Two Ghost Stories

Ghost! Yes you read it right. A ghost is floating around the Technopark campus and the adjacent Kerala University campus in Trivandrum. Its feet are not touched on the ground. This ghost has been featured in Malayala Manorama recently. They have traced its origin too. Obviously someone has to die before she gets to walk without her feet touching the ground. As the folklores would have it most of the ghosts were passionate lovers once upon a time; often one rich and the other one poor. The story is no different here too. The poor lover was murdered by the girl’s mighty family and the girl, Hymawati was her name, ended her life in a well. This is said to be the genesis of this ghost. Not many people have spotted this ghost though. The psychology department of Kerala University says that one needs to be compatible with the ghost, only then will be blessed with a sight. Software engineers are the best candidates for spotting ghosts because they have long lost their touch with the real world and they can see anything which is virtual and argue that it is real. No, I am not trying to deny the existence of ghosts because they are part of our entertainment system. Without them or their stories our life wouldn’t have been the same.

This ghost has been spotted by a Technopark employee. This noble soul was going home after work late evening. It was pitch dark because of the power cut. Lo! He spotted something dark, unusually tall and fat figure covered with a blanket floating along the road; yes its feet were not touching the ground!!! The same ghost has been spotted during another power cut night by three university students. Since this ghost peeps out only during the power cut many people have a strong doubt that this is the ghost of KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board).

Some people say it is actually not a traditional ghost but a software bug which could not be cracked by the developers even after several months of toil and finally the company CEO called an exorcist to expel it from the application. The wandering soul is in search of another application.

In the labyrinth of Ghost stories, my favorite one I am going to narrate here. This was the experience of a gentleman, a hardcore nomad, who drove around India innumerable times. During one of his escapades in UP he lost his way and could not stick to his plan of reaching a hotel before sunset. It was well past 1.00 am in the night. An expert driver which he was and a rally tuned car under his command, he was smoking the rubber in his eagerness to reach somewhere and hit the sack. He reached a hilly terrain area which was notorious for freak accidents and deaths. Fast driving in the night means assured death but he did not slow down as he had already lost lots of time. He let the car dart through the road which was narrow as a parapet. A small miss and the car would plunge into the valley. It was thick dark and the mountain peaks looked like tombs in an abandoned cemetery. He rolled up the window as a whistling chilly wind broke out from nowhere. He felt an unbearable eerie aura surrounded that place. He switched on the stereo to light up the mood but in vain. All of a sudden a slow moving red light in front forced him to slow down. It was a truck. He could not drive faster anymore and kept on honking but the truck wouldn’t give way. On a straight long patch where the road was a little wide he tried to overtake the truck. He slammed the pedal but the truck also increased the speed. After a while he accidently looked at the Speedo. The needle was indicating 130 plus kmph. A chill passed through his spine. No truck can be driven at that speed, he thought. The truck slowed down again after the straight patch ended. After several kilometers the ghat section ended. As he took the last turn, to his utter amazement the truck was not in the front. He had no trace where it disappeared. Petrified he continued to drive.

Soon after the ghat he saw a dhaba and pulled in for a tea. There was no one in the dhaba except the shop owner. “Where are you going in this late night” the Sardar asked. My friend told the destination. “I got completely caught up in the ghat by a truck and lost lots of time”. He could see the otherwise impassive eyes of the Sardar lighting up. “Did the truck appear in front when you tried to drive fast”? He was surprised by the question but nodded. “It never allowed you to overtake; right?” He experienced the same chill in his spinal column. “What are you trying to tell me?” “Hmn…again he came” Sardar sighed. “Who”? Asked our friend. “Beta..It’s an unusual story. Some years ago a truck driver died in an accident after couple of days of his marriage. He wanted to reach home fast as his newlywed wife was alone at home. After that incident whoever tried to drive fast in the ghat his truck appears and safely holds them till they cross the ghat”. He was dumbfound and could not even thank the ghost.

And folks, I did not ask him whether the tyres of the truck were touching the ground. He may not have noticed it either.