The Sunderban Ghost...

I was young and a sucker for ghost stories. Its not that I got really scared by them, but I enjoyed the chills that you get, that rush of adrenaline when you walk into a dark room moments after watching a ghost movie or hearing a chilling tale of death and vengeance. So one night, living with my elder brother, I was going through his computer when I came across this picture. I was alone in the room and it was well into the night and the lights were dim, so no point denying it, I got the chills staring at this photograph.

My brother walked in and I asked him what it was all about. He told me that this picture was clicked in the Sunderbans right off one of the watch towers. The moment the person taking the picture snapped it, he had a fit or something, fear and horror etched all over his face and fell to the ground. Before they could get him to the hospital, he was dead. The guy in the picture knew nothing of what might have caused such as sudden reaction in his friend. Well, not for long did that mystery last. When the photographs got developed, this one came to his attention. And thus was established the legend of the Sunderban Ghost.

I listened, fascinated, thrilled. Staring all the more intently into those empty eyes, that blank cold stare, boring into me. I got the goosebumps. It was pretty hard to scare me, my brother used to try, a LOT, and this one came closest I think. For some reason, there was a mystical aura about the picture, something that draws you in and ensnares you. Like someone is standing there. right. behind. you. and watching.

Ofcourse, it was years before I realised that this picture was a hoax and the story had been put up just to add an intrigue factor to the place. But still, as far as cheap thrills are concerned, this was one of my memorable childhood moments.