It was on my holidays last summer that a strange incident happened. I still can't shake off the feeling that the memory brings back. It was a warm day, warmer than normal, the skies were cobalt blue and clear of any clouds. I had left my tour group as it was our free day and we could go somewhere that we wanted outside of the tour schedule. I went to visit one of the famous step wells that Rajasthan is renowned for.
The well was as impressive as I expected. There were steps cut into the rock, layers and layers of zigzagged steps which led to the bottom of the well, this is where there was a deep pool of water. These were ancient structures and I had always wanted to visit one, not only to marvel at the breathtaking and ornate architecture but also to experience the feeling of walking down to the bottom of the well with the local women and viewing the well as they did, a source of water but also a communal place for social gatherings and somewhere to rest and cool off. A lot of these wells were abandoned now since they lost their purpose but a few were still used by local people.
I was surprised to see there were a lot more people than I thought there would be here that day. There appeared to be a camera crew present and a group of women dressed in glamorous lenghas and sarees. A bearded man who was sat on a chair on one platform of steps, looked like he might be the director and another flamboyantly dressed man demonstrating what looked like dance steps. He must be a choreographer I thought. I couldn't hide my excitement! I may have walked onto, or rather stepped down to the sets of a Bollywood film! There were children hanging around in a cluster about two metres away from the shooting crew, stretching their necks and trying to see what was happening, and the local women were also not far behind with their tin vases for collecting water, while they used the anchal of their sarees to cover their faces a little.
The crew played some music and the director shouted action. Up to this point I wasn't sure if this was an acting scene or a dance sequence, but as the man said action the group of dressed up women in impeccable make up began to move in the most beautiful and smooth way. They swayed their hips and moved their arms perfectly in time to the rhythm of the music. I was mesmerised, they made it look so easy but it must have been hard work dancing in the heat outdoors and standing on those stone steps which didn't look all too safe to be moving around on like that.
I wanted to know which director it was and whether there were any famous actors present, so I put my backpack on a step and asked one of the young boys standing nearest to me. He said it wasn't a shooting for a film, it was only a music video for a pop artist. I loved how knowledgeable the boy was and how quickly he was able to inform me who the pop star was shooting her music video. Ah I thought, well I guess there goes my dreams of meeting any Bollywood actors. I started to dance a little to the music as it was very upbeat and peppy.
As I was dancing something caught my eye and I turned to the left. There was an odd contraption moving in a circular route around the upper part of the well. It was wooden and looked like a box that could carry people around and down the well, perhaps if the steps were too much for someone to climb down. It looked very rusty though and I wondered if there was anyone inside using this odd rickety lift of sorts. The wooden object seemed to move faster as I watched it and the teenage boys next to me noticed the movement too. There was someone inside I realised a moment later. Yes, it seemed like the figure was dressed in red, and the object was building momentum as it moved closer in the direction of the group of dancers.
The lead dancer spotted the object and began to shriek. The way in which the girl was screaming seemed disproportionate in comparison to the benign nature of the thing. It wasn’t going to hit the girls, it would be going above their heads. It was an ancient abandoned well lift after all!
But as the object drew closer I could see that there was definitely a figure inside, and it was a woman. A bride-like figure in actual fact. She was dressed in red, bright red shimmery clothes. This was becoming crazy. Why was a bride at the well and what was she doing on this old water well lift thing on her own? The object seemed to move by itself too I noticed as I was trying hard to see the mechanism that allowed it to move like that. Surely someone would need to be pulling the thing? Where was the rope and pulleys? I couldn’t make out any but perhaps my distance was stopping me from seeing the detail. As I squinted to see better, I saw long black hair streaming behind the bride's back, but her face couldn't be seen. Her hair was billowing in the wind and it was all such a blur as it was happening so fast. I was certain it was a bride though. She must have had a red saree on.
The box moved even faster and drifted close to the dancers, it was a flash now and the girls continued shrieking. A few were running away from the object along the platform, while some ran down the steps towards the water. The black hair of the bride spread out fanning the object she was in and then nothing. The dancers were standing in a huddle near the water, shaking and shouting, a few crying and asking what had just happened.
