The article was first published here.
Raghu Bandodkar was an honest and upright bank officer. He had recently been promoted to the post of the senior manager. Even though he was just 35 years old, he had made great strides in his career by working earnestly. However, he had to travel a lot and that meant passing through the meandering Goan roads. He had to visit the Bicholim office every week.
Raghu Bandodkar was an honest and upright bank officer. He had recently been promoted to the post of the senior manager. Even though he was just 35 years old, he had made great strides in his career by working earnestly. However, he had to travel a lot and that meant passing through the meandering Goan roads. He had to visit the Bicholim office every week.
He would board a non-AC bus for Bicholim at 11.50 pm every Sunday. Six hours were needed to reach the destination. Raghu was accustomed to sleeping on the bus. While some people complained about traveling by bus at night, he had no such qualms. Raghu would sleep tight.
Traveling to Bicholim had become a routine. The driver of the bus knew him well by now. Raghu didn’t know what was in store for him in the near future.
Next week somewhere around midnight during his journey, the loud beating of drums woke him up. But to his amazement, he could no longer hear it once his eyes were wide open. ‘It’s surprising that anyone will want to play drums at 3 am’ he thought after checking the time on his watch. A cool breeze swept the bus and the night insects started squeaking ferociously. He closed the window, but that didn’t reduce the intensity.
As the roads were lonely at that time the bus moved at quite a speed. What surprised Raghu more was that just as the bus was about to enter a mountain pass, the speed drastically reduced. It is obvious that while entering a road full of twists and turns the speed should be reduced, however driving at 5-10 kmph made no sense. He glanced out of his window. A very tall man with a long beard appeared out of nowhere on the road. He started waving his hand towards Raghu. Raghu was perplexed. Even in the darkness he managed to see that the man was wearing torn out sandals, carried a sword, and had a very muscular physique with no shirt on. The man was smiling at Raghu. It sent a chill down his spine. After the bus passed the mysterious man, the night insects stopped squeaking.
A day or two after working intensely he didn’t remember about it until the same thing occurred the next week. The same man in the same attire and at the same time was there on the road. The man again started waving his hands. This time Raghu looked around to see if anyone was awake. No one was.
He walked up to the driver and asked if he had seen any person on the roadside. The answer was negative. ‘How could the driver miss the man?’ He then glanced at the speedometer. It showed 40kmph. ‘How is this even possible?’ The bus was moving at a snail’s pace and the speed was 40kmph. He began to wonder whether he was actually awake. He went back to his place and fell asleep.
He walked up to the driver and asked if he had seen any person on the roadside. The answer was negative. ‘How could the driver miss the man?’ He then glanced at the speedometer. It showed 40kmph. ‘How is this even possible?’ The bus was moving at a snail’s pace and the speed was 40kmph. He began to wonder whether he was actually awake. He went back to his place and fell asleep.
This continued for several weeks. During his commute at night, he would see the same man waving at him at the same place. It had now started bothering Raghu. To his surprise, none of his co-passengers seemed to notice this man. Was this some paranormal activity or was his brain playing games with him? Or was he just simply dreaming? He even searched on the internet for solutions. Some experts said that this scenario pertains to the realm of mind consciousness. Some said it was because he was under stress, but nothing could decipher the mystery.
He finally decided this was enough and would halt the bus next time when he sees that man.
Next week, again he unintentionally woke up at 3 am. The speed of the bus reduced as usual. Today he spotted the man from a long distance and told the driver to pull over for a moment. Just as Raghu got off the bus the man started walking in the opposite direction. Raghu called out for the man, but his calls went unanswered. Following the man at this time wasn’t a good option. He was thinking when the driver interrupted his thoughts by telling him that he should get on the bus. Raghu got on the bus unconvinced.
“Sir, there was no man on the road. I was calling out for you for the last 15 minutes.”
“15 minutes. That’s impossible I was down there for only a moment.”
“No sir. Anyway, let’s get on with the journey.”
What happened next astonished them all…
To be continued
---Tejas Ekawade
---Tejas Ekawade
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