Ravi Raj started the story sitting around the makeshift campfire. Everyone did not know the story, so they were curious to hear from someone who was at the scene? And what was it all about the LAST ROOM.
Mcleodgunj was not part of the original plan, said Ravi Raj. And I am not sure if we were confused or was there really something else. You know what I mean. There were six of us on that office trip. A Punjab Haryana visit of client and strategy team. And towards the end of a productive trip, the ecstatic client added a trip of celebration – a visit to Mcleodgunj was added.
It was evening when the team finally reached Mcleodganj. As it was unplanned, finding a decent hotel for all of us was tough. But then we did manage to find an old type double story hotel. The rooms were big, and all of them had blue carpets, and I still can pick that shade; odd and somewhat creepy blue. The windows were on one side of the wall, all closed.
You know how the evenings progress in such visits. The team bonding rituals, the drinks and talks are standard operating procedures. So, this time was no different. The teams regrouped in the Marketing Director’s room. As expected, the conversation hopped from one unrelated topic to another. And soon, it did move to discuss paranormal, spooky incidents.
After a few stories and some stiff drinks, the tired team started to leave the room. And you know how long byes take when there is drink still on the table. As no one was driving or going anywhere other than a few steps to their rooms, one for the road took a different meaning.
There was a cluster of people at the door. Each just hanging on for that extra moment. There was no hurry. And they were all facing inwards, waiting for me to move.
At that exact moment, I saw somebody walk by. He crossed our room left to right. We knew the way led to the end of the corridor. All the rooms on the floor were with us. And the one that was at the end was locked. I checked with the client, and he agreed he thinks someone did walk by.
I need to orient you with the floor design to understand the situation. So, you come up the stairs and turn right. That’s the only way, and there is no left turn. And then there are rooms on one side and big open arched windows on the other side. We were standing in the first room, and next, all rooms were with us. The passage ended in the last room- which, as I said, was closed. We were not sure if that was occupied or not.
The first thing that crossed my mind was that some team members were trying to play a prank. It happens in such a situation, more so if, for the last few hours, all that was being discussed was paranormal activities. But the whole gang was there with us. So who was the person who went by?
Naturally, it has to be someone in the last room. However, we had not seen or heard anyone in that direction. We all came back into the room and just sat there. And then we saw the man again walk by. We rushed to the door, and there was no one to be seen. This was getting spooky.
There was a simple way to check. So, we landed at the reception desk and woke up the sleepy night guard. He was absolutely confident the last room was unoccupied. It confused us, as initially, only two people had seen the man walk by, but everyone was sure of it the second time.
There was no logical explanation. Who was the person? And more importantly, where did he vanish? The team was too spooked to sleep in their room and decided to take turns and guard the room. And we were leaving with the first set of sunrays hitting Mcleodganj.
No one wanted to sleep, and no one wanted to be on guard duty alone. The night was spent mainly sharing non-spooky stories and finishing our limited stocks of cigarettes. Every now and then, we discussed fleeing the hotel, but better sense prevailed as there was no way we would get accommodation at that hour.
I prefer not to remember this episode. And when we saw it, there was a pattern to it. Too many coincidences during the trip. While coming to Mcleodganj, we missed all the temples, monasteries and holy places we would have otherwise stopped. But everything prevented us from being blessed that night.
Here is the clincher. Before coming to Mcleodganj, at the sunset point, all pictures featuring the young lady member of the team had an ill-defined smoky human shape. Initially, we thought it to be the finger of the photographer. However, no other picture had the problem. A senior member and Hanuman Bhakt suggested deleting all the images so that one does not carry the paranormal home. I think he was right. Surviving is after all more important than knowing why?
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