HELP!!
Scene 1
2 p.m. on A January afternoon
On a fort in the Sahyadri ranges in Western Maharashtra
I was feeling a bit tired and that is what probably made me take that wrong step. The grass beneath my feet made me slip and I lost control as I rolled down the cliff for about 15 feet. The drop was about 1000 feet and if I kept falling, I would have been smashed to pulp. Fortunately, after 15 feet, there was a tree jutting out of the cliff and I grabbed to it, hanging by it not unlike a hero in a Hollywood action flick.
It was not a sheer drop really. But it would have been difficult to just climb back, especially with the loose soil of the Sahyadris. I held the tree with my hands, and ventured to take a peek downwards. My trekking bag impeded my vision, but still I saw enough to make me realise that I had a mild problem of vertigo. Having thus analysed my situation for a few seconds, I did what was the only(and therefore the most logical) alternative.
"HELP!!!!!! VAAAAAAAAAACHAVAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I hollered. There was no way I could get out of this by myself. I could only hope that someone would turn up. My hands were getting sweaty and the grip was loosening.
"HELLLLLLLLLLLPPPP!!!" I yelled again. This time there was a response.
A face was peering down at me from the top of the cliff. The face was a wrinkled one, with a long white beard and a bald head. It looked at me and then gave me a reassuring nod. The face disappeared for a few seconds, but then reappeared.
The old man then threw down a rope.
"OK, son, I have tied the rope to a big tree here, so come up hanging on to it." he said in a very sagely manner.
I wondered what exactly an old man was doing trekking here in the unglamorous Sahyadris. But I also thanked my stars that he was there to save me. I grabbed the rope and started hauling myself upwards. 5 minutes later I was dusting the mud off my clothes, as I stood on my two feet. I looked towards the old man to thank him......
Scene 2
3 p.m. on the same afternoon
At a tea stall at the top of that very hill
The tea stall usually had people from the other stalls spending time. January afternoons were anything but profitable. Yet today it was packed. The big group of people that stood there was surrounding a man as he narrated his experience.
Bandu, the curd-seller came to the stall and got into the group.
"What happened?" he asked a guy standing next to him.
"That man sitting there saw the ghost as well."
"Really? It has been a few weeks since we heard anyone say that, right?"
Bandu also joined the group as they listened with rapt attention to the story of the latest "ghostwatcher". He was saying
".....and then I dusted my trekking bag and turned around to shake hands or something. However, he had disappeared. Not a sign, totally vanished."
A collective gasp went up around the room.
"Disappeared?"...more murmurs.
The tea stall owner finally opened his mouth.
"See, this is not the first time someone has sighted that ghost. It has been haunting those hills of the fort since 5 years."
The old man at the centre of the crowd ran his fingers through his beard and looked at him quizzically. For a moment, the sincere face of the young man flashed across his face.
"So there have been other people whom this ghost has taken help from?"
"Yes, and there have been some unpleasant incidents too...."
The tea stall owner had now come into the story-telling mode.
Scene 3
3:15 p.m. on A January afternoon
On a fort in the Sahyadri ranges in Western Maharashtra
I was feeling a bit tired and that is what probably made me take that wrong step. The grass beneath my feet made me slip and I lost control as I rolled down the cliff for about 15 feet. The drop was about 1000 feet and if I kept falling, I would have been smashed to pulp. Fortunately, after 15 feet, there was a tree jutting out of the cliff and I grabbed to it, hanging by it not unlike a hero in a Hollywood action flick.
It was not a sheer drop really. But it would have been difficult to just climb back, especially with the loose soil of the Sahyadris. I held the tree with my hands, and ventured to take a peek downwards. My trekking bag impeded my vision, but still I saw enough to make me realise that I had a mild problem of vertigo. Having thus analysed my situation for a few seconds, I did what was the only(and therefore the most logical) alternative.
"HELP!!!!!! VAAAAAAAAAACHAVAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I hollered. There was no way I could get out of this by myself. I could only hope that someone would turn up. My hands were getting sweaty and the grip was loosening....................
