An Unforgettable Trip!

I went to my Grandmother’s place to spend my holidays. She lived in a village which was situated in the interiors of south India. I always longed to spend my holidays at a place where one could obtain peace of mind and co-incidentally Grandma asked me to stay with her for a few days.

The place was so remotely inside that while traveling I felt there would be hardly any people living in the village. I had to take a lift on a bullock cart after a two hours travel in bus from the station. As the cart rattled, I observed the surroundings which were lush green and it seemed as if I was playing in the lap of Mother Nature. I could see green fields, some farmers working in them, hundreds of birds, hills and mountains at far distance and lot more.

I loved to read; hence I had taken many books along with me. As I knew I won’t get any facilities to enjoy as at home I had to stick with some thrilling novels which I like to read the most. I had almost a dozen of them which would last for all the days I spend. At home, Grandma had already prepared lunch; I took my bath and sat on the floor to have some food. After all those regular dishes it was a pleasant change to have some fresh food. My stomach was full and I felt like taking a nap, the journey had left me with no energy at all. Grandma arranged my bed and off I went to sleep at once.

When I woke up I saw Grandma was getting ready to go somewhere. She told me that there was a bhajan at one of the houses in the village which would last whole night and almost everyone from the village will be attending it. She asked me whether I would be able to stay alone at night or would I prefer to come along with her. I told her I had planned to go out to see and explore the village in the evening. She told me to come back before it was dark or else if I lost my way, it would be trouble. I told her not to worry and carry on with her programme.

I changed, locked the door and went out. The picturesque of the village was beautiful. It had been almost dark due to the dense trees and forest around, though the time was just 5 PM. As I knew the village was quite small, I thought I would make it home easily; hence I walked all along the small road which had small houses and huts on the side, but it seemed none of them were at home. There was total silence all around and I could not see a single human being even at a far distance.

The air became more and more chilly as time went by and except some peacock voices, I could hear none. Suddenly, it was quite dark and without me realizing, my heart started to beat faster. I decided to turn back and return home. As it was quite dark, I got confused as to which road had I taken to come this far. Now, from far end, I heard some voices. Yes! These were human voices and they were singing. I immediately realized that it was coming from the place where the village bhajan was being held.

I went into the direction from where the voices came from and found myself at the field. I had to cross the field to reach there and the path was too thin to be visible in such darkness. I carefully started walking and reached the middle of the field, but now I couldn’t realize as to from which direction the voices came from. It was total darkness and I was in the middle of a vast land where there was no one around, except some wild dogs who howled continuously. My heart was beating even faster and I felt I was perspiring even in the chill weather.

Suddenly, when I was looking around and deciding where to go, I saw someone standing at a distance. I couldn’t make out who it was as I hadn’t taken my torch, but I see that it was a male and had worn a hat. I called out but he did not reply, yet I thought he was looking at me. I got tensed and ran as fast I could without looking back. As I ran, I saw a small cottage which had a yellow bulb lit and the door open. I sprang into the cottage and shut the door. The cottage had no furniture except some wooden scrap and loads of dust. There was a window which I went to close and happened to see a house nearby, but had no lights lit. I thought the residents must have gone to the bhajan.

I had by now realized that I’ll have to spend my night in the cottage itself. It was very creepy and I was scared like hell. I could still hear the bhajan ranting from somewhere far off. My legs were paining like anything, I went to the corner of the room and sat down. I felt sleepy and as soon as I closed my eyes I heard *KHAT KHAT KHAT*, someone was at the door. I asked who it was, but no one answered. The knocking went on for a few minutes and suddenly stopped. I went to the window to peep from the side and see if anyone was still there. As I peeped, I could not see the person standing, but his shadow was clear and I could see the shape of a hat on his head. I latched the window and suddenly the knocking began again. This time it was furious knocking, he was bashing the door open. Now I lost it and screamed as loud as I could and fell down unconscious.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was laid on a bed and an old couple was sitting beside me. They told me they found me in their cottage behind the house lying unconscious. I got up in a jerk and looked out of the window and saw the cottage where I went last night. I told them that I was lost and had by mistake entered the cottage as I was afraid of dark. I even told him that I saw someone standing in the field. He laughed and told me it was just a scarecrow which the farmers had fixed over there. The man gave me a glass of water and asked me to take some rest. I told him that I had to go home as my Grandma must be tensed on not seeing me since last evening. He told me I can do what I wish to. I asked him his name so that I could tell Grandma as to where I was. He told me his name was Venkataraman and he was a business man.

Grandma was waiting for me anxiously outside our house. She hugged me as soon as I came near her and scolded me not to go anywhere without her consent. I told her about the whole incident that happened the night before and about the old couple who looked after me.

“Which old couple are you talking about?” she asked.

“Mr.Venkataraman and his wife” I replied.

I again fell unconscious on the floor when she told me this.

“Mr Venkataraman and his wife had committed suicide by burning themselves alive last year due to debts in their business. As he was a very nice man, the villagers have put a huge statue of his in the middle of the field for his remembrance!”