Purely on a whim, Gora, Topshe, Pulak and I had come to Mussoorie to spend couple of days then go to Haridwar-Rishikesh and perhaps Kanataal. It was sunny afternoon when left our hotel to take a walk down the mall road, then out of nowhere a dark cloud had enveloped the sky and shortly the downpour started, forcing us to take shelter in a cafe. The aroma of freshly made pastry and patties was irresistible, we ordered the chicken patty along with coffee occupying a table by window and waited for the rain to stop. The weather in the mountains at this time of the year is quite unpredictable, the locals know this and carry an umbrella with them, we didn’t.

The rich aroma of the coffee coupled with the melt in the mouth chicken patty was heavenly. Topshe bit into the patty and exclaimed, “Look at that man, isn’t he our Bipul-da… Bipul Ray? And he is coming this way only.”

Bipul-da is our senior from school by about 5-6 years and resided in the same residential area in our youth days. He even played football and carrom with us, very jovial person and excellent artist and used to work with a renowned advertising agency as their creative director. I have met him a few times for my brand promotions and received valuable inputs from him.

Bipul-da entered the shop and headed straight to our table, it seemed he had seen us and decided to join us. He shouted in his booming voice, “Hey guys, what are you doing? I am glad to catch you guys here, feeling bored roaming the place all alone.”

“How are you Bipul-da? We are surprised to see you but please join us.” Gora spoke for all of us.

We ordered more coffee and pastries and chatted while devouring them. The weather showed no signs of relenting and it was getting dark too. Slowly the discussions veered towards paranormal and especially to the existence of ghosts. Bipul-da said, “I will tell you a true story and it involves me.”

“Please, Bipul-da, we are all ears.”

Bipul-da took a long sip of his coffee and started…

It’s a long way back, you know that I had relocated to Kolkata after school and did my graduation from Presidency college; thereafter, I joined the Clarion Advertising. The city of joy and the advertising fraternity is a fatal combination for health, the smoking and unplugged alcohol consumption did damage my health. The doctor suggested that I take a break and go away from the city to somewhere in the countryside to relax. I started walking towards the metro station, a 10 minutes walking distance from the doctor’s clinic when I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning around I found my college mate Amalendu Sengupta. I had lost touch with him after college and was surprised as well as happy to see him.

“You have lost weight, is everything okay with you?” before I could say anything he asked.

I narrated my wayward lifestyle after leaving the college and current predicament.

“I suggest, you forget about Puri, Digha, Bhubaneshwar and Deoghar, those places won’t do any good to your health. You should go to Milanshahar, within 3 days you will start feeling rejuvenated.”

“Where is Milanshahar? Never heard of this place.”

“Yes, not many people know of this place and that’s why it is still uncontaminated, pristine.” Amalendu replied.

“How to reach there? Where will I stay? Are there any good hotels?”

“Don’t you worry, my father Amarendra Sengupta had bought a bungalow there which is lying vacant now but there’s a caretaker who will look after you. I would have gone with you but…” Amalendu stopped short of saying something and then continued, “You just tell the caretaker that I have sent you. Take the train to Giridih and then a bus ride of about 12 km to Milanshahar. There you ask anyone to direct you to Amar Kothi. I look forward to seeing a healthy Bipul soon.”

Amalendu hurried into the evening crowd after giving his advice. Next day, I took leave of ten days from office and proceeded to Milanshahar. It was well past 8 pm when I reached Milanshahar, town was almost asleep barring a few hurrying homes. I found a shopkeeper about to close down and asked him direction to Amar Kothi. He looked at me in total disbelief and said, “No one lives there anymore, it is an abandoned house with wild foliage and animals.”

I realized, the shopkeeper is not acquainted with Amar Kothi, or maybe the caretaker is lax in his job. “It’s okay, just tell me which way to go.”

“Go straight, you will see a small hillock, keeping it on your left take the right-side road, keep walking till you reach the Christian graveyard, the white walls of Amar Kothi will be visible as soon as you cross the graveyard.”

