The battered horse cart hauled itself through the mountain track with much difficulty. The old lantern hung on the axle of the wheel, swayed incessantly creating dancing images on the rock filled road. The blanket of darkness had covered the hillock completely. Claws of cold had already started to pierce into the skin. Eshwar cursed himself for not taking winter wear along with him. On the right side, the silhouette of the Himalayan ranges was feebly visible. Bushes and shrubs stood engulfed in the darkness, at the edge of the road facing the ravine.
The train had arrived to the hillside railway station, two hours later than the scheduled time. Eshwar had to spent another twenty minutes to persuade the driver of the horse cart to take him to his destination. The driver said that the road is very bad and is not safe to travel at that hour of the night. Eshwar saw fear in his eyes. He said that he has to reach there by any means. He had tried to contact his friends at the archeological site, 10 km away from the station. There was no range for the cell phone. The satellite phone was also not responding…..
This is the first time he is coming to the site.
The railway station didn’t have the infrastructure for the night stay. There were only very few dwellings made of bamboo and straw near the station, which belonged to the contract workers. The nearest town is again 3 km away from the station and he was sure that there will be no chance of finding a lodge or a hotel there. Hence he decided to reach the site, some how. There were two or three carts at the time of arrival of the train. The couple who descended the train went away in one of the carts. Eshwar had tried to communicate with them. But when he told them his site address, they hurriedly turned away and went fast to catch the cart.
There was fear in their eyes too !
Finally he was able to persuade a cart driver after offering a fairly good sum for this travel. The horse looked very old and skinny. The cart driver was also not different. But there was no option left-
He was jolted out of his reverie by the sudden stopping of the cart and neighing of the horse. The horse jumped on its hind legs and neighed again. The driver turned back. His face was white as a paper. He shivered like a leaf !
“What happened?” Eshwar enquired.
“I saw her, saab” He stammered.
“Who?”
“Bhoot !!”
“What? Don’t talk nonsense!” snapped Eshwar
“No saab, believe me. I saw her in the middle of the road. Immediately she disappeared !. See , the horse is also frightened !”
Eshwar could not comprehend the situation. He didn’t believe in ghosts and other things. But in the middle of this wilderness, a sense of uneasiness started creeping inside him. The horse has calmed down. Outside it was blinding darkness. He took out his search light and directed its beam on the road. Apart from the round stones, nothing abnormal was seen.
“Kuch nahi…! Chalo, we will go now”
The cart driver looked at him pleadingly. But, he also felt that standing there is more dangerous. He whipped the horse, and cart started moving again.
They reached at the site by 11 O’clock in the night. The site was nothing but three to four big tents pitched in the middle of an open space on the slope of the hill. His friends were waiting for him. He narrated the experience to them. They said that even though they never had any personnel encounters, many villagers in contact with them, had such experiences. The cart driver had pleaded Eshwar to allow him to stay back in the tent for the rest of the night.
Eshwar was terribly exhausted after the long journey. He ate the cold dinner prepared long back by the cook from the village near by. He got a separate cot and a bed, placed at the far end of the tent, behind the makeshift kitchen. Soon he fell asleep.
Eshwar is a geologist and is working for a private firm which conducts archeological excavations to find presence of rare-earth elements in rocky terrains. He is twenty seven and is unmarried. His mother stays with his brother in Kakinada. His firm is now concentrating on the rocky valleys in Utharanchal. A team of five geologists and required infrastructure were put up at this site, last one month. They were not able to progress very much due to the adverse climatic conditions. One or two times rains had washed away some of their equipments. Now the climate has become somewhat favorable.
The week that followed was eventless and they could progress much with the excavation. Eshwar became fully involved in his job. He got along well with the villagers who co-operated with the operations. He would return to the tent at 06 O’clock in the evening, have a bath and will have dinner along with his team mates and go to sleep at 11 O’clock. He communicated with his mother over the satellite phone. She was doing well at Kakinada.
One Friday, Eshwar got up in the middle of the night. He felt the presence of a very familiar fragrance in the air. Inside the tent was pitch dark. He sat up and searched for his torch which he usually kept on the under his pillow. He suddenly saw the outline of the figure near his bedside !
A woman !!!
It was standing still!. Blood went cold inside his veins. It was a chilling scene ! He got his torch, which he immediately beamed towards the figure.
It was not there !
He sweated profusely irrespective of the chilling cold outside. The aroma was gone. He felt at the back of mind that he is very much familiar with that smell. But he could not place it. After a short time he was able to muster his voice.
“Dileep……”
Dileep was his teammate and was sleeping just on the other side of the kitchen.
The emergency lights were switched ON and they searched in and out of the tent . She had vanished into thin air !
The following days, they slept with one of the gas lights switched ON. Nothing happened. Eshwar became so busy with his work and the incident was temporarily forgotten.
Two weeks later, Eshwar woke up in the night, again!. A cold hand rested over his forehead !. He opened his eyes to see the same woman, sitting by his side! She was slowly caressing his forehead. He could smell the same aroma he experienced days ago! With a jolt, he sat upright and tried to scream!. But she closed her hands over his mouth.
“No…..Chetan!” She spoke in a hushed and hollow voice.
Eshwar was at the verge of becoming unconscious. Blood drained out of his face. He could see a side of her face in the gas light, burning in the background.. It was pure white!. She wore a gown like attire reminding of an old movie!. Her hair was untied and was very long and dark. She was indeed very beautiful !
“Who are you ?”
“Ha..Ha..Ha…….!” She laughed loudly in a hollow sound. Eshwar expected that others will wake up hearing the sound and come to his help. But no body came.
“No, Chetan, no body can hear me. Only you can hear me” She told him as if reading his mind.
Eshwar watched her terrifyingly. He felt that he may fall dead next second.
“Don’t be afraid. How can I do you any harm ? You are my love!” she said consolingly. “Don’t you remember me. I am your Champa ?”
Eshwar regained some of his confidence.
“No! I don’t know you. I have never seen in you in my life and……. I am not Chetan!”
Champa’s face became very sad. Tears rolled down her white cheeks. She stood up. It felt to him that she was floating in the air!
“Yes,…….. I know that. you are not my Chetan….. But….” She stopped and looked at his face. “I have been waiting so many years for you. I was checking every new person who came to this town, in search of you!
Eshwar was confused.
In a second, She caught hold of his hand. It was cold as ice!
“Come with me!” she commanded.
&
nbsp; “Where?” Eshwar whimpered.
“Don’t worry. I will do you no harm”
In no time, he was also flying with her, against his will. He looked back. Horrifyingly he saw his tent and the valley falling behind, as he ascended into to the dark sky! He felt light as a feather. His senses were not working. They crossed hills, rivers, valleys and forests. Slowly darkness faded away and he could see things below as if during the day. He could not believe this! He felt it all as an illusion !
They have reached a village!
He could see people in their daily chores. Some were making pots, some made knives on small kilns, others sat down under a tree. The women carried pots of water to their dwellings. Children played in the ground and in front of their huts. Their clothes and the background reminded him of India in 1940s as he had seen in movies. There was small river which flowed behind the village. A very huge banyan tree stood in the middle and a temple stood by its side. At other side there was tree with fully blossomed small yellow flowers all over it. The atmosphere was filled with fragrance of those flowers. The same aroma he experienced at the arrival of Champa!
He looked at Champa. She was intensely looking at the scene down below!.
Suddenly she shouted and pointed animatedly down below…