The midnight of 19th January, 2012, proved to be one of my most horrifying experiences. Not that I haven't encountered it before. Were they my illusions or just scary facts that I can see the paranormal? Unfortunately, it’s the latter. It was totally unexpected as I clearly remember that my day began like any other normal day.
The following day proved to be an action packed one for me as my colleague, Mahesh and I, were busy mulling over the concept for the launch of 1st of our Campaign Ads for one of our projects. It was a usual day, but the last minute brief changed everything. This sudden decision of placing an Ad in one of the leading tabloids on the very next day put an unexpected responsibility on our shoulders.
We braced ourselves for the challenge that confronted us. But we were not going to back down as well. As it's an opportunity for me to impress usually unflappable Boss with my quality work and commitment. Once our team members left, the real work began at 8:30 P.M.
Then it was just two of us and our team members from Marketing Department. We were busy racking our brains inside out for fleshing out a concept, visuals and of course, my specialty of Copy in Advertising parlance. Unfortunately, my colleague, Mahesh, who is a Sr. Visualizer, was busy multitasking. He was lending them a helping hand in putting together a Media Kit consisting various marketing collateral. As we had the launch of our hospitality chain with a press conference at a swanky restaurant in Mumbai beckoned our team including our Boss, VP of Leisure Division and Marketing team the very next day.
While we were preoccupied with our work, hunger pangs got the better of us. We were so consumed by our work that we had even skipped our dinner. But all thanks to the largesse of our Marketing Manager who ordered dinner for all of us. Once the order arrived, we grabbed a quick bite as it was almost past 1:00 AM! And by the time we left the office premise, it was around 2 o' clock.
My colleagues called a ‘Cool Cab’ and they dropped me near the bridge as my place is barely 10 minutes walking distance from that spot. I looked at the watch and it showed 2:12 AM. Night was black as street lights were switched off. I was walking with a weird feeling that someone was following me. Then I came to an intersection point of ‘3 Way Road’ where I had to take the right. As I was about to take a right turn, a middle-aged woman with a red sindoor appeared out of darkness and tapped on my shoulder from behind and asked for direction for going towards Majiwada. I directed her by pointing my finer towards the road. I felt something spooky. I turned back after few moments, she disappeared into the darkness.
After experiencing that, my heart almost skipped a beat. I started briskly walking towards my place. Finally, I reached home and heaved a huge sigh of relief. As soon as I entered home, I narrated this bizarre, yet horrifying experience to my parents and spouse. They warned me to never come home alone by foot. Apparently, I nodded my head in agreement as their point made sense to me. The next 4 days were normal.
Nope. As bad as I wanted to get over the nightmare of that freak incident, the spine chilling moment was far from over. The next day was Sunday. It was an eventful one as I indulged in a game of cricket with my friends in my locality. And my in-laws had come over for lunch. It was a pleasant day throughout. Around 5 PM, we went to see the exhibition near Gadkari Rangayatan, a prominent landmark in Thane city. It was a good outing for me as my spouse and I accompanied my in-laws to that exhibition. We proceeded to my maternal uncle’s place with them. It was a quality family time that I was fortunate to share with those who matter!
Around 9:30 PM we left my maternal uncle’s place. We got into a rickshaw and proceeded towards our place. It took about 15 minutes to reach as there was no customary traffic. Finally, we reached home sweet home. By the time I hit the bed, I felt asleep immediately. And I thought that the nightmare of 19th January, 2012 was over! I have this habit of getting up in the middle of night for sipping on water. I got up to quench my thirst. As soon as I kept the bottle down and looked up, here she was! The nightmare of the street was right there in front of me staring me back into my eyes! I was shell shocked and speechless. I started to sweat profusely despite being a chilly night.
My mind was in overdrive trying to get rid of this unwelcomed visitor, the spirit of the woman who I met few nights ago. Somehow I summoned my courage to chant my ‘Shri Akkalkot Swami Maharaj’ divine name. Now I felt confident that she could do no harm to me. I kept repeating it several times. Sooner my beloved spouse woke up to check on what’s happening. Just as I looked up, the spirit of that ghastly woman disappeared without a trace.
Till this day, I am still baffled. Is it an illusion or my spine chilling encounter with Paranormal? To be honest, I was scared to death. But my loved ones including my friend Sundar had informed me to never display fear in front of the spirits. I followed their advice and stayed strong. Here I am as I have lived another day to tell this tale.
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