I started walking towards the Amar Kothi as per the direction of the shopkeeper. It wasn’t a easy thing with suitcase in one hand and the torch in other, the path was rough with rocks and wild growth. Although it wasn’t even 9 pm, the place gave the impression of midnight with not a soul to be seen anywhere… I could hear the howling of foxes in the distance. After walking for almost half hour, I finally reached Amar Kothi. The bungalow is quite large and spacious, there were growth of wild foliage and moss around the house as the shopkeeper said. I unlatched the gate and it opened with a cranking noise. I went to the porch and looked for a calling bell, then knocked on the door loudly. After a while, I heard the sound of opening of a door and voice called out, “Who’s there?” I looked up at the source of the voice, “I am a friend of Amalendu. He told me to come here.”

The light of the torch focused on my face, “Oh, you are Bipul, please to see you… I have been waiting for you… let me come down and open the door.”

I wondered who is the gentleman who knows my name, is it someone like me who has come for health reasons; it can’t be the caretaker, he wouldn’t have called me by name like that. The door opened and a lanky guy came out, I focused my torch towards him, it was lanky Arun, our classmate in college. He hugged me and said, “I am so pleased to meet you after such a long time. Please come inside, freshen up… you must be hungry, the dinner is ready, I will heat them up for you.”

I stood still there, a chill run through my spine, I had heard that Arun had met with an accident on the Durgapur highway…he was driving a motorcycle and had a head on collision with a truck coming on the wrong side of the road, on the spot death.

“Two years ago, I met with an accident and had been in hospital for more than six months. I was almost died then but the doctors did their best. When I came out, Amalendu offered this place to me, I am here since then.” Arun said as if reading my mind.

I was exhausted and tired, it could have been just a rumor, I thought and went inside following Arun. “Will you take bath? There’s hot water in the bathroom, you will feel better.” Arun suggested.

The hot water bath actually helped in getting over the tiredness. I came out to the dining hall to find Arun standing by the dining table and a plateful of smoking rice, chicken curry and other delicacy on the table. “Come, have your dinner.” He invited me.

“Wow, it looks very appetising. Who cooks here?” I asked.

“There’s local lad, Munna who does all the work here right from cleaning, dusting the rooms to cooking and washing the utensils. Very efficient chap, lives in the nearby village.”

“What about you? You won’t have dinner.”

“I already had my dinner…usually take it around 6:30 in the evening.”

The food was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed the spread, especially after a strenuous day. I was sleepy too and it was evident on my face.

“Come, I will show you to your room, sleep well and we will talk again tomorrow.”

Arun walked me to the bedroom which had a single bed neatly done up, a glass of water on the bed table as if Arun knew my habit of drinking water first thing waking up in the morning. Anyways, I was too tired to further and the moment I hit the pillow, a deep slumber enveloped me, I slept immediately. Around midnight I was woken up by the constant hooting of owls. The moonlight from the window was bathing the room, I could clearly see the room and surrounding, nothing was amiss. I turned to my right and a cold wave touched my senses, I opened my eyes and turned stone cold… a skeleton was sleeping on my cot and I had touched its cold hand. I screamed loudly.

“What happened Bipul?”

Arun is standing beside my bed. I pointed my finger towards the skeleton but it wasn’t there anymore. The bed was empty just like when I had slept.

“You are a kid, must have had a bad dream. If you wish, I can sleep with you.”

“No, no, that’s not required, it must be a nightmare, I am fine now.”

Arun went away. I tried to sleep but a new thought started bothering me… I had locked the door before sleeping, how did Arun enter the room? I was scared to get up and check in the darkness.  

In the morning, first thing I checked the door, it was locked from inside. I checked the room in daylight for any other ways to enter but none existed. How did Arun come inside the room? I went out to ask him. Arun was in the lawns, watering the plants.

He laughed aloud when I asked him about last night, “You have had a dream, when did I come to your room? Didn’t you lock it from inside?”

Was it a dream? I can still see the skeleton in my bed and Arun standing by my bed, very clear and living dream it was. I did not pursue the matter further.

“Wash up and get ready, Munna will serve tea shortly”

There were two cane chairs with a matching table on the porch, Arun sat on one and I took the other. Munna came with a tray of tea and biscuits and placed it on the table.

