Share-a-story: Brahm Pandey has his own horror stories to tell
11 pm Worli
We hailed a taxi. The driver, Brahm Mahadev Pandey, stared at us with surprise when we asked him to take us to a cemetery.
A believer in ghosts, he narrated an incident, which his fellow drivers had claimed to have experienced a few years ago. A girl would regularly take a cab from Worli to Dadar.
After reaching the destination, she would tell the driver to collect the money from her parents and point towards her house. When the driver would go to the house, the parents would say that he had ferried their daughter?s ghost. The girl had apparently died in a road accident.
Ramsey replica: The dogs outside the cemetery scared us away
12 am St Peter?s Catholic Cemetery, Worli
Both the gates of the cemetery were locked and the watchman missing. We shouted out for him several times, but he did not turn up.
When we tried to jump inside, the dogs at the entrance started barking. It seemed like a scene from a Ramsey horror show.
No entry: The watchman here refused to let us in
1 am Sewri Christian Cemetery
We woke up the watchman who was fast asleep. He rudely refused us entry. We went to the rear gate and found Shankar, the gardener.
He was sleeping with his wife and three-year-old daughter in a small shed in front of the cemetery gate. Three men approach him and ask him the procedure of burial. Shankar told them to come in the morning, as burials are not conducted at night.
Shankar, a Hindu, told us, ?I have been working here for the last 20 years. I have no fear because only Hindus believe in ghosts and not Christians. The church priest who performs the rituals and the Cross placed on the grave ensure peace to the dead.?
At your service: The 200-year-old cemetery is open 24x7 2 am Jamatul Musalman Bada Qabrastan, Chira Bazaar
The gate to this 200-year-old cemetery was open and we found a lot of people sleeping inside.
A policeman at the entrance asked us who we were. We woke up the sleeping watchman and he in turn the caretaker Ghulam Hussain. ?We are open round-the-clock and conduct five to seven burials every day. I have been working here for the past 30 years,? said Hussain. However, we were not allowed to spend more time.
Eerie: The sound of cats
and owls did scare us a bit
3 am Nalwadi Qabrastan, Victoria Road
Here, a shop selling flowers, perfumes, agarbattis and candles is open. The owners Khayum, Ateeq, Noor Mohammed and Sofian were having dinner. ?Aaj order zyada tha isiliye late ho gaya,? they said. They sell chaddar ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 15,000. ?Khushi ya ghum, hum yahaan hai,? they say with a smile.
We entered and the security guard Saleem Khan greeted us with a smile. The workers at the graveyard were sleeping inside. The sound of cats and owls did scare us a bit. We asked Saleem about ghosts and he said, ?Hum sabko marne ke baad isi kabar mein aana hai, phir darr kis baat ki. Sirf bewakoof log darte hain.?
It?s not ghosts, but children from the adjoining slum and the frequent theft of tube lights that bother Khan. ?They sneak inside and spoil the graveyards while playing. We should be very careful,? he said.
Source: http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2006/march/133431.htm