THE END!
Scene 1
2 p.m. on A January afternoon
On a fort in the Sahyadri ranges in Western Maharashtra
I was feeling a bit tired and that is what probably made me take that wrong step. The grass beneath my feet made me slip and I lost control as I rolled down the cliff for about 15 feet. The drop was about 1000 feet and if I kept falling, I would have been smashed to pulp. Fortunately, after 15 feet, there was a tree jutting out of the cliff and I grabbed to it, hanging by it not unlike a hero in a Hollywood action flick.
It was not a sheer drop really. But it would have been difficult to just climb back, especially with the loose soil of the Sahyadris. I held the tree with my hands, and ventured to take a peek downwards. My trekking bag impeded my vision, but still I saw enough to make me realise that I had a mild problem of vertigo. Having thus analysed my situation for a few seconds, I did what was the only(and therefore the most logical) alternative.
"HELP!!!!!! VAAAAAAAAAACHAVAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I hollered. There was no way I could get out of this by myself. I could only hope that someone would turn up. My hands were getting sweaty and the grip was loosening.
"HELLLLLLLLLLLPPPP!!!" I yelled again. This time there was a response.
A face was peering down at me from the top of the cliff. The face was a wrinkled one, with a long white beard and a bald head. It looked at me and then gave me a reassuring nod. The face disappeared for a few seconds, but then reappeared.
The old man then threw down a rope.
"OK, son, I have tied the rope to a big tree here, so come up hanging on to it." he said in a very sagely manner.
I wondered what exactly an old man was doing trekking here in the unglamorous Sahyadris. But I also thanked my stars that he was there to save me. I grabbed the rope and started hauling myself upwards. 5 minutes later I was dusting the mud off my clothes, as I stood on my two feet. I looked towards the old man to thank him......
Scene 2
3 p.m. on the same afternoon
At a tea stall at the top of that very hill
The tea stall usually had people from the other stalls spending time. January afternoons were anything but profitable. Yet today it was packed. The big group of people that stood there was surrounding a man as he narrated his experience.
Bandu, the curd-seller came to the stall and got into the group.
"What happened?" he asked a guy standing next to him.
"That man sitting there saw the ghost as well."
"Really? It has been a few weeks since we heard anyone say that, right?"
Bandu also joined the group as they listened with rapt attention to the story of the latest "ghostwatcher". He was saying
".....and then I dusted my trekking bag and turned around to shake hands or something. However, he had disappeared. Not a sign, totally vanished."
A collective gasp went up around the room.
"Disappeared?"...more murmurs.
The tea stall owner finally opened his mouth.
"See, this is not the first time someone has sighted that ghost. It has been haunting those hills of the fort since 5 years."
The old man at the centre of the crowd ran his fingers through his beard and looked at him quizzically. For a moment, the sincere face of the young man flashed across his face.
"So there have been other people whom this ghost has taken help from?"
"Yes, and there have been some unpleasant incidents too...."
The tea stall owner had now come into the story-telling mode.
Scene 3
3:15 p.m. on A January afternoon
On a fort in the Sahyadri ranges in Western Maharashtra
I was feeling a bit tired and that is what probably made me take that wrong step. The grass beneath my feet made me slip and I lost control as I rolled down the cliff for about 15 feet. The drop was about 1000 feet and if I kept falling, I would have been smashed to pulp. Fortunately, after 15 feet, there was a tree jutting out of the cliff and I grabbed to it, hanging by it not unlike a hero in a Hollywood action flick.
It was not a sheer drop really. But it would have been difficult to just climb back, especially with the loose soil of the Sahyadris. I held the tree with my hands, and ventured to take a peek downwards. My trekking bag impeded my vision, but still I saw enough to make me realise that I had a mild problem of vertigo. Having thus analysed my situation for a few seconds, I did what was the only(and therefore the most logical) alternative.
"HELP!!!!!! VAAAAAAAAAACHAVAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I hollered. There was no way I could get out of this by myself. I could only hope that someone would turn up. My hands were getting sweaty and the grip was loosening....................
THE END!
