Wide eyes...scream...terror...trembling with anxiety...goosebumps...and a sudden wet feeling (due to sweat and sometimes otherwise!!!)...many of us have seen these reel and not the real expressions in countless horror movies...but to experience all of this...one-by one...slowly...to the core...is an experience of a lifetime!!!
It so happened that a certain friend of ours had an uncle who stays in Matheran...and a bunch of us (in all seven) were planning to have a night out there...it was a weekend after second semester engg exams and we were all in a jolly-good mood...
Now according to the plan, his uncle was supposed to meet us at the station and then we were to ride in his car all the way to his place...but as fate had decided we missed him at the station...with no network on our mobile phones and no other way to contact his uncle we started off towards Matheran!!!
The hike was a good experience but the hooligan behaviour of the group was a bit annoying...as a result of which no one was ready to guide us to our destination...we walked a lot and after a while i had a feeling that we might end up climbing down from the other side of the hill!!!
Nevertheless...after a lot of herding and coaxing my group to behave themselves and ask for directions we reached the bungalow at around 6:30 in the evening...the house-keeper was a huge bulky-man with red-shot eyes and a personality as well as dressing sense as that of a butcher!!!
After the introduction our host asked us whether we would have dinner there so that he can slaughter a chicken for meal!!! not many people are affected by such statements...but i did lose my appetite...anyways...i decided to suffice my hunger with dal rice...although i was so hungry i would have devoured an entire turkey...but words do have serious impact on you!!!
After the initial pleasantries he showed us to the house we were supposed to stay for the night...(i might sound a bit exaggerating...but i was scared for my life!!!) ...it was a typical tropical house with a slanting roof...the hall was not lit at all...and the one room which we were all supposed to stay for the night was dimly lit with one single bulb...
I never thought that the yellow bulb-light can be so ominous...but the yellow light did scare the jeepers out of me!!! there was one almirah in the room with a full size mirror (i would like to ask a question here...do all the ancient-carpenters worked for Ramsay???)...one huge cot which made squeaky noise...and sofa set and an old chair...all the walls were lined with bizarre looking people's photos...the room had two more doors...one was locked and the other led to a ruined porch surrounded by (what seemed to me a wild and ferocious-inhabited by werewolves- kind of jungle) a garden...the entire effect was chilling with the single bulb hanging from the ceiling!!!
We explored the bathroom and were shocked to see eerie looking worms in the water...(we learned later that they stored water for days...water shortage)...so we decided against getting freshened up or drinking water...
Three of my friends had identical zonked-expressions on their face...they looked kinda stupid with their wide eyes and gaping mouth!!! two of us were excited (wierdos)...and two of us (including me) were planning to get the hell out of there...and it was getting dark!!!
The wierdos tried to explore the rooms with loads of protests from zonked-buddies...nonetheless, they entered the hall to check the other room...i somehow thought this would be cool and followed them...i was still leaving our room to follow them and by then wierdo-one had already opened the door...there was a scream we heard from the hall when i was in the door frame of our room, about to enter the hall...
Its funny how things actually move in slow motion when you are scared...i am sure Neo was dead-scared while dodging the bullets...what else can explain the slow motion??? also its very true that sound travels very slow (not only when you compare it with light...but also when it is in disguise of a horrifying scream)...
I think i can trace the path of the scream...it must have first leaped out of the source...then travelled to my ear...gripped my heart and and played a little tussle with my knees...and then to our room!!!
Once the scream was over i was shoved and pushed back into the room by the wierdos...
Apparently, the scream was from wierdo-two who was scared to his core because he saw two bats flying out of the other room and wierdo-one was busy getting petrified because of his (wierdo-two) scream that he(wierdo-one) couldnt notice the bats...
Now the zonked-buddies were transformed to the next level of zonk-ness and had an even stupid expression on their faces...lets call the expression as that of a cry-baby...the wierdos were now zonked and were wet...with sweat!!! while the remaining two (including me) were dead sure of leaving the place...
Everyone was convinced to leave the place...and cry-babies were the first to leave the room...and they were followed by another scream...this was more chilling that the first one...
The cry-babies came running back in complaining about some graveyard they stepped on outside...the zonked-buddies (who were wierdos earlier) got into there wierdo mode and went about checking the so-called "graveyard"...
They called for us from outside and we found them laughing hysterically...the graveyard turned out as a couple of ruined toilet basins...but since they were overturned and covered with moss and grass they literally looked like graveyards...if you think about it, its actually stupid to have a graveyard in your courtyard!!!
While leaving and saying thank you to the creepy host (I was glad that we were not responsible for the chicken massacre) left the place heaving a sigh of relief!!! I did notice a ruined well in the backyard...but was in no mood for the wierdos to explore that or to witness another scream...
Luckily the roads were lit...and we found our way back to the market place by 8...not to mention, all of us were now in the hooligan-mode again :o)
And then we had a nice dinner...Chicken Tandoori!!!
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