MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTERS - 1: THE GHOSTLY PICKUP!

 Mysterious Encounters: 1

THE GHOSTLY PICKUP

In Mumbai, not only some film studios, hotels, burnt-down Mills, old buildings, and dilapidated structures and houses, but even some roads appear haunted by ghosts.  It also seems that evil spirits can move about from their dwellings to where they will lure their victims. 

Many Call Centres have sprung up all over the city of Mumbai. Almost all of them work round the clock. There are morning, afternoon, and night shifts in which employees are rotated. For those who finish their job late at night, Companies make arrangements to drop their employees near their residences. For this, they hire transport vehicles manned by the company's drivers offering transportation Services.  

Azim (name changed) works as a driver for a Call Centre located in the bustling Andheri area of Mumbai.  He has to pick up employees at 1 A.M., every night and then drop them near their respective homes.  This is a story about Azim who narrowly escaped death on the night between 18th and 19th June 2009.  No, he was not involved in any traffic accident but in a mysterious encounter that I am about to relate having heard directly from the man himself.

On that fateful night, he left the office at 1 A.M. with his “drops”. He made the last drop near the Bandra Railway Station.  All alone, he took off for his home which is located in a populous suburban area, just outside the city limit. Thanks to the city's many flyovers, traffic flow has comparatively improved on the Highways. However, he used the Andheri Link Road.  It was almost 3 A.M., and the unearthly hours had reduced the vehicular traffic considerably on the main road.  Azim was eager to reach home as he had recently married a young, pretty girl whom he loved dearly.  

While he was on his way via the Andheri Link Road, he came to a place where there is a famous Mall.  Thinking that perhaps he would reach home earlier, he swerved into a bye-lane.  This was the first time that he had entered this lane. There was not a single soul as the lane appeared deserted at this hour.  To his surprise, he noticed someone ahead who was signalling for a lift.  Azim stopped the car near him. The stranger wore a black raincoat and had a hat drawn over his face.  In fleeting moments, he could not make

out what the stranger actually looked like.  In a long drawn gruff voice, the stranger told Azim to drive him to a building that was located on the way.  Azim gestured to him to step into the rear seat of the car.  In a second the stranger was inside the car.  

Shortly, the car reached a place where the stranger told him to stop.  Then he got down near a building that appeared to be at the rear of some company (name suppressed). There was an eerie silence all around.  With the hat still drawn over his face, the stranger then suggested why not have a cup of tea with him at his home.  Azim was dead tired but maybe due to some hypnosis,  he welcomed the suggestion of the stranger.  A cuppa was what he needed then. This building looked like an ordinary one, but there were no security guards around. Nor was there any elevator to go up. The stranger lived on the third floor as that was what he told him. They took the stairs.  

Like a shadow, the mysterious stranger led him on and on till Azim was panting for breath.  He wondered why climbing up to the third floor could take so much time.  At last, they came to what appeared to be the terrace of the building.  The mysterious stranger was nowhere around.  

As Azim peered at the terrace, he saw a black mass with a

gruesome face.  In a chilling voice, the figure commanded him to step onto the terrace.  But by this time, Azim was jolted back to his senses.  It was now clear to him that all was not right.   Anxiety and panic gripped him as he realised that he had fallen prey to some demon or ghost.    Without losing any time, he turned his back and began running downstairs even as the ghost lunged at him, laughing wickedly like a hyena.  There were no lights and as such Azim found himself tripping over some stairs.  On and on he ran down for his life.  The hideous laughter followed him.  How he wished that he could reach the ground floor soon!  To add to his horror, he saw a ferocious dog appearing out of nowhere, almost about to devour him.  

Finally, Azim reached the ground floor.  He dashed towards his car.  From the car, he had a last brief look at the building.   He was shocked to notice that it was not some residential premises as he had previously imagined but a ghostly dilapidated building.

The dog did not step out of the compound.  It looked menacingly at him as if to say, "You've escaped this time."

Fumbling with his keys, Azim started his car and took off with great speed swerving toward the Link Road. Only after he had left the bye-lane behind he heaved a sigh of relief.  Soon he made his way back home.  By the time he got home to his dear wife, he was shivering with cold and fever. He had escaped death by the skin of his teeth.  

Yes, that was a night that Azim would remember all his life. He had unwittingly given a ride to a ghost, or rather the ghost had taken him for a ride.  Had he stepped onto the terrace he would have never made his way back home.  And who knows whether there was a terrace at all!  No more pickups or drops then, for it could have been just a dead drop for Azim and he would have given up his ghost! 

NASIR ALI