This one comes straight from a conversation with a friend who had an unusual tale to share about the haunted bridge of Kesali. It was when he was young that he had seen how one of his own was possessed. It shook him, for it was the first time he had witnessed something unworldly haunt someone from his family. Here goes the story:
Village of Kesali
It had been a while Puneet had not visited his village. It was during marriages and vacations that he would generally set foot in Kesali, Madhya Pradesh. On one such occasion when one of his cousins was tying the knot, he got a chance to reunite with his whole family again.
The marriage was a huge hit, how Indian marriages generally are – pompous and grand. The procession livid and perennially unsatisfied with the food no matter how many Gulab Jamuns rested on their plates. The adults inebriated, dancing to the loud cacophony of the band which the country now has so grown accustomed to that no one complains anymore.
Cities, they don’t care, but villages they do, for every inhabitant is aware of who is getting married to whom and how grand the party is. Some furtive kids would already know the menu beforehand.
Only Puneet was an outsider who didn’t care about marriages or what they tacked along. He just wanted to be with his family. He loved to see them all together, under one common roof and it was that unity that tied him somehow to his roots despite a grand life he chose to lead in the city-din.
The Rest
Right after the marriage ceremony concluded, Puneet was supposed to head back home. He was accompanied by his uncle and aunt. The punishing roads had them tired, sucked nearly the life out of them as they trudged on. The sun was as searing as it feels when it is atop your head.
Puneet’s aunt urged them to stop and rest for a while. So they decided to take a pit-stop near a bridge that they were supposed to cross.
Just then his uncle’s phone rang. It was Puneet’s father calling asking about their whereabouts. His uncle told him that they were on their way, that they were simply resting near the bridge of Kesali.
Freaked out, Puneet’s father began shouting on the phone asking them not to stay there on the bridge. His uncle ignored the warning and rested there nevertheless. Puneet was too young to comment.
After a while, they picked themselves up and headed towards their home.
The Prayer
The day seemed to be going just fine when someone noticed Puneet’s aunt sitting for an unusually long duration praying. She was mumbling mantras glancing at her sides occasionally.
When it was more than an hour the family was worried and they decided to ask her what the matter was. To their surprise she replied,
“When I am chanting the prayers, the voices don’t bother me.”
Everyone was taken aback.
A priest was sent for almost immediately.
When the exorcist arrived he began the usual mumbo-jumbo to elicit what was bothering her. She told him that if she stopped she could hear people talking in her ears, whispering something. It consisted of painful shrieks and requests that was madding to hear.
The exorcist understood what it was all about since similar cases had erupted in Kesali. He performed his exorcism on her as she slowly succumbed to a tight slumber.
The Story Behind the Bridge of Kesali
When he was done, he explained it to the family the story behind the bridge of Kesali. Once while crossing the bridge, a bus full of passengers had capsized. The accident cost a dozen lives.
That lethal event took with it men, women and children alike. The merciless river swallowed the bus and with it the people in it. To this day, people often see and encounter ghosts of those who were drowned in the river. Their restless souls still wander around taking refuge near the bridge.
It was clear that Puneet’s aunt was possessed or accompanied by ghosts from the bridge. On waking up she did not remember any of it right from the part they had stopped at the bridge to what all she had been doing in the prayer room.
Check out other intriguing ghost stories and encounters from our site as well.