I looked around for the object with the bride to see if it was continuing it’s movement around the well, but I couldn’t see it anymore. Where on earth had it gone? I twirled around again and again and walked up and down the well steps. I walked along the platform I had been on and towards the right, parallel to the object to see if there was a door in the well wall where it could have disappeared into. I couldn’t see anything. The director sat with his head in his hands on one of the steps. The music was still playing eerily on a loop as everyone had forgotten to turn it off in the commotion. The choreographer was swearing and at one point he turned to the crowd of boys near me and began to shout. Is this your doing kids? Is this your prank? The boys were quiet, talking to each other nervously but one replied to the choreographer and said, “no sir, we didn’t do anything we promise. We promise. We swear it wasn’t us, we know nothing”. The boys started to leave, probably worried that they would be blamed and get into trouble.
I started to feel queasy and uncertain of what I had just seen. Where did the bride and the wooden box disappear too? Could there really be a door in the well where she went in? Surely it must be some elaborate prank played by the local kids on the city folk who had come to shoot the video.
The local woman were still here all talking very quickly too and they looked terrified. What had just happened, they were saying.
One woman was standing and sitting repeatedly and another sat in a squat with her head in her hands, the other ladies were praying but they seemed to be transfixed and were not leaving the well.
I heard bits of the conversation from the local women and heard the mention of words like ‘that bride’ and ‘bhooth’ and ‘preth’, it meant ghost and spirit.
I couldn't believe they were being so silly and superstitious. Why was a spirit going to be floating on a well lift in the middle of the day and what did it have against the filming crew? Ghosts appear in the evening after dark or at sunset or at least that’s what people said. I was no expert, I had never seen a ghost before.
I sat with my head in my head for a few moments to steady myself and to try and remember what I saw clearly but I felt odd and there was a strange feeling at the pit of my stomach. I wanted to leave the well as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
When I reached the top I leaned against a nearby tree and had some water from the bottle I carried in my backpack. It was becoming two in the afternoon and the sun was getting very hot. I splashed my face with the water too. That wasn't a spirit I kept telling myself, it must have been a prank played by the boys. There were teenage boys there. One of them must have dressed up as bride and pulled the trick. They didn't seem as disturbed as everyone else.
I didn't want to stay in the area anymore though. I felt unsettled and anxious.
I headed back to my tour group and our hotel and didn't tell anyone what had happened. I fell asleep straight away and missed the dinner that night. I felt strangely exhausted and drained by the days events.
The next morning, when I went for breakfast, I was still feeling peculiar and couldn’t eat properly. My travel buddies were laughing and smiling and talking about all the shopping they had done. I smiled and looked at their bargains but my heart was heavy and my mind was still in a state of confusion. They asked me how my day had been and I said it had been lovely. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened and how it had deeply unsettled me.
We were leaving for the next city after breakfast, so I joined everyone on the bus and sat quietly near the front. My friends were chatting merrily in the back. I told them I had a headache and wanted time by myself. The guide was talking about the history of the area at a steady pace as normal. I wondered sometimes if he made up some information or if he was truly this knowledgeable about everywhere we went.
It was shortly after the coach started out journey that I noticed we were driving in the area near the well I visited yesterday. The tour guide stopped and said, everyone look to your left please there is a famous story about this step well we are going to pass now. It is believed to be haunted. Everyone on the coach scoffed and laughed.
I sat up intrigued and thought our guide would expand on the story but he didn’t say anything further.
“Rohith,” I called him, “what is the story about the haunting? Do you know it?”
“Ah”, he smiled, “you like a good ghost story hm? Well, the story goes there is a bride who was supposed to have been drowned at the well because her husband didn't want her. She is supposed to be the wife of a landowner who lived in the nearby X haveli. On the night of their wedding he took her to the well and pushed her to her death. Now sometimes she is seen walking about or sitting on the steps and crying or riding an old well lift. The lift appears with her as it no longer exists. She can be seen at midday or in the early afternoon most of the time so the women don't usually go to the well by themselves during these times. I listened in disbelief. Surely an educated logical person like myself was not falling for a folktale?
But I asked him “could she appear if there are lots of people around?”
He looked at me quizzically because of my questions.
