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Delhi becoming ghost capital! |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Thursday, 19 August 2004 |
August 19 , 2004
Some Delhi residents, it seems, will never leave the city. Even after death. From Mughal rulers to murder victims, the capital has become favourite haunting ground for restless spirits.
While no evidence of it may have been visible to TV cameras during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Independence Day speech, locals insist that ghosts stalk the majestic Red Fort.
Many say they have heard the tinkling of anklets from within an abandoned well near the Zeenat Mahal where the bodies of prisoners executed during the British Raj were reportedly dumped. | Also see: Sify Offbeat Special |
"At night people hear sounds of a lady's anklets apparently coming from inside the well but no one has even seen anything unusual," admits A P Singha, one of the oldest shopkeepers inside the Red Fort complex.
According to him, the late Asghar Ali Khan, former custodian of the Red Fort, had been the first person to report some ghostly sightings in the Dewan-e-Aam. But this was later denied by the Army that looked after Red Fort security till sometime back.
The haunting feeling permeates other monuments in the vicinity as well. Adjacent to the Red Fort across the Ring Road one finds the Fort of Salimgarh built by Sher Shah Suri's son Salim Shah.
An island fort encircled by the river Yamuna, Salimgarh Fort was used by the British as a prison for the freedom fighters. That however is not its only claim to fame - Salimgarh is considered one of the most haunted places in Old Delhi.
Kabir, a construction worker, swears there's something unnatural going on: "While working at nights, I sometimes hear vicious laughter echoing off the walls of Salmigarh. But when I try to follow the sound, it fades out."
Fellow workers back-up Kabir: They too claim to have heard footsteps of people walking about but nothing appears in the torchlight.
The Bhuri Bhatiyari Ki Masjid (Mosque Of The Fair Women Innkeeper), built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq, also has its own tale of horror. The dilapidated structure is believed to be haunted by the soul of the innkeeper who was brutally murdered at the spot.
Maulvi Naseer Ahmed, who has lived at the mosque for the last 33 years, says the erstwhile owner is very much around, though not in a corporeal form. "Maine djinn ke roop mein ajgar (I saw a djinn disguised as a large snake)," he contends.
But if you thought that the phantom menace is confined only to Delhi's ancient quarters, think again. Spooks have been spotted much closer home.
Deepti and Subi, students of Jamia University, have been braving it out as paying guests in a lavish Sukhdev Vihar bungalow for over a year now. The room they are living in has a gory past - 4 years ago an old woman was robbed and hacked to pieces there.
Sometimes they get the shivers, the girls admit. According to Deepti: "I have this strange feeling that I am not alone. One day while I was in the bathroom, I had this sudden, inexplicable urge to go out and check the bedroom and make sure there was no one there."
Subi's brush with the supernatural has been much more palpable, at least to her. "From my room, I can see into the next room too. One night, I saw someone or something rush past. When I mentioned this to Deepti, she just laughed it off. But I am sure what I saw has no ready explanation, especially since it has happened a couple of times more after that day," she says.
There have been other bizarre incidents around the house. Leftover milk disappeared from the refrigerator!
"After Subi and myself had drunk a glassful each, I kept the remaining milk in the fridge. It was gone the next morning," says a visibly shaken Deepti.
A haunted house in the posh Greater Kailash area is another popular landmark for the city's ghost hunters. The building acquired an unhealthy reputation after the old couple living there was murdered. Chopped remains of their bodies were later recovered from the water tank on the terrace. No one dared to stay in the house after that and it has now been sealed. However it continues to be a major attraction for teenagers with a taste for the macabre.
Hotel Kanishka, scene of the famous Tandoor murder case, has many among the staff running scared till this day. Those working at the hotel believe they can smell Naina Sahani's burning flesh each time her death anniversary draws near.
There are instances galore where families in the city are sharing an uneasy alliance with creatures far more frightening than their landlords.
A couple residing in Kailash Colony, for example, say they faced enormous bad luck in business and personal life after moving into their new home.
Two years later a local priest claimed to have identified the problem - there was a resident spook that did not wish to vacate a particular room. The couple was advised to convert the haunted space into a temple to ward off the evil influence.
Although not everyone is convinced that there's a life-and-death struggle on for the soul of Delhi, one thing is certain - the city will always remain in high spirits till there's so much of the mysterious and the unexplained happening on its streets.
http://sify.com/news/offbeat/fullstory.php?id=13547586 |
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