I was sleeping when she died. Drooling and drifting from one hazy dream to another, blissfully unaware of the struggles that were her last breaths.
I wouldn't have done it if not for what happened to her. For what I did to her.
Was it redemption that I was seeking? Deliverance, perhaps? Or maybe just a good night's sleep. I don't know. I guess I'll never know. My father always used to say that you can never really be a good judge of your own intentions, so you should just stop trying.
I didn't go looking for it. It came to me by pure chance while I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, rolling an empty bottle of whiskey under my foot, my sweat stale with the stench of its contents. I paused to flex my aching thumb and there it was, the text practically screaming at me -
The Headless Woman Of Kasara Ghat : The Nightmare That Makes Your Dreams Come True!!!
It was the turn of phrase that caught my attention. Just something about that contrasting imagery of dreams and nightmares, of rainbows melting into roiling black skies that resonated with me so suddenly and so deeply that I found myself repeatedly thumbing my phone's screen before I even realised what I was doing.
The link took me to a garbage, ad-riddled website. The kind that has white text slathered on a black background and two pop up ads ready to slap your screen if you dare let your thumb slip. Yet my curiosity made me soldier on. My eyes flew over the text, my heartbeat growing faster and faster the deeper I got into the article.
Have you ever lost someone you loved?
Wish you could talk to them one last time?
Look no further!
The Headless Woman of Kasara Ghat is here to take care of your deepest desires.
Kasara Ghat situated on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway is said to be one of the most haunted stretches of road in India today. It is infamous for having been the site of innumerable fatal accidents over the years and for being used as a dumping ground for multiple murder victims. Needless to say, a lot of restless souls haunt Kasara Ghat.
And chief amongst them, the one that makes the Ghat one of the most dangerous places to visit is the headless woman. Countless travellers have fallen victim to this terrifying woman who stalks this winding hilly road, using the cover of darkness to lure in her prey. Only when she enters the vehicle do the good samaritans realise just what kind of monster they have invited into their abruptly shortened lives.
*But wait, it's not all
... keep reading on reddit โก
In class 9th, I learned about Ustad Bismillah khan from a short story in my Hindi literature book, knowing about Ustad Ji, his beautiful thoughts, and overflowing love for Banaras, Bala Ji and its ghats made me fall in love with Banaras despite the fact I never been to Banaras before, though it's just 60-65 miles from my hometown. When I first read about this news disallowing non-Hindus at Ghats, the first name that came to my head was Bismillah Khan, I just thought how would he feel if he was alive today. Thankfully, the mother earth of Banaras has already taken him in its lap and saved him from the suffering from watching this rising division. There are many such great folks in Banaras who are following the idea and light which ustad Ji had lit, and they are in all folds. They represent the Banaras. Don't kill this culture, man!! please.
I wonder why these Bajrang Dal people did not question and oppose Modi Ji and his administration which employed non-Hindus in the Kashi Corridor project. Pictures got viral of Non-Hindus digging out Vigrahas, decreation of Lingam, and many more controversies. But no prominent Hindu group/Dal, except a few Purohits of Banaras who were eventually put under house arrest, opposed this. What does this suggest? I think all these groups have no interest in temples, and its sanctity, and karmkand, all they want is to create communal divisions and tension and take advantage of polarised demography.
Why don't people understand this, that politicians can change their party and ideologies and as they change their sleepers/ shoes? They are a politician who started from the rug and now shamelessly lives in castles surrounded by slums and quarters of the middle class like us. They are just using us, our identity, our religion. This chemistry of politics and religion is doing nothing, except bringing bad name to Hindus, and agony to rest. If what has been said in the posters really comes to the ground as practice, it will not hurt any politician but hurt the locals there, those who sell flowers & mala, tea, pandas, and boat sailors, photographers, and many others.
Local people should really come forth against this, and give a brute reply to the Bajrang dal without involving their political affiliation. Because once any political party will come to direct this, BJP and others will get a chance to make it again Hindu vs Muslim party thing. Hope the culture Banaras is famous for continues.
