We had an office group and we planned for a trip to Matheran, a nearby hillstation decorated gracefully by nature. We had heard so much about its huge waterfall and its beauty in the rains. Everybody was excited about the trip and nearly everybody joined. The journey to the upper hills and the different points were fun, but the highlight of the trip was when we started to return.
Image Courtesy: Someone from the group.
We had visited all important points, did some trekking, clicked great photos and were enjoying the clouds at zenith. It was around 3 or 3.30 in the afternoon and time to return was upon us.
As soon as we started, the clouds started collecting, reducing the visibility and little drizzles also started pouring. It was a welcome change in the atmosphere.
We knew the path to return, but someone suggested a new path which would be shorter to return, so for obvious reasons, we took that path.
Little did we knew, that path will make us rewind all the scary movies we have seen in our lives.
We started on the path. On one side, we had this great view of the city kilometers below. If someone were to fall, he/she will have a mini experience of sky diving, before being shattered to pieces. On the other side, we had a hill where forests had taken over.
While walking, we could feel someone was following us and each one of us felt that. And we could listen to a constant sound, as if someone walking in the bushes from the right side of the hill.
At first everybody was joking and having fun, as it was a classic Bollywood(specifically Kaal type) situation. We were throwing small pebbles at each other feet’s and act like we know nothing, to scare them off.
Suddenly the clouds darkened and visibility reduced even further. It must have been around 4 pm, but the darkness corresponded to 7 ‘O clock evening time.
And then we saw the path on which we were travelling, it was laden with fog. So nothing could be seen of the path on which we were travelling. We couldn’t see what lay even 5 meters ahead.
We formed 2 groups and started walking when we came across an electrical pole half fallen on the ground.
It was bent as if wind knocked it over. We came close to realize it was not only knocked down, but it was twisted, as if some monster or devilish power had knocked it in half and then twisted it.
That part scared me the most, still sends chills down my spine when I think about devil work’s on that pole.
Anyways then we moved ahead, scared like Dobby is scared of his master.
We took around 30 minutes of walk and couldn’t see any soul apart from our group. In the whole area, that must have been spread around 5-10 kms, it was hard to believe that no humans were spotted.
We came across a crossing, from where 3 roads originated and we didn’t knew which to take.
Then we all got collected at the junction and sent one person to check on one of the paths.
He went ahead on the right sided path and crossed a curve on the road, so he wasn’t visible to us. After sometime, when he didn’t return, we started shouting for his name. He didn’t answer!
We had to send another person and he repeated the same.
And then we heard a loud thunder and it started raining heavily all of a sudden.
Everybody panicked and started taking out their umbrellas, while some ran for cover. I had to shout at them to stay together. We regrouped again with the exception of the 2 person that were missing.
The two persons later told us that when they started to explore the path, they had heard some sounds like someone watching a TV, so they had moved further away from us to find out the source of the sound. Hearing them come closer, a very old woman in her eighties, came towards them asking something in Marathi. She was wearing a white sari and living alone in that isolated place. She was indicating the direction with her hands and that was enough communication they needed from her. As soon as they understood the directions, they ran away from her.
Anyways, back to the story. Somehow we felt that the right side path is the one that we should take that would make us reach our destination, so we started for that together.
When we reached on the curved path where the two guys got lost, we saw them coming towards us, the smile on their faces indicating that we were okay. Another guy came with them to help us with the path.
We felt a sigh of relief to see another soul apart from us.
I looked back once on the cursed path that we had travelled and then continued our journey.
Though it was not a scary place per se, but the way nature conspired to get us scared was an experience in itself.