“Yes it’s possible. I've heard different variations. There isn't any recorded pattern of her appearance! You don’t believe in this stuff do you?” He smiled and said to the driver, “lets drive on”.
I was dumbfounded.
The well was as impressive as I expected. There were steps cut into the rock, layers and layers of zigzagged steps which led to the bottom of the well, this is where there was a deep pool of water. These were ancient structures and I had always wanted to visit one, not only to marvel at the breathtaking and ornate architecture but also to experience the feeling of walking down to the bottom of the well with the local women and viewing the well as they did, a source of water but also a communal place for social gatherings and somewhere to rest and cool off. A lot of these wells were abandoned now since they lost their purpose but a few were still used by local people.
I was surprised to see there were a lot more people than I thought there would be here that day. There appeared to be a camera crew present and a group of women dressed in glamorous lenghas and sarees. A bearded man who was sat on a chair on one platform of steps, looked like he might be the director and another flamboyantly dressed man demonstrating what looked like dance steps. He must be a choreographer I thought. I couldn't hide my excitement! I may have walked onto, or rather stepped down to the sets of a Bollywood film! There were children hanging around in a cluster about two metres away from the shooting crew, stretching their necks and trying to see what was happening, and the local women were also not far behind with their tin vases for collecting water, while they used the anchal of their sarees to cover their faces a little.
The crew played some music and the director shouted action. Up to this point I wasn't sure if this was an acting scene or a dance sequence, but as the man said action the group of dressed up women in impeccable make up began to move in the most beautiful and smooth way. They swayed their hips and moved their arms perfectly in time to the rhythm of the music. I was mesmerised, they made it look so easy but it must have been hard work dancing in the heat outdoors and standing on those stone steps which didn't look all too safe to be moving around on like that.
I wanted to know which director it was and whether there were any famous actors present, so I put my backpack on a step and asked one of the young boys standing nearest to me. He said it wasn't a shooting for a film, it was only a music video for a pop artist. I loved how knowledgeable the boy was and how quickly he was able to inform me who the pop star was shooting her music video. Ah I thought, well I guess there goes my dreams of meeting any Bollywood actors. I started to dance a little to the music as it was very upbeat and peppy.
As I was dancing something caught my eye and I turned to the left. There was an odd contraption moving in a circular route around the upper part of the well. It was wooden and looked like a box that could carry people around and down the well, perhaps if the steps were too much for someone to climb down. It looked very rusty though and I wondered if there was anyone inside using this odd rickety lift of sorts. The wooden object seemed to move faster as I watched it and the teenage boys next to me noticed the movement too. There was someone inside I realised a moment later. Yes, it seemed like the figure was dressed in red, and the object was building momentum as it moved closer in the direction of the group of dancers.
The lead dancer spotted the object and began to shriek. The way in which the girl was screaming seemed disproportionate in comparison to the benign nature of the thing. It wasn’t going to hit the girls, it would be going above their heads. It was an ancient abandoned well lift after all!
But as the object drew closer I could see that there was definitely a figure inside, and it was a woman. A bride-like figure in actual fact. She was dressed in red, bright red shimmery clothes. This was becoming crazy. Why was a bride at the well and what was she doing on this old water well lift thing on her own? The object seemed to move by itself too I noticed as I was trying hard to see the mechanism that allowed it to move like that. Surely someone would need to be pulling the thing? Where was the rope and pulleys? I couldn’t make out any but perhaps my distance was stopping me from seeing the detail. As I squinted to see better, I saw long black hair streaming behind the bride's back, but her face couldn't be seen. Her hair was billowing in the wind and it was all such a blur as it was happening so fast. I was certain it was a bride though. She must have had a red saree on.
The box moved even faster and drifted close to the dancers, it was a flash now and the girls continued shrieking. A few were running away from the object along the platform, while some ran down the steps towards the water. The black hair of the bride spread out fanning the object she was in and then nothing. The dancers were standing in a huddle near the water, shaking and shouting, a few crying and asking what had just happened.