A shiver ran down my spine looking at Munna, I have never seen a living human so thin, just a layer of skin over the skeleton. His complexion was charcoal black, the eyes were trying to hide in the socket and the most striking feature was his white teeth, jutting out from his mouth.

“How scary is his features” I exclaimed.

“What’s there in the human form, inside the skin, all are just skeletons only. Howsoever he may look like, Munna is very efficient in his work. Moreover, we have to keep people whom we can trust, Munna is our very own person.” Arun explained.

“Where is your tea?”

“I don’t take tea or biscuits. It is best to avoid them. I had my soaked chana with ginger, first thing in the morning when I wake up.”

Arun thought for a while and then said, “I have to go to the post office and few other places, you relax here, don’t wait for me at lunch, I will have something to eat in the market.”

The whole day passed, even the evening too gave way to the night, Arun did not return. At the dinner table, I asked Munna, “When will Arun come back?”

“Can’t say, Saheb is like that only, some days he doesn’t come at all. I don’t know where all places he goes. You have your dinner, I have kept saheb’s food separately in case he wants to have.”

Something odd happened at dinner, I asked for extra chapati and sabji, Munna went up to the kitchen door but did not enter, just brought the items, it seemed, someone was standing inside to handover the dishes to him. I shrugged off the matter, finished my dinner and went to room. The house seemed mysterious, some paranormal forces are roaming the house, looking for preys.

I tried to sleep but sleep eluded that night, I kept tossing and turning on the bed. My senses became alive with the sound of stick fighting right outside my room. Arun hadn’t returned as far as I knew, I went to the window and slide the curtains on one side. The view terrorized all my senses, Munna was swinging from a tree, all skeleton, his height has increased exponentially long, he looked at me, his eyes bloodshot red fireball. On the porch, two skeletons were sitting close to each other the stick fighting noise is coming from their bones. They too turned to look at me following the gaze of Munna, two pairs of bloodshot fireballs ready to turn me into ashes. Then, something amazing happened, the skeletons on the porch started getting filled with flesh and when their features were complete, I could easily recognize, Arun and Amalendu. I don’t remember, how long I had screamed. I could not sleep the whole night, shivering in fear and waiting for my imminent death.

As soon as the morning broke, I packed my bag and ran out from Amar Kothi. I did not stop till I reached the grocery shop that I had seen while coming. The shopkeeper was opening the shop, huffing and puffing, barely able to speak, I asked for a glass of water. He looked at me in puzzled amazement, probably not expecting me to be alive.

“Aren’t you coming from Amar Kothi?” he asked handing me a glass of water.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“What did you have for food?”

I hesitated then said, “Munna used to cook for me.”

The shopkeeper’s mouth turned into a big O, the eyes fearful… in a shivering voice he said, “Munna? What are you saying? Don’t you know, two years ago, Munna was found hanging from a tree in the lawns of Amar Kothi.”

“Suicide?”

“I don’t know but people say, his cousins murdered him for the share of property and gave it a look of suicide.”  

I did not stop for a moment more till I reached Giridih railway station where the station master narrated the rest of the story.

Amalendu used to go to Amar Kothi quite frequently but a year ago his dead body was discovered by the gardener on the porch of Amar Kothi. The police did their investigation but the murder case remained inconclusive.

My head started spinning, who did I meet coming out from the doctor’s clinic? Why did Amalendu asked me to come to Milanshahar and particularly Amar Kothi? Were they planning to kill me too? I thought a lot about my experience but couldn’t get any satisfactory answer.

Bipul-da stopped and looked out of the window. “Oh, the rain has stopped, I will have to go now, some friends are waiting for me.”

Bipul-da rushed out from the café into the darkness of the night. Gora’s phone rang, he picked up the call… “Hello, Gora, where are you?”

“Swati-di, how are you? We have come to Mussoorie for couple of days. We met Bipul-da here in the café, he just left to meet his friends. Are you too in Mussoorie?”

“What are talking about? Bipul passed away this afternoon after a massive cardiac arrest.”

The phone slipped out from Gora’s hand.