heard tinkling of anklets for couple of seconds and than what happened sends shivers down my spine till date . A human figure appeared out of that thick smoke and that was something that we cannot say normal and it was , it was a naked lady with hair all over her face coming towards me , flying would be an appropriate word as she was a feet above the ground , I was rooted to the road and millions of thoughts rushing through my mind and brain, the last thought I still recall is that I dont want to die and a voice inside me said Vikram get out of this thing's way, with all the strength I had in my body I leaped for the parapid(small stone boulders at the side of the roads in hilly regions) and landed on to it and jumped into the darkness without realising if it will be a 100 meters fall or more than that as it was a mountain I was at, but to my luck the fall was just seven feet from the parapid and landed on to a maize field . The maize crop had already been cut off and small stubs that were the left overs of the crop pierced my ankles and shings which was secondary at that point as I was trying to save my life.
I sat in the maize filed for over fifteen minutes as my eye balls din't adjust to the darkness and was not able to see anything.
Fearing for the worst I made my way out of the maize field and could see a light at the end of that field. I followed that light and reached a thatched house and knocked on the old wooden door a young boy came out and asked me in local language as to who I was and what happened? By the time I could make out what he said his father came out and asked me to sit down , atlast I was out of danger as I had somebody besides me , I narrated the ordeal to the small family and the only thing they had to say was that you are real lucky and advised me to see the head priest of the Mahmaya Temple in the morning . I requested them to accompany me to my cousins room as din't have the courage to tread that path alone.
When I reached the room my cousin and my friends were tensed and said that they had gone out looking for me but when I told them what had happened they were zapped .
I was not able to eat anything as I was feeling sleepy after the ordeal and immidiately went off to sleep but for a short period as I had high fever and my eyes were still and were not dialating . My cousin and my friends took me to the Mahmaya temple early in the morning at 4.00 am and talked to the priest who did some pooja after which I felt somewhat normal and said that you are lucky , the same thing that person had said . Priest said that in last 2 months there were six deaths reported on the same road and in similar fashion and nobody could make out how. He said it was a jogan (maids for gods) and they have a particular time when they come out for their walks at night and any person who comes in their way is sure to die instantly . He also explained that at that time all the priests in the temple leave the campus as it can effect them as well.
After knowing about this I was frightened for a while but since I had such a close shave with death, it aroused my curiosity for such things and till date I have gathered a lot of information about these things and still on with my hunt and will post it in my next blog.