I looked around for the object with the bride to see if it was continuing it’s movement around the well, but I couldn’t see it anymore. Where on earth had it gone? I twirled around again and again and walked up and down the well steps. I walked along the platform I had been on and towards the right, parallel to the object to see if there was a door in the well wall where it could have disappeared into. I couldn’t see anything. The director sat with his head in his hands on one of the steps. The music was still playing eerily on a loop as everyone had forgotten to turn it off in the commotion. The choreographer was swearing and at one point he turned to the crowd of boys near me and began to shout. Is this your doing kids? Is this your prank? The boys were quiet, talking to each other nervously but one replied to the choreographer and said, “no sir, we didn’t do anything we promise. We promise. We swear it wasn’t us, we know nothing”. The boys started to leave, probably worried that they would be blamed and get into trouble.
I started to feel queasy and uncertain of what I had just seen. Where did the bride and the wooden box disappear too? Could there really be a door in the well where she went in? Surely it must be some elaborate prank played by the local kids on the city folk who had come to shoot the video.
The local woman were still here all talking very quickly too and they looked terrified. What had just happened, they were saying.
One woman was standing and sitting repeatedly and another sat in a squat with her head in her hands, the other ladies were praying but they seemed to be transfixed and were not leaving the well.
I heard bits of the conversation from the local women and heard the mention of words like ‘that bride’ and ‘bhooth’ and ‘preth’, it meant ghost and spirit.
I couldn't believe they were being so silly and superstitious. Why was a spirit going to be floating on a well lift in the middle of the day and what did it have against the filming crew? Ghosts appear in the evening after dark or at sunset or at least that’s what people said. I was no expert, I had never seen a ghost before.
I sat with my head in my head for a few moments to steady myself and to try and remember what I saw clearly but I felt odd and there was a strange feeling at the pit of my stomach. I wanted to leave the well as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
When I reached the top I leaned against a nearby tree and had some water from the bottle I carried in my backpack. It was becoming two in the afternoon and the sun was getting very hot. I splashed my face with the water too. That wasn't a spirit I kept telling myself, it must have been a prank played by the boys. There were teenage boys there. One of them must have dressed up as bride and pulled the trick. They didn't seem as disturbed as everyone else.
I didn't want to stay in the area anymore though. I felt unsettled and anxious.
I headed back to my tour group and our hotel and didn't tell anyone what had happened. I fell asleep straight away and missed the dinner that night. I felt strangely exhausted and drained by the days events.
The next morning, when I went for breakfast, I was still feeling peculiar and couldn’t eat properly. My travel buddies were laughing and smiling and talking about all the shopping they had done. I smiled and looked at their bargains but my heart was heavy and my mind was still in a state of confusion. They asked me how my day had been and I said it had been lovely. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened and how it had deeply unsettled me.
We were leaving for the next city after breakfast, so I joined everyone on the bus and sat quietly near the front. My friends were chatting merrily in the back. I told them I had a headache and wanted time by myself. The guide was talking about the history of the area at a steady pace as normal. I wondered sometimes if he made up some information or if he was truly this knowledgeable about everywhere we went.
It was shortly after the coach started out journey that I noticed we were driving in the area near the well I visited yesterday. The tour guide stopped and said, everyone look to your left please there is a famous story about this step well we are going to pass now. It is believed to be haunted. Everyone on the coach scoffed and laughed.
I sat up intrigued and thought our guide would expand on the story but he didn’t say anything further.
“Rohith,” I called him, “what is the story about the haunting? Do you know it?”
“Ah”, he smiled, “you like a good ghost story hm? Well, the story goes there is a bride who was supposed to have been drowned at the well because her husband didn't want her. She is supposed to be the wife of a landowner who lived in the nearby X haveli. On the night of their wedding he took her to the well and pushed her to her death. Now sometimes she is seen walking about or sitting on the steps and crying or riding an old well lift. The lift appears with her as it no longer exists. She can be seen at midday or in the early afternoon most of the time so the women don't usually go to the well by themselves during these times. I listened in disbelief. Surely an educated logical person like myself was not falling for a folktale?
But I asked him “could she appear if there are lots of people around?”
He looked at me quizzically because of my questions.
“Yes it’s possible. I've heard different variations. There isn't any recorded pattern of her appearance! You don’t believe in this stuff do you?” He smiled and said to the driver, “lets drive on”.
I was dumbfounded.
Comments
Post a Comment